A 50-metre-long, “twisting, accordion-shaped sculpture” has been erected over the escalators at Sydney’s Wynyard Station, in a surprise cultural addition to the city.

Created by Australian artist Chris Fox, Interloop is suspended via steel beams between two ends of the building. It hovers above the four new escalators that travel underground from York Street.

The sculpture weighs over five tonnes, and incorporates 244 wooden treads and four combs from the station's original escalators. The wooden escalators were first installed at Wynyard Station in 1931, remaining to serve commuters for over eight decades before they were removed this year.

“Whilst paying homage to the past, [the sculpture] simultaneously looks forward to the future,” reads an artist’s statement.

Fox’s intention for the project was to create an “otherworldly space above people’s heads”. In doing so, he has produced a work that “explores the idea that people are stationary on an escalator whilst also travelling, allowing for a moment of pause that occurs mid-motion”.

Interloop took six months to design and engineer, and 12 weeks to fabricate (a process which involved over a kilometre of welding). The installation process alone took two days to complete.

The new installation coincides with a number of recent upgrades to Wynyard Station. These include a larger concourse, new lifts, and additional ticket gates.

Photography by Josh Raymond

Nicholas Rider

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