SOME LAST PLANTING VIDEOS AND A TYING UP OF LOOSE ENDS (ONE MONTH LATER)

Here in Melbourne, back in the routines of work and home, I feel very distant from this project. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to return to it and conclude it properly. I started off this blog thinking about how problematic it is to designate a beginning to a process oriented project. It seems that finding the point at which it finally ends is just as hard.

WALKING DIAGRAM (FINAL ACT)

The final act I performed in the space, after washing the windows, was to draw a diagram which detailed various walks I have undertaken over the course of the three weeks. Some were recurring, like going next door for coffee, others were related to specific events, such as planting pips. I've been undecided about whether this is a satisfactory way to leave the project; however, in coming back to the space now after a short break I've come to the conclusion that it is somehow appropriate.

WASHING THE WINDOW

LAST DAY OF WINDOW NOTATION

INCIDENTAL BICYCLE RAINBOW

READING: SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT FIELDWORK

It seems trivial to be thinking of this project in light of the terrible tragedy in Christchurch, but I’ll continue anyway.

After a few days in which not much has happened within the residency, I thought I’d return to the book I was reading at the beginning of my time here. It’s a book that Lisa Kelly gave me when we swapped cities a year or so ago. It didn’t engage me so much then, but something compelled me to pull it off the shelf when deciding what reading matter to bring with me. Titled Fieldwork, and put together by ART/SPACE/NATURE (an interdisciplinary course run through the Edinburgh College of Art), it comprises a series of interviews and discussions with artists, educators, architects, archaeologists and anthropologists about their thoughts on ‘fieldwork’.

LAST MINUTE FRIDAY AFTERNOON PLANTING

Using the last window of opportunity according to the Māori lunar calendar, I planted two more green plum pips on Friday afternoon. Then I collected a few cuttings and put them in the water bottles saved from the dinner party. 

A BOTANICAL TOUR OF THE SURROUNDS

Here's the first video I made while investigating the vegetation around Book House (a warning - it runs for 10 minutes):

 

AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

CAMERA PROPS AND LIGHT ON THE WALL

Since abandoning the construction of last week, I’ve been propping the video camera up with various other objects. 

YESTERDAY'S GREEN PLUM PLANTING DAY

According to both the biodynamic planting guide and also the Māori lunar calendar that you, Andrea, posted the link to, yesterday was an optimum day for planting seeds. The name of the 13th day after a new moon according to the Māori calendar is ‘Ōhua’, and is described as “a very good day for planting food.”[1]

 

Earlier, when thinking about the possibilities of this lunar planting proposition, I had the dilemma of what should be planted. It felt appropriate that the chosen plant/s be something related specifically to the site of Alterations or to the experience of being a ‘resident’ here. Two lines of thought led to different activities.

1:

First, after the suggestion of looking into the plants that were growing in the vicinity of the Book House building, I went on a number of video walks investigating in detail what was sprouting out of cracks and gaps, up walls and in between drain pipes. It was quite an adventure. (The first version to be added here shortly - while I am considering the possibility of screening another version in the gallery...)

A SPONTANEOUS RAIN SHOWER FROM THE CAR PARK ROOF

A WEEK'S WORTH OF WINDOW NOTATIONS

Notating my comings and goings every day on the window of Alterations, has prompted some questions about what it means to be ‘in residence’.

At this point, the only things to be seen in the gallery space are the notes on the window, marking my attendance - or lack thereof, and, when I am in the space, my physical presence as well as the video camera which is occasionally recording.

Is to be a resident to inhabit a space? Is being visibly present important? Or rather is being present, in this case, a stand in for the production of an object? Where the time spent being ‘in residence’ becomes the product? This seems to link in with the idea of an artistic product taking the form of (a process of) research, as you, Andrea, alluded to with reference to Simon Sheikh’s essay. Or in this case perhaps also the process of observation (which may in itself be a kind of research).

LUNAR CYCLES AND BIODYNAMIC PLANTING

Since looking at the lunar calendar you posted, Andrea, and thinking about our discussions for possible activities that the movement of the moon might dictate, I’ve done a little more research. Yesterday I visited the City Library, and found a number of books about biodynamics, a topic I know very little of, but which seemed to tie in to our interest regarding lunar movements and their relation to planting. 

PROP BUILDING

Finally, on Thursday, I managed to construct a semi-functional structure, within the limitations of the tools and materials I had – a drill, but no saw, six pieces of pine in two different lengths, some wing nuts and bolts, a clamp and assorted kinds of tape. This is what I came up with, however the structure isn’t very stable and doesn’t move in very many directions. 

ANOTHER WALK

As I walked up Plimmer steps to Alterations yesterday, I discovered a mysterious set of chalky markings which I followed via a round about route all the way from the road up to the gallery. There were two arrows and a series of 'H' shapes. Possibly they were left by some construction workers who were busy doing something between a few fluorescent cones at the top of the steps all day, but I had the impression that they were really a coded message to lead me on a little detour.

Lunar Phases

Since our discussion on lunar cycles I’ve been reading up on the phases of the moon, and according to this chart, next week is optimal for moon illumination. This Saturday night marks the first quarter, after which the sunlit portion of the moon will continually increase until the full moon on Saturday 19 February. I wonder if this period will provide you with much light to work with?

THOUGHTS ON ARTISTIC RESEARCH

Simon Sheikh, Objects of Study or Commodification of Knowledge? Remarks on Artistic Research', Art & Research: A Journal of Ideas, Contexts and Methods, Vol 2. No. 2, Spring 2009, http://www.artandresearch.org.uk/v2n2/sheikh.html

I came across this article by Simon Sheikh a while ago and it immediately made me think of your practice. There are plenty of parallels between Sheikh's text and your work, and this is starting to come through on the blog.

In keeping with the first stage of the residency being 'observations', I've decided to paste these quotes below as raw data, as if researching towards an essay, or as a way of framing or positioning Observations, propositions and re-presentations.

HANDS AND FEET TOUCHING THE CITY

Walking between Alterations and hardware store yesterday, the long way.

YESTERDAY'S SIGNAGE AND OTHER SMALL ACTIVITIES

After I wrote up “coffee next door”, and sat by the window in the café, many passers by would glance back between the two windows.

A PLAN FOR THE CAMERA PROP

I’m trying to think of the most practical and economical way to construct the prop and this is what comes to mind – a triangular support at the base and three movable sections of an arm extending from that, held together with butterfly screws. On my way to Bunnings now.

SLOW BEGINNINGS

Over dinner, on the first night I arrived in Wellington, we had a brief conversation about the difficulty in designating the beginning to a process orientated project, a topic that seems to be recurring. Did this project begin when I got off the plane to be picked up by Andrea and Steven? Or did it begin with the dinner we had in the gallery on Friday night? Or the next day, after we cleaned up, and Laura and Amit (metaphorically) handed the space over to me? Or is it only now as I finally get around to posting this on the blog? Maybe it was when I resumed reading Conversations with Art/Space/Nature on the flight over here (more on that later). It seems that the beginning of this project has come on slowly, with many potential starting points, that may only become clear when looking back from the end of it. 

Introduction

Observations, propositions and re-presentations
 
Thea Rechner, curated by Andrea Bell

Welcome to the Observations, propositions and re-presentations blog! This is where we will record the process of the residency at Alterations over the next three weeks. Below is the text we prepared as a press release to introduce the project, and photos taken by Amit Charan:

Beginning the first day after a New Moon, Thea Rechner’s residency at Alterations will operate as a workshop over three weeks in February. Working within the spectrum of the visible, Rechner’s practice examines art’s role in framing and re-framing what can be seen or experienced, and how these often ephemeral phenomena can take on significance beyond the everyday.