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?
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.
New Caledonia has become the first Pacific nation to hold a Biennale of Contemporary Visual Art. Lucienne Fontannaz travelled to Noumea to interview artist Rene Boutin and discovered an artist who takes more than the gallery and his studio as his milieu.
Story 1: A story about land owners and nomads. Story 2: Never terra nullius. Story 3: Genetic imperialism. Story 4: The politicization of hunger. Story 5: Kunde and the perception of order.
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.
"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..."
"As with everything else, the country that I have been talking about is frequently regarded as a commodity, be it in relation to yields of primary produce or to spectacles and hypothetical experiences marketed for tourist consumption. Here's the main thing to understand: this commodification is entirely at odds with the appreciation of landscape that I've been trying to tell you about."
Even in the shiny spaces of the big cities, for some the dirt of the paddocks is only just below the surface. Michael Eather talks to three artists who were born and raised in the country, about their current attitudes to the land as a place of production.
Beth Field is a farmer and a photographer in the WA wheatbelt facing a curious loss, one she is happy to accept - the dramatic colours of sunsets reflected in the salt lakes which she used to photograph may soon be hard to find as revegetation reclaims the soil. She recounts the changes she has seen in the last decade.