Wk 11 // misc readings, deep time, & Window exhibition planning
- annabensky
- Apr 28, 2023
- 4 min read
It's been a busy week outside of MFA studies as I've been getting myself organised for exhibiting with Window Gallery. Originally, I had put my work On the horizon, just above the waves (2022) forward for online exhibition, however due to an opening in their on-site schedule I was offered the opportunity to exhibit it in their gallery space as well. As excited as I am for this, it has also been a little stressful to organise - I was recently told that due to the proximity to the UoA library and technical AV limitations, the sound component will not be able to be included... which is a pretty major part of the work! To navigate this, I've chosen to include a QR code that links to the audio component as part of the display and room-sheet, which viewers and visitors can access via smartphone... not ideal, but I haven't been able to find a better solution with the options at hand. Perhaps a lesson in "just because you can put a work in a space doesn't mean it is the right work for the space"...
For the on-site exhibition, I will be presenting the video component on a 48" TV screen, with black fabric behind to create a bit more of a void-like feel to the space. The room-sheet also contains a reading list, a little bit of an information treasure-hunt for those who want to know more about Rangitoto's history and geology, planetary placements, the biology of pioneer species like lichens, etc. I am hoping that given the proximity to UoA's library and the range of students and visitors who come through the doors, perhaps this will be engaging for students not only interested in art but also other disciplines. I also specifically requested to exhibit this work at a time in the year when Mars will be relatively easy to spot on a clear evening on the horizon (just above the waves).
(installation mock-ups...)
Re. the history of modern geology
"...in the book of the earth, we've begun to write our names in the densest, most durable ink... and I think that's what sets us apart in our relationship with deep time, in that we are a part of it as no other generation ever has been."
This short video covers the work of James Hutton, a Scottish geologist who is considered the father of geology. His research along the Scottish coast at Siccar Point centred around the different layers of rock visible at the shoreline, and his discoveries challenged dominant views around the Earth's age according to Biblical accounts of time.
At Siccar Point, Hutton discovered what he termed an "unconformity": an arrangement of rocks in which a line separating two radically different rock formations is visible. The two different kinds of rock were formed in very different ways: 400 million years ago, alternating layers of mudstone and greywacke were laid town before being morphed and squished by tectonic shifting; after this, tens of millions of years later, 70 million years ago or so, a red sandstone layer was formed on top of this deposit. Between the two, a visible line demarking a 60 million year gap of unrecorded time... the unconformity.
Hutton's discovery was both a geological oddity and a complete departure from the then dominant Christian understanding of Earth time which proposed the planet was only 4000 years old. In contrast, Hutton stated that "time had no vestige of a beginning [and] no prospect of an end."
NZ Geographic - fun readings:
The Fire Beneath Us - https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-fire-beneath-us/
The Most Ancient Rocks - https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/most-ancient-rocks/?source=readmore-ribbon-trending
Steam and Brimstone - https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/most-ancient-rocks/?source=readmore-ribbon-trending
Fire and Water - https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/fire-water/?state=requireSubscription
Volcanic Auckland - https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/volcanic-auckland/?state=requireSubscription
Nicholas Mangan, A World Undone (2012)
A World Undone delves into Zircon, a 4,400 Million year old mineral that has been unearthed within some of the earth’s earliest crust in Western Australia’s extremely remote Jack Hills. The project gathered a small sample of the geological material to be crushed and reduced to dust, disaggregating the very matter that it was comprised of. The dust was filmed, airborne, by a camera that captures movement at a speed of 2500 frames per second. The airborne dust elicits an image of the earth’s crust dematerializing, a rear vision view of the earth’s becoming; an inverted cosmos. In the words of founding Geologist James Hutton, the so-called discoverer of deep-time; “No vestige of a beginning — no prospect of an end”.
The exhibition is comprised of a range of works - crushed zirconium ore, satellite images of the Australian landscape, photographs of research and processes around the exhibition itself, and a 12 minute silent slow-motion video. All work together to build a story around the ancient mineral, creating space in which is is both grounded and beyond human time and scale.
I would love to be able to put together an exhibition/body of work like this someday - I think this kind of format would work well in relation to my practice; and gives a lot of space to construct broad narratives that go beyond the individual artworks present within it...
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