Groundswell

Artback NT, Spark NT Exhibition curated by Carmen Ansaldo
Featuring
You’ve got to crack
Hydrostatic quench
Alumina groundswell

How might we view the water cycle? Is it natural? Seasonal rain’s slow filtration though permeable rock creates ancient catchments and distribution networks which are drawn on by industry. Water is life blood to the mining process that extracts aluminium from bauxite rock. Ubiquitous drink cans are fashioned from aluminium in a manufacturing process that requires water. The manufactured cans are filled with water based sugared and fermented hyperliquids, such as soft drinks and alcohol. Once the desiring thirsts of consumers are quenched these vessels are crushed and discarded. Consumer demand and under utilised recycling processes secure the future of alumina mining. Reduced to debris and sculpted by runoff waters Territory cans manifest as the new nature embedded in the geology of our coastal shores.

You’ve got to crack, 2020, pencil, watercolour and gouache on Arches paper
Hydrostatic quench, 2020, pencil, watercolour and gouache on Arches paper


Alumina groundswell, 2020, pencil, watercolour and gouache on Arches paper