Part of final Master of Fine Art exhibition RMIT 2017
This work has three iterations, each focuses upon Moonee Ponds Creek, an area that runs from urban Melbourne to the outer suburbs with an ongoing history of development, construction and attempted regeneration. I use this site to investigate the layering of human activity that has occurred within Melbourne’s urban landscape. I consider the intersections of the natural and the artificial, in particular how living things such as birds adapt to this specific ever changing environment.
I use walking and observation as a process to create verbal descriptions, written translations, vocal soundscapes and graphic scores to physically and metaphorically explore the length of Moonee Ponds Creek as well as analyse key locations within the catchment.
My artistic enquiry investigates the intersections of the naturaland the artificial, exploring where junctions begin and how they interweave and function together. Transcribing the encountered sounds of the site allows for an objective surveying of each activity along the creek. This is then presented as frequency maps which trace the rhythm of activities within the site. The frequency maps are developed into scores using found materials, colour and scale to represent where the creek activities take place and how they overlap and function side by side. I use found materials, sourced at the site to create sculptural forms that allow for an immersive experience. This method is informed by the work of Cornelia Parker. The Concrete Poetry of Scottish artists Ian Hamilton Finlay and Melbourne based artists Catherine Clover influence the methods I employ such as language and audio to express a lyrical encounter of this specific site within the gallery space. The simplification of form and language to describe the use and name the activities along the creek allows for a subtle attuning to the complex layers of activity within the area. Through colour, description and sound my project intends to point to the various activities, the disjunction and the experience of this changing landscape.
