GreenBelt

The Big Picture - Redland City Council

2009-10-16T22:04:00.000+10:00

I have started work on a new phase of the Greenbelt Project. My research is focused on land within the Redland City Council boundaries, with works resulting from this project being exhibited at Redland Art Gallery in July 2010.

A large map of the council area, made from street directory pages taped together, gives a good indication of all the 'green' areas within the council boundaries. I am interested in exploring the natural biodiversity values of the region and the role people play in shaping habitat. Works will interpret relationships between habitat and inhabitants; looking at how species are connected with one another in a complex web of life.

What is Environment?

2009-06-03T09:38:00.000+10:00

When reading 'Land and Environmental Art',1983, Phaidon; I was interested in this passage from Kenneth Friedman - Words on the Environment.

"What is the environment? What does the word environment mean?

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (1943) defines the word environment - 1. act of environing; state of being environed. 2. that which environs; surrounding; specifically the aggregate of all the external conditions and influences affecting the life and development of an organism, etc; human behaviour, society, etc. The word environment is related to the sense of surrounding or of overall placement and situation.

(1969) 2a. the complex of climatic, edaphic and biotic factors that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival. 2b. the aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community.

With the growth of concern for the biosphere as a political issue of the movements identified with 'ecology and environmental activism', the term began to be inappropriately and almost exclusively applied to 'nature'. This misunderstanding bound up in media-influenced slippage of meaning should be evident in the fact that it is the total environment (social, political, economic, cultural and natural) that affects our relationship to 'nature and ecology', as it has come to be understood. Given that human beings and their culture are in the largest scale of description simply a form of life moving about and acting on the surface of the planet, the drilling of an oil company is as much a part of the 'environment' as a tree.
It is the decisions that human societies make that control their uses of nature and of the planet."

My Greenbelt Project has brought up many questions and contradictions, I think this is common in life in general. I have observed the time and effort required by volunteers to 'tree plant' a site; and at the same time the speed at which bulldozers can remove mature vegetation. Yet we all need homes to live in, decisions of where and how need to be made.
Works developing from the Greenbelt Project reflect on my observations, exploring the role humans play in shaping their surrounding environment. I am interested in where a balance may lie, what is the middle ground? Is the middle ground anywhere near sustainability? We all have a part to play and I imagine contradictions to deal with.

Lines Drawn Collection

2009-06-01T20:44:00.001+10:00

'Lines Drawn - End of the Road and Hoop Pine Country', 2009, Laser print, acrylic and pigmented ink on plywood panels.

A series of works titled 'Lines Drawn' developed from visits to various sites, of both conservation and development, on the Gold Coast. I began to see that there are very few natural sites that have absolutely no trace of humans. At conservation areas I would often find fences, paths or markers of some description within the natural environment. Similarly in built up areas there are trees and perhaps weeds sprouting from cracks in concrete. I imagine there are very few places in the world, if any, that are completely untouched by humans. We, humans, are completely integrated with the environment, not seperate. I have thought for some time now about our relationship to the natural world, our dependence on it for vital sustenance - food, energy, oxygen, medicine, clothing, etc. I believe all living species are connected in a giant 'web of life', where the fate of one species is connected to and effects others. Humans are part of this web of life, we are integrated within the environment that surrounds us.

'Lines Drawn' collection features ten works on plywood panel. The initial layer is formed by laser prints of tree bark rubbings I have taken and street maps. This combination of natural and man made lines continues in the layering of elements in the works. Some panels reference specific sites such as Pimpama Conservation Area and Burleigh Knoll Conservation Park.

Lines Drawn forms part of my Greenbelt solo exhibition, on show at Doggett Street Studio until June 13, 2009.

The Big Picture

2009-05-25T20:41:00.001+10:00

My Greenbelt research project began in 2008 with the idea of 'mapping' vegetation in the Gold Coast City while researching the role people play in shaping habitat. I taped together pages of street directories to form a large map with 'green' patches indicated. I have visited a few sites so far and have found the experience of seeing what a green patch on the map equates to on the ground amazing. Some green areas have been purchased by the Gold Coast City Council through the Open Space Preservation Levy, others are sites where local volunteer community groups are involved in tree planting an weed eradication projects.

Conserve - Develop

2009-04-27T08:44:00.001+10:00

'Conserve - Develop' 2009, Archival pigment inkjet print and pigmented artists' ink on Arches Fine Art Paper.

My upcoming solo exhibition 'Greenbelt' will be the first public presentation of works developed from the early stages of my research project. While travelling to conservation parks and areas, I would often pass housing development sites on the way. The images from these explorations make for an interesting juxtaposition of change currently occurring on the Gold Coast.

Burleigh Knoll Conservation Park

2009-04-20T07:33:00.000+10:00

As part of my Greenbelt research project I am visiting conservation areas, reserves and parks on the Gold Coast. If you look at a street directory and notice the little patches of green sometimes surrounded by suburbia, this is what you may find there. Today I was at Burleigh Knoll Conservation Park, meeting as part of Geckos' walks with wildlife. The conservation park is surrounded by suburban homes and until you enter the small gate, I really had no idea what I might find. It was an instant transformation to closed canopy forest with pockets of paperbarks, corkwood trees and towering scribbly gums. The luminous white bark of the scribbly gums was stunning and visually dominated the area with wide spreading crowns as pictured above. I was transported to another place, sounds of traffic faded, as bird calls took over. There were white cockatoos, galahs and rosellas, the crows and several smaller bird species. Six varieties of butterfly were seen and countless spiders and their webs encountered. It is a wonderful pocket of forest habitat, I look forward to visiting many more of these areas.

Living City Report

2009-04-02T21:39:00.000+10:00

I am not interested in extremes from either end of the spectrum when it comes to conservation versus development. I believe change is one of the constants in life, nothing stays the same, not nature or people. I am interested in exploring the layers, connections and role we play in shaping habitat.

A few details from -
Gold Coast City Council
OUR LIVING CITY REPORT January 2007: A sustainability update.

"The Gold Coast has been identified as one of Australia’s most species-diverse regions in Australia, with more species than even Kakadu (M. Maher and Assoc. et al. 1997). There are over 1550 identified species of native plant, more than 323 species of bird, over 105 species of reptiles and amphibians and over 72 species of mammal."

"This biodiversity is underpinned by some 72,250 ha (almost 50 percent of the Gold Coast) of remnant bushland. Only about 10 percent of this bushland is committed to development, with a
further 28 percent highly likely to be affected. Some 35 percent of vegetation is completely protected by State and Council provisions and the remaining 27 percent is unlikely to be developed."

"Clearing or major modification to natural vegetation or marine habitat has been the major activity causing a decline in biological diversity. Up to 300-500 hectares per year of bushland is still being cleared, mainly for urban development."

GROWTH

2009-04-02T21:16:00.001+10:00

Growth.... you can see it everywhere... with all the rain this summer, vegetation is growing wildly... and the other 'growth', that is population, is continuing to grow strongly as well.

For the last couple of years my art practice has focused on relationships between habitat and inhabitants. My works interpret observations of connections and patterns within the ecologies of environments. I am interested in interactions and dependencies between species - the 'web' of life.
The South-east Queensland region is one of the most biodiverse in Australia, the region is also experiencing strong population growth. I am interested in the role people play in shaping habitat. How do we balance competition between conservation and development to maintain natural heritage values?

Greenbelt is a project I am undertaking to research, map, and layer information from many sources.