345

11

Not just a pretty picture: art as ecological communication Catriona Moore

Abstract Indigenous art and the western landscape tradition form ongoing influences on Australian eco-art. A majority of Australians now acknowledge that reconciliation and environmental sustainability are related issues. At the same time, western conventions of the sublime and the picturesque landscape have remained effective campaign materials. While historical tensions between Indigenous stewardship and a culturally abject, sublime ‘wildness’ still sporadically reappear in the economic and political arenas, on the whole, these two powerful visions of the landscape have jogged along together for thirty or so years of environmental struggle. This paper traces a brief history of how the western landscape tradition has been modified by Indigenous concepts of country. It then opens the discussion to current projects that combine traditional and inter-disciplinary knowledge within a speculative framework of ecological aesthetics.

Introduction In 1963, Yolngu elders petitioned the Menzies government against the alienation of traditional lands for bauxite mining at Yirrkala in the Northern Territory. The bi-lingual petition was bordered by a painted summation of Indigenous law: landscape features and clan designs specifying ownership and responsibilities for country, one Yirritja and

346

the other Dhuwa, on two pieces of stretched stringy-bark.1 This now famous ‘bark petition’ offered non-Indigenous people a rare opportunity to understand the creation and maintenance of the region, with its complex relations of Indigenous ownership, custodianship and obligation. Tragically, we ignored this opportunity to understand a comprehensive, deep knowledge of the environment that had kept it in a productive balance for millennia. A decade later, equally traditional, picturesque views of Lake Pedder in Tasmania’s south west were reproduced as campaign materials to save the lake from being flooded for hydro-electricity. They illustrated a pristine wilderness, by definition a veritable ‘terra nullius’ in danger of being irretrievably lost through unwanted state development. These visual ‘petitions’ were politically unsuccessful in the short term, and differed on questions of ownership, habitation and wilderness. Nonetheless, Indigenous art and the western landscape tradition form ongoing influences on Australian eco-art. Indigenous art has helped to win hearts, minds and a fair share of battles for Native Title and environmental justice. A majority of Australians now acknowledge that reconciliation and environmental sustainability are related issues. At the same time, western conventions of the sublime and the picturesque landscape have remained effective campaign materials. Hardly an election goes by without sighting comparisons made between lush, dripping rainforest and blackened clear-fell.2 Moreover, the historical tensions between Indigenous stewardship and western ideas of a culturally abject, sublime ‘wildness’ still sporadically reappear in economic and political arenas, as in the 2007 tussle between Cape York greenies, traditional owners and the local Indigenous cattle industry.3 On the whole, however, these two powerful visions of the landscape have jogged along together for around thirty years of environmental struggle. 1 See Attwood B, Rights for Aborigines, Allen & Unwin, 2003, pp. 215–236; and Mundine D, ‘Saltwater’, Saltwater: Yirrkala bark paintings of sea country, exhibition catalogue, Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre & Jennifer Isaacs Publishing, 1999, pp. 20–27. 2 As commented by Felicity Wade, ‘Who’s going to save me?’, Photofile no. 76, Summer 2006, p. 62. 3 ‘Australian Story’, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 28 May 2007. See also Pearson N, ‘The Ideal Equilibrium’, The Weekend Australian 9–10th June, 2007, p. 21.

34

7

As

a cr

itica

l te

rm,

‘eco-

art’

only

gain

ed c

urre

ncy

from

the

199

0s t

o hi

ghlig

ht th

e en

viro

nmen

tal a

war

enes

s or a

ctiv

ist b

ase

of d

iver

se p

rojec

ts

that

pr

iorit

ised

proc

ess

and

conc

ept

and

com

bine

d so

cial

and

envi

ronm

enta

l en

gage

men

t. Cr

itica

l ca

tego

ries,

like

cere

mon

ial

art,

envi

ronm

enta

l art,

con

cept

ual a

rt, f

emin

ist a

rt, s

ite-s

peci

fic in

stall

atio

n,

perf

orm

ance

an

d co

mm

unity

ar

ts

have

de

signa

ted

art

wor

king

in

co

njun

ctio

n w

ith p

ostm

oder

n cu

ltura

l th

eorie

s, In

dige

nous

law

, ou

r co

loni

al hi

stor

y, en

viro

nmen

tal

scien

ce a

nd g

rass

-root

s po

litics

. Th

is in

terd

iscip

linar

y ap

proa

ch

has

brou

ght

abou

t a

mov

e to

lo

oser

, as

socia

tioni

st m

odes

of

wor

king

in

galle

ries,

publ

ic ar

t pr

ojec

ts a

nd

polit

ical a

ctio

ns to

mak

e ar

t ‘m

ake

a di

ffere

nce’.

The

wes

tern

land

scap

e tra

ditio

n

From

the

lat

e 19

60s,

fem

inist

and

con

cept

ual

artis

ts e

mbr

aced

the

na

tura

l env

ironm

ent

thro

ugh

hum

blin

g ge

stur

es o

f re

conc

iliat

ion

with

th

e pl

anet

. The

y ch

allen

ged

the

mod

erni

st b

elief

in t

he d

omin

ance

of

hum

ans

as r

atio

nal b

eings

, alo

ng w

ith it

s co

rrela

te, t

he e

nviro

nmen

tal

and

socia

l deg

rada

tion

of in

dust

rial c

apita

l. A

s th

ey w

atch

ed c

apita

lism

lu

rch

tow

ards

an

unsu

stain

able

Firs

t W

orld

pos

t-ind

ustri

alism

, Sec

ond

Wor

ld im

plos

ion,

Thi

rd W

orld

dec

olon

isatio

n an

d in

dust

rialis

atio

n, a

nd

cont

inue

d Fo

urth

Wor

ld p

rote

st, t

he a

vant

-gar

de o

nce

again

sou

ght

to

reco

ncile

radi

cal a

esth

etics

and

radi

cal p

oliti

cs.

It is

not

surp

risin

g th

at t

he l

and

loom

s lar

ger

whe

n th

e or

der

of t

he

wor

ld

chan

ges.

Writ

ers

obse

rve

how

th

e re

cent

ca

ll of

th

e w

ild

para

doxi

cally

ech

oed

the

late-

18th

cen

tury

inve

stm

ent

in t

he la

ndsc

ape

as a

priv

ilege

d lo

cus

for t

hink

ing

abou

t uni

vers

al hu

man

valu

es, s

uch

as

indi

vidu

al fr

eedo

m, e

quali

ty, f

rate

rnity

– t

he m

oral

bedr

ock

of m

oder

n su

bjec

tivity

.4 Th

e Ro

man

tic

reac

tion

again

st

corr

upt

abso

lutis

t or

th

eocr

atic

regi

mes

sou

ght

an E

deni

c, pr

imor

dial

spac

e in

whi

ch t

o re

inve

nt h

uman

ity. T

heirs

was

an

imag

e of

nat

ure

as a

n ac

tive,

divi

ne

forc

e. Th

e id

ea o

f nat

ura

natu

rans

, nat

ure

as w

ild a

nd m

ajest

ic, w

as fu

elled

by

the

rem

ote,

New

Wor

ld l

ands

cape

s of

the

im

peria

l ad

vent

ure.

4 S

ee fo

r ins

tanc

e Ia

n M

cLea

n’s

quot

e fr

om S

lavoj

Ziz

ek in

‘Sub

lime

futu

res:

eco-

art

and

the

retu

rn o

f th

e re

al in

Pet

er D

ombr

ovsk

is, J

ohn

Wol

sele

y an

d A

ndy

Gol

dsw

orth

y’, T

rans

forma

tions

, No

5, D

ecem

ber 2

002,

p. 6

.

34

8

Aus

tralia

n co

loni

al lan

dsca

pes

follo

wed

thos

e of

the

outly

ing

regi

ons

of

the

Briti

sh I

sles,

the

Am

eric

as,

Afr

ica

and

othe

r Pa

cific

reg

ions

in

host

ing

aest

hetic

an

d sp

iritu

al re

new

al,

the

reco

ncili

atio

n be

twee

n hu

man

kind

and

nat

ure,

subj

ect a

nd o

bjec

t.5

By th

e en

d of

the

19th

cen

tury

, Aus

tralia

n lan

dsca

pes

had

also

take

n on

bo

ard

the

Briti

sh r

oman

ticism

of

John

Rus

kin

and

his

fello

w a

rtist

-ar

tisan

. The

y ar

gued

that

the

dest

ruct

ion

of th

e na

tura

l env

ironm

ent a

nd

the

socia

l pr

oblem

s of

urb

anism

wer

e to

o hi

gh a

pric

e to

pay

for

in

dust

rial

deve

lopm

ent.6

A

lread

y a

high

ly ur

bani

sed

popu

latio

n,

Aus

tralia

n co

loni

als s

ough

t th

eir d

efin

ing

mor

al qu

alitie

s in

a m

ythi

c bu

sh s

ettin

g. A

ustra

lian

lands

cape

s an

swer

ed R

uski

n’s

call

for

scien

tific

ac

cura

cy a

nd a

pro

foun

d re

vere

nce

for

natu

re. T

he i

nten

se, e

mpi

rical

scru

tiny

of t

he la

ndsc

ape

coul

d re

veal

high

er m

oral

truth

s, if

the

artis

t co

uld

link

the

unde

rsta

ndin

g of

nat

ural

phen

omen

a w

ith a

n im

agin

ativ

e re

spon

se,

akin

to

love

.7 Fr

om c

olon

ial p

hoto

grap

her

Nic

holas

Cair

e’s

alpin

e pe

aks

to J

essie

Tra

ill’s

intim

ate,

inte

r-war

etc

hing

s of

moo

nlit

gulli

es a

nd D

orot

hy W

all's

ecol

ogica

lly-m

inde

d Bl

inky

Bill

, w

este

rn

pict

orial

bus

h-lo

re h

as b

een

both

em

piric

al an

d ex

pres

sive,

feed

ing

imag

es o

f pa

stor

alism

, m

inin

g, t

ouris

m a

nd c

onse

rvat

ion

in v

aried

m

easu

re.

Far h

oriz

ons

Arti

st a

nd a

rt hi

stor

ian I

an B

urn

obse

rved

tha

t th

e lo

ngst

andi

ng

popu

larity

of

‘Gum

Tre

e Sc

hool

’ lan

dsca

pe p

aintin

g w

as p

artly

due

to

the

conf

iden

ce i

n w

hich

pain

ters

atta

cked

the

ir su

bjec

t, a

conf

iden

ce

5 S

ee B

erna

rd S

mith

’s se

min

al st

udy

Eur

opea

n vis

ion in

the S

outh

Pac

ific,

Yale

Uni

vers

ity

Pres

s, N

ew H

aven

and

Lon

don,

198

5 (s

econ

d ed

ition

), Be

rnar

d Sm

ith, I

magin

ing t

he

Pacif

ic: I

n th

e wa

ke o

f the

Coo

k vo

yages

, Melb

ourn

e U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss a

t th

e M

iegun

yah

Pres

s, 19

92; B

onyh

ardy

T, I

mages

in o

pposi

tion:

Aus

tralia

n pa

intin

g 18

01–1

890,

Oxf

ord

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, M

elbou

rne,

1985

, an

d Th

e col

onial

ear

th,

The

Mieg

unya

h Pr

ess,

Uni

vers

ity o

f Mel

bour

ne, 2

000;

New

wor

lds fr

om ol

d: 19

th ce

ntur

y Aus

tralia

n &

Ame

rican

lan

dsca

pes,

exhi

bitio

n ca

talo

gue,

Nat

iona

l G

aller

y of

A

ustra

lia,

Canb

erra

an

d W

adsw

orth

Ath

eneu

m, H

artfo

rd, C

onne

ctic

ut, 1

998.

6 S

ee B

arrin

ger T

, The

Pre-

Raph

aelit

es, E

very

man

Lib

rary

, 198

8, p

p. 5

7–83

. 7 R

uski

n J,

‘Tha

t the

trut

h of

nat

ure

is no

t to

be d

iscer

ned

by th

e un

educ

ated

sens

es’,

Mod

ern P

ainter

s, V

ol 1

, And

re D

euts

ch, 1

987

(1st p

ub 1

843)

, p.

29.

34

9

grou

nded

on

clos

e, em

piric

al st

udy

of r

egio

nal l

ands

cape

s.8 R

uski

n ha

d en

cour

aged

you

ng a

rtist

s to

deve

lop

this

heig

hten

ed v

isual

perc

eptio

n of

na

ture

, but

rem

inde

d th

em t

hat

the

expr

essiv

e tru

ths

of t

he la

ndsc

ape

coul

d on

ly be

reve

aled

thro

ugh

a un

ion

of th

e se

nses

and

the

spiri

t. Bu

rn

argu

ed t

hat

pain

tings

, suc

h as

Arth

ur S

treet

on's

Land

of t

he g

olden

fleec

e (1

926)

ove

rlaid

sen

se a

nd s

ensib

ility

in

this

man

ner,

com

bini

ng t

he

spat

ial d

istan

ce o

f the

pan

oram

ic vi

ew w

ith th

e id

ea o

f a n

atio

nal s

pace

(F

igur

e 11

.1).

A h

oriz

onta

l co

mpo

sitio

n an

d a

balan

ced,

blu

e-go

ld

palet

te in

vite

d th

e vi

ewer

to ta

ke in

for

egro

und,

mid

dle

grou

nd a

nd f

ar

horiz

on w

ith a

con

tem

plat

ive,

prop

rieta

l ga

ze s

ugge

stin

g a

seem

ingl

y na

tura

l an

d ob

jectiv

e op

tical

orde

r.9 W

e m

etap

horic

ally

asso

ciate

the

pa

nora

mic

lands

cape

w

ith

free

dom

, po

ssib

ility

an

d fu

ture

, A

vene

l M

itche

ll ob

serv

es, f

or it

pre

sent

s an

inco

ngru

ous

"syn

thes

is of

nea

rnes

s an

d re

mot

enes

s”.10

Th

e vi

sitor

’s va

ntag

e-po

int

is qu

asi-o

bjec

tive,

disin

tere

sted

an

d au

tono

mou

s.11

This

com

bina

tion

of

emot

iona

l at

tach

men

t an

d de

tach

ed m

oral

view

poin

t co

nvin

cing

ly c

onve

yed

a na

tiona

l sto

ry o

f whi

te p

rogr

ess,

later

ani

mat

ed in

the

eleva

ted,

cin

emat

ic pa

nnin

g sh

ots

of c

ount

less

bush

melo

dram

as, f

rom

Fra

nklin

Bar

rett’

s Th

e brea

king

of th

e dro

ught

(192

0) to

Baz

Luh

rman

n’s A

ustra

lia (2

007)

.

8 Bu

rn I

, ‘Po

pular

Melb

ourn

e lan

dsca

pe p

aintin

g be

twee

n th

e w

ars’,

Ben

digo

Art

Gall

ery,

1982

, re

prin

ted

in B

urn

I, D

ialog

ue:

writi

ngs

in a

rt his

tory,

Alle

n &

Unw

in,

Sydn

ey, 1

991;

and

Bur

n I,

Nati

onal

life a

nd la

ndsca

pes,

Bay

Book

s, Sy

dney

199

2.

9 Bu

rn’s

criti

cal

revi

ew o

f th

e bu

sh p

anor

ama

para

llele

d th

e an

alyse

s w

ithin

film

th

eory

of a

sim

ilarly

priv

ilege

d, "

3-di

men

siona

l, ra

tiona

lised

spa

ce”

with

in c

inem

atic

reali

sm, w

ith it

s fix

ed v

iewpo

int d

eriv

ed fr

om R

enais

sanc

e pr

incip

les o

f per

spec

tive

and

Carte

sian

idea

s of

sub

jectiv

e ra

tiona

lity.

See

for

inst

ance

The

Brit

ish F

ilm

Inst

itute

’s Sc

reen

proj

ect o

f th

e lat

er 1

970s

and

ear

ly 19

80s;

also

Mar

tin J

ay, '

Scop

ic re

gim

es o

f m

oder

nity

', M

odern

ity a

nd id

entit

y, ed

Sco

tt La

sh a

nd J

onat

hon

Frie

dman

, O

xfor

d, 1

992,

p.1

84; B

ryso

n N

, 'Th

e ga

ze a

nd th

e gl

ance

', V

ision

and

pain

ting.

the l

ogic

of th

e gaz

e, Lo

ndon

, 198

3, p

p. 8

9–94

. 10

In

her

disc

ussio

n of

the

Aus

tralia

n in

ter-

war

pan

oram

a an

d in

timat

e lan

dsca

pe,

Ave

nel M

itche

ll cit

es Y

i-Fu

Tuan

’s su

gges

tion

that

“sp

ace

lies

open

; it s

ugge

sts

the

futu

re a

nd in

vite

s ac

tion”

. Tua

n Y

, Spa

ce an

d pla

ce: th

e pers

pecti

ve of

expe

rienc

e, L

ondo

n,

1977

, p.5

4, c

ited

Mitc

hell

A, ‘

The

harv

est o

f a q

uiet

eye

: th

e in

timat

e ex

pres

sion

of

natu

re in

Aus

tralia

n lan

dsca

pe p

aintin

g fr

om th

e lat

e ni

nete

enth

cen

tury

to c

.194

0’,

MPh

il th

esis,

Dep

artm

ent

of A

rt H

istor

y an

d Fi

lm S

tudi

es, U

nive

rsity

of

Sydn

ey,

1997

, p. 1

01.

11 Ib

id, p

. 103

. See

also

Bau

man

Z, '

Stra

nger

s: Th

e so

cial c

onst

ruct

ion

of u

nive

rsali

ty

and

parti

cular

ity',

Telos

, 78.

Win

ter 1

988–

89, p

p. 1

7–18

.

35

0

F

igu

re 1

1.1 A

rthur

Stre

eton

, Lan

d of

the G

olden

Flee

ce (1

926)

O

il on

can

vas

mou

nted

on

com

posit

ion

boar

d 50

.7 x

75.

5, 6

9.0

x 96

.0 f

ram

e. Be

ques

t of

H

enrie

tte v

on D

allw

itz a

nd o

f Ri

char

d Pa

ul i

n ho

nour

of

his

fath

er D

r O

scar

Pau

l 19

65.

Nat

iona

l Gall

ery

of A

ustra

lia, C

anbe

rra

The

intim

ate

lands

cape

E

co-a

rtist

s ha

ve a

lso b

een

draw

n to

the

fam

iliar

‘co

rner

of

natu

re.’

Mitc

hell

argu

es t

hat

tradi

tiona

l im

ages

of

the

coun

try g

arde

n, o

rcha

rd

and

bush

clea

ring

offe

red

the

sens

ual e

xper

ience

of

belo

ngin

g w

ithin

a

know

n pl

ace,

a co

mfo

rting

im

age

of

hum

anise

d na

ture

as

th

e m

echa

nisa

tion

of a

gricu

lture

acc

elera

ted

thro

ugh

inte

nsiv

e cle

arin

g of

lan

d fo

r cr

oppi

ng a

nd w

ool p

rodu

ctio

n fr

om F

eder

atio

n to

the

193

0s.

She

also

note

s th

at th

e po

pular

ity o

f th

is su

b-ge

nre

dove

taile

d w

ith th

e pr

omot

ion

of n

ativ

e flo

ra i

n su

burb

an g

arde

ns,

the

emer

genc

e of

bu

shw

alkin

g an

d co

nser

vatio

n m

ovem

ents

and

the

prof

essio

nalis

atio

n of

bo

tany

and

eco

logy

.12

12

Mitc

hell,

op.

cit.

199

7.

35

1

Clar

a So

uthe

rn’s

An

old b

ee far

m (c

1900

) pr

esen

ts t

he b

ush

beyo

nd t

he

fenc

ed

padd

ock

(Fig

ure

11.2

). A

co

nstri

cted

, H

eidelb

erg-

style

co

mpo

sitio

n an

d in

form

al vi

ewpo

int

hold

s th

e vi

ewer

's ey

e w

ithin

a

shall

ow v

isual

field

and

em

phas

ises

a ta

cit k

now

ledge

of

fam

ily f

arm

ing

and

loca

l en

viro

ns

thro

ugh

the

sens

ory

expe

rienc

e of

‘b

ush

ench

antm

ent’.

Thi

s is

also

the

spac

e of

the

gar

dene

r, fie

ld

natu

ralis

t, G

ould

Lea

gue

mem

ber

and

hum

anist

geo

grap

her,

who

se

valu

ed e

mpi

rical

know

ledge

is g

roun

ded

in th

e liv

ed-w

orld

of i

mm

ediat

e ex

perie

nce.

The

sens

ory

attri

bute

s of

the

bus

h w

ere

valu

ed,

Mitc

hell

atte

sts,

beca

use

they

w

ere

dist

inct

ively

, pr

ivat

ely,

almos

t se

cret

ly kn

own.

13

F

igu

re 1

1.2

Clar

a So

uthe

rn, A

n O

ld Be

e Far

m (c

1900

) O

il on

can

vas 6

6.0

x 11

1.7c

m, F

elto

n Be

ques

t, 19

42 N

atio

nal G

aller

y of

Vict

oria

The

intim

ate

lands

cape

also

con

nect

ed w

ith th

e na

tiona

l sto

ry, t

hrou

gh

close

, em

piric

al (in

cludi

ng s

cient

ific)

stu

dy,

bush

fan

tasy

and

hum

an

anec

dote

. Th

e po

pular

im

age

of r

ural

life

and

harm

onio

us h

uman

se

ttlem

ent

was

hon

ed t

o co

zy p

erfe

ctio

n th

roug

h pa

intin

gs li

ke E

lioth

G

rune

r’s

Sprin

g fro

st,

Emu

Pl

ains

(191

9)

and

Hild

a Ri

x N

ichol

as’

Knock

along

gard

en (1

941)

, and

con

tinue

in th

e w

eekl

y te

levi

sed

dram

as o

f

13

ibid

., pp

. 44–

45.

35

2

McL

eod’s

Dau

ghter

s. Its

myt

hic

base

in

peas

ant

cultu

re p

rom

otes

a

cont

inuu

m b

etw

een

past

and

pre

sent

. The

imag

e of

the

hom

este

ad a

t ea

se in

the

lands

cape

is b

roug

ht to

life

thr

ough

lovi

ng a

ttent

ion

to th

e in

timat

e ro

utin

es o

f ev

eryd

ay li

fe, r

oman

tic in

tere

st o

n th

e ve

rand

ah o

r at

the

hom

e pa

ddoc

k ga

te a

nd f

amily

mem

bers

eng

aged

in

fam

iliar

ch

ores

, all

wel

com

ing

scen

es t

o th

e vi

sitor

. The

se e

ndur

ing

imag

es o

f pr

oduc

tive

stew

ards

hip

trans

form

ed e

arlie

r fig

ures

of t

he e

xplo

rer,

bush

lar

rikin

and

pio

neer

into

a m

ore

mod

ern

imag

e of

the

prim

ary

prod

ucer

.

The

mod

erni

st d

eser

t Th

e em

otio

nal

ties

bind

ing

city-

dwell

ers

to

the

past

orali

st

lands

cape

w

ere

loos

ened

in

th

e 19

40s

dryla

nd

imag

es

of

Russ

ell

Dry

sdale

, A

lber

t Tu

cker

and

Sid

ney

Nol

an.

This

gene

ratio

n of

arti

sts

reco

nceiv

ed

‘our

co

loni

al pa

stor

al m

yths

’ in

th

e ex

isten

tial

term

s of

m

oder

nist

ali

enat

ion

of

natu

re

and

cultu

re,

subj

ect

and

ob

ject,

indi

vidu

al an

d so

ciety

. M

ore

gene

rally

, m

oder

nism

’s fo

rmal

preo

ccup

atio

ns

plac

ed

the

wor

k of

ar

t ce

ntre

-sta

ge,

sideli

ning

or

ex

cludi

ng

natu

re

and

natu

ral

beau

ty.

Art

hist

orica

lly,

the

do

min

ant

driv

e of

mod

erni

sm w

as d

riven

by

a “t

urni

ng a

way

fro

m,

rejec

tion

or r

epre

ssio

n of

nat

ure”

, in

tan

dem

with

the

pat

h ta

ken

by

mod

ern

scien

ce. 1

4 Th

e ali

enat

ed A

ustra

lian

bush

bec

ame

witn

ess

to h

istor

ies

of o

utca

sts,

colo

nial

viol

ence

and

env

ironm

enta

l mism

anag

emen

t. It

was

peo

pled

by

mar

gina

lised

fol

k w

ho a

ppea

red

to b

e of

the

ear

th i

tsel

f, dw

arfe

d by

tre

es a

nd r

ock

form

atio

ns t

hat

seem

ed a

ll to

o hu

man

. D

rysd

ale’s

The

rabb

iters

(194

7) g

ives

the

bus

h a

will

of

its o

wn.

Tre

e st

umps

and

ga

lvan

ized

iron

twist

and

turn

in a

gro

tesq

ue e

cho

of A

ntip

odea

n sp

ace,

host

to

a pr

esum

ed t

imele

ss (

Abo

rigin

al, u

nkno

wab

le)

esse

nce

or

univ

ersa

l (E

urop

ean)

exi

sten

tial t

ruth

s.15

14

Ro

berts

D

, ‘A

ura

and

aest

hetic

s of

na

ture

’, Th

esis

Elev

en,

no.

36,

1993

, M

assa

chus

etts

Inst

itute

of T

echn

olog

y, pp

. 127

–137

. 15

See

Cat

alano

G, A

n in

timat

e Aus

tralia

: The

land

scape

& re

cent A

ustra

lian

art,

Hale

&

Iron

mon

ger,

Sydn

ey, 1

985;

Dre

w P

, ‘Th

ings

Bec

omin

g’, V

erand

ah: E

mbra

cing

Spac

e, A

ngus

and

Rob

erts

on, S

ydne

y, 19

92, p

p. 1

80–1

98.

35

3

Behi

nd th

is re

curr

ent i

mag

e of

nat

ure

as m

ute

witn

ess

lurk

ed le

ft-lib

eral

guilt

and

ang

er fo

r a d

isplac

ed A

borig

inal

pres

ence

. Arti

sts

wer

e st

artin

g to

use

land

scap

e pa

intin

g to

exp

ress

the

viol

ence

of

colo

nial

settl

emen

t m

ore

dire

ctly

(Dry

sdale

’s St

ation

blac

ks, C

ape Y

ork,

195

3; A

rthur

Boy

d’s

Half

-caste

serie

s of 1

959)

. At t

he sa

me

time,

the

wes

tern

des

ert l

ands

cape

s of

Alb

ert

Nam

atjir

a w

ere

beco

min

g in

crea

singl

y po

pular

, an

d fo

r th

e fir

st ti

me,

bark

pain

tings

from

the

Top

End

wer

e fin

ding

their

way

from

th

e na

tura

l hist

ory

mus

eum

s to

the

aest

hetic

realm

of t

he a

rt ga

llery

.

The

post

mod

ern

bush

Fr

om th

e ea

rly 1

970s

, the

mod

erni

st r

educ

tion

of a

esth

etics

to a

theo

ry

of a

rt w

as r

ever

sed.

Con

cept

ual

art

and

fem

inist

aes

thet

ics s

ough

t to

un

ders

tand

th

e re

latio

nshi

p be

twee

n co

gniti

on

and

se

nsat

e pe

rcep

tion.

A

rtist

s re

turn

ed

the

body

to

th

e bu

sh,

and

ph

ysica

l im

mer

sion

in

natu

re

was

ag

ain

valu

ed

as

a ba

sis

for

self-

cons

cious

ness

. M

any

open

-form

sc

ulpt

ures

fr

om

this

perio

d re

sem

bled

sm

all-s

caled

, ec

olog

ical

syst

ems,

or

enac

ted

som

e

chan

ge

(inst

allat

ion,

ex

cava

tion,

m

ark-

mak

ing)

in

th

e im

med

iate

envi

ronm

ent,

as a

mea

ns h

eight

enin

g ou

r pe

rcep

tion

of p

lace.

The

hum

an b

ody

perf

orm

ed in

the

bus

h en

viro

nmen

t as

just

one

elem

ent

amon

g ot

hers

. A

ustra

lian

envi

ronm

enta

l art

was

mor

e m

odes

t tha

n its

US

coun

terp

arts

, w

ith t

he e

xcep

tion

of C

hrist

o an

d Je

anne

-Clau

de’s

influ

entia

l Wra

pped

coa

st, L

ittle

Bay,

one m

illion

squa

re fee

t, Sy

dney,

Aus

tralia

(196

9) (F

igur

e 11

.3).

A v

olun

teer

arm

y of

you

ng a

rtist

s an

d in

tere

sted

loc

als w

rapp

ed t

he

rock

y sh

oreli

ne in

she

ets

of e

rosio

n co

ntro

l mes

h (a

syn

thet

ic w

oven

fib

re

usua

lly

man

ufac

ture

d fo

r ag

ricul

tura

l pu

rpos

es).

The

proj

ect

rece

ived

bro

ad p

ublic

int

eres

t, an

d in

fluen

ced

man

y yo

unge

r ar

tists

de

velo

ping

env

ironm

enta

lly s

ensit

ive,

site-

spec

ific

wor

k at

the

Mild

ura

Scul

ptur

e Tr

ienni

als fr

om th

e ea

rly 1

970s

. M

ore

radi

cal

proj

ects

em

brac

ed

the

loca

l en

viro

nmen

t as

ac

tive,

scul

ptur

al m

ater

ial th

roug

h sit

e-sp

ecifi

c w

ork

influ

ence

d by

min

imali

sm,

post

-obj

ect

art

and

arte

pov

era.

In 1

973

the

Trien

nial

exte

nded

to

inco

rpor

ate

dry

scru

blan

d alo

ng th

e M

urra

y Ri

ver,

and

the

even

t bec

ame

know

n as

M

ildur

a Sc

ulpt

ures

cape

, un

der

the

dire

ctio

n of

To

m

35

4

McC

ullo

ugh.

Joh

n D

avis

wra

pped

tree

s w

ith v

ario

us m

ater

ials

along

an

info

rmal

path

way

thro

ugh

the

scru

b (T

ree P

iece).

Kev

in M

orte

nsen

dre

w

upon

mem

orie

s of

dum

ped

min

ing

was

te a

roun

d Bl

inm

an i

n So

uth

Aus

tralia

in f

ashi

onin

g fo

ur O

bjects

in a

land

scape

fro

m c

oiled

rop

e an

d bi

tum

en,

whi

ch a

lso r

esem

bled

gig

antic

hiv

es,

term

ite m

ound

s or

w

omba

t sca

ts se

t am

ong

the

saltb

ush.

F

igu

re 1

1.3

Chris

to a

nd J

eann

e Cl

aude

, Wra

pped

Coa

st, L

ittle

Bay,

One

M

illion

Squ

are F

eet, S

ydne

y, A

ustra

lia,1

968–

69

Gela

tin s

ilver

pho

togr

aph

101.

5 h

x 12

7.0

w G

ift o

f Jo

hn K

aldor

, 198

2. P

hoto

: Har

ry S

hunk

Co

llect

ion:

Nat

iona

l Gall

ery

of A

ustra

lia, C

anbe

rra

Ross

Gro

unds

’ Ecol

ogica

l well

cre

ated

a sp

ace

for r

eorie

ntin

g on

eself

qui

te

liter

ally

with

in n

atur

e. Th

e W

ell w

as a

sim

ple,

exca

vate

d bu

nker

, whi

ch

also

rese

mbl

ed a

nes

t, ca

ve, m

ine-

shaf

t, or

a w

omb.

Thi

s ha

bita

t hos

ted

a va

riety

of

inha

bita

nts,

mat

ter

and

mea

ning

s. Fr

ogs,

mos

quito

larv

ae,

fish,

liz

ards

and

pig

eons

all

mov

ed i

n at

var

ious

lev

els,

taki

ng t

he

Em

erso

nian

idea

l of a

‘hom

e in

the

wild

erne

ss’ a

step

furth

er. L

ike

othe

r sc

ulpt

ural

proj

ects

at M

ildur

a, E

colog

ical w

ell e

mbe

dded

hum

an v

isito

rs a

s ju

st a

noth

er li

fe-fo

rm a

mon

gst o

ther

, equ

ally

oppo

rtuni

stic

visi

tors

. For

th

e 19

75 S

culp

ture

scap

e, A

lecs

Dan

ko s

catte

red

scra

ps o

f dr

awin

gs,

35

5

lette

rs a

nd o

ther

deb

ris i

n a

four

squ

are

met

re s

pace

dem

arca

ted

by

strin

g, i

n pa

rtial

refe

renc

e to

the

scu

lptu

re p

ark’

s pr

evio

us l

ife a

s th

e lo

cal

tow

n tip

, w

hile

Alis

on C

ousla

nd a

nd M

arga

ret

Bell

used

the

ir sc

ulpt

ural

allot

men

t to

plan

t a g

arde

n.

The

idea

of

plan

ting

or m

arki

ng o

bjec

ts i

n th

e lan

dsca

pe,

or s

ubtly

m

odify

ing

natu

ral f

eatu

res

was

a g

entle

mea

ns o

f re

orien

ting

ones

elf in

sp

ace

and

time,

inst

allin

g ep

hem

eral

syst

ems o

f ord

er u

pon

the

appa

rent

in

diffe

renc

e of

the

bus

h. T

hese

pro

jects

par

allele

d th

e co

ncep

tual

art

'ram

bles

' of

Brit

ish a

rtist

s Ri

char

d Lo

ng,

Ham

ish F

ulto

n an

d A

ndy

Gol

dsw

orth

y, tre

adin

g as

lig

htly

on t

he e

arth

as

their

19t

h ce

ntur

y Ro

man

tic fo

rebe

ars.1

6 Th

e na

tura

l m

ater

ials

used

in

thes

e pr

ojec

ts r

efer

red

obdu

rate

ly to

th

emse

lves

. The

ear

th c

ease

d be

ing

an in

ert m

ater

ial a

wait

ing

the

artis

t's

trans

form

atio

n, a

nd in

stea

d be

cam

e –

at le

ast

parti

ally

– bo

th s

ubjec

t an

d ob

ject

of t

he c

reat

ive

proc

ess.

Rock

s, tre

es, s

oil,

win

d, w

ater

, fire

an

d ot

her

envi

ronm

enta

l fo

rces

too

k cr

eativ

e ce

ntre

-sta

ge t

o ill

ustra

te

the

ratio

nalit

y of

nat

ural

syst

ems.

This

reco

gniti

on b

roug

ht h

uman

s do

wn

to sc

ale a

s one

of m

any

gene

rativ

e ele

men

ts in

a d

ynam

ic ec

olog

y.

The

urge

to b

unke

r dow

n w

ith th

e liz

ards

ext

ende

d th

e po

tent

ial o

f the

m

imet

ic tra

ditio

n th

roug

h a

sym

path

etic

open

ness

to

na

ture

, “e

xper

ience

d as

som

ethi

ng w

hich

spea

ks to

us,

affe

cts a

nd e

ngag

es u

s”.17

Th

e ar

tist

join

s th

e co

nver

satio

n th

roug

h rit

ual

gest

ures

tha

t m

ime

natu

ral f

orce

s. Jo

hn W

olse

ley’s

late

r dr

awin

gs e

xten

ded

this

early

des

ire

“to

copy

, im

itate

, m

ake

mod

els,

expl

ore

diffe

renc

e, yi

eld i

nto

and

beco

me

othe

r”.18

Wol

seley

lays

dow

n hi

s pa

per

and

canv

as to

allo

w th

e lan

dsca

pe to

itse

lf lea

ve tr

aces

of

scra

tchi

ng, r

ubbi

ngs

and

the

brus

hing

of

bur

nt f

oliag

e ac

ross

the

pag

e, re

cord

ing

the

pass

age

of t

he a

rtist

th

roug

h th

e bu

sh. H

e se

es h

imse

lf as

a “

facil

itato

r fo

r th

e lan

dsca

pe to

16

Cul

min

atin

g in

Ham

ish F

ulto

n’s

1979

Bien

nale

of S

ydne

y vi

sit a

nd a

ccom

pany

ing

proj

ect T

asma

nia:

A S

low Jo

urne

y. 17

Boe

me

G, i

n Ro

berts

D, o

p. c

it., 1

993,

p. 1

29.

18 T

auss

ig M

, Mim

esis a

nd a

lterit

y: a

parti

cular

hist

ory o

f the

sens

es, R

outle

dge:

New

Yor

k

1993

, p. x

iii.

35

6

depi

ct it

self”

, as

Sash

a G

rishi

n ob

serv

es, r

athe

r th

an a

s so

meo

ne w

ho

depi

cts t

he la

ndsc

ape.

19

Gai

a Th

ese

early

per

form

ance

s an

d co

ncep

tual

art

proj

ects

ofte

n ge

nder

ed

natu

re a

s fe

min

ine.

Perf

orm

ance

arti

st J

ill O

rr d

escr

ibed

her

198

1 ex

hibi

tion,

Reli

cs an

d rit

uals

in th

ese

term

s:

I a

m a

lway

s aw

are

of a

con

nect

ion

with

the

earth

; thi

ngs b

orn

of t

he e

arth

, ret

urn

to t

he e

arth

, life

nee

ding

the

ear

th, b

ut

also

its f

emale

ness

, m

othe

r-ear

th,

upon

whi

ch w

e es

tabl

ish

ritua

ls of

livi

ng a

nd c

opin

g: su

rviv

ing.

20

Nat

ure

as M

othe

r E

arth

or

Gaia

is

a co

nnec

tion

shar

ed b

y m

any

cultu

res.

Cera

mici

st

and

teac

her

Than

coup

ie (T

hain

akui

th)

has

deve

lope

d a

fem

inin

e im

ager

y fo

r he

r po

ts, t

iles

and

tile-

base

d m

urals

fr

om 1

971.

The

se a

re d

eriv

ed f

rom

the

san

d st

ories

and

san

d pi

ctur

es

the

wom

en d

raw

for

chi

ldre

n on

the

bea

ch a

t N

apra

num

, a

small

co

mm

unity

nea

r W

eipa

in w

est C

ape

Yor

k Pe

nins

ula.

The

mot

if of

the

circle

was

par

ticul

arly

impo

rtant

, as s

he n

oted

in 2

003:

The

circle

sym

bolic

ally

(in) t

radi

tiona

l trib

al pa

intin

g, th

at w

as

on g

roun

d in

are

as h

ere

arou

nd W

eipa,

whe

n on

san

d, t

he

circle

was

a s

trong

sym

bol

and…

the

sym

bol

of f

ire,

the

sym

bol o

f the

wor

ld, t

he sy

mbo

l of u

nity

, the

sym

bol o

f lov

e, th

e sy

mbo

l of m

othe

r. Th

e cir

cle is

a v

ery

signi

fican

t sym

bol

in A

borig

inal

draw

ing,

pain

ting.

21

Non

-Ind

igen

ous

artis

ts h

ave

also

conf

lated

nat

ure

and

the

fem

inin

e. D

awne

Dou

glas

and

Mich

ael L

iddl

e us

ed L

ovelo

ck’s

Gaia

theo

ry o

f the

ea

rth a

s a

supe

r-org

anism

, alo

ng w

ith L

oren

z’s c

haos

theo

ry o

f an

inte

r-

19

Gris

hin

S. ‘

Sacr

ed e

colo

gy’,

Aus

tralia

n A

rt Re

view,

Nov

embe

r 20

05–F

eb 2

006,

p.

55.

20

Orr

J,

artis

t’s s

tate

men

t, qu

oted

Ann

e M

arsh

, Bo

dy a

nd s

elf:

perfo

rman

ce ar

t in

A

ustra

lia, O

xfor

d U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss, S

ydne

y, 19

93 p

. 143

. 21

Tha

ncou

pie,

‘Sto

ries

and

tradi

tion

in c

lay’,

Stor

y Pl

ace,

Que

ensla

nd A

rt G

aller

y, Br

isban

e, 20

03, p

. 73.

The

arti

st h

as d

escr

ibed

her

sym

bolis

m in

sim

ilar

term

s fo

r a

1986

exh

ibiti

on in

Hou

ston

, cite

d in

Gra

ce C

ochr

ane,

The c

rafts

mov

emen

t in

Aus

tralia

: a

histor

y. N

ew S

outh

Wale

s Uni

vers

ity P

ress

, Syd

ney,

1992

, p. 2

44.

35

7

conn

ecte

d w

orld

, as

a lit

eral

desig

n te

mpl

ate

for

a w

alk-th

roug

h pa

rk

scul

ptur

e (V

itae–

Mor

te, G

ladst

one,

1995

).22 A

mou

nded

spi

ral o

f st

ones

w

as p

unct

uate

d w

ith v

ertic

al tim

bers

of

vary

ing

heig

hts.

Thes

e w

ere

recy

cled

from

an

ol

d w

harf

th

at

once

se

rvice

d G

ladst

one’s

m

eat

pack

ing

indu

stry

, a

rem

inde

r of

pas

t in

dust

ry,

sust

ainab

ility

and

lo

st fo

rest

s. Fo

r man

y ar

tists

, how

ever

, the

gen

dere

d vi

ew o

f nat

ure

as fe

min

ine

pose

d ph

iloso

phica

l and

pol

itica

l pro

blem

s. H

eate

d de

bate

s th

roug

h th

e 19

80s

had

soug

ht t

o cla

rify

a les

s re

duct

ive

form

ulat

ion

of n

atur

e an

d fe

male

ag

ency

. In

wes

tern

Car

tesia

n th

ough

t, na

ture

has

bee

n to

cul

ture

wha

t bo

dy o

r mat

ter h

as b

een

to th

e m

ind,

the

fem

inin

e to

the

mas

culin

e. M

any

Nor

th A

mer

ican

fem

inist

s fo

und

this

gend

erin

g of

nat

ure

empo

wer

ing,

an

d us

ed it

to

artic

ulat

e th

e co

sts

of p

resu

mpt

uous

ly s

epar

atin

g hu

man

ac

tion

from

the

nat

ural

wor

ld. A

ustra

lians

wer

e les

s in

cline

d to

priv

ilege

w

omen

in a

n ec

o-aw

are

prac

tice.

Non

ethe

less,

as w

riter

and

cur

ator

Jul

ie

Ew

ingt

on n

oted

in 1

994,

a p

redo

min

ance

of

wom

en a

rtist

s us

ed n

atur

al m

ater

ials

and

forc

es. “

This

agen

cy is

impo

rtant

”, s

he a

rgue

d, f

or “

it is

in

dire

ct c

ontra

dict

ion

to th

e in

fluen

tial w

este

rn n

otio

n, a

t lea

st a

s ol

d as

the

philo

soph

y of

Aris

totle

, th

at w

omen

and

the

ear

th a

like

are

pass

ive,

rece

ptiv

e, nu

rturin

g ve

ssels

, pr

oper

ly do

min

ated

by

men

.”23

Yet

the

ar

twor

ks E

win

gton

cha

mpi

oned

– s

uch

as J

oan

Gro

unds

’ op

en-a

ir fir

e sc

ulpt

ures

, ins

talla

tions

and

exp

erim

enta

l film

We s

hould

call

this

a liv

ing r

oom

(197

2, w

ith A

lecs

Dan

ko),

Joan

Bra

ssil’

s in

vest

igat

ions

of

imm

ater

ial,

elect

ro-m

agne

tic f

ields

and

Bon

ita E

ly’s

long

stan

ding

res

earc

h on

the

M

urra

y Ri

ver

– sh

ied

away

fr

om

retro

gres

sive

assu

mpt

ions

ab

out

fem

inin

ity, m

ascu

linity

, nat

ure

and

crea

tivity

. Ely’

s 198

0 M

urra

y Rive

r pun

ch,

for

inst

ance

, pa

rodi

ed b

oth

natu

re a

nd k

itche

n go

ddes

ses

in a

coo

king

de

mon

stra

tion

in A

delai

de’s

Rund

le M

all, c

onco

ctin

g a

mix

ed d

rink

for

pass

ing

shop

pers

(Fi

gure

11.

4).

As

the

blen

ders

whi

zzed

, th

e ar

tist

chee

rful

ly ex

plain

ed th

e pu

nch’

s re

cipe

ingr

edien

ts: p

hosp

hate

com

poun

d

22

Thi

s ar

tist-s

cient

ist t

eam

fou

nded

The

ArtS

cienc

e In

terf

ace

(art

acce

lera

ting

cultu

ral

chan

ge

by

visu

alisin

g ph

iloso

phica

l co

ncep

ts/s

cient

ific

awar

enes

s of

en

viro

nmen

t). S

ee L

ucy

Gra

ce, ‘

Vita

e-m

orte

: env

ironm

enta

l art

in Q

ueen

sland

’, A

rt M

onth

ly A

ustra

lia, O

ctob

er 1

995,

pp.

15–

17.

23 E

win

gton

J,

‘In t

he w

ild:

natu

re,

cultu

re,

gend

er i

n in

stall

atio

n ar

t’, D

isson

ance:

fem

inism

and

the

arts

197

0–90

, (e

d. C

atrio

na M

oore

) A

llen

& U

nwin

, 19

94,

pp.

228–

9.

35

8

ferti

lizer

s, hu

man

faec

es a

nd a

gricu

ltura

l che

mica

ls w

ere

adde

d to

the

mix

, se

rved

up

with

a sp

rinkl

e of

rabb

it du

ng a

s gar

nish

.

F

igu

re 1

1.4

Boni

ta E

ly, M

urra

y Rive

r Pun

ch (1

981)

Pe

rfor

man

ce

at

Rund

le

Mall

, A

delai

de,

1980

. Ph

otog

raph

fr

om

the

artis

t’s

colle

ctio

n,

repr

oduc

ed fr

om A

nn M

arsh

, Bod

y and

Self

: perf

orma

nce a

rt in

Aus

tralia

, op.

cit..

Art

Act

ivis

m

In t

he 1

970s

and

ear

ly 19

80s,

eco-

art

was

com

mon

ly ali

gned

with

the

Tr

ades

Uni

on G

reen

Ban

s an

d ca

mpa

igns

for

land

and

sea

rig

hts,

anti-

nuke

and

ant

i-ura

nium

min

ing.

Eve

n th

e di

e-ha

rd ‘

twig

s an

d st

ring’

sc

ulpt

ure

hipp

ies a

t M

ildur

a fr

amed

the

ir w

ork

in p

oliti

cal

term

s w

hen

calli

ng f

or a

n ar

tists

’ boy

cott

of F

renc

h sp

onso

rshi

p an

d pa

rticip

atio

n in

th

e 19

73 M

ildur

a Sc

ulpt

ures

cape

, in

prot

est a

gain

st F

renc

h nu

clear

test

ing

in th

e Pa

cific.

24

24

Joh

n D

avis,

Cliv

e M

urra

y-W

hite

and

Ti P

arks

initi

ated

the

artis

ts’ p

rote

st, w

hich

pr

ompt

ed h

eate

d de

bate

am

ongs

t pa

rtici

patin

g A

ustra

lian

(and

Fre

nch)

arti

sts,

and

whi

ch p

ostp

oned

the

show

(but

not

the

nucle

ar te

stin

g). S

ee S

turg

eon

G, T

he S

tory o

f th

e Mild

ura

Sculp

ture

Trien

nial,

196

1–19

82, M

ildur

a Ci

ty C

ounc

il, M

ildur

a, 19

85.

35

9

Tasm

anian

writ

ers P

eter

Gra

nt a

nd Jo

nath

on H

olm

es re

call

how

rom

antic

lan

dsca

pe i

mag

ery

was

an

esse

ntial

com

pone

nt o

f ea

rly c

onse

rvat

ion

battl

es, w

hich

wer

e fo

ught

ove

r the

mea

ning

of w

ild p

laces

(Lak

e Pe

ddar

, 19

72; t

he F

rank

lin R

iver

, 198

3). O

lga

Truc

hera

s an

d Pe

ter

Dom

brov

skis’

ph

otog

raph

s, re

prod

uced

on

post

ers

and

calen

dars

, “sh

owed

sce

nes

mos

t ur

ban

dwell

ers

wou

ld n

ever

visi

t in

per

son,

[but

] the

y co

mm

unica

ted

an

idea

and

an

idea

l of

wild

erne

ss t

hat

wor

ked

mor

e po

wer

fully

on

the

imag

inat

ion

than

any

num

ber o

f arg

umen

ts c

ould

hav

e”.25

The

y w

ere

used

in

ful

l co

lour

new

spap

er a

dver

tisem

ents

in

the

lead-

up t

o th

e 19

83

elec

tion

(‘Wou

ld y

ou v

ote

for a

par

ty th

at w

ould

des

troy

this?

’). T

he ic

onic

po

wer

of

Dom

brov

kis’

Rock

Isla

nd b

end,

Ian

Mac

Lean

lat

er a

dded

, pa

rtly

rest

s on

the

fac

t th

at “

The

subl

ime

is an

aes

thet

ic of

bot

h ca

tast

roph

e an

d ho

pe”.

26

Des

pite

its

popu

larity

dur

ing

the

Fran

klin

cam

paig

n, D

ombr

ovsk

is’ s

tyle

of

‘fin

e pr

int

and

singu

lar i

mag

e’ lan

dsca

pe p

hoto

grap

hy s

oon

cam

e un

der

criti

cism

for

an

esse

ntial

ist r

endi

tion

of M

othe

r N

atur

e, th

e ev

asio

n of

ong

oing

Ind

igen

ous

habi

tatio

n an

d its

eas

y co

-opt

ion

by th

e ad

verti

sing

and

tour

ism in

dust

ries.

Scul

ptor

Julie

Gou

gh (T

raw

lwoo

lway

) lat

er r

emin

ded

audi

ence

s th

at th

e Ta

sman

ian w

ilder

ness

has

nev

er b

een

terr

a in

cogn

ita o

r te

rra

nulli

us. H

er in

stall

atio

ns s

ugge

st s

torie

s in

the

lan

dsca

pe w

hich

pre

-dat

e th

e ol

d-gr

owth

for

ests

.27 T

he w

hispe

ring

sand

s (eb

b tid

e) (1

998)

loc

ates

col

onial

con

flict

as

a pa

rt of

the

evo

lvin

g Ta

sman

ian la

ndsc

ape

(Fig

ure

11.5

). Cu

t-out

figu

res o

f nam

ed in

divi

duals

as

socia

ted

with

th

e sc

ientif

ic co

loni

al pr

ojec

t st

and

reve

aled

then

su

bmer

ged

by w

ater

as

the

tide

ebbs

and

flo

ws

along

the

sho

res

of

Eag

lehaw

k N

eck.

25 G

rant

P, ‘

Wild

art

at th

e w

orld

’s en

d’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 2

1, n

o. 1

, Mar

ch 2

001,

p. 1

4.

26

McL

ean

I, ‘S

ublim

e fu

ture

s: ec

o-ar

t an

d th

e re

turn

of

th

e re

al in

Pe

ter

Dom

brov

skis,

Jo

hn

Wol

seley

an

d A

ndy

Gol

dsw

orth

y’,

Tran

sform

ation

s, no

. 5,

D

ecem

ber 2

002,

p. 6

. 27

Gra

nt P

, ‘W

ild a

rt at

the

wor

ld’s

end’

, Artl

ink

21 n

o. 1

, 200

1, p

. 17.

See

also

La

ngto

n M

, ‘W

hat

do w

e m

ean

by w

ilder

ness

? W

ilder

ness

and

ter

ra n

ulliu

s in

A

ustra

lian

Art’

The

Syd

ney P

apers

. vol

. 8, n

o. 1

, 199

6, p

p. 1

1–31

.

36

0

F

igu

re 1

1. 5

Julie

Gou

gh, T

he w

hispe

ring s

ands

(ebb

tide

) (de

tail)

(199

8)

16 li

fe-s

ize

poke

r wor

ked

ply

figur

es in

stall

ed a

t Eag

lehaw

k N

eck

From

an

Indi

geno

us p

oint

of

view

, hum

ans

are

fully

imbr

icate

d in

the

na

tura

l w

orld

. Th

e id

ea o

f an

abj

ecte

d sp

ace

of u

tter

wild

ness

or

‘wild

erne

ss’ m

akes

no

sens

e he

re. T

he c

olon

ial c

once

ptio

n of

Tas

man

ia as

Ulti

ma

Thul

e w

as a

lso t

aken

up

in B

ea M

addo

ck’s

Terra

Spir

itus..

. wi

th a

dar

ker

shad

e of

pale

(199

3–98

), an

am

bitio

us,

delic

ately

tra

ced

36

1

circu

msc

riptio

n of

th

e isl

and.

Th

is 51

-she

et

uber

-pan

oram

a (“

A

circu

mlit

tora

l in

cised

dra

win

g of

the

ent

ire c

oast

line

of T

asm

ania”

) co

mbi

ned

and

cond

ense

d th

e to

pogr

aphi

cal f

eatu

res

of th

e co

ast d

raw

n fr

om o

rdin

ance

sur

vey

map

s (“

wor

ked

with

han

d-gr

ound

loc

al oc

hre

over

lette

rpre

ss a

nd f

inish

ed w

ith h

and-

draw

n sc

ript”

) an

d is

insc

ribed

by

Pala

wa

term

s for

cou

ntry

.28

The

lie o

f th

e lan

d29

‘New

Lef

t’ cu

ltura

l po

litics

fra

gmen

ted

from

the

mid

-198

0s a

s th

e ec

onom

ic,

trade

an

d in

dust

rial

refo

rms

of

the

Haw

ke–K

eatin

g go

vern

men

t dom

inat

ed m

ainst

ream

pol

itics

, whi

lst n

eo-li

bera

l eco

nom

ic

doct

rines

sw

ept

asid

e ol

der

tradi

tions

of

indu

stry

(an

d en

viro

nmen

tal)

regu

latio

n. E

nviro

nmen

tal c

once

rns

langu

ished

at

the

frin

ges

of s

ocial

at

tent

ion,

and

the

rad

ical

art

of t

he m

asse

s, th

e st

reet

, fo

rest

and

co

mm

unity

no

long

er se

emed

to b

e po

litica

lly e

ffect

ive.3

0 Man

y re

treat

ed

from

act

ivist

art

to u

nder

stan

d th

e th

eore

tical

shap

e of

cul

tura

l pol

itics

in

a p

ost-i

ndus

trial

wor

ld. T

he c

onto

urs

of 1

980s

cul

tura

l pol

itics

wer

e sk

etch

ed in

aca

dem

ic an

d ga

llery

con

text

s; ar

t and

wor

king

life

pro

jects

, po

ster

col

lect

ives

and

stre

et p

erfo

rman

ces

wer

e pe

rcei

ved

to b

e no

lo

nger

at t

he c

uttin

g ed

ge o

f art

prac

tice.

A

n in

crea

singl

y co

mpl

ex, p

ost-m

oder

n vi

sual

cultu

re w

as n

o pl

ace

for

‘lost

w

orld

’ no

stalg

ia,

‘one

w

orld

’ hu

man

ism

or

aest

hetic

na

ivet

y.

The

call

was

out

for a

mor

e cr

itica

l, po

st-m

oder

n lan

dsca

pe p

rojec

t tha

t w

ould

br

ing

“the

vi

sual

repr

esen

tatio

n of

th

e lan

dsca

pe

into

a

conf

ront

atio

n w

ith th

e sy

mbo

lic sy

stem

of l

angu

age.”

31

28

Titl

e pa

ge, M

addo

ck B

, Terr

a sp

iritu

s...w

ith a

dar

ker s

hade

of p

ale (1

993–

98) ,

Nat

iona

l G

aller

y of

Aus

tralia

Col

lectio

n.

29 T

his

sub-

title

is ta

ken

from

an

exhi

bitio

n cr

itica

lly d

econ

stru

ctin

g th

e co

loni

al id

eolo

gy o

f th

e A

ustra

lian

lands

cape

tra

ditio

n (P

ower

hous

e M

useu

m, c

urat

or A

nn

Step

hen,

199

2).

30 In

the

Nor

th A

mer

ican

con

text

, see

Sm

ith S

, ‘Be

yond

Gre

en’,

beyo

nd gr

een: t

owar

ds a

su

stain

able

art,

exhi

bitio

n ca

talo

gue,

Smar

t Mus

eum

of A

rt, C

hica

go a

nd In

depe

nden

t Cu

rato

rs In

tern

atio

nal,

New

Yor

k, 2

006,

p. 1

3.

31 H

olm

es J

, ‘Sh

e’s a

mov

ing

plac

e all

rig

ht: c

onte

mpo

rary

visu

al ar

ts in

Tas

man

ia”,

Stud

io In

terna

tiona

l, vo

l. 19

6, n

o. 1

002,

Oct

ober

198

3, p

. 45,

also

Ban

n S,

‘Art

into

lan

dsca

pe: t

he b

ackg

roun

d to

con

tem

pora

ry la

nd a

rt’, P

raxi

s M

, Spr

ing

1984

, cite

d

36

2

To m

ake

audi

ence

s thi

nk a

ctiv

ely a

bout

their

env

ironm

ent,

artis

ts so

ught

to

dist

ance

or

conf

ound

the

cod

es o

f ex

pres

sive

reali

sm a

nd t

he

pict

ures

que

lands

cape

. M

any

look

ed b

ack

to f

emin

ist,

conc

eptu

al an

d In

dige

nous

art

proj

ects

of

the

1970

s th

at h

ad c

ompl

icate

d sim

plist

ic na

ture

im

ager

y th

roug

h us

e of

co

mm

unity

re

sear

ch

and

oral

hi

stor

y, ph

otom

onta

ge,

colla

ge

and

inst

allat

ion.

In

th

e sp

here

of

do

cum

enta

ry

and

lands

cape

ph

otog

raph

y, fo

r in

stan

ce,

Virg

inia

Cove

ntry

’s 19

79

Bien

nale

of

Sy

dney

in

stall

atio

n ha

d as

sem

bled

ph

otog

raph

ic

docu

men

ts,

new

spap

er

clipp

ings

an

d ha

nd-w

ritte

n in

form

atio

n: W

hyha

lla:

not

a do

cume

nt a

nd H

ere a

nd t

here:

con

cerni

ng t

he

nucle

ar

powe

r in

dustr

y, (F

igur

e 11

.6).

Jon

Rhod

es’

phot

ogra

phic

se

ries

Just

anoth

er su

nrise

? (1

974–

6)

simila

rly

brou

ght

toge

ther

do

cum

enta

ry p

hoto

grap

hy a

nd t

extu

al in

form

atio

n to

chr

onicl

e th

e ba

ttle

over

Nab

alco’

s m

inin

g lea

se in

the

yea

rs im

med

iately

pre

cedi

ng

the

1976

N

orth

ern

Terr

itory

La

nd

Righ

ts

Act

. In

19

76

Mich

ael

Gall

aghe

r ha

d re

linqu

ished

the

edi

toria

l po

wer

of

the

docu

men

tary

ph

otog

raph

er

whe

n in

vite

d by

Y

ungn

gora

co

mm

unity

eld

ers

to

docu

men

t th

eir

stru

ggle

again

st

Am

ax’s

oil

drill

ing

prog

ram

on

tra

ditio

nal l

ands

at N

ooka

nbah

.32

Chip

s Mac

inol

ty, M

arie

McM

ahon

, Jan

Mac

kay,

Mich

ael C

allag

han,

Rut

h W

aller

an

d ot

hers

ex

tend

ed

their

19

70s

activ

ist

wor

k w

ith

the

Ear

thw

orks

and

lat

er R

edba

ck G

raph

ix p

oste

r w

orks

hops

in

simila

r co

mm

unity

-bas

ed p

rojec

ts in

regi

onal

and

rem

ote

Aus

tralia

. Pro

jects

like

th

ese

had

fram

ed

the

lands

cape

w

ithin

vi

sual,

hi

stor

ical,

polit

ical,

econ

omic

and

legal

conf

licts

of

inte

rest

. Th

ey d

eclar

ed i

nter

roga

tive

posit

ions

for

arti

st,

subj

ect

and

audi

ence

to

coun

ter

the

perc

eived

un

ivoc

al tra

nsm

issio

n of

doc

umen

tary

info

rmat

ion.

Jo

nath

on H

olm

es, ‘

Blin

dspo

t: re

gion

al hi

stor

ies in

Aus

tralia

’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 2

6, n

o. 1

, 20

06, p

. 68.

32

See

Haw

ke S

& G

allag

her

M, N

oonk

anba

h: wh

ose la

nd, w

hose

law, F

reem

antle

Arts

Ce

ntre

Pre

ss, P

erth

, 198

9.

36

3

F

igu

re 1

1.6

Virg

inia

Cove

ntry

, Here

and

there

: con

cerni

ng th

e nu

clear

pow

er in

dustr

y, (1

979)

A

rt G

aller

y of

New

Sou

th W

ales,

Visi

on a

nd d

isbel

ief:

Bien

nale

of

Sydn

ey (

cura

tor:

Bill

Wrig

ht).

Inst

allat

ion

of e

ight

col

lages

arr

ange

d in

tw

o ro

ws

of f

our,

each

with

gela

tin s

ilver

ph

otog

raph

s (s

ome

copy

pho

togr

aphs

) ca

ptio

ned

in d

ecal

lette

ring,

eac

h w

ith e

xten

sive

insc

riptio

ns, s

ome

with

col

laged

pho

toco

pied

new

sprin

t, w

ith lo

ose

phot

ocop

ies

of n

ewsp

aper

st

orie

s plac

ed o

n an

adj

acen

t tab

le. R

epro

duce

d by

per

miss

ion

of V

ISCO

PY L

td, S

ydne

y, 20

07

Colle

ctio

n: N

atio

nal G

aller

y of

Aus

tralia

, Can

berr

a

Long

stan

ding

fine

art

tradi

tions

also

cam

e un

der f

ire. F

rank

lin c

ampa

ign

vete

ran

Raym

ond

Arn

old

refle

cted

upo

n th

e ar

t hi

stor

ical

and

colo

nial

orig

ins

of h

is pa

nora

mic

lands

cape

s, w

hilst

rem

indi

ng c

onte

mpo

rary

au

dien

ces

of o

ther

enc

roac

hmen

ts th

at h

uman

bein

gs h

ave

mad

e on

the

lands

cape

eith

er t

hrou

gh m

inin

g, f

ores

try o

r hy

dro-

elect

ric s

chem

es

(Flor

entin

e Vall

ey, 1

983)

.33 D

avid

Ste

phen

son,

arr

ivin

g in

Tas

man

ia fr

om

33

Hol

mes

, op.

cit.

, 200

6, p

. 65.

36

4

the

Uni

ted

Stat

es in

198

2, a

lso e

xplo

ited

the

virtu

osity

of

19th

cen

tury

lan

dsca

pe p

hoto

grap

hy in

hau

ntin

g, a

rt-hi

stor

ical v

ision

s of

par

adise

lost

(F

igur

e 11

.7).

He

wor

ks

with

an

d ag

ainst

th

e br

avur

a of

th

e ph

otog

raph

ic lan

dsca

pe t

radi

tion

as a

visu

al m

atch

for

the

hub

ris o

f Ta

sman

ian h

ydro

-elec

tricit

y sc

hem

es.34

F

igu

re 1

1.7

Dav

id S

teph

enso

n, T

ravel

ler A

bove

Sea

and

City

(198

5)

Silv

er g

elat

in p

rint,

100

x 15

0cm

s

Cath

erin

e Ro

gers

’ ph

otog

raph

s sim

ilarly

pr

ompt

th

e ae

sthe

tic

cont

empl

atio

n of

scie

ntifi

c (e

colo

gica

l, ph

ysica

l, ch

emica

l) ph

enom

ena

relat

ed t

o flo

odin

g an

d cle

ar-fe

lling

, pa

ckag

ing

natu

re a

s an

obj

ect

of

langu

age

and

desir

e. Th

is po

st-c

olon

ial

stud

io-lo

re

was

fir

st

road

-test

ed i

n Ia

n Bu

rn's

sly,

pain

terly

pro

posit

ion:

"A

lan

dsca

pe i

s no

t som

ethi

ng y

ou lo

ok a

t but

som

ethi

ng y

ou lo

ok th

roug

h", e

tche

d on

34

ibid

, p. 4

5.

36

5

the

plex

iglas

s su

rfac

e of

Hom

age

to A

lbert

('sou

th t

hrou

gh H

eavy

tree

Gap

') (1

989)

and

ext

ende

d in

his

Valu

e add

ed la

ndsca

pes s

eries

of 1

995–

6.

From

the

early

198

0s, t

he la

ndsc

ape

has

been

con

sider

ed a

s a

site

whe

re

envi

ronm

enta

l phe

nom

ena

are

regi

ster

ed, r

athe

r th

an a

s a

win

dow

on

the

wor

ld.

Jane

t La

uren

ce’s

Veil

of

trees

(199

9 w

ith J

isuk

Han

) w

as a

sc

ulpt

ural,

valu

e-ad

ded

lands

cape

enc

apsu

latin

g m

any

of t

hese

ide

as.

Laur

ence

plan

ted

100

euca

lyptu

s tre

es a

long

the

spin

e of

the

Law

son

site

of S

ydne

y’s D

omain

. Re

d fo

rest

gum

s, or

igin

ally

on t

he s

ite,

wer

e in

ters

pers

ed w

ith la

rge

shee

ts o

f gl

ass

etch

ed w

ith f

ragm

ents

of

writ

ing

abou

t tre

es i

n A

ustra

lian

liter

atur

e, an

d fil

led w

ith n

ativ

e tre

e se

ed,

resin

s, ho

ney

and

ash.

Sue

Bes

t des

crib

es th

e w

ork’

s lin

earit

y as

aki

n to

a

path

way

or p

assa

ge, t

houg

h its

ope

n st

ruct

ure

(veil

s) se

rves

as:

at

onc

e a

scre

en o

r w

indo

w t

hrou

gh w

hich

the

lan

dsca

pe

pass

es, a

nd a

kin

d of

writ

ing

surf

ace,

both

for

the

vei

ls an

d tw

ists o

f sub

stan

ce, a

nd fo

r the

tree

poe

ms…

The

beh

olde

r is

mov

ed b

etw

een

the

pane

ls, a

nd b

etw

een

the

liter

al lan

dsca

pe

and

the

lands

cape

of

the

imag

inat

ion,

the

land

imbu

ed w

ith

cultu

ral m

eani

ng…

into

the

imag

inin

gs o

f lan

dsca

pe t

hat

is pa

rt of

plac

e fo

rmat

ion.

35

With

the

dem

ise o

f th

e op

en s

culp

ture

aes

thet

ic by

the

late

197

0s, t

he

influ

ence

of

anti-

hum

anist

and

pos

t-stru

ctur

alist

theo

ry a

nd th

e lu

re o

f ele

ctro

nic

tech

nolo

gies

, th

e do

or s

hut

on t

he o

ld a

esth

etic

fant

asy

of

‘nat

ura

natu

rans

’, w

ith it

s at

tend

ant r

edem

ptiv

e or

rec

oncil

iator

y ar

tistic

ge

stur

es a

nd ri

tuals

. Nat

ure

lurk

ed in

the

galle

ries t

hrou

gh th

e 19

80s a

nd

early

199

0s in

a r

epre

ssed

sta

te. S

pect

acul

ar a

nd h

ighl

y cr

afte

d in

door

sit

e-m

achi

nes

acce

nted

frag

ility

and

loss

. Rob

yn B

acke

n’s

Spru

ng (1

991)

, fo

r ins

tanc

e, tra

nsfo

rmed

the

prim

ordi

al, E

deni

c ga

rden

into

a fe

tishi

sed

souv

enir.

A s

ingl

e, ele

gant

Azo

lla fe

rn –

the

low

est o

rder

of p

lant –

was

‘g

row

n’ in

the

coils

of

a sp

are,

rust

y m

attre

ss-s

prin

g, b

arely

main

tain

ed

as a

livi

ng s

yste

m t

hrou

gh t

he m

inim

um r

equi

red

light

and

ago

nisin

gly

slow

dro

plet

s of

wat

er. O

ther

gall

ery-

base

d pr

ojec

ts b

y Ja

net L

aure

nce,

Joan

Bra

ssil,

Joan

Gro

unds

and

Joyc

e H

inte

rdin

g re

calle

d th

e w

onde

r of

the

scien

ce la

bora

tory

, spa

ce o

bser

vato

ry a

nd n

atur

al hi

stor

y m

useu

m.

35

Bes

t S, ‘

Imm

ersio

n an

d di

stra

ctio

n: th

e en

viro

nmen

tal w

orks

of

Jane

t Lau

renc

e’,

Art

and

Aus

tralia

, vol

. 38,

no.

1, 2

000,

p. 8

8.

36

6

Thes

e ar

tists

var

ious

ly re

sear

ched

a v

ariet

y of

cha

ngea

ble

and

unst

able,

no

n-pe

rman

ent

mat

erial

s (li

quid

s, ro

pe,

lead

, ch

emica

ls, e

lectri

city)

as

cata

lysts

for c

hanc

e, alc

hem

ical t

rans

form

atio

ns.

Late

r in

the

dec

ade,

a nu

mbe

r of

uns

usta

inab

le, g

aller

y-ba

sed

gard

en

inst

allat

ions

in th

e U

nite

d St

ates

pro

mpt

ed c

ritics

to lo

udly

ques

tion

the

valu

e of

brin

ging

nat

ure

into

the

gall

ery.

It w

as a

rgue

d th

at s

lick

pack

agin

g w

rapp

ed a

roun

d en

viro

nmen

tal

crise

s w

as n

ot n

eces

saril

y ed

ifyin

g.36

In A

ustra

lia, h

owev

er, t

his

has

not b

een

such

a b

ig is

sue.

The

galle

ry s

yste

m r

emain

s po

litica

lly r

eleva

nt t

oday

as

a pl

atfo

rm f

or

ecol

ogica

l com

mun

icatio

n lar

gely

due

to th

e fo

rce

of th

e A

borig

inal

art

revo

lutio

n. I

ndig

enou

s cu

rato

rs li

ke D

jon

Mun

dine

, Het

ti Pe

rkin

s an

d Br

enda

Cro

ft m

ainta

in a

n in

ter-c

onne

ctio

n be

twee

n ga

llery

art

and

the

polit

ical

realm

of

envi

ronm

enta

l de

cisio

n-m

akin

g. O

ver

the

past

tw

o de

cade

s, th

ey h

ave

expl

oite

d th

e ae

sthe

tic p

ower

of

form

al ga

llery

in

stall

atio

ns a

nd t

he c

ultu

ral p

ower

of

the

mus

eum

sec

tor

to p

ublic

ise,

educ

ate

and

auth

orise

con

nect

ions

bet

wee

n In

dige

nous

art,

land

and

sea

cla

ims a

nd c

usto

mar

y law

. To

emph

asise

their

poi

nt, Y

olgn

u se

nior

arti

st

Djam

baw

a M

araw

illi r

e-st

ated

the

claim

s mad

e by

his

peop

le’s 1

963

bark

pe

titio

n, w

arni

ng a

udien

ces a

t the

200

6 Bi

enna

le of

Syd

ney

to re

mem

ber

that

Yirr

kala

bark

pain

tings

hav

e a

broa

der

purp

ose

than

inte

rnat

iona

l ga

llery

arte

fact

s: th

eir s

tatu

s as

nat

ive

title

docu

men

ts in

a c

urre

nt b

attle

w

ith th

e N

orth

ern

Terr

itory

tour

ist a

nd fi

shin

g in

dust

ries.3

7

The

conc

ept o

f ‘co

untr

y’ In

dige

nous

artw

orks

bro

ught

pos

t-col

onial

fra

mew

orks

to

bear

on

galle

ry-b

ased

and

site

-spe

cific

eco-

art.

They

sho

wed

how

Eur

opea

n re

gion

al lan

dsca

pe t

radi

tions

hav

e be

en p

rem

ised

on t

he in

vasio

n an

d ru

inat

ion

of

othe

r pe

oples

’ co

untry

. Th

ese

tradi

tions

ha

d lo

cate

d A

borig

inali

ty in

the

rea

lm o

f th

e na

tura

l, as

the

ir m

ythi

c pr

econ

ditio

n.

The

Eur

opea

n un

ders

tand

ing

of

cultu

re

and

natu

re

as

mut

ually

ex

clusiv

e, ha

d pr

ompt

ed r

adic

al ar

tists

of

the

1950

s to

see

k at

onem

ent,

and

thos

e of

the

197

0s t

o try

to

reco

ver

a pr

esum

ed lo

st c

onne

ctio

n.

36

Avg

ikos

J, ‘G

reen

Pea

ce’,

Artf

orum

, Apr

il 19

91, p

p. 1

04–1

10.

37 M

araw

ili D

, arti

st’s

stat

emen

t, Bi

enna

le vis

itor’s

han

dboo

k, 2

006,

p. 2

1. S

ee r

elate

d st

atem

ents

in

Saltw

ater:

Yirrk

ala b

ark

pain

tings

of sea

cou

ntry,

Buk

u-La

rrng

ay M

ulka

Ce

ntre

and

Jenn

ifer I

saac

s Pub

lishi

ng, Y

irrka

la, 1

999.

36

7

Indi

geno

us a

rt an

d ph

iloso

phy

hast

ened

the

reje

ctio

n of

thi

s du

alism

, an

d th

e ro

man

tic s

earc

h fo

r ‘h

arm

ony

betw

een

peop

le an

d na

ture

’ was

re

-cas

t in

the

act

ivist

fra

mew

ork

of s

ocial

and

env

ironm

enta

l jus

tice.3

8 M

uch

of th

e ar

t fro

m In

dige

nous

com

mun

ities

of n

orth

ern

Aus

tralia

and

th

e Pa

cific

islan

ds e

mpl

oy lo

cal m

ater

ials,

are

com

mun

ity b

ased

, act

ivist

-or

ient

ed a

nd r

elat

e to

long

-hel

d be

liefs

that

eve

ryth

ing

is in

ter-

relat

ed.39

Th

is w

ork

has

help

ed l

ink

ecol

ogy

and

art

to i

dent

ity a

nd c

ultu

ral

surv

ival.

Con

vers

ely, l

oss

of id

entit

y is

seen

to

go h

and

in h

and

with

en

viro

nmen

tal d

egra

datio

n.40

Thi

s ide

ntity

rem

ains e

xtre

mel

y di

vers

e, fo

r In

dige

nous

artw

orks

exp

ress

the

view

poin

ts o

f six

hun

dred

or

so

langu

age

grou

ps i

n A

ustra

lia,

and

ther

efor

e ca

nnot

be

redu

ced

to a

n es

sent

ialist

art

hist

orica

l con

cept

. By

ac

know

ledgi

ng

thes

e co

unte

r-tra

ditio

ns,

the

Eur

opea

n id

ea

of

‘land

scap

e’ ha

s br

oade

ned

to t

he c

once

pt o

f ‘co

untry

’. ‘C

ount

ry’

is a

hand

y, E

urop

ean

term

res

pect

ful

of I

ndig

enou

s lan

d ow

ners

hip

and

cust

odian

ship

, w

hilst

re

cogn

ising

th

e po

tent

ial

of

non-

Indi

geno

us

stew

ards

hip.

It

signi

fies

post

-col

onial

re

latio

ns

with

th

e na

tura

l w

orld

whi

ch a

ckno

wled

ge I

ndig

enou

s, co

loni

al an

d an

ti-co

loni

al m

yths

an

d im

ages

, as S

outh

Aus

tralia

n ar

ts w

riter

and

nov

elist

Ste

phan

ie Ra

dok

mus

es, “

layer

ed o

n to

p of

eac

h ot

her

to m

ake

a ric

her,

deep

er p

lace”

.41

Canb

erra

-bas

ed a

rt hi

stor

ian,

Mar

y E

agle

has

also

obs

erve

d th

at i

n th

inki

ng o

f cou

ntry

:

38 A

s not

ed in

an

inte

rnat

iona

l con

text

by

US

writ

er V

ictor

Mar

golin

, ‘Re

flect

ions

on

art

& s

usta

inab

ility

’, Be

yond

gree

n: tow

ard

a su

stain

able

art,

Smar

t M

useu

m o

f A

rt,

Uni

vers

ity o

f Ch

icag

o an

d In

depe

nden

t Cu

rato

rs I

nter

natio

nal,

New

Yor

k, 2

006,

p.

21.

39

So

said

Jul

ie E

win

gton

, the

n ed

ucat

ion

offic

er a

t the

Que

ensla

nd A

rt G

aller

y, in

he

r pa

per

‘In

stall

atio

n an

d en

viro

nmen

t in

Sou

th E

ast

Asia

’, To

pogr

aphi

es

Conf

eren

ce, C

entre

for E

nviro

nmen

tal a

nd E

colo

gica

l Art,

Tow

nsvi

lle, 5

–7 A

ugus

t, 19

96,

as r

epor

ted

by C

hris

Dow

nie,

‘Top

ogra

phies

’, Pe

riphe

ry, n

o. 2

5, N

ovem

ber

1995

, p. 1

0.

40 T

his

poin

t w

as m

ade

by P

erc

Tuck

er G

aller

y D

irect

or R

oss

Sear

le in

his

pape

r ‘T

he A

rt of

Sur

viva

l’, a

t the

199

6 To

pogr

aphi

es C

onfe

renc

e. Ch

ris D

owni

e, op

. cit.

19

95, p

. 10

. 41

Rad

ok S

, ‘Pi

p St

okes

: Unf

oldi

ng th

e ni

ght’,

Art

and

Aus

tralia

, vol

. 39,

no.

4, (

June

-Ju

ly-A

ug 2

002)

p. 5

44.

36

8

[ther

e is]

no

divi

de b

etw

een

repr

esen

tatio

ns o

f lan

d an

d of

pe

ople,

hen

ce n

o ‘la

ndsc

ape’

in t

he w

este

rn s

ense

of

an

abst

ract

sc

ene

wait

ing

to

be

filled

…

Th

e A

borig

ines

en

visio

ned

jour

neys

and

rep

rese

nted

the

m i

n so

ngs

and

imag

es a

ccor

ding

to

the

wat

erho

les, f

ood

reso

urce

s, pe

ople,

lan

d rig

hts,

rites

and

per

miss

ions

invo

lved

.42

In m

ost A

borig

inal

com

mun

ities

, Ind

igen

ous

law m

ainta

ins

dist

inct

ions

be

twee

n vi

sual

repr

esen

tatio

ns,

danc

e, rit

ual,

poet

ry,

song

an

d a

ritua

lised

use

of

langu

age,

and

dict

ates

their

use

in d

eclar

ing

the

cent

ral

them

e of

pos

sess

ion,

ide

ntity

and

cus

todi

ansh

ip.

Indi

geno

us a

rt ha

s he

lped

oth

ers

unde

rsta

nd h

ow th

e law

cod

ifies

and

map

s ob

ligat

ions

to

the

land.

Th

is ha

s he

lped

rais

e th

e st

anda

rd o

f A

ustra

lian

‘land

liter

acy’,

as

Ray

Nor

man

term

s th

e ab

ility

to re

ad a

nd a

ppre

ciate

the

signs

of h

ealth

(and

ill

-hea

lth) i

n th

e lan

dsca

pe.43

A g

ood

exam

ple

is th

e w

ay L

ockh

art R

iver

pa

inte

r Sa

man

tha

Hob

son

read

s th

e lan

d in

env

ironm

enta

l, as

well

as

cultu

ral,

econ

omic

and

com

mun

ity t

erm

s (B

urn

grass

season

, 20

02).

Balk

anu’

s ‘C

arin

g fo

r Co

untry

’ m

anag

er

Barr

y H

unte

r ex

plain

s tra

ditio

nal

agric

ultu

ral

prac

tices

th

at

have

he

lped

th

e To

p E

nd’s

pote

ntial

car

bon

trade

eco

nom

y:

“F

irest

ick

farm

ing

(bur

ning

of

f),

is a

well

-doc

umen

ted

tech

niqu

e A

borig

inal

peop

le us

ed t

o re

new

and

man

age

the

land

… I

n th

e no

rth o

f A

ustra

lia i

t is

carr

ied o

ut a

t th

e be

ginn

ing

of t

he c

ool,

dry

seas

on.

Fire

stick

far

min

g se

rves

tw

o m

ain p

urpo

ses.

One

is

to d

ecre

ase

the

chan

ce o

f a

wild

fire

by r

educ

ing

the

vege

tatio

n; t

his

vege

tatio

n co

uld

be

fuel

for a

majo

r fire

. Sec

ondl

y, fir

e is

used

to c

lear

the

coun

try

and

enco

urag

e ne

w g

row

th. T

his n

ew g

row

th a

ttrac

ts w

ildlif

e, su

ch a

s ka

ngar

oos

and

othe

r sp

ecies

, w

hich

are

dra

wn

to

nibb

le on

the

soft

new

shoo

ts sp

rout

ing

afte

r the

fire

.”44

42

Eag

le M

, ‘Tr

aditi

ons

of r

epre

sent

ing

the

land

in A

borig

inal

art’,

Art

& A

ustra

lia,

vol.

37, n

o. 2

, (D

ec-Ja

n-Fe

b 19

99–2

000)

p. 2

36.

43 N

orm

an R

, ‘Re

adin

g th

e w

ater

s’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 2

1, n

o. 1

, 200

1, p

p. 1

0–13

. 44

Hun

ter

B, S

tory

place:

Ind

igeno

us a

rt of

Cape

York

and

the

rain

forest

, ex

hibi

tion

cata

logu

e, Ca

irns

Regi

onal

Gall

ery,

2003

p.2

8. S

ee a

lso F

rew

W, ‘

Use

Top

End

to

trade

in c

arbo

n, sa

y sc

ientis

ts’,

The S

ydne

y Mor

ning

Hera

ld, 2

3–24

June

, 200

7, p

. 6.

36

9

Pete

r D

ebna

m n

otes

tha

t H

obso

n’s

Burn

gra

ss sea

son,

along

with

her

St

ressed

(200

1) a

nd B

ust ‘

im u

p (2

000)

can

also

be

read

:

as a

met

apho

r fo

r th

e vo

latile

soc

ial c

ondi

tions

tha

t of

ten

unde

rmin

e th

e co

mm

unity

. The

re is

, how

ever

, an

unde

rlyin

g op

timism

th

at

‘bur

ning

of

f’ als

o in

volv

es

purg

ing

and

clea

nsin

g –

the

grow

th o

f fre

sh g

rass

and

new

hop

e.45

The

conc

ept o

f cou

ntry

also

allo

ws

artis

ts to

rein

terp

ret u

sefu

l elem

ents

fr

om t

he w

este

rn l

ands

cape

tra

ditio

n. F

or i

nsta

nce,

the

ambi

guou

s, m

oral

disc

ours

e of

uni

ty, p

rogr

ess a

nd n

atio

n af

ford

ed b

y th

e pa

nora

mic

vi

sta

rem

ains

a po

wer

ful v

isual

tool

. Tod

ay, t

he p

anor

ama

mig

ht s

till b

e pr

oprie

tal a

nd m

oral;

how

ever

it is

ofte

n m

etap

horic

ally

linke

d w

ith th

e vi

ewpo

int

of W

alter

Ben

jamin

’s ‘A

ngel

of H

istor

y’, p

rope

lled

forw

ard

into

the

fut

ure

whi

lst lo

okin

g ba

ck, a

ppall

ed a

t th

e en

viro

nmen

tal a

nd

hum

an w

reck

age

of t

he m

oder

n, i

ndus

trial

age.

Wes

tern

Aus

tralia

n ph

otog

raph

er

Rich

ard

Wol

dend

orp’

s st

unni

ng

aeria

l pa

nora

mas

oc

casio

nally

stop

us i

n th

e tra

cks o

f thi

s hist

orica

l view

poin

t. N

ewsp

aper

ph

oto-

jour

nalis

ts m

ore

regu

larly

retu

rn t

his

sorr

y ga

ze i

n pa

nora

mic

sh

ots

of t

he r

ural

wre

ckag

e lef

t by

agr

icul

tura

l in

dust

rialis

atio

n, t

he

corn

erst

one

of

Aus

tralia

n m

oder

nity

. W

e lo

ok

out

over

pa

rche

d ca

tchm

ent

area

s an

d de

grad

ed w

ater

cour

ses,

the

spoo

ky c

olou

r co

ding

of

blea

ched

cor

al or

salt

enc

rust

ed s

oil w

ith a

gui

lty s

ense

of ‘

prop

rieta

l’ re

spon

sibili

ty.

The

intim

ate

lands

cape

’s ex

pres

sion

of lo

cal a

ttach

men

t and

pro

duct

ive

stew

ards

hip

also

reso

nate

s in

cu

rren

t pr

ojec

ts

on

agric

ultu

ral

sust

ainab

ility

. Tod

ay’s

intim

ate

bush

clai

ms

ance

stry

in b

oth

Indi

geno

us

bush

tuc

ker

cere

mon

ies a

nd t

he E

nglis

h lan

dsca

pe g

arde

n tra

ditio

n. I

t ex

pres

ses

a dy

nam

ic an

d pr

oduc

tive

relat

ion

betw

een

art

and

natu

re,

whe

re n

atur

e aid

s ar

t, an

d th

e ar

tist/

gard

ener

aid

s th

e cr

eatio

n of

futu

re

natu

re.46

The

gen

re’s

emot

iona

l inv

estm

ent i

n a

corn

er o

f nat

ure

was

the

expe

rient

ial f

ocus

of

‘Kar

ra:

Kar

raw

irrap

arri

Red

Gum

For

est

Rive

r’ (2

000

Ade

laide

Fes

tival,

cur

ator

Viv

onne

Thw

aites

). A

rtist

s Ch

ris d

e

45 D

ebna

m P

, Stor

y plac

e, 20

03, p

. 101

. 46

Inst

ance

s of a

rt-na

ture

co-

prod

uctiv

ity ra

nge

wid

ely,

from

pro

ject

s ass

ociat

ed w

ith

Wat

erwor

ks,

SA C

ount

ry A

rts T

rust

, A

delai

de,

(cur

ator

Cat

herin

e M

urph

y) t

o th

e na

tive

gras

ses

gard

en p

lantin

g at

the

Cas

ula

Pow

erho

use

in L

iver

pool

, Sou

th-w

est

Sydn

ey, r

egul

arly

harv

este

d fo

r com

mun

ity g

rass

-wea

ving

wor

ksho

ps.

37

0

Rosa

, Agn

es L

ove

and

Jo C

raw

ford

pro

vide

d a

quiet

er s

pace

with

in th

e Fe

stiv

al, b

y in

stall

ing

a ba

rk-s

catte

red,

for

est b

ush

track

in th

e fe

stiv

al’s

arts

pace

. The

gall

ery

bush

walk

impl

icitly

lead

out

side

to th

e ol

d, g

narle

d tre

es a

long

the

near

by R

iver

Tor

rens

, som

e pr

e-da

ting

whi

te s

ettle

men

t, an

d be

arin

g sc

ars

of A

borig

inal

timbe

r-col

lect

ing

activ

ities

47. T

he s

ettle

r-lan

dsca

pe th

emes

of ‘

bush

enc

hant

men

t’ an

d th

e ar

tisan

al kn

owled

ge o

f th

e ar

tist

and

craf

ts w

orke

r all

res

onat

e w

ith t

he im

porta

nt I

ndig

enou

s les

son

that

eco

logi

cal c

omm

unica

tion

is bo

th c

ogna

te a

nd se

nsat

e.

Mar

y E

agle,

writ

ing

on E

mily

Kng

war

reye

’s Bi

g ya

m dr

eami

ng (

1995

) de

scrib

es h

ow th

e ca

nvas

is w

orke

d fr

om t

he o

utsid

e in

, ren

derin

g th

e ya

ms’

jour

ney

as t

hey

spre

ad u

nder

grou

nd (

Figu

re 1

1.8)

. K

ngw

arre

ye

pain

ted

at

arm

’s re

ach,

de

mon

stra

ting

her

know

ledge

, po

wer

an

d co

nnec

tions

with

the

yam

’s lif

e fo

rce:

“Unl

ike

her

wes

tern

cou

nter

parts

sh

e ne

ither

had

nor

req

uire

d an

enc

ompa

ssin

g vi

ew t

hrou

gh l

ooki

ng.

She

look

ed a

t her

wor

k fr

om th

e po

int o

f view

of a

wom

an d

iggi

ng fo

r ya

m t

uber

s.”48

Pain

ting

as t

racin

g w

ith f

inge

rs,

Eag

le co

ntin

ues,

“Her

ha

nds

unde

rsto

od

her

subj

ect

thro

ugh

a lif

etim

e.”

The

prac

tical

philo

soph

y em

bedd

ed in

thi

s ar

twor

k ed

ucat

es A

ustra

lians

abo

ut t

acit

know

ledge

, ow

ners

hip

and

resp

onsib

ility

for c

ount

ry.

F

igu

re 1

1.8

Em

ily K

ngw

arre

ye, B

ig ya

m dr

eami

ng (1

995)

47

Viv

onne

Thw

aites

, ‘K

arra

: Kar

raw

irrap

arri

red

gum

for

est r

iver

’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 3

1,

no. 1

, Mar

ch 2

001,

p. 3

6.

48 M

ary

Eag

le, o

p cit

. 199

9–20

00, p

. 236

37

1

Acr

ylic

on c

anva

s, 29

1.1

x 80

1.8

cm, p

rese

nted

thr

ough

the

Art

Foun

datio

n of

Vict

oria

by

Don

ald a

nd Ja

net H

olt a

nd fa

mily

, Gov

erno

rs, 1

995.

Nat

iona

l Gall

ery

of V

icto

ria, M

elbo

urne

. Co

pyrig

ht E

mily

Kng

war

reye

, 19

95.

Repr

oduc

ed b

y pe

rmiss

ion

of V

ISCO

PY L

td,

Sydn

ey,

2007

The

inlan

d ha

s co

me

into

its

own

as a

pos

itive

rat

her

than

a n

egat

ive

spac

e. A

s H

etti

Perk

ins

and

Han

nah

Fink

not

ed w

hen

intro

ducin

g th

e 20

00 e

xhib

ition

, Pa

puny

a: gen

ius

and

genesi

s, m

arki

ng t

he c

ente

nary

of

Fede

ratio

n, o

ne (p

asto

ral)

lands

cape

trad

ition

(Heid

elber

g) h

as g

iven

way

to

ano

ther

– “

an a

ppre

ciatio

n of

the

spiri

tual

reso

nanc

e of

the

dese

rt”.49

Th

e w

ell-e

stab

lishe

d ar

t cen

tres

of th

e W

este

rn D

eser

t hel

ped

audi

ence

s m

enta

lly re

popu

late

the

exist

entia

l voi

d of

the

mod

erni

st h

eartl

and.

Th

is op

ened

the

spac

e fo

r re

new

ed in

tere

st in

the

anti-

colo

nial,

dry

land

visio

ns o

f D

rysd

ale,

Boyd

, N

olan

and

Nam

atjir

a. Tr

acey

Mof

fatt’

s ph

otog

raph

ic se

ries

Up

in t

he s

ky (

1997

) re

visit

ed D

rysd

ale’s

cros

s-cu

ltura

l bad

lands

. Her

ass

ociat

ed 1

990

film

Nigh

t crie

s, w

hich

is in

par

t an

imag

inar

y se

quel

to C

harle

s Ch

auve

l’s 1

955

assim

ilatio

nist

epi

c Jed

da,

vivi

dly

evok

es h

ome

as h

eartb

eat a

nd p

rison

, mot

her–

daug

hter

relat

ions

an

d st

olen

gen

erat

ions

. It w

as fi

lmed

in a

stu

dio

set a

gain

st a

Nam

atjir

a-st

yle b

ackd

rop

(Jedd

a’s o

peni

ng c

redi

ts w

ere

them

selv

es p

roje

cted

aga

inst

a

gene

ric ‘N

amat

jira’

wat

erco

lour

).

Susa

n N

orrie

has

also

ofte

n ev

oked

a D

rysd

ale-e

sque

orc

hest

ratio

n of

na

tura

l di

sast

er a

nd h

uman

men

ace.

Her

200

6 vi

deo

Blac

k wi

nd i

s an

ele

giac

trib

ute

to t

he A

borig

inal

Tent

Em

bass

y ha

untin

g Ca

nber

ra’s

parli

amen

tary

tria

ngle,

and

also

to

mem

ories

of

nucle

ar t

estin

g at

M

arali

nga,

with

its

leg

acies

of

di

sper

sal,

blin

dnes

s an

d sic

knes

s (F

igur

e11.

9).

The

cam

era

slow

ly ro

lls o

ut a

n ex

tend

ed d

rive-

by d

olly-

shot

of t

he w

ind-

swep

t cam

psite

, sto

ppin

g, s

tarti

ng u

p ag

ain, m

ovin

g in

an

d ar

ound

tent

s and

was

hing

-line

s to

again

circ

le th

e be

ltway

in a

n ed

dy

of m

ovem

ent,

like

win

d m

ovin

g ac

ross

cou

ntry

. N

orrie

’s 20

03 v

ideo

in

stall

atio

n U

ND

ERT

OW

sim

ilarly

sur

roun

ds t

he s

pect

ator

with

slo

w-

mov

ing,

om

inou

s im

ager

y of

won

dero

us a

nd o

min

ous

envi

ronm

enta

l ph

enom

ena

(tem

pest

s, bu

bblin

g m

ud

pool

s, du

st

stor

ms,

cher

ry

49

Per

kins

H &

Fin

k H

, ‘Co

verin

g gr

ound

: the

cor

pore

ality

of

lands

cape

’, A

rt &

A

ustra

lia, v

ol. 3

8, n

o. 1

(Se

pt-O

ct-N

ov 2

000)

, p. 7

5. S

ee a

lso L

angt

on M

, ‘Sa

cred

ge

ogra

phy’,

in

Per

kins

H &

Fin

k H

, Pap

unya

Tula

: gen

esis a

nd g

eniu

s, A

rt G

aller

y of

N

ew S

outh

Wale

s, Sy

dney

, 200

0, p

p. 2

58–2

67.

37

2

blos

som

s, en

viro

nmen

tal

disa

ster

s) a

nd e

quall

y in

expl

icabl

e sc

ientif

ic

expe

rimen

ts.50

Neit

her

seem

to

hook

up

– a

them

e th

at N

orrie

has

de

velo

ped

over

a d

ecad

e of

inve

stig

atin

g en

viro

nmen

tal p

heno

men

a an

d hu

man

pre

dict

ion.

HA

VO

C, h

er v

ideo

ins

talla

tion

at t

he A

ustra

lian

Pavi

lion

for

the

2007

V

enice

Bi

enna

le,

cont

inue

s to

ex

plor

e ou

r dr

eadf

ully

dislo

cate

d en

viro

nmen

tal t

imes

. As

the

artis

t ex

plain

s of

the

V

enice

pro

ject,

“I c

ontin

ue t

o de

al w

ith m

y on

goin

g in

tere

st i

n th

erm

odyn

amic

s, w

hich

is a

n in

dica

tor o

f diso

rder

with

in o

ur ti

mes

. Thi

s pr

ojec

t is

loca

ted

in t

he r

egio

n of

the

‘rin

g of

fire

’ –

a gl

imps

e in

to

wor

lds

whi

ch a

re b

oth

geol

ogica

lly a

nd p

oliti

cally

vol

atile

… I

ndon

esia

acts

as a

micr

ocos

m fo

r the

bro

ader

con

ditio

n of

the

wor

ld.”

51

50 N

orrie

S,

UN

DE

RTO

W,

Art

Gall

ery

of N

ew S

outh

Wale

s Co

ntem

pora

ry A

rt Pr

ojec

ts, A

rt G

aller

y of

New

Sou

th W

ales,

Sydn

ey, 2

003.

51

Nor

rie S

, H

AV

OC,

Arti

st’s

Stat

emen

t, A

u3 V

enice

Bien

nale

2007

, A

ustra

lia

Coun

cil w

ww

.aust

ralia

veni

cebi

enna

le.co

m.au

/con

tent

/view

/68/

115/

, ac

cess

ed 1

3 Ju

ne 2

007.

37

3

Fig

ure

11.

9 Su

san

Nor

rie, B

lack

wind

(200

6)

DV

D in

stall

atio

n, M

ori G

aller

y, Sy

dney

An

aest

hetic

gre

en a

udit?

Co

ncer

n fo

r th

e en

viro

nmen

tal

impa

ct o

f ar

twor

ks,

proc

esse

s an

d ob

jects

has

pro

mpt

ed in

form

al gr

een

audi

ts, r

e-ig

nitin

g an

d ex

tend

ing

the

1980

s in

dust

rial

healt

h an

d sa

fety

cam

paig

ns o

f th

e st

ate-

base

d A

rtwor

kers

’ U

nion

s. St

udio

res

iden

cies

now

scr

een

pets

, th

e us

e an

d di

spos

al of

tox

ic m

ater

ials

and

the

rem

oval

or a

ltera

tion

of f

lora

. “W

hat’s

wro

ng w

ith t

ying

this

artw

ork

to t

his

tree?

” or

“W

hat

do y

ou

norm

ally

do w

ith th

e w

aste

toxi

c re

sins

you

use

in y

our w

ork?

” ar

e no

w

com

mon

que

stio

ns.52

Co

uld

we

also

mak

e a

met

apho

ric g

reen

aud

it of

art

writ

ing?

At t

he v

ery

least

, cr

itics

are

sta

rting

to

asce

rtain

whe

ther

an

artw

ork

is sim

ply

a pa

ssiv

e ob

ject o

r an

act

ive

forc

e. Is

it s

omet

hing

that

is s

impl

y cr

eate

d,

or is

it so

met

hing

that

cre

ates

? A re

new

ed e

mph

asis

on c

reat

ion

leads

to

view

ing

the

pano

ply

of e

co-a

rt pr

ojec

ts w

ith a

mor

e cr

eativ

e ae

sthe

tic

resp

onse

than

one

der

ived

sol

ely f

rom

trad

ition

al cu

rato

rial a

nd c

ritica

l fr

amew

orks

. In

the

field

of p

ublic

art,

for i

nsta

nce,

Dav

id C

rans

wick

obs

erve

s a

shift

fr

om ‘p

lonk

art’

(obj

ect-i

n-th

e-sp

ace)

to a

rt as

res

tora

tion

ecol

ogy.

This

shift

has

dov

etail

ed w

ith t

he e

mer

ging

eco

disc

iplin

es t

hat

are

also

conc

erne

d w

ith t

he s

tudy

of

relat

ions

hips

, sup

plan

ting

outm

oded

idea

s ab

out

hum

ans

bein

g do

min

ant

and

sepa

rate

fro

m t

he p

laces

in w

hich

th

ey

live.

Arti

sts

now

sh

are

know

ledge

w

ithin

co

llabo

rativ

e, in

terd

iscip

linar

y te

ams f

or e

colo

gica

l res

tora

tion.

53

For i

nsta

nce,

Jenn

ifer T

urpi

n an

d M

ichae

lie C

raw

ford

’s 19

96 T

he m

emor

y lin

e call

ed u

pon

loca

l res

iden

ts to

help

plan

t a 2

70-

by 4

-met

re e

xpan

se

of r

ye-c

orn

gras

s m

eand

erin

g alo

ng w

hat

was

the

orig

inal

cour

se o

f a

cree

k in

Fair

field

, a s

ubur

b of

sou

th w

est

Sydn

ey (

Figu

re 1

1.10

). Th

is ea

rly

stag

e of

Fa

irfiel

d Ci

ty

Coun

cil’s

‘Res

torin

g th

e W

ater

s’

52 G

rant

P, o

p cit

. 200

5, p

. 39.

53

Cra

nsw

ick D

, ‘Br

idgi

ng a

rt an

d ec

olog

y’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 2

1, n

o. 1

, Mar

ch 2

001.

37

4

envi

ronm

enta

l re

habi

litat

ion

proj

ect

aimed

to

get

the

loca

ls in

volv

ed,

and

the

gras

s lin

e w

as th

e fir

st s

tage

in th

e re

mov

al of

a c

oncr

ete

stor

m

wat

er d

rain

and

rest

orat

ion

of a

sus

tain

able

cree

k lin

e.54 T

he c

omm

unity

pl

antin

g su

cces

sful

ly re

vers

ed lo

cal c

ultu

ral a

nd e

nviro

nmen

tal a

mne

sia,

and

high

light

ed t

he v

ulne

rabi

lity

of t

he u

rban

land

scap

e. Su

ch p

rojec

ts

are

evalu

ated

for

the

stre

ngth

of

their

inte

r-rela

ted

envi

ronm

enta

l and

ae

sthe

tic d

imen

sions

. It

is di

fficu

lt, h

owev

er,

to f

orm

alise

im

agin

ativ

e re

sour

ces

for

evalu

atin

g ar

t as

eco

logi

cal

com

mun

icatio

n. A

s U

nite

d St

ates

art

hist

orian

Vict

or M

argo

lin a

rgue

s: W

e w

ill n

eed

a ne

w a

esth

etic

to e

mbr

ace

the

thre

e ca

tego

ries

of o

bjec

t, pa

rticip

atio

n, a

nd a

ctio

n w

ithou

t pr

ivile

ging

the

co

nven

tiona

l fo

rmal

char

acte

ristic

s of

ob

jects

. In

th

is ae

sthe

tic,

the

dist

inct

ions

be

twee

n ar

t, de

sign,

an

d ar

chite

ctur

e w

ill b

lur a

s crit

ics d

iscov

er n

ew re

latio

ns b

etw

een

the

valu

e of

form

and

the

valu

e of

use

.55

This

aest

hetic

is n

eces

saril

y co

ntin

gent

, and

cou

ld n

ever

be

a sin

gular

ca

tego

ry e

mbr

acin

g all

obj

ects

or p

artic

ipat

ory

actio

ns. N

or c

an it

be

set

dow

n in

ad

vanc

e; ra

ther

, lik

e fe

min

ist

aest

hetic

s, it

deve

lops

a

desc

riptiv

e, ev

aluat

ive

and

analy

tic p

urch

ase

in ta

ndem

with

spe

cific

art

proj

ects

, aud

ience

s an

d co

ntex

ts. I

t w

ould

be

silly,

for

inst

ance

, to

set

out a

prio

ri ae

sthe

tic fr

amew

orks

for p

roje

cts

that

welc

ome

the

pote

ntial

lo

ss o

f co

ntro

l ove

r m

ediu

m a

nd m

essa

ge t

hat

com

es w

ith w

orki

ng in

pu

blic,

as

in

th

e un

scrip

ted,

in

tera

ctiv

e pr

oces

ses

of

Squa

tspa

ce’s

popu

lar

anti-

deve

lopm

ent

Tour

s of

beau

ty (2

004–

6)

thro

ugh

the

back

stre

ets,

com

mun

ity c

entre

s an

d ho

usin

g co

mm

issio

n ap

artm

ents

of

inne

r-Syd

ney

Redf

ern

and

Wat

erlo

o.56

54 L

ynn

V, ‘

Jenn

ifer T

urpi

n an

d M

ichae

lie C

raw

ford

: The

cho

reog

raph

y of

tim

e, lig

ht

and

wat

er’,

Art

& A

ustra

lia, v

ol. 3

9, n

o. 2

, Dec

200

1-Ja

n/Fe

b 20

02, p

p. 2

38–2

47.

55 M

argo

lin V

, ‘R

efle

ctio

ns o

n ar

t an

d su

stain

abili

ty’,

in B

eyond

gree

n: tow

ard

a su

stain

able

art,

Smar

t M

useu

m o

f A

rt, U

nive

rsity

of

Chic

ago

and

Inde

pend

ent

Cura

tors

Inte

rnat

iona

l, N

ew Y

ork,

200

6, p

. 29.

56

Ihl

ein L

, ‘A

rt as

situ

ated

exp

erien

ce’,

If yo

u see

some

thin

g, sa

y som

ethin

g, (e

d. d

e So

uza

K &

Beg

g Z

), ex

hibi

tion

proj

ect d

ocum

enta

tion

and

cata

logu

e, Sy

dney

/Melb

ourn

e,

Janu

ary-

Febr

uary

200

7, p

. 9. F

or a

bro

ader

app

raisa

l of

relat

ed a

ctiv

ist p

rojec

ts s

ee

Dea

n B,

‘See

ing

wha

t we

need

to se

e’, re

altim

e, no

. 78,

Apr

il-M

ay 2

007,

p. 4

6.

37

5

F

igu

re 1

1.10

Jen

nife

r Tu

rpin

and

Mich

aelie

Cra

wfo

rd, T

he m

emor

y lin

e (1

996)

Co

rn g

rass

, 27

0 x

4 x

1 m

. Cl

ear

Padd

ock

Cree

k, F

airfie

ld,

Sydn

ey.

For

the

Aus

tralia

n co

nser

vatio

n an

d ‘R

esto

ring

the

Wat

ers’

Proj

ect’

with

Sch

affe

r Ba

rnsle

y La

ndsc

ape

Arc

hite

cts.

Phot

o: Ia

n H

obbs

.

Com

posit

iona

l un

ity,

dyna

mic

sym

met

ry,

aest

hetic

em

otio

n, t

ruth

to

mat

erial

s, sc

ulpt

ural

pres

ence

and

the

tona

l nua

nces

of t

he z

one

syst

em

are

amon

g th

e m

any

crite

ria u

sed

to d

iscus

s m

oder

n ar

t. E

co-a

esth

etic

s in

trodu

ces

valu

es li

ke s

usta

inab

ility

, bio

dive

rsity

, env

ironm

enta

l act

ivism

an

d In

dige

nous

com

mun

ity p

roto

cols,

alth

ough

the

crit

ical

and

art

hist

orica

l lan

guag

e fo

r th

ese

seem

ingl

y in

stru

men

tal o

utco

mes

hav

e ye

t

37

6

to b

e de

velo

ped

beyo

nd th

eir u

se a

s sim

ple

desc

ripto

rs.57

Und

oubt

edly,

ou

r cr

itica

l lan

guag

e w

ill b

road

en a

s au

thor

s, su

bjec

ts,

objec

ts a

nd

proc

esse

s ch

ange

. Bu

sh t

ucke

r, sa

linity

, tid

al pa

ttern

s an

d ra

infa

ll ar

e no

w c

omm

on a

rtist

ic m

otifs

. A

rtist

ic pr

oces

ses

have

exp

ande

d to

in

clude

dire

ct s

eedi

ng,

hand

-plan

ting,

fer

al pe

st c

ontro

l an

d w

ater

sa

mpl

ing.

58 A

delai

de a

rtist

Gav

in M

alone

pro

pose

s a c

omm

on v

iew:

It

is e

asy

to c

onsid

er a

scu

lptu

ral f

orm

to

be a

riv

er v

alley

, pa

int s

troke

s to

be

the

plan

ting

of tr

ees,

shru

bs a

nd g

rass

es,

the

grub

bing

of f

enne

l and

poi

soni

ng o

f blac

kber

ry to

be

the

editi

ng

of

supe

rflu

ous

cont

ent.

But

brin

g in

ot

hers

–

colla

bora

tion

with

en

gine

ers,

arch

itect

s, ur

ban

plan

ners

, lan

dsca

pe p

lanne

rs –

tho

se w

ho i

nflu

ence

the

for

m o

f ou

r pu

blic

spac

e an

d in

fras

truct

ure.

Then

an

othe

r lay

er

– ec

olog

ists,

bota

nist

s, cu

ltura

l pl

anne

rs,

and

impo

rtant

ly,

artis

ts …

To

man

ipul

ate

an u

rban

, rur

al, o

r rem

ote

lands

cape

, to

cha

nge

its a

esth

etic

from

deg

rade

d to

sus

tain

able,

to

med

iate

and

act o

n th

e w

ay p

eopl

e un

ders

tand

and

live

in th

e bi

o-ph

ysica

l wor

ld, c

an b

e an

d is

art.

59

Man

y of

the

pro

jects

disc

usse

d he

re s

hare

a s

pecu

lativ

e, w

orki

ng

fram

ewor

k of

env

ironm

enta

l fo

rces

or

elem

ents

. G

iven

the

spa

ce

avail

able,

let u

s ela

bora

te h

ow ju

st o

ne o

f the

se e

lemen

ts c

ould

be

used

to

help

fram

e a

‘gre

en a

esth

etics

’. N

o do

ubt t

he m

ost i

mpo

rtant

elem

ent

in A

ustra

lia a

t pr

esen

t is

wat

er. S

teph

anie

Rad

ok h

as a

lread

y co

nvey

ed

the

poet

ic fo

rce

of w

ater

as a

n im

porta

nt m

otif

in c

onte

mpo

rary

art:

Art

that

con

cern

s its

elf w

ith s

ome

man

ifest

atio

n of

wat

er

dem

onst

rate

s w

hat

can

be

cons

ider

ed

a ne

w

phas

e in

A

ustra

lian

art

abou

t th

e lan

d. A

fter

Mab

o, …

afte

r th

e A

borig

inal

art t

hat m

akes

kno

wn

the

daily

pat

tern

s of

alm

ost

ever

y re

gion

of

Aus

tralia

, thi

s lan

d ca

n ne

ver

be s

een

in th

e sa

me

way

aga

in. A

borig

inal

land,

occ

upied

land

, lan

d co

vere

d w

ith s

torie

s, bi

rths

and

deat

hs, i

t is

yet r

eady

to re

ceiv

e m

ore

57

The

pos

itive

valu

e of

crit

ical

desc

riptio

n ha

s, ho

wev

er, b

een

ably

arg

ued

by N

ew

Zea

land

art c

ritic

Jus

tin P

aton

in ‘T

he s

hado

w e

cono

my’,

Art

Mon

thly

Aus

tralia

, no.

20

0, Ju

ne 2

007,

pp.

9–1

1.

58 R

adok

S &

Malo

ne G

, ‘R

emed

iatio

n as

art’

, Artl

ink,

vol

. 25,

no.

4, 2

005,

p. 4

7.

59 M

alone

G,

‘The

Eco

logy

of

Art

or A

rt as

Eco

logy

’, Br

oads

heet,

vol

. 27

, no

. 7,

Su

mm

er 1

998,

p. 5

.

37

7

livin

g an

d to

dee

pen

our u

nder

stan

ding

of w

hat w

as a

nd m

ay

still

be.

Our

und

erst

andi

ng o

f th

is hi

stor

y m

akes

bot

h bi

tter

and

swee

t our

cur

rent

occ

upat

ion.

Eac

h of

us a

rgua

bly

com

es

from

riv

er p

eopl

e, or

plai

ns p

eopl

e, bo

ok p

eopl

e or

boa

t pe

ople,

peo

ple

of th

e ni

ght,

of th

e fis

h, o

f th

e m

ount

ains

or

of th

e se

a. M

any

of u

s do

not

kno

w w

hat k

ind

of p

eopl

e ar

e ou

rs o

r whe

re w

e be

long

but

per

haps

we

can,

by

liste

ning

to

our

intu

ition

s an

d fe

eling

s, un

ders

tand

whe

re w

e fit

in a

nd

take

res

pons

ibili

ty f

or th

e ef

fect

s on

the

wor

ld p

rodu

ced

by

our a

ctio

ns a

nd w

ays o

f thi

nkin

g.60

Saltw

ater

Ra

dok

impl

ies t

hat

wat

er is

a p

rodu

ctiv

e, sc

arce

, sac

red

and

cont

este

d ele

men

t.61 B

eyon

d th

at, w

e ca

n m

ake

no e

asy

gene

ralit

ies. Y

olgn

u ar

tists

, fo

r in

stan

ce, r

elate

the

poet

ics o

f w

ater

to s

pecif

ic ac

tions

on

land

and

sea

right

s in

the

ir re

gion

. A

cas

e in

poi

nt i

s th

e 19

99-2

001

trave

lling

ex

hibi

tion

Saltw

ater:

Yirr

kala

bark

pain

tings

of sea

and

cou

ntry,

whi

ch w

as

prom

pted

by

Gar

rana

li cu

stod

ian W

äka

Mun

ungu

rr’s

disc

over

y of

an

illeg

al ba

rram

undi

fish

ing

cam

p hi

dden

am

ongs

t the

man

grov

es n

ear t

he

hom

eland

com

mun

ity o

f Bä

niya

la (F

igur

e 11

.11)

. As

And

rew

Blak

e, ar

t co

ordi

nato

r at Y

irrka

la’s B

uku-

Larr

ngay

Mul

ka C

entre

exp

lains

:

This

appa

rent

ly sm

all in

ciden

t be

gan

the

mon

umen

tal s

tory

of

the

pro

duct

ion

of 8

0 ba

rk p

aintin

gs –

set

aga

inst

the

ba

ckdr

op o

f a

natio

nal l

egal

and

polit

ical m

aelst

rom

. Whi

le th

ese

bark

s w

ere

bein

g pa

inte

d,

we

saw

th

e hi

stor

ic re

cogn

ition

of

Nat

ive

Title

in t

he s

ea b

y th

e Fe

dera

l Cou

rt on

e da

y …

and

its

extin

guish

men

t by

the

Parli

amen

t lite

rally

tw

o da

ys l

ater

. Th

roug

h all

thi

s, th

e ev

ents

set

in

train

by

Wäk

a’s d

iscov

ery

cont

inue

d as

ine

xora

bly

as a

n in

com

ing

tide.

Thes

e w

orks

and

this

cata

logu

e ha

ve b

een

brou

ght i

n by

th

at ti

de.62

60

Rad

ok S

, ‘A

wat

er o

r a li

ght’,

Artl

ink, v

ol. 2

1, n

o. 1

, Mar

ch 2

001,

p. 4

7.

61 S

ee a

lso L

angt

on M

, ‘W

ater

scap

es: t

he so

cial

and

spiri

tual

cons

truct

ion

of w

ater

in

Abo

rigin

al so

cietie

s’ In

Dav

id B

, Bar

ker B

and

McN

iven

I J (

eds.)

The

socia

l arch

aeolo

gy

of in

digen

ous s

ocieti

es, A

borig

inal

Stud

ies P

ress

, Can

berr

a, 20

06.

62 B

lake

A,

‘Pre

face

’, Sa

ltwat

er: Y

irrka

la ba

rk p

aintin

gs of

sea c

ount

ry, B

uku-

Larr

ngay

M

ulka

Cen

tre a

nd Je

nnife

r Isa

acs P

ublis

hing

, Yirr

kala,

199

9, p

. 6.

37

8

F

igu

re 1

1.11

Min

iyaw

any

Yun

upin

u, F

rom

Bira

nybi

rany

(c. 1

996–

1997

) Pa

inte

d st

ringy

bark

, 178

x 1

07cm

s, re

prod

uced

in t

he e

xhib

ition

cat

alogu

e Sa

ltwat

er: Y

irrka

la Ba

rk P

aintin

gs of

Sea

Coun

try,

Buku

-Lar

rnga

y M

ulka

Cen

tre a

nd J

enni

fer

Isaa

cs P

ublis

hing

, Y

irrka

la, 1

999

Floa

ting

an e

xhib

ition

of

bark

pain

tings

abo

ut S

ea R

ight

s on

an

inco

min

g po

litica

l tid

e is

a po

wer

ful

ecol

ogica

l ae

sthe

tic p

latfo

rm.

The

imag

e of

est

uarin

e eb

b an

d flo

w p

rovi

des a

poe

tic, c

ross

-cul

tura

l m

etap

hor

for

reco

ncili

atio

n an

d ex

tend

s th

e co

ncep

t of

Nat

ive

Title

to

the

sea.

Cura

tor D

jon

Mun

dine

exp

lains

how

Th

e Y

olgn

u us

e w

ater

as

a to

ol, a

mod

el fo

r ph

iloso

phisi

ng.

The

estu

arin

e ar

ea o

f a ri

ver h

as d

iffer

ent p

lant s

peci

es a

long

its

ban

k. T

he c

onst

ant r

enew

al w

here

fre

sh a

nd s

alt m

ix a

nd

37

9

retu

rn i

s kn

own

as g

anm

a. Th

is is

used

as

a m

etap

hor

to

desc

ribe

a di

ffere

nt k

ind

of m

ixin

g: m

ixin

g Ba

landa

thou

ght

from

ove

rsea

s (s

altw

ater

) an

d in

dige

nous

wisd

om f

rom

the

lan

d (fr

esh

wat

er) t

o cr

eate

new

life

and

way

s of t

hink

ing.6

3

The

imag

e of

edd

ying,

con

verg

ing

or b

lend

ing

philo

soph

ical

curr

ents

ca

rries

pol

itica

l im

plica

tions

in o

ther

coa

stal

wat

ers.

In th

e m

etro

polit

an

cont

ext o

f sup

er-m

arin

a re

al es

tate

, Syd

ney

artis

t Nico

le E

llis

imag

es th

e oc

ean

as a

con

duit

“for

idea

s an

d bo

dies

, hist

ory

& k

now

ledge

… H

ow

does

wat

er c

arry

the

mem

ories

of t

hose

who

live

d on

its s

hore

s and

eve

n on

the

wat

er a

nd b

elow

the

wat

erlin

e …

?”6

4 E

llis

wor

ked

with

Jam

es

McG

rath

to

digi

tally

tab

ulat

e th

e co

nten

tious

sub

mar

ine

spac

es o

f Sy

dney

Har

bour

for

the

‘G

reen

Olym

pics

’ A

rts F

estiv

al. T

idal

vector

s: 20

00 m

appe

d th

e co

nges

ted

patte

rns

of b

oat

hulls

, bor

dere

d by

mor

e st

ream

lined

und

erw

ater

cur

rent

s m

ovin

g ar

ound

lan

dfor

ms

and

the

cont

ours

of h

arbo

ur in

lets a

nd c

hann

els (F

igur

es 1

1.12

a &

11.

12b)

. O

n th

e Ta

sman

ian c

oast

, th

e lai

ssez

-faire

mix

ing

of s

eaw

ater

and

in

trodu

ced

mat

erial

ang

ers

artis

t Ja

ne Q

uon,

a s

elf-p

rocla

imed

‘bo

at

pers

on’.

Quo

n pr

ojec

ts d

igita

lised

pho

togr

aphi

c im

ages

on

indu

stria

l st

ruct

ures

to c

omm

unica

te th

e th

reat

to T

asm

ania’

s mar

ine

envi

ronm

ent

from

dum

ped

ship

ball

ast.

Her

200

0 in

stall

atio

n Ba

llast

exch

ange

was

de

velo

ped

from

a c

ombi

natio

n of

phe

nom

enol

ogica

l an

d sc

ientif

ic

rese

arch

on

coas

tal e

colo

gy g

ained

thro

ugh

her

wor

k as

a d

iver

(Fig

ure

11.1

3). G

eogr

aphe

r Pet

e H

ay w

rites

:

… s

he h

as s

een

the

insh

ore

rava

ged

by p

rolif

erat

ing

Pacif

ic st

arfis

h (A

ster

ias

amur

ensis

), th

e E

urop

ean

gree

n cr

ab

(Car

cinu

s m

aena

s), a

Jap

anes

e se

awee

d (U

nder

ia pi

nnat

ifida

), an

d to

xic

dino

flage

llate

s, all

int

rodu

ced

per

the

agen

cy o

f du

mpe

d ba

llast

wat

er. I

sland

s ar

e es

pecia

lly v

ulne

rabl

e to

the

pertu

rbat

ion

wro

ught

by

inva

sive

spec

ies,

dive

rsity

bein

g ty

pica

lly lo

wer

and

eco

logi

cal r

elatio

nshi

ps le

ss r

esili

ent t

han

on c

ontin

enta

l lan

dmas

ses.”

65

63

Mun

dine

D, ‘

Saltw

ater

’, Sa

ltwat

er: Y

irrka

la Ba

rk P

aintin

gs of

Sea

Coun

try, 1

999,

p. 2

0.

64 R

adok

S, o

p. c

it., 2

001,

p. 4

9.

65 B

allas

t Exc

hang

e was

dev

ised

for

the

Bass

Stra

it Fo

rum

in L

aunc

esto

n, D

ecem

ber

2000

. See

Pet

er H

ay, ‘

Din

oflag

ellat

es, a

nd A

rt: J

ane

Quo

n’s

Mar

ine

Inst

allat

ions

’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 2

1, n

o. 1

, Mar

ch 2

001,

p. 1

9 Ja

ne Q

uon,

‘Phe

nom

enol

ogy

and

artis

tic

38

0

(a

)

(b

) F

igu

re 1

1.12

a an

d 1

1.12

b N

icole

Elli

s (w

ith J

ames

McG

rath

), Ti

dal

vector

s: 20

00

Dig

ital i

nsta

llatio

n, M

useu

m o

f Syd

ney,

Olym

pic

Arts

Fes

tival,

imag

e co

urte

sy o

f the

arti

sts a

nd

dLux

med

ia/ar

ts 2

000.

Per

miss

ion

by V

iscop

y Lt

d, S

ydne

y, 20

07

prax

is: a

n ap

plic

atio

n to

mar

ine

ecol

ogica

l com

mun

icatio

n’, L

eonar

do, v

ol. 3

8, n

o. 3

, 20

05, p

p. 1

85–1

91.

38

1 F

igu

re 1

1.13

Jane

Quo

n, B

allas

t exc

hang

e (de

tail)

, 200

0 M

ixed

med

ia in

stall

atio

n of

pol

ysty

rene

, alu

min

ium

, ste

el c

able

and

fitt

ings

, glas

s, vi

deo,

slid

e pr

ojec

tion,

soun

d, 2

40 x

240

x 4

20 c

m

From

the

Top

End

to

the

Sout

hern

Oce

an, f

luid

met

apho

rs d

escr

ibe

proc

esse

s of

mar

ine

pollu

tion,

hist

orica

l flo

tsam

and

mor

e pr

oduc

tive

mix

ing

of th

ough

t, in

form

atio

n an

d ac

tion.

Salt

wat

er m

ight

also

be

used

to

evo

ke t

he g

ener

ativ

e m

ix o

f in

terd

iscip

linar

y an

d cr

oss-

cultu

ral

know

ledge

em

bodi

ed in

the

pro

duct

ion

and

rece

ptio

n of

the

se w

orks

. In

com

ing

polit

ical a

nd c

ultu

ral t

ides

bea

r th

ese

proj

ects

thro

ugh

galle

ry

spac

es a

nd a

rts f

estiv

als t

o bo

b up

aga

inst

our

scie

ntifi

c an

d po

litica

l in

stitu

tions

. A

s th

e Y

irrka

la ar

tists

sug

gest

, po

litici

ans

are

star

ting

to

ackn

owled

ge t

he c

ultu

ral

auth

ority

of

thei

r in

tern

atio

nally

-reco

gnise

d ar

twor

ks. T

asm

anian

arts

writ

er D

avid

Cra

nsw

ick a

dmits

, how

ever

, tha

t th

e sc

ientif

ic co

mm

unity

is s

till b

ackw

ard

in a

ccor

ding

due

aut

horit

y to

ar

t an

d to

in

dige

nous

kn

owle

dge

whe

n it

com

es

to

ecol

ogic

al su

stain

abili

ty –

a r

esid

ue o

f sc

ientif

ic do

min

ance

in

the

hist

ory

of

38

2

mod

erni

sm.66

The

re r

emain

s a

min

ority

scie

ntist

or

wild

life

rang

er

perc

eptio

n of

‘sur

ely

the

natu

ral w

orld

can

spe

ak f

or it

self’

, a le

gacy

of

the

old

natu

re/c

ultu

re o

ppos

ition

, and

a r

eluct

ance

to

unde

rsta

nd h

ow

art a

dds a

noth

er si

de to

the

cons

erva

tion

stor

y.

Fres

hwat

er

Our

riv

er s

yste

ms,

the

prov

erbi

al lif

eblo

od o

f A

ustra

lian

econ

omic

hi

stor

y, ha

ve b

ecom

e as

stre

ssed

and

dep

leted

as

the

agric

ultu

ral

clich

é its

elf.

Art

proj

ects

fe

ed

the

syst

em

as

back

wat

ers,

cree

ks,

wat

erho

les a

nd t

ribut

aries

, ca

rryin

g pr

ovisi

onal

imag

es o

f su

bjec

tivity

, cu

stom

ary

and

tacit

env

ironm

enta

l kn

owled

ge t

o co

me

up a

gain

st

the

main

stre

am c

urre

nt o

f A

ustra

lian

hist

ory.

Ther

e is

no e

asy

or

abun

dant

flo

w

in

a ba

dly

regu

lated

an

d ov

erdr

awn

syst

em.

Art

proj

ects

can

rem

ind

us o

f hi

stor

ical

mom

ents

whe

n it

coul

d

have

bee

n ot

herw

ise,

and

cham

pion

ove

rlook

ed l

ocal

know

ledge

of

wat

er m

anag

emen

t.

For

her

ten-

year

pro

ject T

he D

arlin

g (2

000)

, Rub

y D

avie

s de

cora

ted

the

wall

s of

the

gall

ery

with

pho

togr

aphi

c pr

ints

, ex

plor

ers’

obse

rvat

ions

w

ritte

n in

riv

er m

ud, a

nd in

clude

d st

ories

and

son

gs o

n co

mpa

ct d

isc

(Fig

ure

11.1

4).

Trac

ing

the

pass

age

of C

harle

s St

urt

and

Thom

as

Mitc

hell

over

the

Dar

ling

Rive

r in

the

183

0s,

Dav

ies r

etur

ned

to h

er

child

hood

hom

e at

Wilc

anni

a in

far

wes

tern

New

Sou

th W

ales

to

expl

ore

diffe

rent

view

poin

ts –

col

onial

, pa

stor

al, I

ndig

enou

s –

of t

he

lands

cape

. Th

ese

imag

es a

re s

oake

d in

the

pho

togr

aphi

c hi

stor

y of

Ch

arles

Bay

liss’s

188

6 ph

otog

raph

ic dr

ift d

own

the

flood

ed D

arlin

g Ri

ver.

Dav

ies u

ses a

pin

hole

cam

era,

whi

ch re

quire

s ext

ende

d ex

posu

res,

givi

ng h

er ti

me

to lo

ok a

roun

d fo

r the

“sh

ell m

idde

ns, c

ampf

ires,

cano

e tre

es a

nd fl

ints

” of

the

Baka

ndji

peop

le alo

ng th

e riv

er b

anks

and

allu

vial

flood

plai

n. T

he p

inho

le ca

mer

a gi

ves

a vi

gnet

te-li

ke b

lur

arou

nd t

he

perip

hery

and

a c

entra

l foc

al po

int f

or e

ach

imag

e, of

ferin

g a

clarit

y of

vi

sion

whi

ch st

retc

hes t

o in

finity

.

66

Cra

nsw

ick D

, op

cit. 2

001,

p. 4

7. C

rans

wick

cite

s an

impo

rtant

exc

eptio

n in

the

empl

oym

ent o

f ind

igen

ous a

rtist

Tex

Sku

lthor

pe a

s a se

nior

con

sulta

nt to

the

Mur

ray

Dar

ling

Basin

Com

miss

ion

in th

e lat

e 19

90s.

Skul

thor

pe w

as g

iven

sign

ifica

nt re

spec

t an

d au

thor

ity a

t sen

ior l

evel

s of i

nteg

rate

d pl

anni

ng, a

nd h

is pa

intin

gs a

bout

the

land

“wer

e ac

cept

ed a

s a c

ompl

ete

stat

e of

the

envi

ronm

ent r

epor

t for

the

Mur

ray

Rive

r.”

38

3

F

igu

re 1

1.14

Rub

y D

avies

‘…st

ories

(det

ail)’,

from

The

Dar

ling (

2000

) Si

lver

gela

tin p

inho

le ph

otog

raph

, 63.

5 x

80cm

Hist

orica

l an

d po

litica

l cla

rity

is gr

ante

d th

roug

h re

cogn

ition

of

the

intim

ate

lands

cape

pho

togr

aphy

that

has

fram

ed th

e riv

er fr

om th

e ea

rly

trade

in v

iews t

o th

e 20

th c

entu

ry p

hoto

geni

c st

ockm

en w

ho d

rove

thei

r ca

ttle

acro

ss t

he p

ages

of

popu

lar il

lust

rate

d m

agaz

ines

like

Walk

abou

t. W

alkab

out’s

reg

ular

fea

ture

, ‘O

ur c

amer

aman

’s w

alkab

out’

tailo

red

the

pict

ures

que,

the

curio

us a

nd t

he c

onve

rsat

iona

l for

arm

chair

tra

velle

rs.

Dav

ies’

swee

ping

riv

er g

ums

reca

ll th

e ea

rlier

nar

rativ

e st

yle a

nd p

ay

tribu

te to

thes

e ph

otog

raph

ic b

ackb

lock

s. Th

e lat

er w

ork

rew

rites

ear

lier

trave

logu

es. D

avies

aler

ts u

s to

the

chan

ges

that

hav

e ta

ken

plac

e to

the

river

, an

d in

clude

s re

cord

ed l

ocal

narr

ativ

es a

bout

irr

igat

ion,

dro

ught

an

d di

spos

sess

ion.

Rad

ok d

iscus

ses D

avis’

wor

k in

relat

ion

to th

e co

tton

indu

stry

, with

its

impa

ct o

n th

e riv

er, “

… b

reat

hing

life

into

the

hum

an

popu

latio

ns o

f pl

aces

suc

h as

Bou

rke

whi

le tra

gica

lly s

ettin

g ba

ck t

he

38

4

healt

h of

the

riv

er a

nd i

ts f

lora

and

fau

na”.

67 D

avis

look

s ov

er t

he

shou

lder

s of

the

Walk

abou

t ca

ttlem

en a

nd b

eyon

d he

r ow

n, b

rief

child

hood

mem

ories

, to

disc

over

the

endu

ring

conn

ectio

n th

e Ba

kand

ji fe

el w

ith th

e riv

er, a

s th

ey h

ave

celeb

rate

d in

imag

e an

d so

ng: “

We

are

the

peop

le of

the

river

”; “

My

peop

le ar

e Ba

kand

ji, th

e riv

er k

now

s w

ho

we

are”

.68

F

igu

re 1

1.15

Mich

ael

Riley

, U

ntitl

ed (

Locu

st) (

2000

), fr

om t

he C

loud

se

ries

Inkj

et p

rint o

n ba

nner

pap

er, r

epro

duce

d by

per

miss

ion

of V

ISCO

PY L

td, S

ydne

y, 20

07

Wira

djur

i/K

amila

roi a

rtist

Mich

ael R

iley’s

Clou

d se

ries

(200

0) is

also

a

poet

ic ca

talo

gue

of ic

onic

objec

ts re

calle

d fr

om th

e ar

tist’s

chi

ldho

od o

n th

e M

acqu

arie

Rive

r at D

ubbo

, nor

th w

este

rn N

ew S

outh

Wale

s (F

igur

e 11

.15)

. Cu

rato

r D

jon

Mun

dine

lis

ts

them

: “A

flo

atin

g fe

athe

r, a

67

Ste

phan

ie Ra

dok,

op

cit 2

001,

pp.

47–

48.

68 A

s su

ng b

y Ba

kand

ji Ch

ildre

n’s

Choi

r, St

The

rese

Com

mun

ity S

choo

l, W

ilcan

nia.

Co

mpa

ct d

isc a

ccom

pany

ing

Dav

ies’ s

eries

‘The

Dar

ling’

.

38

5

swee

ping

win

g, a

vig

ilant

ang

el an

d th

e co

ws

from

the

miss

ion

farm

. A

singl

e A

ustra

lian

plag

ue lo

cust

in f

light

, ref

errin

g to

the

cycli

cal s

war

ms

of l

ocus

ts,

a co

mfo

rting

bib

le an

d a

grac

eful

em

blem

atic

retu

rnin

g bo

omer

ang”

.69 E

ach

isolat

ed o

bjec

t is

float

ed a

gain

st a

n ex

pans

e of

blu

e sk

y an

d cir

rus

cloud

, re

dolen

t w

ith c

onfli

ctin

g m

emor

ies o

f hu

man

oc

cupa

tion

and

disp

osse

ssio

n, s

wee

t pain

, pro

duct

ivity

and

deg

rada

tion.

Ri

ley’s

imag

es p

robe

the

sig

hts

glos

sed

or o

verlo

oked

on

whi

tefe

lla

walk

abou

ts, a

nd M

undi

ne’s

acco

mpa

nyin

g co

mm

enta

ry r

ecou

nts

stor

ies

left o

ut o

f pas

tora

list a

nd tr

avell

ers’

tales

: the

Bre

elong

Mas

sacr

e in

190

0;

John

Oxl

ey’s

surv

eyin

g of

the

are

a; th

e se

tting

up

of t

he T

albra

gar

Miss

ion

unde

r th

e A

borig

inal

Prot

ectio

n Bo

ard

arou

nd 1

900;

and

the

im

porta

nt fi

rst m

eetin

gs o

f the

Abo

rigin

al Pr

ogre

ssiv

e A

ssoc

iatio

n in

the

1930

s. M

urra

y-D

arlin

g ph

otog

raph

ers

like

Riley

and

Dav

ies o

ffer

the

post

colo

nial

flips

ide

of a

gric

ultu

ral l

ands

cape

pho

togr

aphy

and

mod

ern

trave

l writ

ing.

The

well

-kno

wn

pain

ter

Mar

gare

t Pr

esto

n w

as o

ne s

uch

artis

t–tra

velle

r. Sh

e jo

urne

yed

up th

e D

arlin

g Ri

ver

in 1

942

to p

aint i

ts

tribu

tary

, th

e W

arre

go R

iver

, at

Cun

nam

ulla

and

Char

levill

e.70

The

resu

lting

pain

tings

hau

nt D

avies

’ ca

refu

lly c

ompo

sed

phot

ogra

phs

of

river

ban

ks a

nd o

ver-a

rchi

ng, e

legan

t gum

s (b

arna

ra o

r, as

the

Baka

ndji

call

it, t

he ‘

main

tre

e on

the

riv

er’).

71 D

avies

lin

gers

to

rem

embe

r, w

here

as P

rest

on t

rave

lled

smar

tly, i

n a

hurr

y to

spo

t an

d de

scrib

e th

e ne

xt p

ictur

esqu

e w

ater

ing-

hole,

whi

ch w

as a

lway

s:

A s

hort

mot

or d

rive

away

. Bre

war

rina,

one

of th

ese,

look

s a

thrif

ty,

up-to

-dat

e pl

ace

on t

he B

arw

on,

nee

Dar

ling.

Thi

s riv

er h

as a

borig

inal

fishe

ries

clos

e to

the

tow

n. T

hey

cons

ist

of s

tone

s, bi

g an

d lit

tle, p

laced

abo

ut t

he r

iver

to

catc

h th

e fis

h as

they

com

e do

wn.

Bre

war

rina

has h

ad m

any

abor

igin

es,

but

they

are

now

drif

ting

to B

ourk

e, m

uch

to t

he l

atte

r’s

anno

yanc

e.72

Brew

arrin

a ph

otog

raph

er M

ervy

n Bi

shop

also

set

Pre

ston

’s un

witt

ing

racis

m t

o rig

hts

in h

is re

turn

trip

up

the

Dar

ling

Rive

r. H

is 20

04 s

lide

69

Mun

dine

D, ‘

On

a w

ing

and

a pr

ayer

’ in

Mich

ael R

iley:

Clou

d, ex

hibi

tion

cata

logu

e, A

ustra

lian

Cent

re fo

r Pho

togr

aphy

, Syd

ney,

2000

, p. 3

. 70

Pre

ston

M,

‘Hun

ting

the

War

reng

o’,

Aus

tralia

Week

end

Book

, no

. 2,

194

2, U

re

Smith

, Syd

ney,

pp. 1

70–7

4.

71 B

utch

er M

, Bak

andj

i edu

cato

r, cit

ed T

he D

arlin

g, 20

00.

72 P

rest

on, o

p. c

it, 1

942,

pp.

171

–72.

38

6

and

vide

o m

onol

ogue

, Fl

ash

blak,

de

scrib

es

how

fa

r-flu

ng

river

co

mm

uniti

es f

rom

all

over

wer

e un

will

ingl

y br

ough

t fro

m th

eir c

ount

ry

to B

rew

arrin

a. W

ith f

ellow

pho

togr

aphe

r W

illiam

Yan

g, B

ishop

dro

ve

back

hom

e to

see

the

ruin

s of

the

old

miss

ion,

now

redu

ced

to a

pile

of

build

ing

rubb

le a

nd a

sol

itary

roa

d-sig

n. H

e m

ade

a w

ide-

angl

ed,

phot

ogra

phic

mon

umen

t of

the

brid

ge o

ver

Hos

pita

l Cr

eek,

a l

ocal

mas

sacr

e sit

e. Bi

shop

is

no s

lick

pres

ente

r, ho

wev

er; t

hese

bea

utifu

lly

fram

ed im

ages

are

sin

gular

ly re

ticen

t. Th

e m

emor

ies a

re to

o pa

infu

l for

ea

sy w

ords

and

im

ages

, an

d th

e of

ten

diffi

cult

lives

of

Brew

arrin

a’s

pres

ent I

ndig

enou

s com

mun

ities

are

brie

fly n

oted

with

‘blak

’ hum

our o

r ve

iled

sadn

ess.

Bish

op is

far

mor

e fu

lsom

e in

nam

ing

ever

y ni

ece

and

neph

ew,

aunt

and

unc

le, g

rand

mot

her,

fath

er a

nd n

eigh

bour

ing

child

fe

atur

ed i

n ea

ch p

ictur

e. Br

ewar

rina

seem

s fil

led w

ith I

ndig

enou

s fa

mili

es a

nd c

omm

unity

hist

ories

, if

only

Mar

gare

t Pr

esto

n kn

ew.

Thes

e ph

otog

raph

s ad

d pe

rson

al,

aest

hetic

, po

litica

l an

d hi

stor

ical

argu

men

ts t

o ou

r en

viro

nmen

tal

cons

ider

atio

n of

the

Mur

ray-

Dar

ling

basin

. Th

e w

ork

of t

hese

pho

togr

aphe

rs r

e-im

agin

es t

he h

istor

y of

oc

cupa

tion,

exp

lora

tion

and

depi

ctio

n alo

ng th

e D

arlin

g Ri

ver t

o he

lp u

s th

ink

thro

ugh

issue

s of

ow

ners

hip,

dev

elopm

ent

and

regu

latio

n of

the

riv

er sy

stem

.

Wat

er T

able

D

owns

tream

in

Sunr

aysia

, w

ater

is

ever

ythi

ng.

It is

now

com

mon

kn

owled

ge t

hat

the

Mur

ray-

Dar

ling

Rive

r is

on t

he ‘

top

ten’

list

of

enda

nger

ed ri

vers

of t

he w

orld

, alo

ng w

ith th

e N

ile, t

he Y

angt

ze, t

he R

io

Gra

nde

and

Dan

ube.

The

raisi

ng o

f th

e w

ater

tab

le an

d in

crea

sing

salin

ity in

soi

l is

caus

e fo

r co

mm

on a

larm

, as

salin

ity a

udits

pre

dict

ten

mill

ion

tons

per

yea

r m

ovin

g th

roug

h th

e lan

dsca

pe b

y 21

00.

The

Sunr

aysia

Irrig

atio

n Sc

hem

e w

as A

ustra

lia’s

earli

est l

arge

-sca

le re

gulat

ion

of th

e M

urra

y Ri

ver.

Dea

kin

visit

ed C

alifo

rnia

in 1

885,

and

subs

eque

ntly

push

ed

irrig

atio

n leg

islat

ion

thro

ugh

the

Vict

orian

pa

rliam

ent.

Sunr

aysia

’s pu

mpi

ng st

atio

ns a

nd ir

rigat

ion

chan

nels

wer

e in

plac

e by

the

turn

of

cent

ury,

form

ing

the

back

bone

of

Sout

h-E

aste

rn A

ustra

lia’s

agric

ultu

re. A

rtist

Meg

an J

ones

cre

ated

a s

eries

of

digi

tally

-man

ipul

ated

ph

otog

raph

s of

the

sch

eme’s

hist

ory

for

the

Mild

ura

Alfr

ed D

eaki

n Ce

ntre

in

2000

–01.

She

res

earc

hed

and

man

ipul

ated

loc

al, h

istor

ical

phot

ogra

phs

to g

ive

a hi

stor

ical

snap

shot

of

this

artif

icial

lan

dsca

pe,

along

with

sat

ellite

im

ages

and

pan

oram

ic p

hoto

grap

hs.

We

note

the

38

7

prog

ress

ive

degr

adat

ion

of t

he r

iver

sys

tem

and

ack

now

ledge

spo

radi

c, re

cent

effo

rts f

or m

ore

effic

ient

and

less

was

tefu

l w

ater

use

, m

ore

exte

nsiv

e so

il su

rvey

s, in

crea

sed

drain

age

and

mon

itorin

g of

gr

ound

wat

er –

all

part

of t

he r

egio

nal

Salin

ity M

anag

emen

t Pl

an.

Malc

olm

Mac

Kin

non

note

s tha

t:

Dw

ell lo

ng e

noug

h w

ithin

it, a

nd it

’s po

ssib

le to

lose

sig

ht o

f th

e m

ultip

le lay

ers

of i

nter

vent

ion

whi

ch h

ave

crea

ted

the

plac

e. It’

s th

e sa

me

illus

ion

as t

hat

prac

tised

in

the

neo-

Arc

adian

pa

rks

and

gard

ens

of

Palla

dian

E

nglan

d,

or

rom

antic

lan

dsca

pe

pain

tings

fr

om

the

18th

an

d 19

th

cent

uries

.73

Meg

an

Jone

s m

akes

th

is lay

erin

g of

in

terv

entio

n vi

sible,

th

roug

h ph

otog

raph

ing

dere

lict o

r ou

tdat

ed p

umpi

ng s

tatio

n eq

uipm

ent,

and

by

digi

tally

piec

ing

toge

ther

360

-deg

ree

pano

ram

as t

o gu

ide

the

view

er

thro

ugh

inte

rcon

nect

ed

sites

. H

er

inte

ract

ive

win

dow

di

splay

or

ches

trate

s im

ages

and

sou

nds

to s

imul

ate

the

cont

rolle

d flo

w o

f wat

er

and

salt

thro

ugh

a co

nstru

cted

env

ironm

ent.

F

igu

re 1

1.16

Alex

Ker

shaw

, A la

ke w

ithou

t wat

er (2

006)

(det

ail)

Mix

ed m

edia

inst

allat

ion,

Arts

pace

, Syd

ney

2006

73 M

cKin

non

M, ‘

Sim

ulat

ing

the

flow

’, A

rtlin

k, v

ol. 2

1, n

o. 1

, Mar

ch 2

001,

p. 5

7.

38

8

A la

ke w

ithou

t wat

er w

as a

com

mun

ity-b

ased

pro

ject t

hat a

lso c

once

rned

its

elf w

ith re

lated

env

ironm

enta

l, ae

sthe

tic, s

ocial

and

eco

nom

ic leg

acies

of

poo

r lan

d m

anag

emen

t (I

llust

ratio

n 16

). Co

ordi

nate

d by

arti

st A

lex

Ker

shaw

(with

sou

nd a

rtist

Gail

Prie

st),

this

elega

nt m

ulti-

scre

en v

ideo

in

stall

atio

n (A

rtspa

ce,

Sydn

ey

2006

) in

volv

ed

loca

l re

siden

ts

from

W

eere

ewa,

a dr

y lak

e in

the

Sout

hern

Tab

lelan

ds o

f N

ew S

outh

Wale

s. A

n au

ctio

neer

call

s an

im

agin

ary

land

auct

ion

for

wha

t is

beco

min

g Sy

dney

sea

-cha

nger

rea

l-est

ate.

A r

ace-

calle

r sc

ans

the

deso

late

lake

bed

and

calls

an

imag

inar

y ra

ce.

Two

surv

eyor

s in

Aku

bras

run

dow

n a

mos

sy h

ill,

scat

terin

g ‘p

lanni

ng’

pape

r at

the

ir fe

et.

They

the

n slo

wly

tru

dge

back

up

the

hill,

clea

ning

up

the

mes

s, to

the

surp

risin

gly

viol

ent,

ampl

ified

sou

nd o

f sc

runc

hing

pap

er. A

n ad

jacen

t sc

reen

sho

ws

a dr

y, sa

ndy

river

bed

bein

g re

-plan

ted

by

Land

care

lab

our.

“Lik

e an

ov

erze

alous

ges

ture

tow

ards

ref

ores

tatio

n, t

he t

rees

are

plac

ed w

here

ev

en w

eeds

cou

ldn’

t gr

ow”,

tho

ught

rev

iew

er B

ec D

ean.

74 I

n th

e di

stan

ce, a

you

ng m

usici

an fr

om th

e lo

cal b

rass

ban

d pl

ays a

trum

pet i

n a

large

, em

pty

conc

rete

wat

er-ta

nk. H

er m

elan

chol

y tu

ne u

nder

scor

es th

e ra

ce-c

all a

nd a

uctio

neer

’s ch

ant,

boun

cing

arou

nd th

e ga

llery

wall

s is i

f it

wer

e als

o an

em

pty

tank

. G

oogl

e E

arth

aer

ial s

hots

of

the

area

are

pr

ojec

ted

on ta

bles

in th

e ce

ntre

of t

he ro

om: “

From

the

air, f

arm

s lo

ok

like

geom

etric

abs

tract

ions

, pun

ctua

ted

here

and

ther

e by

the

appe

aran

ce

of w

hite

-rim

med

, blac

k w

elts o

f salt

that

hav

e ris

en to

the

surf

ace

of th

e ea

rth.”

Nea

rby

Gou

lbur

n re

siden

ts w

ere

the

first

to

vote

for

rec

yclin

g th

eir d

rinki

ng w

ater

and

Can

berr

a’s C

otte

r Dam

was

at a

hist

oric

low

as

the

com

mun

ity a

rt pr

ojec

t to

ok f

orm

. Dea

n’s

revi

ew a

ccur

ately

not

ed

how

thi

s pr

ojec

t of

fere

d re

gion

al an

d m

etro

polit

an S

ydne

y au

dien

ces

a “t

imely

m

edita

tion

on

prop

riety

, pl

anni

ng,

spec

ulat

ion

and

the

myt

hopo

eia o

f stru

ggle

in th

e A

ustra

lian

lands

cape

”.75

Cat

chm

ent

Rive

r sy

stem

s clo

ser

to r

egio

nal

and

met

ropo

litan

cen

tres

are

mor

e co

mm

only

cons

ider

ed a

s w

ater

cat

chm

ent

area

s, an

d ar

e su

bseq

uent

ly hi

ghly

regu

lated

thr

ough

scie

ntifi

c, to

wn

plan

ning

, en

gine

erin

g an

d ec

onom

ic ov

ervi

ew.

This

level

of i

nter

est

and

cont

rol

prov

ides

a

sugg

estiv

e, in

terd

iscip

linar

y m

etap

hor

for

envi

ronm

enta

lly-b

ased

74

Dea

n B,

“A

des

olat

ion

too

real’

, Rea

ltime

, onl

ine,

Apr

il 20

07.

75 ib

id

38

9

cura

toria

l st

rate

gies

, pa

rticu

larly

in

rega

rd

to

publ

ic ar

t pr

ojec

ts.

Incr

ease

d lo

cal g

over

nmen

t sp

onso

rshi

p of

res

tora

tive

proj

ects

req

uire

ar

tists

to

fram

e re

crea

tiona

l sit

es,

prov

ide

imag

inat

ive

and

prot

ectiv

e po

ints

of a

cces

s to

wet

lands

or s

ites

of h

istor

ical,

cul

tura

l and

eco

logi

cal

signi

fican

ce.

Thes

e co

mm

unity

-bas

ed,

loca

l go

vern

men

t pr

ojec

ts c

an

som

etim

es p

rove

to b

e lo

cally

pop

ular

, but

illu

stra

tive,

tend

entio

us a

nd

visu

ally

unex

citin

g. M

ore

ofte

n th

an n

ot, t

hese

pro

blem

s re

sult

from

a

wea

k cu

rato

rial s

elect

ion

fram

ewor

k or

a fl

awed

com

miss

ioni

ng p

roce

ss,

and

an u

nim

agin

ativ

e ae

sthe

tic r

espo

nse

to a

rt an

d en

viro

nmen

t. A

s a

basic

mea

sure

, Alan

Cru

icksh

ank

argu

es, p

oint

ing

to A

delai

de’s

woe

ful

envi

ronm

enta

lly-b

ased

pub

lic a

rt, t

he s

o-ca

lled

publ

ic –

tow

n pl

anne

rs,

coun

cillo

rs,

may

ors,

coun

cil a

rchi

tect

s an

d ge

nera

l ‘p

ublic

opi

nion

’ (“

mor

e of

ten

than

not

, priv

ate-

opin

ion-

as-p

ublic

-inte

rest

”) –

sho

uld

be

kept

out

of t

he c

omm

issio

ning

and

impl

emen

tatio

n lo

op.76

M

ore

succ

essf

ul re

stor

atio

n co

mm

issio

ns h

ave

give

n cu

rato

rs a

nd a

rtist

s cr

eativ

e co

ntro

l. St

rong

cur

ator

ial s

trate

gies

are

par

ticul

arly

impo

rtant

w

hen

blur

ring

the

tradi

tiona

l dist

inct

ion

betw

een

prac

tical

and

disc

ursiv

e ar

ts, a

s w

hen

art,

com

mun

ity a

nd e

cono

mic

dev

elopm

ent c

ombi

ne w

ith

landc

are

and

empl

oym

ent

prog

ram

s, as

in

‘bes

t pr

actic

e’ co

mm

unity

-ba

sed

arts

ce

ntre

s lik

e Y

irrka

la,

Ern

abel

la an

d H

erm

anns

berg

. In

re

gion

al an

d m

etro

polit

an a

reas

, th

e pr

imac

y of

disc

ours

e in

arti

stic

prac

tice,

and

the

fact

that

arti

sts

need

not

be

acco

unta

ble,

as d

esig

ners

ar

e, to

pro

duce

som

ethi

ng u

sefu

l, ha

s gi

ven

artw

orks

spe

cial s

tatu

s in

a

mus

eum

or g

aller

y.77 T

his o

pens

the

poss

ibili

ty fo

r gall

ery-

base

d ar

t to

be

a pl

atfo

rm f

or e

colo

gica

l ac

tivism

, an

d fo

r co

mm

unity

and

cam

paig

n m

ater

ials

to c

laim

a d

iscur

sive

pow

er u

suall

y gr

ante

d to

‘disi

nter

este

d’

imag

es a

nd o

bjec

ts. G

roun

ded:

art,

activ

ism, e

nviro

nmen

t (Ca

mpb

ellto

wn

Art

Gall

ery,

2007

, cur

ator

s Li

sa H

avila

h an

d Jo

Hol

der)

brou

ght

toge

ther

ar

tists

and

com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ists f

rom

sout

h-w

est S

ydne

y to

refle

ct o

n th

e co

mpr

omise

d st

ate

and

reck

less d

evelo

pmen

t of t

heir

loca

l env

ironm

ent.

An

eclec

tic i

nsta

llatio

n w

ove

hist

orica

l co

nnec

tions

bet

wee

n fin

e ar

ts,

craf

ts a

nd r

esid

ent

actio

ns t

o hi

ghlig

ht t

he I

emm

a go

vern

men

t’s p

oor

76

Cru

icksh

ank

A, ‘

Tyra

nny

of c

onse

nsus

: who

put

‘pub

lic’ i

n pu

blic

art’,

and

why

do

“the

y” th

ink

they

ow

n it?

’, Br

oads

heet,

vol

. 32,

no.

2, (

June

, Jul

y &

Aug

ust 2

003)

, pp.

12

–15.

77

Mar

golin

, op

cit, 2

006,

pp.

24–

25.

39

0

perf

orm

ance

on

ov

er-d

evelo

pmen

t, w

ater

an

d en

ergy

re

sour

ces

man

agem

ent i

n th

e lea

d-up

to th

e 20

07 st

ate

elect

ion.

A

Goo

gle

Ear

th m

ap h

elpfu

lly p

in-p

oint

ed a

reas

of

inte

rest

fro

m t

he

ocea

n (d

isput

ed lu

xury

dev

elopm

ents

at

Sand

on P

oint

on

the

Illaw

arra

co

ast)

whe

re lo

cal p

ainte

rs re

prise

trad

ition

al pi

ctor

ial c

onve

ntio

ns o

f the

in

timat

e lan

dsca

pe to

con

vey

loca

l atta

chm

ent.

Alo

ngsid

e, a

fray

ed a

nd

burn

t Abo

rigin

al fla

g w

as d

rape

d alo

ngsid

e ph

otog

raph

s of

the

Sand

on

Poin

t A

borig

inal

Tent

. Th

e es

carp

men

t m

eets

the

sea

at

the

near

by

hist

oric

Bulli

coa

l se

am,

ackn

owled

ged

with

min

ers’

unio

n re

liqua

ry

objec

ts a

nd S

ydne

y ar

tist D

ebor

ah V

augh

an’s

vide

o lo

op o

f co

al tra

ins

wea

ving

thr

ough

the

esc

arpm

ent

tunn

els t

o th

e K

embl

a G

rang

e BH

P st

eelw

orks

. U

p th

e Bu

lli P

ass,

the

App

in l

ong-

wall

col

liery

has

a l

ess

illus

triou

s hi

stor

y of

uns

uita

ble

tech

nolo

gy,

inad

equa

te r

egul

atio

n an

d re

sulta

nt d

evas

tatio

n of

the

Avo

n an

d N

epea

n Ri

ver

syst

ems.

A v

ideo

do

cum

enta

ry b

y th

e Sa

ve O

ur R

iver

s gr

oup

links

the

sout

hern

coa

lfield

s w

ith si

mila

r riv

erbe

d co

llaps

es in

the

Upp

er H

unte

r.

On

the

Cum

berla

nd P

lains

, loc

al bo

tani

cal d

raw

ings

by

Soni

a Be

nnet

t an

d Jo

hn R

iley

are

sold

to h

elp f

und

the

prot

est a

gain

st th

e A

ustra

lian

Def

ence

site

sell

-off,

a s

igni

fican

t re

mna

nt o

f ur

ban

bush

with

hig

h lev

els o

f bi

odiv

ersit

y, in

cludi

ng r

oam

ing

mob

s of

em

u. T

he e

xhib

ition

th

en t

race

s Sy

dney

’s fa

st-s

praw

ling

grow

th c

orrid

or u

pstre

am t

o th

e N

epea

n Ri

ver h

eadw

ater

s, th

e W

inge

carr

ibee

wet

lands

and

War

raga

mba

D

am. T

hese

are

med

iated

by

Alis

on C

lous

ton

play

ing

Huc

kleb

erry

Fin

n in

a s

culp

tura

l boa

t-rid

e do

wn

the

Nep

ean

Rive

r, ac

com

pani

ed b

y ae

rial

map

s, a

taxo

nom

y of

end

ange

red

loca

l bi

rds

and

the

soun

d of

an

incr

easin

g vo

lum

e of

wat

er tr

ickl

ing,

bur

blin

g th

en ru

nnin

g an

d cr

ashi

ng

out

to s

ea.

Nea

rby

Toni

War

burto

n’s

Wall

chr

onolo

gy:

trans

actio

ns t

o ca

tchme

nt (

1990

–200

7) p

oses

a la

rge,

scul

ptur

al fig

ure

of a

boy

fac

ing

a w

all, a

rms u

prais

ed in

the

act o

f drin

king

a b

eake

r of w

ater

. He

seem

s to

look

thro

ugh

the

botto

m o

f his

uptu

rned

glas

s lik

e bi

nocu

lars t

o re

ad th

e po

etic

wall

-text

des

crib

ing

the

shee

r, se

nsua

l pl

easu

re o

f hi

s dr

ink.

A

long

side,

an e

legan

t wall

inst

allat

ion

of c

eram

ic, g

lass

and

hand

-mad

e ar

tist’s

boo

ks r

elate

the

beak

er f

orm

to s

edge

, wet

lands

and

the

natu

ral

scien

ce o

f wat

er fi

ltrat

ion

(Fig

ure

11.1

7)

39

1

Fig

ure

11

.17

Toni

War

burto

n W

all c

hron

ology

: tra

nsac

tions

to

catch

ment

(1

990–

2007

). Ph

oto:

Jo H

olde

r Co

urte

sy th

e ar

tist a

nd M

ori G

aller

y

Eleg

ant

bann

er

sloga

ns

by

Sydn

ey

conc

eptu

al ar

tist

Ruar

k Le

wis

punc

tuat

ed t

he s

how

with

poe

tic r

emin

ders

of

the

pote

ntial

for

gra

ss-

root

s act

ion.

The

exh

ibiti

on o

f hist

orica

l cam

paig

n m

ater

ials p

rovi

ded

an

activ

ist c

onte

xt fo

r stu

dio-

base

d ar

twor

ks, w

hich

in tu

rn in

vite

aud

ience

s to

app

recia

te i

nven

tive

grap

hics

and

com

plex

hist

orica

l, ae

sthe

tic a

nd

emot

iona

l co

nnec

tions

on

di

splay

. Th

e ae

sthe

tic

form

ality

of

th

e in

stall

atio

n an

d ar

twor

ks,

along

side

the

docu

men

tatio

n of

loc

al to

wn

plan

ning

and

con

serv

atio

n ba

ttles

, mov

es b

etw

een

disc

ours

e an

d ac

tion.

Th

e or

ches

tratio

n of

art,

eco

logy

and

act

ion

resp

onds

to

the

aest

hetic

ac

tivism

of

man

y w

orks

disc

usse

d in

thi

s ch

apte

r. It

is a

crea

tive

inst

itutio

nal r

espo

nse

to lo

cal e

nviro

nmen

tal i

ssue

s th

at is

sha

red

by a

fe

w in

depe

nden

t co

mm

ercia

l gall

eries

, arti

st-ru

n in

itiat

ives

and

reg

iona

l ar

t cen

tres.

Well

-cur

ated

pub

lic a

nd g

aller

y-ba

sed

proj

ects

mak

e fr

uitfu

l lin

ks b

etw

een

the

art

indu

stry

and

oth

er a

genc

ies,

and

supp

ort

a pl

urali

stic

appr

oach

to

prod

ucin

g, v

iewin

g an

d pa

rticip

atin

g ar

t as

a

plat

form

for e

colo

gica

l com

mun

icatio

n.

This

chap

ter

has

char

ted

som

e of

the

way

s th

at A

ustra

lian

artis

ts,

cura

tors

and

art

inst

itutio

ns h

ave

shift

ed t

heir

aest

hetic

foc

us f

rom

39

2

topo

grap

hica

l view

s of

the

land

scap

e to

phe

nom

enol

ogic

al pe

rcep

tions

of

the

cou

ntry

’s en

viro

nmen

tal

forc

es.

Both

the

wes

tern

lan

dsca

pe

tradi

tion

and

Indi

geno

us a

rt ha

ve h

elped

us

deve

lop

all o

ur s

ense

s, ov

ertu

rnin

g th

e ol

d di

visio

ns b

etw

een

min

d an

d bo

dy,

subj

ect

and

objec

t, se

lf an

d na

ture

. ‘P

erce

ptio

n th

roug

h th

e se

nses

’, th

e or

igin

al m

eani

ng o

f the

term

aes

thet

ics, c

an b

e un

ders

tood

as a

pre

cond

ition

and

co

rrela

te o

f eco

logi

cal a

ctiv

ism. I

n A

ustra

lia, t

he la

ndsc

ape

tradi

tion

has

been

tho

roug

hly

mod

ified

by

the

forc

es o

f In

dige

nous

kno

wled

ge,

scien

tific

rese

arch

and

env

ironm

enta

l act

ivism

. In

turn

, art

cont

inue

s to

m

ake

us g

rasp

the

fac

t th

at w

e ar

e ou

rselv

es p

art

of a

thr

eate

ned

natu

re.78

78 R

ober

ts D

, ‘A

ura

and

aest

hetic

s of

nat

ure’,

The

sis E

leven

, no

. 3

6, 1

993,

M

assa

chus

etts

Inst

itute

of T

echn

olog

y, p.

128

.