Cyclogenesis Table was made from timber cut from trees that came down in the parks of Melbourne during the storm of February 2005. Species included Elm, Plane (Lacewood), Poplar and Himalayan Cedar.

The piece is intended to encapsulate the meteorological events that occurred in one of the most severe summer-time storms that has ever hit Melbourne. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, "the rapid development of a low or intensification of a pre-existing one is known meteorologically as cyclogenesis".

The storm event peaked on the day of 3rd February, during which Melbourne experienced 113mm of rain, 104 km per hour winds, a top temperature of 13.5 degrees Celsius, air pressure of 985 hectopascals, and a peak wave height of 12.5 metres at the entrance of Port Phillip Bay.

These statistics are inlaid into the table top behind a cold front symbol. In front of this symbol, the table legs are set vertical. Behind they are skewed at random angles, stylistically representing the chaos of the storm as it moved across Melbourne.

Objects found on the ground where the trees once grew were collected, sorted and cast into resin legs, referencing the urban origins of the timber and the activities that occur in these parks.

Extract taken from Bureau of Meteorology website.........

"An unusually intense low-pressure system developed over Eastern Bass Strait on 2nd February 2005. After a spell of warm days with a north to north easterly airflow over much of eastern Australia, the region suffered the effects of one of the most intense summer time weather systems on record….. Many rainfall and temperature records were broken in the course of the event as the system passed across eastern Australia.

The system brought abnormally low temperatures and severe storms with gale and storm force winds to most parts of the region…. However, the continuous rainfall for about 30 hours was perhaps the most significant feature produced by the low-pressure system. Although low-pressure systems in February are not uncommon, the slow and westward moving nature of this particular system was extraordinary. The centre of the low developed and deepened over Melbourne with very little movement. The combination of extreme rainfall and lashing winds left a trail of destruction.

The synoptic weather pattern for the 1st February indicated a significant cold front with a substantial cold air mass crossing the Southern Ocean towards southeastern Australia.

On 2nd February, the deep layer of cold air, in conjunction with a strong upper jet, resulted in a significant surface cyclone developing along the front as it passed over New South Wales and Victoria. The low-pressure system 'bombed' between the boundary of extremely cold air from the southern ocean and the warm, moist air originating from the Tasman Sea. The rapid development of a low or intensification of a pre-existing one is known meteorologically as cyclogenesis.

The upper level flow displayed classical characteristics supporting cyclogenesis over Victoria. Several of these features include the amplification of an upper trough and strength of the northerly jet on the eastward flank of the trough. Observations suggest that wind speeds associated with the jet were in excess of 200 km/h over Victoria....."