The Cultural Biography of Plants
The cultural biography of plants provides an extremely fertile field for artists to explore. It also encourages artists, and viewers, to explore the interface between cultures and between culture and agriculture.
More from this Issue
Kay Aldenhoven on Annie Taylor
Exhibition review Doggone: Goddog: godingo: dingod
Works by Annie Taylor
24 Hour Art Darwin, Northern Territory
21 October - 5 November 1994
Art about farming, farming as an art
The daily experience of tending a tract of land in the south-east of South Australia is the raw material of artist–farmer James Darling. The land which comprises Duck Island is watercourse country where sand, water, salt and native vegetation are the elements from which, over decades of passionate attention, he and his partner Lesley Forwood have developed a farm which includes a special salt-tolerant grass for their cattle. His exhibition, Define the Country, at Riddoch Art Gallery in Mount Gambier is a response to this farmed landscape.
Living with the Land
If there is a contemporary issue for landscape artist to engage with, it must be the process of developing a relationship with the landscape, even if it is at the level of s sustain[able] failure, a low level antagonism or an uneasy peace. It is as difficult and as complex as any other issue, and it ultimately speaks of the human condition.
Culture/Agriculture
Agriculture and culture go back a long way. The fact that they actually meet and marry in the word 'cultivation' makes this clear....when it comes to direct experience, city and country are more distinct in Australia than in many countries.
Saved by the Demon - Hemp Lives
Cannibis Sativa as a drug, as uses of hemp - textiles, fabric and paper - as building materials, as oils food and protein, for medical and therapeutic applications, biomass energy... so why is there a prohibition?
Mark Stephens on 600,000 Hours
Exhibition review 600,000 Hours (mortality) exhibitions
Experimental Art Foundation
Adelaide South Australia
15 September - 4 December 1994
Husbandry and the Coporate Collection
Making taste? Making money? Melbourne historian Juliet Peers scrutinises a group of books and catalogues on corporate art collections to see whether boardroom fancies and their lavish publications reflect a wider role in shaping popular visions of Australian painting.
Photographing the Drought
"I used to think there was no link between farming and art...well, most art reflects the environment in which it is produced and the artist who produces it..."
The use of Aesthetics: Food for Thought
Aesthetic value is determined by commonly held notions of taste, beauty and attractiveness and differs from culture to culture. How does this influence us in our choice of nourishment - our daily bread, fruit or snack food? Why does food today look like it does?
David Bromfield on Sculpture
Exhibition review The Games Room
Stuart Elliott at Lawrence Wilson Art Galley
University of Western Australia
21 October - 4 December 1994
Death of a Myth
Michelle H Elliot at Gomboc Galleries and Sculpture Park
6 - 27 November 1994
Asian Tucker in the NT - new trend, old ecology
An installation work 'Guarding Civilization's Rim' a collaborative effort by 'The Personal Museum' comprising three Queensland artists opened in Townsville in September 1994. The project has been specifically created for and about northern Australia - the last frontier.