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2001/84/10 Bicycle, 'Prawn', Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, designed by John King, made by Anthony Neeson / Will Northam / Tamara Ealey, Ceremonies Prop Workshop, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 3, 2001/84/10 Bicycle, 'Prawn', Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, designed by John King, made by Anthony Neeson / Will Northam / Tamara Ealey, Ceremonies Prop Workshop, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000. Click to enlarge
  • Image 2 of 3, 2001/84/10 Bicycle, 'Prawn', Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, designed by John King, made by Anthony Neeson / Will Northam / Tamara Ealey, Ceremonies Prop Workshop, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000. Click to enlarge
  • Image 3 of 3, 2001/84/10 Bicycle, 'Prawn', Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, designed by John King, made by Anthony Neeson / Will Northam / Tamara Ealey, Ceremonies Prop Workshop, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000. Click to enlarge

Prawn bike from Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony

Designed
This object has significance in material culture due to its role in the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games, an important event in the recent history of Sydney and NSW. It has the potential to communicate in exhibitions and publications about the Sydney Olympic Games and has significance in its design, making, use and the cultural meanings ascribed to it.

The closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games took place on Sunday 1 October at Stadium Australia, Homebush Bay. It included …

Summary

Object No.

2001/84/10

Object Statement

Bicycle, 'Prawn', Sydney Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, designed by John King, made by Anthony Neeson / Will Northam / Tamara Ealey, Ceremonies Prop Workshop, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000

Physical Description

5-speed Shimano brand bicycle with a king prawn mounted on top. The bicycle is silver coloured aluminium with a black plastic seat and black plastic grips on the handlebars and handbrakes. Welded to the underside of the seat is an aluminum frame to which a foam representation of a prawn is attached. The prawn is orange-red in colour with yellow, cream, beige and black stripes across the back. The body is made from several panels of foam joined together along the back. Each side has six foam legs and the eyes are made from two black styrofoam balls. The head of the prawn is made from thicker foam than the body and has a receptacle made from metal on the top to hold the antennae. The paint is peeling from the foam. Accompanying the object is a pair of gloves, shoe covers and leg guards.

Marks

Bike - The name 'Trent' appears on two pieces of calico in handwritten black text on the inside of the prawn.
Unitard - A white label is sewn to the inside back of the neck with handwritten black text 'Trent'. The name 'Trent' is also handwritten in black on the inside collar.

Short URL

https://ma.as/345921

Production

Designed

Made

Made

Made

Notes

This prawn bike was designed by John King and made by Anthony Neeson and Will Northam at the Tamara Ealey Ceremonies Prop Workshop in Eveleigh, Redfern, 2000.

The body shell of the prawn was shaped by vacuum-forming a thermal sensitive polyethylene foam sheeting over a sculpted mould in two halves and later joined. The shell was fixed to an aluminium frame and bolted to a standard mountain bike, which surrounded the rider. The feelers were fibreglass rods fixed into the nose of the prawn and the exterior of the prawn was finished using a latex based paint.

History

Used

Notes

This prawn bike was used in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games closing ceremony 'Parade of Icons' segment, Paul Hogan float, Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush, October 1, 2000.

It was made for and owned by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, and donated to the Powerhouse Museum after the Games.

Source

Credit Line

Part of the Sydney 2000 Games Collection. Gift of the New South Wales Government, 2001

Acquisition Date

4 October 2001

Cite this Object

Harvard

Prawn bike from Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony 2022, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 8 June 2023, <https://ma.as/345921>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/345921 |title=Prawn bike from Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=8 June 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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