Plans for DarkLab Transformer artwork ditched amid rising costs

The mirrored art installation was planned for Ida Bay, in Tasmania's Huon Valley. (Supplied: Doug Aitken and DarkLab)

The Transformer art project was proposed as a way to attract tourists to the Huon Valley region in the wake of bushfires in 2019.

But DarkLab, which runs the Dark Mofo festival, says escalating costs have made the project untenable.

DarkLab says it is working with the federal government to acquit a grant for the project.

The group behind Tasmania's Dark Mofo festival has scrapped plans to develop a "destination public artwork" in the state's south-east due to escalating costs.

The Transformer project, by American artist Doug Aitken, was proposed as a way to attract tourists to the Huon Valley region in the wake of bushfires in 2019.

The plan was to build a pavilion with a reflective interior in the Ida Bay State Reserve.

DarkLab said the design would have created "a kaleidoscope that interacts with the landscape over the changing seasons".

American artist Doug Aitken was commissioned to design the piece. (Supplied: Doug Aitken and DarkLab)

The Huon Valley Council approved the development application in 2023.

The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service gave it final approval the following year.

At the time, the development was expected to cost about $9.7 million, excluding artist and management expenses.

But in a statement released on Friday, DarkLab said increased costs, particularly in relation to "visitor service structures", had made the project untenable.

Transformer was to interact "with the landscape over the changing seasons".

"It is with a heavy heart that we make this announcement today," DarkLab chief executive and creative director Leigh Carmichael said.

"We have given the project every opportunity to succeed, but after seven years' work, we have made the decision not to proceed.

"We would like to thank the far south community for their support, and we are disappointed that we have been unable to finish what we began.

"It's difficult to walk away from the unrealised potential."

DarkLab creative director Leigh Carmichael says the team "gave the project every opportunity to succeed". (MONA/Rosie Hastie)

Carmichael thanked all those involved in the project to date.

"Unfortunately, the environmental and economic landscape is very different from when we were first asked to look at this project back in 2019," he said.

DarkLab is a subsidiary of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), which is owned by David Walsh.

The investment was intended to help the region recover from the January 2019 bushfires that temporarily c