Historically positioned within the romantic landscape tradition, this
work spans the historic bridge between a 'Casparesc' image of the single
human figure surveying his domain, separated from nature, the idea of
an immersive relationship with nature and one where nature takes up the
mantel and has a voice, a consciousness of its own.
This work is designed to provide a shift in the way we relate to
and see nature, be it mountains, desert, woodland, bog, marsh etc. and
to provide a vehicle for expressing that shift, it offers an idealistic
redress of that situation, using a human political relationship
mechanism 'The Union' as the means.
By creating of a series of ‘Landscape Unions’ - Desert Union,
Mountain Union, Bog Union, United Forests and Woodlands etc. the
mechanisms of politics are subverted as a symbolic gesture for the
transition of power and ownership back to nature.
Here I have used photography and drawing to create objects and murals
for installation in different spaces as evidence of this idea, the works
consist of paraphernalia and are temporary in nature.
This line of thinking came about because of a residency in the
outback mining town of Broken Hill NSW Australia, through the Broken
Hill Art Exchange in May 2011 and by the work of Austrian / Australian
nineteenth century artist Eugen von Guérard, which I came across in the
Regional Art Museum of Ballarat Victoria in 2010.
von Guérard is an important part of the artistic establishment in
Australia though is little known in Europe today. This project explores
the positioning of power in relation to our perception of nature and how
that perception is influenced by historical colonial perspectives and
ideas about landscape.
By using an existing strategy of the union to create a paradoxical
situation to expose the possibility of a perceptual shift in relation to
our relationship with nature. In Desert Union, for example, the
animals, plants, rocks and birds are symbolic representatives for an
attempted individualization and actualization of the desert, as it
attempts to assert its position or point of view through a
‘de-positioning’ process using the union as a vehicle for realizing
this.
Evidence of a colonial interpretation of the desert landscape can
be seen through the introduction of viewing points into the desert, for
example, a vast open landscape, which is the same in every direction for
100s of kilometers. This exposes a particular colonial interpretation
and positioning of the desert landscape, in which the viewer is the
central focal point, separated and distanced from nature. This can also
be seen in the way the desert has been categorized and mediated for our
engagement and entertainment. Documentation of these strategies explore
the positioning of the desert and how it is understood.
Sarah Iremonger 2012
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
