Contemplating the terrain vague

Abstract

This research paper, Contemplating the Terrain Vague, is an examination of the post- industrial landscapes of Rhodes and Port Kembla in New South Wales and Fremantle in Western Australia. Through direct observation of these areas, I have developed a series of images, which explore degradation, pollution and waste of the surrounding foreshores and waterways. My art practice is informed by scientific documentation of this landscape and environs by organisations such as Greenpeace, The Environmental Protection Agency, Rhodes Remediation and The National Toxic Network. These documents examine the effect of pollutants on the foreshores, waterways and inhabitants. Specific artworks by the Dutch photographer Hans Scholten along with South African artists John Muafangejo and Jo Ratcliffe are referenced for their social and political subject matter. The notion of the print as an important social document is discussed, as alluded to by Dr Elizabeth Rankin, writer and curator of South African history. My work examines the legacy of manufacturing by chemical companies for those who reside on contaminated land. In this context, the principle of the Terrain Vague is presented, highlighting the contradictions of those abandoned spaces that can be crucial or harmful to cities. Similarly, the Urbanist theoretical writing of Dr Helen Armstrong in her paper Time, Dereliction and Beauty: an argument for ‘Landscapes of Contempt’ and Professor Ignasi de Solà-Morales, author of The Terrain Vague have informed my practice. The exploration and recording of these abandoned spaces is addressed in the photographic imagery of Urbexer art - a movement that comments on the legacy of waste. This resonates with my own investigation of industrial degradation and decay. Similarly, the artistic manifestations of Romantic, English born, American artist Thomas Cole and American, Frederic Edwin Church are referenced in terms of their aesthetic appreciation of the ruin and the picturesque. I have created a series of images, sited in chapters: Hidden Agenda, The Modern Ruin and Living on the Edge, that feature recurring symbolic motifs, including images of swallows, mangroves, deformed mullet and the prefabricated and affordable post - World War 2 Australian domestic dwelling. Each are used as symbols of the changing face of a post-industrial landscape. Within this body of work some images deal with satirical references and present an ironic view of the comfortable suburban home, albeit, surrounded by smelters and pollution. Contemplating the Terrain Vague refers to actual places and events. It highlights past mistakes, caused through inadequate knowledge and monitoring and sounds a timely warning for future industrial development.