Four road signs where part of an art installation by artist John Fitz-Walter at the 1999 Oxley Creek Water Festival.

The values we place today on the Oxley Creek catchment area far exceed those of the past. We are able to see the creek's interconnectedness, its part within a bigger world, which is far beyond our previous view. It is to this vast change in attitude that Fitz-Walter's artwork involved itself; our changing relationship to our environment and to our world.

A 1960's ice-cream van was retrieved from the banks of Oxley Creek and relocated to the road side of Simpsons Playground, the place where the Oxley Creek meets with the Brisbane River. This ice cream van had been discarded mysteriously into the creek and remained long enough for it to be regarded as a relic of times past, a curiosity having nostalgic value over that of worthless junk or waterway pollution. Fitz-Walter's artwork evolved in the view of thousands of motorists who traveled along Graceville Avenue during the weeks prior to the festival.

Fitz-Walter's artwork provided for a parody of past perceptions to stark environmental realities. A childhood pleasure to be remembered with happiness, Peter's 'super cream' ice creams represented fun and nutrition. The Peter's ice cream slogan 'The Health Food of a Nation' resulted from ice cream being made from milk. The 60's lifestyle could be said to be one of innocent optimism with the science of the 'space age' seen as the key to unlocking the many problems facing the future. 'Baby boomers', 'consumerism' and 'the great Australian dream' featured, the natural environment was as something to be conquered, controlled and made to conform to the needs of 'mankind'. The Oxley Creek catchment area was seen as being of little worth, a place to dump into and of no real consequence to the then acceptable lifestyle.

These signs signal new directions and possibilities with Fitz-Walter taking a somewhat comical and creative approach to an ice cream ball and cone as a metaphor to our relationship with the environment;

1. first sign — the need to stop and look for new views (the ice cream ball and cone looking somewhat like stoplights)
2. second sign — a balancing act where the cone and ball will not fit (imagine being served an ice cream this way!)
3. third sign — teetering on the rim, which way will the ball roll? (can we stabilize the relationship between ourselves and the environment)
4. fourth sign — total disappointment (the ice cream has fallen and melted, it is irretrievable)

This artwork evoked memories for many, curiosity for others and questioning for all. It revisited past values so as to allow reconsideration with present values. Fitz-Walter questions our present interaction with the Oxley Creek Catchment area asking, ' What of today will be the relics of our future?'

Funding: Brisbane City Council