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Reading the Waters
Norman has based this article around Terry White's concept of 'land literacy', a notion he defines as 'the ability to read and appreciate the signs of health [and ill-health] in a landscape'. From a cultural perspective, the land literacy idea quickly compounds itself into a multi-dimensional concept and perhaps a new discipline 'Landliteracy' that calls into question interdisciplinary demarcations, understandings of home, perceptions of the land and how we might experience place. Furthermore, Norman has used this concept as a way of discussing artmaking operations in relation to the landscape and the idea of 'waterliteracy'. Britain's Common Ground Movement, the work of Craig Andrae and the art project website redreadwater.com are here referred to.
Reflections on the Noosa River
In early 1999, Gregory Pryor spent 28 days in meditative reflection on the Noosa River. The resulting work and exhibition, Wearing Clothes on the Noosa River, presented the complete drawing cycle of 224 parts at the Noosa Regional Gallery. In this personal intervention in Noosa, Pryor has produced a record of cyclical flow and the passing of time. The artist's written and visual observations encompass minute details of daily life - its sights, smells and sounds - juxtaposed with ruminations on the metaphysical, the power of nature and the interconnectedness of life. Other artists who have been involved with the 'river residencies' at Noosa and the creative documenting of other important water ways include Christine James, Scott Avery and Britt Knudsen-Owens.
Wasted
Metis is a remarkable fusion of art and science. The first of these biennial events, held in May 1999, was inspired by Rebecca Scott from the CSIRO and Canberra artist Jill Peck, and featured works which resulted from a range of collaborations between artists and scientists. Metis 2001 - Wasted focuses on environmental themes including detritus, recycling, toxic waste and land degradation.
Simulating the Flow
Alfred Deakin was not a man to muck about. As well as being a major player in the long campaign to establish an Australian Federation, he was an indefatigable crusader for irrigation, pushing hard to establish a pioneer industry. As President of a Royal Commission on Water Supply & Irrigation, Deakin visited and studied Californian irrigation schemes in 1885.
Art and Landliteracy Forum
The Art and Landliteracy Forum (ALF) was established within the School of Contemporary Arts at Southern Cross University in 1996. It was convened as an ongoing forum for investigating ways in which contemporary arts practice can be pro-active in relation to environmental issues. The program evolved into a series of placemaking/placemarking projects that were focused on contributing to cultural sustainability.
Staring at the sea, staring at the sand: the work of Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion
Humanity's universal relationship to the environment has always been at the heart of Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion's work, and in large part stems from their own working and living proximity to the ocean on the coastline of Scotland in the fishing village of St Combs. Kubler conducts an examination of some of Dalziel and Scullion's installations, many of which offer that most magical and rare thing in art, the miraculous. Kubler looks at their collaborative works General Release, Sargassum, Rain and Melt and the various ways they have explored the Nature/Culture dichotomy. In particular cyclical weather patterns and mankind's evolving interaction with Nature.
Dinoflagellates and Art: Jane Quon's Marine Installations
Jane Quon has evolved from printmaker to multi-media installation artist - though she much prefers the descriptor 'ecological artist'. Her installations make strong use of 'ephemeral' media - light, sound - and her focus is the quality of the marine environment, within that the threat to vulnerable aquatic ecosystems posed by the dumping of ship ballast water. Quon has been involved in a number of ecological projects, including installations at the new headquarters of the Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management in Penang, the International Maritime Organisation building on the Thames Embankment in London and was part of the CSIRO's Metis exhibition in Canberra. Hay here pays particular attention to her installation devised for the Bass Strait Forum in Launceston in December 2000.
Water and Dust: Coongie Lakes
To non-indigenous people, Australia has often seemed a paradoxical, even perverse country. It is indeed the most climatically unpredictable of all continents - a land where seasonal cycles are overwhelmed by unpredictable drought and flood. Dr Puckridge examines this fact about Australia, with a particular focus on the Lake Eyre Basin and Coongie Lake. This article includes text by artists Peter Richards and Erika Calder who work extensively alongside Dr Puckridge in their ongoing pursuit to inform and educate the wider community on the importance of working co-operatively with all the different and varied users of the Lake Eyre Basin.