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55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 55 Ring Maze, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, 2000 – planting of vegetation

2000 55 Ring Maze, Arthur’s Seat

55 Ring Maze, 2000

Ephemeral cornfield maze, Arthur’s Seat, Mornington Peninsula
Private commission

Mazes represent the arcane tradition of the labyrinth that acted as a means for spiritual enlightenment for those who entered them. This is particularly true of the early Christian mazes.

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The maze dates back to 5th century BC Egypt and was subsequently adopted and developed throughout history by the Greeks, Romans and Celts and later featured in French and English medieval design and architecture.

Marion Borgelt’s art in the 1990s drew significant inspiration from early labyrinth and maze designs and so this three-acre cornfield maze titled ‘55 Ring Maze‘ represents a logical progression that brings her fascination of maze designs into a living, large scale work of art reality. The greatest challenge lay in balancing approachability while maintaining design integrity.

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55 Ring Maze is designed using circles on a grid. In total, there are 55 circles, which are opened up to allow the creation of pathways and facilitate movement and the construction of main arterial trajectories. The overall movement of the maze is one of descent where one enters at the top of the field and gradually works one’s way downhill with an occasional incline until one finds the exit at the bottom of the field. The participant should be prepared for dead ends and false pathways that could lead back to the start. The objective for the participant is to discover the main routes through the maze, keeping in mind the importance of the diagonals and accepting that there is no way of avoiding wrong turns. On route are located 8 markers that indicate one’s position within the maze. These markers are the cardinal points indicating the north, south, east, west and the north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west positions. Roughly at the halfway point, there is a bridge from which one can observe the full scope of the maze.

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Not only is 55 Ring Maze an artistic achievement but it also functions as an interactive art work challenging the participant to find the reserves of patience required for losing and finding oneself.