Craft ACT Artist-in-residence 2014: Bogs and Fens

Bogs and Fens: a rtist-in-residence
and modern suffering, of fragility and
interconnectedness articulated through
spindling cardboard, and the robust
life‐giving mechanisms presented in the
form of seed-pods thick with colour.
Miron, Blake and Fujinuma have formed
their own illustrative ecosystems of
meaning that connect, strengthen,
and interplay with one another on the
exhibition floor. They have given us a
modern dictionary from which to graft
our own understanding of bogs and fens.
Moreover, their work reminds us that
definitions are, by nature (and in nature),
multiplicit. Each piece celebrates the
diversity of human that is welcomed by
country: to relate to and interpret it, so
long as that environment or landscape
remains the creative message or priority.
It is through this lens of environmental
understanding that artist-in-residence
Sally Blake continually looks to,
‘develop a deeper understanding of
the interconnections between nature’s
pattern and processes, and humans
place in the whole.’ It is also through the
language of environment that Japanese
artist-in-residence Satoshi Fujinuma
can still draw on his passion for finding
an usual element of the landscape that
prompts him to ask, ‘how does that work,
and why?’ and through environmental
questioning can draw an environmentallyreflective
answer and aesthetic.
In forming this creative bond to the
environmental experience – whether
as a maker or an exhibition patron –
we are reminded that each of us has a
responsibility to country. Each of us has
our own connection to the inescapable
ecosystems that make our place exactly
what it is. We host our own ability to talk
and think about what we see, or feel, or
smell – both in the exhibition space and
outside, with the grass crunching beneath
our feet. It’s easy to forget this, or forgo
that responsibility, but in the exhibition
environment, we are offered an encounter
with nature, and willingly, we step in. We
meet ecology face-to-face. By engaging
in the 2014 Artist-in-Residence program,
we are invited to renature our vernaculars
in a wholly international, yet very personal
way. We are invited to orient ourselves
by reading a dictionary of meanings
about bogs and fens and by engaging
with these aesthetics, each of us might
develop a deeper understanding of the
environment so immediately influenced
by and near to us.
Despite this, to the eye, a bog remains
perhaps a little unflattering. The sound of
the word might take on deeper meanings
with the guidance of these three fine
makers, but just as an immediate glance
at the word warrants a slightly distorted
face, it takes time and immersion to
appreciate the word’s beauty. Talking
about the bog and fen system, Satoshi
Fujinuma admitted with the most subtle
humour and graceful reflection:
‘The bogs and fen appeared very little,
and it was only scenery of a boring
wetland. However, a precious thing
is hidden there.’
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