on pdfs or, on describing nature using unorthodox points of refernce
You’ve been sent this article from the New York Times of 1910.
It’s a peculiar offer, yet, you liked the story of an amateur ornithologist of the turn of the last century, who by observation alone, presented the Thayer Theory.
After 25 years of research grounded on “description rather then observation” of Crows, gulls, warbles and swallows, Thayer pubished ‘Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom: An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise Through Color and Pattern‘.
Thayer made public his findings first in a couple of articles in the Ornithological Journal, published by the Smithsonian Society in 1898.
Turn of the century stuff, when a man can claim:
‘[...] while protective coloring in animals is considered as belonging to the province of the zoologist, it properly belongs to the realm of pictorial art, and can be interpreted only by painters’
Well, from a point of view of someone like you, trying to put forward an environmental argument through an art forum, this is great stuff.
Using a quote like that as a ‘voxpop’ to be inserted in various contexts..
Yet what fascinates you is the person behind, who you’d like to investigate more.
Mr Abbot H. Thayer who, as an amateur, follow a passion and present it in official scientific forums..
Art and science, though wedded in the names of some colleges, are nevertheless commonly thought as two. Aristotle’s famous definition of art as a habit of production in conscious accordance with a correct method could double as a definition of science, certainly if a word of ‘investigation” were substituted with “production”
Thayer is now a major publishing and software developing company too, see here for deatails
Published by info on December 18th, 2008 | Filed under Bundanon, Cultural diversity, Other's Weeds Art, Recipe, Remedy, ethnobotany, foraging, wide weeds debate | 1 Comment »
on listening to dialogues for social sustainability in public spaces
 |
 |
You attended a fantastic conference last week, hosted by the Transforming Cultures Research Centre, University of Technology of Sydney.
Three exciting days of extremely interesting topics being delivered around issues of social sustainability in the landscape, delving in re-defining how different cultures inhabit urban landscapes around the world.
One of the presenters, Setha Low, a New York based cross-disciplinary researcher, published a number of books and articles on the complexity faced by urban developers when tackling the issues of multifaceted usage of public green spaces. Using as examples a number of parks in New York, the talk introduced the necessity of approaching community consultation with ‘critical methodology’ in order to present an adequate and clear picture of the multilayered interactions with urban parks.
This practice is echoed by the work done by a joint partnership of UTS and the NSW Department of Water and Conservation who initiated a social study of the Georges River National Park, the Parklands, Culture and Communities project which ‘looks at how cultural diversity shapes people’s understandings and use of the Georges River & nearby open spaces in Sydney’s south west’.
From your artistic investigation point of view, the symposium was golden material and a fantastic opportunity to get to know how different disciplines approach the reality of multicultural cities in terms of environmental relationships. Aspects of belonging, legitimacy and intimate relationships with geography were covered with examples from China, India, Northern America and Australia.
From your point of view though, was interesting to notice how several papers were addressing issues of environmental belonging in terms of recreational uses, very few tackled the issues of botanical interactions.
Exceptions were the presentation by Heather Goodall, Wild mangroves, wildflowers & wild fennel: botanical politics on a multicultural river, who in her abstract states ‘human cultures of the area have shaped plant uses as much as plant growth and behaviours have shaped human responses’.
While awaiting for the papers to be published in the Transforming Cultures website you exert readers to read the article by the Associate Professor, who in 2004 co-authored RECOGNISING CULTURAL DIVERSITY: THE GEORGES RIVER PROJECT IN SOUTH-WESTERN SYDNEY
Published by info on December 15th, 2008 | Filed under Cultural diversity, Other's Weeds Art, ethnobotany, wide weeds debate | Comment now »
Frasers Studio Party or how you can get your buildings taller
Word on the street goes that when Frasers decided to implement the FraserStudio the Sydney City Council allowed the developers to have an extra 8-10% of housing ratio on their plans.
And here you are, one of the artists part of the residency, showing your work for the big opening on Thursday 18th of this month.
3 months at looking at Chippendale botany and so far you noticed a whole lotta concrete.
Still the task goes on, and this week you add a few street reports.
The best part is easily the Free Food Garden in Pine Street:
Published by info on December 8th, 2008 | Filed under FraserStudios, foraging | Comment now »
on street plantings and where the neighbourhood is
On the way to Chippendale you stopped, the artificial lake in Victoria Park gave reason for a picture:
Ibises roosting on a willow.
These majestic native birds are one of the winners of nowadays urban wildlife, as the wikipedia entry:
Historically rare in urban areas, the Australian White Ibis has immigrated to urban areas of the east coast in increasing numbers since the late 1970s; it is now commonly seen in Wollongong, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. Debate continues on whether to consider it a pest or vulnerable species. Populations have disappeared from natural breeding areas such as the Macquarie Marshes in northwestern New South Wales. Despite this, the species has been culled in parts of Sydney due to their smell and at times obtrusive nature.
The culling part is quite interesting, read this Sydney Morning Herald article about the Royal Botanic Gardens management plan for the birds.
Despite the issues of cohexistence between humans and native species, was amusing to see a willow being chosen as a roosting tree from the birds.
The rough botanical survey of Chippendale continues, amongst various other commitments, like the current project you are doing with the SquatSpace collective at the Redfern Community Centre, in preparation for a show next year, There Goes The Neighbourhood, at Performance Space, Redfern.
You are very keen on this project, mostly because is dealing with local issues in a local setting.
The latest additions are a number of street trees, the usual species really, platanus and celtis.
LIsa Kelly, who’s studio is on the other side of the train track from this Fraser’s of yours, is propagating platanus seedlings, in preparation for the show next year, you’re looking forward to see the results of 6 months of botanical nursing.
Published by info on November 22nd, 2008 | Filed under FraserStudios, Other's Weeds Art, ethnobotany, wide weeds debate | Comment now »
On the big long white cloud
Pic by Senor Lebowski
You left Christchurch, New Zealand.
The flight gave you the chance to see the landscape from a fantastic advantage point, you had a window seat on a clear day.
You where impressed by the width of the river beds, as if the washing downstream on sediment is happening at an amazing rate.
New Zealand has a much more active geology that Australia, volcanoes and earthquakes are realities to beckon with.
The high mountains of the South Island sports glaciers who feed the impressive water basin of Canterbury.
A fantastic place for farming. While you were there you noticed a newspaper article on the Guinness record-breaking crop of a particular wheat farmer.
The extremely fertile silts, rich in minerals and base elements pour down the maintains.
Deforestation happened at an amazing rate, through out New Zealand, as you learned from a number of publication acquired in second hand bookshops.
You would like here to quote the foreword in Birds, Beasts & Fishes, an account of the first hundred years of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society
Foreword
By F.J.Gorton
The North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society decided that the publication of an account of the work done by previous members would be a suitable way of marking the completion of 100 years.
As President of the Society I have been asked to write a foreword to the book.
The work done by the Society and its many willing helpers has brought about the successful establishment of sporting fish in North Canterbury. Brown and rainbow trout are doing very well, as also are quinnat salmon.
As for game birds, pheasants have been disappointing, but California quail and chukors are in fair numbers in favoured localities.
Black swan and Canada geese have done so well that theirt numbers have to be controlled. The introduced mallard duck has crossed with the native grey duck, and there is some concern that the later may cease to exist as a pure species.
The examination of old records has shown that many early settlers were interested in estabilishing birds, beasts and fishes from other countries in the hope that they would prove suitable for sport.
This book afford some idea of the work done and of the difficulties that had to be overcome. We were very fortunate in that Mr Lamb consented to do the necessary reaserch and writing. He has put into it a great deal of work, going through many volume of records, and examining material submitted by members of the committee which assisted him. I am sure that the book will be of value to all who are interested in acclimatisation.
F.J.Gorton
President, North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society.
7th October, 1964
The true is humans ‘acclimatise’ their surroundings all the times, creating more ’suitable’ environments populated by useful species: wheat, cows, horses, chickens, vegetables, rice and so forth.
Interesting to find out the acclimatisers of North Canterbury not only programmed and masterminded a systematic tampering with local vegetation and wildlife, but als0 had a licensing system for the people willing to use such introductions, It was seen as a way to generate funds for the implementation of the schemes.
Published by info on November 17th, 2008 | Filed under Cultural diversity, ethnobotany, history, wide weeds debate | Comment now »
on finding quotes
photo taken by Bmdavll
You found a cafe’ where you get access to a modest library, and came across ‘The Natural History of Canterbury’ published by the Canterbury branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand and edited by A.W.Reed in 1969..
No, not Canterbury the English town, but the New Zealand region where Christchurch, the garden city, is located, east of the south island.
You jumped straight to the botany section, where in the preamble the author quotes a certain J.B.Armstrong who in 1880 writes:
No account, howerver short, of the plants of Canterbury would be complete without some reference to those plants which have been introduced through the agency of colonisation. Wherever settlemnt extends the native plants rapidly die out, and their places are filled by British and other exotic plants, mostly of a weedy nature [...] There can, I think, be no doubt whether that the native vegetation will eventually be almmost, if not entirely exterminated, and the floral feautures of the country althogether changed through the introduction of these foreign weeds.
Published by info on November 11th, 2008 | Filed under Cultural diversity, history, wide weeds debate | Comment now »
on secured networks or rather, on glorious willows and finding locals
You so wish internet connections would liberate themselves from the restrictions of market.
Yet no free connection is available and blogging is a task to overcome.
Willows, glorious, enourmous and flowering in Christchurch’s parks.
The south island of New Zealand, proud and cold, rich and wet.
Temperate botany faring well amongst a disrupted environment, changed irreversibly by the latest wave of colonisers, who brought along scores of species known to you.
Sparrows and Blackbirds everywhere, Oak and Ash would turn so amazing in the Autumn, when the imported decidous burst in colours.
You visit the botanic gardens regularly in the morning, just before going to the local City gallery to install Fiona Hall’s artistic ventures into nature.
Clover, Plantain, Sheperd’s purse and Dandelions look as healthy as in Europe, where they’re from.
You get reminded over and over again of the work of two germans artists, iriz-a-maz, who travelled recently to Sydney to further their ongoin investigation of trans-national botany, drawing parallels between the shifting of goods, population and plants, as human expand and loop around the world.
You also had chanche to visit 2008 Scape, Christchurch Biennial of art in public space, and were impressed.
The breath of scope was so refreshing, interventions spanned from the everpresent ‘plonk art’ (art which comes from a truck, gets deposited by a crane and could have been deposited anywhere else for that matter; usually it require an enourmous amount of bronze and/or stainless steel to produce)
to the launch of a new apple strand as a reflection on “what it means to be an artist in an age of rampant capitalism”; from laying lights in a river bed (oops, sorry, activated by a sensor) to enclosing sacred statues (James Cook’s) in order to be able to reflect face to face with the icon.
What you really enjoyed was the hermetic slection. All together only 25 artist where invited, allowing the available budget to foster some substantial contribution, rather then spreading it thin across an ambitious selection without providing enough support to install anything at all.
But hey, you just came as a turist, and you are far too familiar with the incredible ability of cultural workers to make miracles happens out of a fake golden eggs duck.
You will relate about Fiona Hall’s in another posting..
Published by info on November 9th, 2008 | Filed under Uncategorized | Comment now »
where the wild things are
Most of the action at the moment happen in the Chippendale Google map (see the tab above) and in the Flicker page (see the tab on the left)
come by, see the wonders
Published by info on November 5th, 2008 | Filed under FraserStudios | Comment now »
as you were
Back to Chippendale and its botany.
Things move fast in the small suburb of Sydney, with a considerable part of it undergoing a fast-paced redevelopment.
Most of the area is being ‘cleared’ already, making space for apartments and parks.
In the mean time you juggling a paid employment, a forced change of house from another fast-paced-renewal area, Redfern, and various other initiatives, like a group show contribution in collaboration with Mark Brown.
You also getting ready for a trip to New Zealand, Christchurch, where you will help installing Fiona Hall’s new show at the local Art Gallery..
Life’s fast
Published by info on November 4th, 2008 | Filed under FraserStudios | Comment now »
oops, or rather, how to contextualise $60,000
“Bonetto’s work is a barometer of our times, exploring nature, fragility, sustainability and how we integrate ourselves in the natural environment. The work is particularly apt at this point of time with what is going on ecologically, economically and politically,” the committee noted.
It took a while to come up with this post.
You were awarded the Helen Lempriere Traveling Art Scholarship 10 days ago, and it was such a surprise.
So this posting will be on what you’re at with it. It will serve as a point of reference for when in years to come you will get back to this point. No more Nobody.
Few things needs to be said, pulled out of your system and laid down in a public forum:
ANAT, the Australian Network for Art and Technology runs an online discussion list, where once a month a new topic gets discussed by a number of invited guest from around the world. September topic was Sustaining Ecologies - how to ensure our ecosystems survive us. You were one of the many who just read the incoming points of views from people like AMY BALKIN, GEORG DIETZLER, LYNDAL JONES, ANDREA POLLI, JANINE RANDERSON and MARTIN WALCH.
Few interesting topics came out, like the fact that by far the biggest factor in climate change is human behavior (no surprises there)[...] and climate scientists have been starting to try to integrate social and behavioral models into climate change scenarios..
What struck you the most though, was to learn how many internationally recognized artists travel the world to various science-art collaborations in an attempt to present works with environmental concerns.
..artists jetsetting to antanrtica for example, to document the melting of the icecaps.
..do this people calculate their own environmental footprint?
or they just offset their own carbon emissions with pseudocredit originated in some obscure factory in China?
and here you are, with a big possibility to go around the world to experience first hand foraging practices, glean information, digest and take it back in your own bioregional reality in the form of ‘art’.
Non si sputa sul piatto dove mangi
You don’t bite the hand that feeds you
yet, hard questions need to be addressed there.
In the mean time congratulations rained in from all corners, thanks. While local information gets offered and needs to be compiled as important bioregional research:
I just watched a video of you cooking biscuits with fennel. My mother loved making spinach and feta pies with fennel that we would pick from the side of train tracks. For some reason, the train track fennel always tasted better than the garden grown fennel. I wonder what other weeds you can use in cooking. Are you going to write a little cook book one day?
Kind regards
Electra