HURRY TO WHERE THEY STILL (BLOOM)
National Carillon as Memorial for Lost Temperate Grasslands
Where have all the colours gone?
I often talk about the power of colour to evoke connections. It's common to find particular colours are unacceptable to a client due to a negative memory, or are loved because of positive associations.
I'm playing with the idea of colour memory in a different way with a new project for the Canberra Art Biennial "Contour 556". Curated by Neil Hobbs, artists respond ‘to the designed city of Canberra: represented by Australia’s political, cultural and physical history.’ The resulting works invite audiences to interact with art and public space and reflect on Canberra’s unique history.
My work focuses on the National Carillon, the bell tower gifted to Australia by Britain in 1970, which stands on a man-made island in Lake Burley Griffin. Designed by WA architects Cameron, Chisholm & Nicol, the distinctive triangular geometry of the 50m tall tower creates wonderful and dramatic shadows, and shapes against the sky.
The challenge for me was to consider how colour might make something more of this structure, and what is the Carillon for anyway, and for whom? As I researched the building, I found it to be somewhat facile. A handsome, rational structure, nicely sited on a nice site...but what's the point? (yes pun intended!)
Another thread to the story of this place kept playing in my mind. I had the privilege of meeting Ngambri elder Aunty Matilda House during my participation in ANU's Sharing Stories exchange this year. Aunty Matilda described her childhood camping along the Molonglo River, before it was dammed to create Lake Burley Griffin. She spoke of turtles and fish, and of familiar places lost under the lake.
The 2020 National Carillon and Aspen Island Heritage Management Plan Draft Report states that 'There are no remnant natural features on the site, and therefore no natural heritage.' (as defined by the Charter).
Standing at the Carillon today, we unknowingly witness the total erasure of the 'billabong system to the east and the main channel of the Molonglo River to the west' that preceded the cattle grazing of the limestone plains, and later, the construction of the lake.
I'm guilty of loving this lake. I love its ever changing moods and its sinuous edge adorned with beautiful brutalist buildings and carefully tended landscapes. Thankfully now, I can't un-see the old river and (the now critically endangered) Temperate Grassland Habitat that the lake has drowned. I can't un-see the old people camped there.
I have created colour palettes from the flora and fauna of the Temperate Grasslands, and have reimagined the Carillon as a memorial to the lost colours. The series of posters is called 'hurry to where they still (bloom)', which is a reference to Mary Oliver's wonderful poem Lead. You will be able to see them on the Kings Avenue Bridge pylons (south side, from Bowen Drive) just a short stroll or bike ride from the National Gallery or Kingston Foreshore, from October 1 to October 29.
This project is the second iteration of the Brutal Transformations project in which I digitally recolour Canberra's Brutalist buildings. I worked again with talented Canberra architect and photographer Jakub Beseda to capture images of the building to use as my canvas.
A little aside - in researching this project I came across this treasure of a website by Maya Lin, called What is Missing? I highly recommend taking a few hours to explore this elegant and poignant website.
