RANGER UO2 - fractals
The Democracy of Drawing, AirSpace Gallery, Sydney (2014)
DN15, A&Dspace, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney (2015)
In 1979 my performance, Jabiluka UO2, addressed the controversial proposal to mine uranium at a location in the Kimberley flood plain in the Northern Territory, which was thankfully scrapped in response to intense national and international campaigns initiated by the Mirarr people, the traditional owners of Jabiluka. In this artwork brush and ink drawings of Kakadu, made during the ‘Wet’ from the back of a 4WD in 2012, are extrapolated upon to contemplate the recent spill of radioactive material at Kakadu’s Ranger uranium mine where “a leach tank burst spilling about 1 million litres of highly acidic radioactive slurry” (Sydney Morning Herold, 11/12/13), adding to the heinous outcomes of our habituated disregard for the health of natural environments, and people. These include nuclear meltdowns at Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986), Fukushima (2013), the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki (1946), the Bikini Atoll (1946 to 1958) and Maralinga (1956), where service men and Aboriginal people were exposed to high levels of radiation, the cancerous effects of which have ricocheted down generations - et al.
Ink, paint, pencil, tracing paper, water colour paper, photography (84cm W x 59.5 W)
THUNDERBOLT, 2010
Solar powered public artwork for the Sydney Olympic Authority public art commission, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Sydney Olympic Games.
Metal (recycled windmill), solar panels, wood, electronics, LED lighting. 6.5 metres high. 2010, Jacaranda Square, Sydney Olympic Park; 2012, South Broken Hill.
Thunderbolt, is an ‘environmental signal’ - the colour of the sculpture’s lighting changes from green (low), to yellow (tipping point), to red (too high) as the local community’s consumption of nocturnal energy rises. The sculpture is an aide memoire to personally reduce energy consumption, and consider switching to sustainable energy technology.
Thunderbolt runs on its own power, ‘off the grid’, with a reliable, robust design that stands as an exemplar of sustainable energy in action.
The dynamic, zig-zagging form of the 6.5 metre high sculpture is based on the warning symbols for high voltage, thunder, and shock. It changes appearance at night in response to the energy company’s live online data streaming, captured using communications media to operate a low energy lighting system - LED lights and gels.
Red lighting indicates the energy consumption levels are high in the neighbourhood; green lighting indicates a low level of consumption.
Yellow is the tipping point back and forth from low to low energy usage. Photos: Mr Snow.
