PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT bulletin#6

the way things change..

It’s been 4 months since the start of the project & of the original 17 nests of sub rosa only 6 remain. Two (by wollemi & café) have been slowly dismantled by ibises, 9 have ‘disappeared’.

Remaining sub rosa:

In bottle tree
In farm garden stump
By education office
In succulent garden
In swamp cypress
By QEII gate

Refer to bulletin#1 for details.

Garden bed has returned to the earth,
remaining only as a rectangle of dark mulch.

Shelter from the storm is settling into the roots of its fig. The vivid green of fresh foliage is slowly turning to grey/brown & surrounding lilies are sprouting in the rim. Eventually the whole nest will be rich rusty red with bleached straw heart, before crumbling into a circle of spiralling mulch.

Severe storms & further deluges have wreaked some havoc. The dame of crinoline cage suffered a buffering on her exposed hilltop, tipping repeatedly in a most undignified manner. So following remodelling, she has wandered across the path from the rose garden to under the pin oak, to promenade across the more sheltered Palace Lawns.

The canoes of numi have survived being swept away by floodwater twice now.
Upon returning to their place in the creek after July storms, they were hit by torrential rain in August. So I am looking at ways to stabilize them so that they may withstand strong currents. They will return soon.

In the brief interim that they were back in place, a dead ibis spent a day nestled against the top canoe, creating its own ephemeral intervention.

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT bulletin#5

Shelter from the Storm

installed June 20
LOCATION: in roots of fenced column fig, lower gardens.
DIMENSIONS: 50 x 300 x 300 cm

This giant nest is nestled safely among the roots of a sprawling fig. It is primarily constructed from hoop pine foliage taken from boughs blown down in recent severe storms.

ephemera…

The recent storms have both taken a toll on some pieces as well as providing me with a rich bounty of new material. Crinoline Cage was temporarily tied to the back of a shed (…the maiden lashed to the mast…) to save her from gale force winds. She will be strolling the lawns of the Rose Garden again soon.

The canoes of numi were washed down stream, their heavy stone anchors tumbling after them in the torrent. But they survived the journey & will shortly return to their rightful place in the creek.

Of the original 17 nests of sub rosa, 5 have ’disappeared’ over time.

…ephemera…

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT bulletin#4

NUMI

Numi is a Cadigal word for canoe.

Before european settlement in 1788, the Botanic Gardens Creek was a source of fresh water & food for the Cadigal, the indigenous inhabitants of Wogganmagully. It is now a walled stormwater drain carrying a fraction of the water it once did.

Numi consists of canoe shaped sculptures perched on the brink of stone walls in the creek, each held down by a piece of colonial sandstone.

 

installed may 24 & june 4
LOCATION: in creek below Cadi Jam Ora garden
DIMENSIONS: 25 x 36 x 155 cm

When I first started this project I expected to be led along unexpected paths by the plant life & materials that the gardens present me with. But I hadn’t expected how much the history of the land itself would guide me. This place has many stories to tell & the plant matter is the medium.

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT bulletin#3

CRINOLINE CAGE

installed may 24
LOCATION: Palace Gardens Lawn, by the Rose Garden.
DIMENSIONS: 190 x 100 x 100 cm

In memory of the colonial ladies who promenaded in these gardens,
constricted by their corsetry & petticoats.

The Palace Gardens were once part of the Governor’s garden, later becoming the site for the Exhibition Palace Pavilion. It is here that neo-classic sculptures & the Rose Garden still evoke colonial airs.

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT bulletin#2

GARDEN BED

installed april 31
DIMENSIONS: 15 x 200 x 100 cm
LOCATION: under dead Lebanese Cedar.
Garden Bed lies in the shadow of a once expansive Lebanese cedar tree,
now grey & bare, killed by root rot & drought.

Twenty-four hours after its installation, the ‘pillow’ of camellia flowers has been dined on & rearranged by possums. Over the next days the fern fronds darken & curl to evolve into new textures, eventually turning from green to brown. And as the flowers wilt & join the foliage in more subtle tones, the whole piece transforms from its original vivid hues to merge with the surrounding mulch.

The ephemeral nature of art or the ephemeral art of nature.

As this project continues it is worth noting the fleeting nature of its components. Even though all installations will be marked on the map as they appear, not all will be visible throughout the year.

A few weeks after installation, some of the ‘nests’ of sub rosa have been dishevelled or have disappeared altogether (the ibises seem determined to evict the interloper in the café garden bed). It is all part of the process: the constant flux of it all.

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT bulletin#1

SUB ROSA

installed april 6-16
DIMENSIONS: from 13 x 25 x 25 to 25 x 40 x 40 cm

LIST OF LOCATIONS
In Oak tree by Herbarium
In garden bed by Education
In Succulent Garden – Madagasgar: euphorbia island

In Norfolk Pine by Lion Gate
In roots of Column Fig by top path
By Wishing sculpture at big Wollemi Pine
In hollow stump by corn patch in Cadi Jam Ora
In Palm Grove between Creek, Shop & Restaurant
Under Wollemi Pine opposite Gardens Shop
In garden bed by Café tables

In Boab tree near Main Pond
In Mexican Swamp Cypress
In Banyan Tree

In Giant Water Gum

In pond by Tropical Centre
On dense bush by first bench from QE II Gate

SUB ROSA: The title is Latin for under the rose, from the Ancient Roman practice of designating a secret by speaking beneath a rose. These secret ‘nests’ are fashioned out of rose prunings that have been woven into crowns of thorns & lined with soft fresh grass. They appear in flowerbeds, under bushes, in trees & nestled into tree roots.

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS

Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Artist in Residence 2007

This project is ongoing from March 2007 till March 2008 as part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Artist in Residence Program. You can follow its progress through the pages of this journal.

PHOTO-SYNTHESIS PROJECT
The word photosynthesis describes the process whereby plants create energy from sunlight & green chlorophyll. This project echoes that alchemy, by creating art that is made from, and interacts directly with, nature.

With this residency I am creating ongoing, site-specific installations throughout the Royal Botanic Gardens, using the materials provides by the plants themselves. By utilizing what is available at any given time, these works explore and interpret the many cycles within cycles of plant life. There is the greater cycle of the life of a tree, the flow of seasons, the growth, the flowerings, the falling of seed, the decay, the growth. Ever changing light also interacts with the installations, illuminating them at different times of day and season. By being site-specific these works are also a reflection of the land & its history.

Ephemeral art works are appearing in the Gardens over the course of the year to surprise, intrigue, & engage visitors. Being temporary, these will come and go: some may stay for months, some may only last a day. The accompanying map is just a guide on your journey of discovery.

This residency culminates in a month long exhibition in the Palmhouse, followed by 2 months in Red Box Gallery, taking place in early 2008.