I had the opportunity, thanks to some friends, to shoot some video and still photographs in the bush.
I took Isabella's (great grandmother) wind up gramophone and several other props as well as a costume which I found in my fathers favourite antique warehouse. Placing these objects in the landscape felt like a kind of colonisation. They belonged in an uncomfortable way on Taungurung country.
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| Stranger 1 |
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| Sitting and sewing |
It also was interesting seeing how uncomfortable it was to wear such clothing and carry heavy Victorian furniture into the bush. I grew up in similar landscapes at the back of Eltham, Wurrundjerri country, when it was still undeveloped and was used to walking through the bush and trying not to leave a footprint, moving through the special spaces with almost no sound. Doing this work I found myself crunching noisily through the bush in the way that I imagine my ancestors did being so unused to and insensitive of this strange land when they arrived from Scotland and Ireland.
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| Lost and found |
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| Walking in water |
I love the fact that you made the effort to carry in the furniture and to wear the clothing that would have been worn by our ancestors. I imagine that it would have connected you to the experience in a more profound way, much as an actor is connected to a character when they look at themselves wearing a mask in a mirror.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant Megan!!
ReplyDeleteToday... I visited South Eltham... the treat of walking silently through, I share... I haven’t been back for many, many years and as I walked, old names from school days came flooding back. Megan, I hope you’re well... thanks for your art. Do you remember?
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
Owen Morris