Between Presumption and Melancholy, Huon, The Grand Scheme

Brian Rope | Photography, Videography

Between Presumption and Melancholy | Toni Hassan

Huon | Noah Thompson

The Grand Scheme | Chris Round

Photo Access | 27 Apr – 10 Jun

These three exhibitions set out to explore environment and climate threats - two by looking at physical changes made by humans and the third at impacts on particular people.

Toni Hassan is a social practice visual artist, Walkley Award-winning journalist, and Adjunct Research Fellow of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. Between Presumption and Melancholy shows three multimedia artworks from her video series Body and Breath: Remembering Black Summer, 2021-23.

Three women share personal experiences of Australia’s Black Summer of 2019-20. Against the background of an Australian flag in a smoke-free azure sky, Rhian Williams, a volunteer firefighter takes us right into those times of fear. The visual is projected on a translucent curtain that moves such that the flag ripples.

Toni-Hassan, Video still, 2021, Body and Breath-Remembering-Black Summer - 1

Moving water and moving plane propellors are backgrounds as Sarah Bachelard, a Canberra-based priest and theologian speaks “It was supposed to be Epiphany, … coming of the light….We actually changed the hymn we were going to sing, which was ‘Here in this place a new light is shining’ because, it was just, how could you sing that?”

Toni-Hassan, Video still, 2021, Body and Breath-Remembering-Black Summer - 2

Luminous and liquid light circles draw us in as Tess Horwitz, the late Canberra artist who created the Bushfire memorial at Mt Stromlo, speaks of "a journey from painful memory and the reality of the day of the fire” and “strength of community and shared experience and on to a very gradual sense of healing and regeneration." We share in her dream. 

Toni-Hassan, Video still, 2021, Body and Breath-Remembering-Black Summer - 3

How should we respond emotionally? Have we had a cathartic experience? Have we engaged our own grief regarding environmental changes? Hassan also has a book that includes transcripts of these three plus a further ten interviews.

Noah Thompson seeks to shed light on the continuing conflict between environmental preservation and industrial development in Huon. His large high quality framed inkjet prints are mostly untitled. He has taken inspiration from the destruction of the 2500-year-old Lea Tree – by supporters of the Gordon-below-Franklin project in 1989.

The images are intended to explore continuing tensions between conservation and development. Some are more successful than others. An image of the Lea Tree showing its vandals photographed before their “Fuck You Green Cunts” message painted on the tree’s still burning remains is powerful. Mt Lyell, 2020 presents a severe and disturbing reminder of that mine’s impact.

Noah Thompson, Mt Lyell, 2020

Chris Round has documented The Grand Scheme – the Snowy Hydro. His inkjet prints, also large and high quality, are images taken during the period 2016-2022. They do not include anything from the years before or during construction. They do provide clear evidence as to why he is an award-winning landscape photographer. Round has a book of these and other images available for purchase. 

Chris Round, Intake Tower, 2017

Round has expressed some opinions about hydroelectricity, both positive and negative, and argues for a balanced approach. He has “not tried to politicise environmental energy issues” and wonders whether his “approach might be too sedate”. He describes it as aiming to capture captivating and intriguing images and suggests that passing judgement would risk stifling conversations. I am not convinced and confess disappointment with the content of the works displayed.

Having first visited the Scheme and the area in 1958 and many times since, did I unfairly expect more? During the exhibition opening, a comment was made that it was refreshing to see straight photography on the gallery walls. Whilst, perhaps, it has become less common to see such works at this venue, I would question why that is necessarily “refreshing”. More contemporary artworks would have challenged me and stimulated greater consideration of the important issues these three shows were meant to present to us.

This review was first published by The Canberra Times on 13/5/23 - on page 10 of Panorama and online here. It is also available on the author's blog here.

Into the Forest

Photography | Brian Rope

Into the Forest | Eva van Gorsel and Manuel Pfeiffer

M16 Artspace, Gallery 1b | UNTIL 4 SEPTEMBER 2022

Partners Eva van Gorsel and Manuel Pfeiffer are regular exhibitors at M16 Artspace. Their 2020 joint show Facets exhibited interpretations of the Australian landscape they had seen during a lengthy journey. Their works complemented each other as they revealed the same facets. Then, in 2021, they brought us Congruent-Incongruent using numerous diverse techniques and media to create varied, interesting and pleasing artworks.

Their 2022 exhibition Into the Forest aims to raise awareness of the role our forests have on our planet, our climate and our lives by showcasing the beauty of mostly regional treescapes and woodlands using imagery, sculpture and a sound installation. Along with growing numbers of people around the world, they recognise that the importance of forests cannot be underestimated.

Pfeiffer has a background in earth system sciences, graphic design and arts and shares a deep appreciation of the environment with Van Gorsel who was a principal research scientist in atmospheric sciences before turning to photography. The two artists asked themselves why it is important to show and appreciate the beauty of our natural environment and have offered an answer.

“In science we have pointed out the dangers of climate change before anyone cared to listen. With climate extremes now so extreme that they are getting hard to ignore many more people are aware that urgent action is needed. Many artists were early uptakers of that message. There is a long tradition of showing natures beauty. But many artists now also show the impact our disrespect of nature has on ecosystems. This is important work that is critically needed. But it is key that we do not get lost in despair. That is why we think it is important to show and appreciate the beauty of our natural environment. I think we are at a turning point where it becomes important to again remind us of what we can keep - if only we set our minds and actions to it.”

Van Gorsel’s works here are, perhaps, more traditional than she has shown in their previous two joint exhibitions. They are fine examples of this genre of photography, showing us numerous wonders of nature in our forests – birds, mist, and understory vegetation are just some examples. In every case, the available natural light is used beautifully - as all photographers should strive to do. Monochrome is used sparingly, but to great effect. Shallow focus is used wonderfully in others.

Eva van Gorsel_Into The Forest II_Namadgi

Eva van Gorsel_Mist_Gundagerra NR

Eva van Gorsel_Last Light_Namadgi NP

 

Eva van Gorsel_Aglitter 03

Pfeiffer’s contributions are equally pleasing, showing us the sights of the forests through his chosen media. A set of artworks of trees, bark and fungi using colour pencils on paper are simply lovely, with their wonderfully balanced light and peaceful hues. Others painted with acrylics on canvas, such as Dreaming Xanthorrhoeas, are equally successful.

 

His three pieces using wood are special features in the exhibition. A mixed media piece, The Wise, 2021, is the standout for me. Glass, a suspended small rock gently moving, wood and more combine beautifully into a piece to explore, a piece that also says much about nature.

 

Manuel Pfeiffer_BarkA

 

Manuel Pfeiffer_Dreaming Xanthorrhoeas

Manuel Pfeiffer_At The Coast

All the artworks take us into the artists’ views of nature. They make us feel good – enabling us to see the colours, hear the sounds, smell the scents. All give us some comfort. And they make us want to be amongst the calming effects of forests and connecting directly with nature through our senses, seeking to reduce the gap that we have opened between us and the natural world. This exhibition very much invites us to reflect on how we humans have impacted the natural environment, and to ask ourselves what we as individuals must now do.

This review was published online by The Canberra Times on 30.08.22 here. It is also on the author's blog here.

Entanglement

 Photomedia Exhibition | Brian Rope

ENTANGLEMENT | NOELENE LUCAS

Canberra Contemporary Art Space | Until 12 June 2022

Noelene Lucas is a video installation artist with a background in sculpture. Her work addresses our land from ecological and historical perspectives. It has been curated into major exhibitions in Australia, Europe and Asia, awarded three major Australia Council grants, Thailand, Paris and two Australia Council Tokyo residencies, the latter one deeply affecting both her life and art practice.

Birds are disappearing. Common wild birds connect us to nature. The chance of seeing a Kookaburra in SE Australia has halved since 1999. Those are just three of the messages presented on some of the video panels in this thought-provoking exhibition by Lucas.

Noelene Lucas, Bird text, 2022, (detail) multi-screen video

Other panels display slowly moving clouds and ocean waters overlaid with words such as Ozone (O3), Halons (CBrClF2), Halogenated Gases – Fluorine (F2), and Black Carbon (PM2.5). Those words are about a colourless unstable toxic gas with a pungent odour and powerful oxidizing properties, unreactive gaseous compounds of carbon with bromine and other halogens known to damage the ozone layer – including a poisonous pale-yellow gas that causes very severe burns on contact with skin, and a climate-forcing agent contributing to global warming.

 

Noelene Lucas, Entanglement, 2022, Multi-screen video installation with sound, Dimensions variable_022

I’m no scientist and had to research the meanings of some words when writing this. Nevertheless, the message about environmental changes and damage had been very clear to me whilst actually viewing the works in the gallery.

Another video panel reminds us – if we need any reminder – that “We are dependent for our wellbeing on the wellbeing of the environment.” And yet another informs us that “Filling the Hunter’s existing 23 massive mine voids will cost $25.3 billion but the government holds only $3.3 billion in bonds.”

 

Noelene Lucas, Entanglement, 2022, Multi-screen video installation with sound, Dimensions variable_008

This well-presented exhibition leaves visitors in no doubt that environmental issues are important and require urgent attention in order to “Save the planet” – words that passed by, overlaid against clouds, on another video panel.

Bird numbers and habitats have dwindled as we have destroyed many forests and wetlands, plus our previously clean air and water. Birds have disappeared as humans have destroyed their life support systems - as well as our own. So, it is most appropriate that there are also several videos of various birds and of water contaminated with drifting litter. The clear message is everywhere as you walk around the exhibition spending time watching the moving imagery.

 

Noelene Lucas, Galah, 2022, (detail) multi-screen video

Central to Lucas’s work is her investigation of the land from both environmental and historical perspectives. Land, birds and water quality in the light of climate change are key to the environmental research. At the base of all her video work is the exploration of time and fleeting moments.

 

Noelene Lucas, Entanglement, 2022, Multi-screen video installation with sound, Dimensions variable_011

Every day we hear or read about unprecedented flood or fires, that glaciers are melting faster and faster, that people’s homes and gardens are being inundated by rising sea levels. We are told there’s yet another crisis then, thankfully, that it’s passed.

We only have to consider the recent flood events in NSW and Queensland to appreciate the truth of those words. More crises do keep occurring and many of us now expect that, as a result of climate change inaction, they will only happen more and more frequently – that we are moving towards creating a world that our descendants do not deserve. If any reminder of the problem is needed this exhibition serves that purpose most effectively. 

Entanglement highlights so many environmental issues and points to our involvement in the climate change crisis. But it also points to where hope resides - in our contact with other life forms, in seeing and valuing and not being indifferent to the damage that has been done.

This review was published in the Canberra Times of 30.05.22 here. It is also on the author's blog here.

Are We Dead Yet?

Photography Exhibition Review | Brian Rope

Stephen Dupont | amBUSH Gallery, Kambri (ANU) | Until 24 October 2021

This exhibition comprises 21 large photographic prints detailing various devastating ecological events around Australia, that have made award-winning Australian photographer Stephen Dupont realise the inevitability of the shift in conversation from ‘Is climate change happening?’ to ‘Is it too late?’

Inspired by his young daughter Ava – a climate activist – Dupont’s discussions about environmental issues ask the big question: is it possible to save the planet, or have we pushed Mother Nature to the brink of extinction? Are We Dead Yet? is part of a long-term artistic documentation of the effects of climate change on our nation.

In a review published 18 months ago, I confessed having struggled somewhat for several months seeing so many images of the bushfire crisis. On social media I had found it very difficult to ‘Like’ excellent images that revealed the anxieties all of us felt. Now here we are still seeing images of the aftermath of drought, bushfires and the pandemic – not only in this exhibition but numerous others.

Given Dupont’s experience and expertise, it was not surprising to see very high-quality images on display. Shot over the course of the past few years, in locations across several States, Dupont’s photographic journey tells striking visual stories, and conveys a sense of urgency. He wants to motivate us, his audience, to question our roles and responsibilities in these real-time catastrophes.

Using a solitary figure swimming in the ocean during a dust storm, a flooded football ground, the remains of a caravan, charred bushland, the parched ground of drought-stricken regions, and the rich colours of smoke and dust-filled skies, Dupont socks it to us. If we were previously immune to its impacts, or unchallenged by climate change, he wants to infect us with concern right now.

Some of the images reveal the impacts of climate change less obviously than do others. The remnants of a tree, used on the exhibition poster and in the catalogue, is probably the most graphic despite its simplicity; but another more effectively reveals the widespread and devastating destruction in the Tarkine region.

Tarkine, 2018 © Stephen Dupont

An image of a dust storm is very dramatic and powerful, showing the dust towering over a lone bather in the sea. Other images of dust storms remind us that they are widespread and commonly occur.

Scarborough Beach Dust Storm, 2020 © Stephen Dupont

Floating burnt embers during a bushfire are the real story element in a quite strangely beautiful story of sunlight streaming through the fire’s smoke. Once again, whether we need it or not, we are reminded by this and half a dozen other images that these types of fires were widespread in 2019 and 2020.

Hillville Fires 02, 2019 © Stephen Dupont

Another bushfire image clearly shows the human impact. The face of the man in it needs no words to tell of his emotions. And another equally, and poignantly, tells of the impact through a rather sad looking Christ figure.

Bodalla Fires, 2020 © Stephen Dupont

And an image of the skeletal remains of a caravan owned by Dupont’s friend, completely destroyed by fire in the devastating 2020 black summer bushfires has just been named as a finalist in the Australian Life competition (albeit with a different title). This powerful photograph clearly conveys just what such a fire can do and will, I suspect, be a strong contender in that competition.

A view from above of whites and blacks of trees impacted by dieback and fire is visually arresting. For me, the patterns make it the strongest artwork in the exhibition.

Snowy Mountains, 2020 © Stephen Dupont

Whilst the exhibition is technically open, the gallery is closed during the ACT COVID lockdown expected to run until 17 October. In the meantime there is a walk through of the exhibition here. All the images may also be seen on the artist's website here.

This review was published in the Canberra Times on 18/9/21 here and is also on the author's own blog here.

Hot/Cold

Photography | Brian Rope

Hot/Cold | Various Artists: Abby Ching, Alan Charlton, Amanda Pratt, Andrea Bryant, Andrew Morgan, Bailey Corazza, Brian Rope, Caroline Lemerle, David Bermingham, Eva Schroeder, Fiona Bowring-Greer, Ian Russell, Jane Duong, Jenny Dettrick, Jordan Stokes, Kathy Leo, Marie Lund, Trevor Lund, Marzena Wasikowska, Richard Glover, Susan Henderson, Tessa Ivison, Virginia Walsh, and Yvette Perine.

Photo Access | 13 May – 5 June

Disclaimer: the author of this review has two works in the exhibition but received no payment for it.

Each year PhotoAccess invites entries for a members’ exhibition. The 2021 show Hot/Cold sought responses to the idea that we have entered a time of extremes – seasonal, climactic and perhaps emotional. It complements two other solo exhibitions simultaneously in the gallery, both tackling climate transformation issues: Avalanche by Sari Sutton which looks at seasonal variations producing snow, and Black Summer 2020: the Aftermath by Ben Kopilow which explores landscape after that Black Summer. Those other shows have been reviewed separately here.

All PhotoAccess Members were welcome to submit up to two entries. All entries meeting the submission criteria were included in the gallery exhibition and an online gallery. Works were able to be in any photographic medium but could not have been previously exhibited in a solo or group exhibition. Amongst the mostly inkjet, digital and Type C prints, it was particularly good to see a sun print on silk by Virginia Walsh, Giclee prints by Andrea Bryant, liquid silver gelatin prints on plates by Jane Duong, Polaroid instant film works by Jenny Dettrick, and a resin coated darkroom print by Abby Ching. This demonstrates that PhotoAccess is supporting a wide range of contemporary photo-media practices.

It was also great to see Susan Henderson providing some poetry for the catalogue entry about an image of little girls waiting for ice-cream on a hot day whilst the air was filled with smoke and embers:

Baking heat of day

Azure sky, breathe in, breathe out

Ancient time and place

The exhibition catalogue tells us that “Each twelve months journey around the sun brings us the glorious change of the seasons, from the basking heat of January to the frozen breath of July, and all the shades between. But recently, this variation seems to have grown more intense, bringing devastating bushfires, an unusually cool, rainy summer and a shrinking snow season.”

“This disorder re-shapes our world and our lives, changing the plants and animals around us, provoking us to build new places to live and altering how we spend our days. These changes also impact how we feel about ourselves and participate in our relationships, alternately separating us from and bringing us closer to each other.”

So, the question is: what does it mean to be Hot/Cold? In my view not all works have addressed that question. On the other hand, some have looked at the question in innovative ways.

Amongst the most interesting works are those by Jane Duong, Andrea Bryant and Jenny Dettrick. Duong’s because they are on circular plates and their exploration of the ideas of home, dreams and memory makes the viewer think about their relationship to the theme. Bryant’s because they are Giclee prints of destructive cyclical algae events.

Jane Duong - Heart aches for home, 2020

Andrea Bryant - Blue-Green Dreaming 2, 2020

Dettrick's works are, perhaps, the cleverest response to the Hot/Cold theme. One of her Polaroids was developed above a sizzling hot frypan and the other was placed under ice in a freezer for 30 minutes.

Jenny Dettrick - Of Fire, 2021

Tessa Ivison’s digital prints resulted from long exposures combined with movement as a way of interpreting her environment.

Tessa Ivison - Atmos, 2020

Eva Schroeder has created her image using, as her subject, a woman who has lived through the extremes of 2020 with serious underlying health conditions whilst using a deep love of performance art to create an adventurous life.

Eva Schroeder - The Phoenix, 2020

One of the best-known of the exhibitors is Marzena Wasikowska. Her landscape is a response to our environmental predicament.

Marzena Wasikowska - The Gap, 2020

This, and the accompanying, exhibitions are well worth visiting.

This review is also on the author's own blog here.