The entropic landscape : exploring the intersection between digital media, large-scale drawings and sculpture in response to the cultural landscape of Zeehan, Tasmania, Australia

摘要

This research is an investigation into a visual language as my response andudreading of the narrative related to a sense of place in an altered landscape:uda space where humans have carved their autobiography into the earth.udRobert Smithson, in the 1960s characterised regions like these as the edgesudof post-industrialism or Nonspaces. They also exist as communities,udholding onto an identity forged by their definitive history and culturaludinfluences. Incorporated in the research is the exploration of ordinary orudeveryday landscapes within the context of Cultural Landscape studies.udIn focussing on the 'shaping' of the town and environs of Zeehan, audonce burgeoning mining settlement on the West Coast mining strip ofudTasmania, history, industrial archaeology and the impact on the naturaludenvironment are taken into account. Zeehan is a shadow of its dynamicudpast, a boom and bust story that is now enshrined in a local museum,udand evident in the relics adorning the main street and surroundingudcountryside. It is a place of hidden history inextricably linked to theuddevelopment of Tasmania. However in the new millennium theudunderground continues to be the lifeblood of this former silver boomtown.udSeeking an appropriate format of presentation of this cultural landscapeudresulted in the development of installation-based artwork: an intersectionudbetween digital media, large-scale drawing and sculptural concepts.udRe-interpreting and re-presenting the spirit of nature and technologicaludinteraction in the so-called Nonspace incorporates the exploration of audphenomenological approach as well as more formal methodologies.udThe research also examined the concept of the Nonsite. According toudSmithson, the Nonsite was a representation or interpretation of a particularudsite: an abstract three-dimensional logical picture. udWith its integration of diverse media, the project relates to a field of artistsudand filmmakers working within the themes of Cultural Landscape (JanudSenbergs, Susan Norrie and Jem Cohen), Museum Strategy/Archaeologyudas Myth (Mark Dion, Alan McCollum), and The Grand Narrative (JoanudJonas, Kutlag Ataman and Bill Viola).udI discuss their works in relation to matters concerning landscape andudhuman intervention, historical discourse, fragmentation of time, theudblurring of boundaries and the overlapping of genres.udMy original contribution to the field is to extend the presentation ofudthe documentary film/video genre from an ostensibly two-dimensionaludmedium to an installation based artwork within an art gallery spaceudutilising the seemingly incongruent mediums of large-scale drawingsudand sculptural elements. Within this context the resulting narrativeudcreates an environment, which both immerses the viewer and providesudcontemplation, presenting a re-interpretation of the Nonsite as readingudof the Nonspace.