“Jonathon has taken some of the things we all recognise and take for granted as his starting point on an artistic journey that will stimulate new ideas and a few laughs,” said Robert Heather, Director of New England Regional Art Museum. “He takes the viewer on a wild ride through suburbia, regional Australia and our own backyards.”

Made in Australia Morphed out of thinking about icons, iconic brands, places, faces, and ideas. There are a set of predictable images we have of our selves. Images of Holden cars and meat pies may have lost their place at the top of the list as our buying and eating habits evolve. So I drove around Queensland, NSW, ACT, Victoria, South Australia trying to find other ways to look at ourselves. I wanted to use humour, colour, art & political references to add to the conversation.

Road to Broken Hill

My formative years were spent growing up in Queensland during the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s, where every thing seemed big and belligerent. The Big Cow, Big Pineapple, Big Mower, Big Bee, Big Crab and even big Russ. Russ Hinze was large which seemed to make it ok for him to become the Minister for everything. The big politicians threatened to go south and take over Australia, Joe for PM was the catchphrase. It seemed like we were compensating for our communal sense of inadequacy in the deep North. It is no wonder that these tacky icons were front and center when I started to think about iconic Australia. The glorious kitschiness of popular culture was everywhere.

Made in Australia

In the back of an artists mind there is always the question where do you fit in.
I guess I was looking for a way round post modern endgamism. Post Pop might work. Australia did not seem to do pop very well back in the day.

Pop grew out of an era of rampant post war consumerism and media culture.
As a type of art “Pop” is always with us. Pop art is eternal. It could be argued that Pop never ended… Just got absorbed.

Pop inherited dada, surrealisms ability to shock and social critique, and selectively appropriates pop culture icons. Pop eliminates the hand of the artist to create a mass produced object.

Pop ignored the line that separated high and low art, images of mass consumerism treated like religious icons. Pop exemplified Avant-garde ideal of dissolving boundaries between art and everyday life. It connects with the public through the familiarity of the images being referenced.

It seems that Pop art continues to be a major influence on current art practice. Pop’s underlying appeal seemed to make more and more sense to me as “Made in Australia” evolved. Given that I still have a lot of Australia to explore, there may be more Lino prints “Made in Australia”.

The exhibition “Made in Australia” opened at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) on Friday 19 October 2015.

The North Western Regional Science Hub presented this as “Science Meets Art” event at NERAM to celebrate National Science Week (and beyond) – introducing children to the School of Ants Project through an interactive and creative experience exploring the life of ants.

It seemed like a fun idea at the time.  Science Week was coming up and Inspiring NSW was offering funding for events that engaged children with science – a perfect opportunity to get creative and bring science and art together! Cherene Splendelove organized the funding and collected the various groups together to form the North Western Regional Science Hub. The group was a partnership between the Catalyst Club, The Armidale Tree Group, Southern New England Landcare (SNELCC), The Department of Education and The New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM).

It all started with a pile of cardboard boxes

Cherene’s idea was to create an interactive sculpture that would give children a special opportunity to think about trees and their significance in the environment. We were aware of the ICT Technology SMART Tree project that involved scientists monitoring trees with remote technology to record data from ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ trees.  Living SMART Trees are being monitored around the world, including at The Armidale Tree Group, and school science students are already interacting with the data. We planned to take an extra step and make a tree that visitors could actually go inside and Explore smart Trees from the Inside Out!

There was something enticing about the inside of the tree for children and adults

Benjamin Thorn and I were consulted and threw our thoughts into the ring. It all started with a pile of cardboard boxes. We energetically set to work creating a sculptural and auditory representation of a tree using recycled boxes and other easily accessible materials. Many hours were spent in the foyer space of NERAM … mapping out the tree, arranging boxes, climbing ladders and wrapping seemingly endless metres of cloth tape around the structure that very quickly dominated the gallery space and was clearly visible from the street!

During the process, we tackled a number of structural, creative and engineering challenges. Those boxes just kept wanting to fall down. Getting the audio to play when someone entered the tree was also an issue. We also worked with children in art meets science workshops, engaged with visitors to discuss what we were up to and answered spontaneous interview questions from radio journalists.

The task of generating ‘tree’ sounds that could be triggered by visitors entering the tree was a challenge.  However, by sourcing real tree recordings and also creating their own sounds that replicated the sounds of sap popping or branches creaking, we managed to create an amazing multi-sensory experience that visitors could immerse themselves in when they entered the tree sculpture.

The tree had just stated to grow

From the OUTSIDE, we could all perceive the tree shape in the assembled boxes, but as we went INSIDE the sculptural tree it was possible to imagine entering a living tree – experiencing the close comfort of the tree’s shelter and listening to the sounds of a living and growing tree.

For the duration of the project, the community, school groups and other groups of interested children, had an opportunity to learn about trees from botanist David Carr by taking a ‘tree walk’ along Black Gully and visiting a living SMART Tree at The Armidale Tree Group.  Then, having considered the science, visitors could explore the sculptural SMART Tree at NERAM.

But it didn’t stop there.  The tree kept growing and small creatures began to inhabit it! The tree seemed to have a life of its own. Visitors took time to make and add their own leaves to the tree or create a small creature to live in or on the tree.  Just as on a living tree, foliage continued to grow, branches extended or drooped, and animal life moved in!

The tree seemed to have a life of its own.

Science Week was long past when the time came to dismantle the sculpture.  In the same way that a living tree takes many years to grow but can be destroyed swiftly, the sculptural tree came down quickly and easily. The sculptural SMART Tree is now gone, but it has left an impact on the community and maybe we are all a little more familiar with what it might be like to be inside a tree! Find out more by listening to our interview by local ABC radio personality Kelly Fuller.

The high tech end of the smart tree project

The sculptural SMART Tree is now gone, but it has left an impact on the community and maybe we are all a little more familiar with what it might be like to be inside a tree! Find out more by listening to our interview by local ABC radio personality Kelly Fuller.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/08/12/3823355.htm

Catharsis was an interactive community art installation that has given the Armidale community an opportunity to shred its collective negative thoughts and contribute to the creation of a positive community art work. The installation was in place from 14 November to 14 December, 2014 at NERAM and in shop front windows throughout Armidale!

The Catharsis project originally kicked off in a pop-up space in Armidale, June 2014. Stage one encouraged the community to write negative feelings down and then shred them. The creation of a pile of shredded paper suggested we all have issues that we can let go of. Positive affirmations were simultaneously collected from video and the graffiti on walls for use later in the process.

Stages two and three involved taking the shredded paper and remaking it into new paper. A follow up workshop at the Museum of Printing (NERAM) made use of old letter press technology, to print excerpts of positive participant aspirations onto the hand made paper.

The installation at NERAM became the final focus of the six month Catharsis process. The installation included a projection, hand printed paper grid, interactive vinyl text and a sound scape made from material captured during stage one of Catharsis.

Positive text affirmations were also installed in multiple shop windows in the CBD to create a community artwork that complemented the art installation at NERAM.

Thanks to the cross-community support of Locals 4 Locals, Armidale Dumaresq Council, Community Mutual, the New England Regional Art Museum and the Australia Council for the Arts, the Beyond Empathy project Catharsis has reached individuals from across the community in a shared cathartic experience. Special thanks again to the shop space landlord and The Professionals Real Estate.

‘This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.‘