Be Careful How You Develop
-> Exhibition Title: Be careful how you develop, 2010
Exhibition venue: Wesleyan Church,
George Brown Botanic Gardens, Darwin, NT
Exhibition venue: Wesleyan Church,
George Brown Botanic Gardens, Darwin, NT
Inside the Wesleyan Church temperatures reach over 40 degrees despite the fans, eight doorways, 4 windows and giant Rain Trees shading the building outside. Build up weather in Darwin is wet with humidity- something inescapable in a metal church in the botanic gardens.
Just think what it would have been like for the congregation?
Inside the church the paper forms are suspended from the metal frames or attached to the metal walls. These artworks are fragile and constantly at the mercy of the elements; if it is too humid the works will become limp and heavy, fall and flatten; if it is too exposed to light they will fade. This artwork's condition is one of flux. Like Nature it cannot be fixed, explicable and controlled.
During the installation visitors spontaneously told stories
One visitor told of an experience while snorkelling. When he lifted his head out of the water he took the snorkel out of his mouth. Upon plunging in again without an extended method for breathing there was a disconcerting anxiety; a momentary shock. This story was related during his second visit to the Church. On this day the sun was shining and the Church had an immense temperature inside. The temperature combined with the high humidity of the day, to add an impressive weight inside in contrast to the breezy outside.
Another visitor told a story about collecting
During the exhibition time Darwin experience an extreme low tide. This visitor did not reside in Darwin and had a keen interest in visiting the beaches during low tide. The relationship of taking and fossicking was discussed. I suggested that when visiting a beach our instinct is to collect; either randomly or with a specific eye. If we hold off from picking up and endure the 'loss' of ownership then a dissolve occurs between the other and self. In a sense we are giving back before we take. He suggested alternatively, that when you go to the beach with the intention of specifically collecting, it is difficult to challenge your motivation. There is no desire to be inclusive; it is a resource - just like a mine.
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Just think what it would have been like for the congregation?
Inside the church the paper forms are suspended from the metal frames or attached to the metal walls. These artworks are fragile and constantly at the mercy of the elements; if it is too humid the works will become limp and heavy, fall and flatten; if it is too exposed to light they will fade. This artwork's condition is one of flux. Like Nature it cannot be fixed, explicable and controlled.
During the installation visitors spontaneously told stories
One visitor told of an experience while snorkelling. When he lifted his head out of the water he took the snorkel out of his mouth. Upon plunging in again without an extended method for breathing there was a disconcerting anxiety; a momentary shock. This story was related during his second visit to the Church. On this day the sun was shining and the Church had an immense temperature inside. The temperature combined with the high humidity of the day, to add an impressive weight inside in contrast to the breezy outside.
Another visitor told a story about collecting
During the exhibition time Darwin experience an extreme low tide. This visitor did not reside in Darwin and had a keen interest in visiting the beaches during low tide. The relationship of taking and fossicking was discussed. I suggested that when visiting a beach our instinct is to collect; either randomly or with a specific eye. If we hold off from picking up and endure the 'loss' of ownership then a dissolve occurs between the other and self. In a sense we are giving back before we take. He suggested alternatively, that when you go to the beach with the intention of specifically collecting, it is difficult to challenge your motivation. There is no desire to be inclusive; it is a resource - just like a mine.
