Art & Science at the Red Centre of Australia
Take a geological icon like "Uluru" (formerly Ayers Rock) and an artist passionate about the Earth Sciences, put them together in collaboration with a diverse group of artists and engineers and the result is an exhibition "unearthing" the nature of this spectacular landform and the region surrounding it in the Northern Territory in Australia.
Ben Beeton has been artist-in-residence at the Ayers Rock Resort for the last 3 months working and collecting data on the flora, fauna, geological and paleontological background of this unique desert environment.
The resulting exhibition consists of artworks exploiting various media including painting, drawing, digital prints, sculpture and software programs and runs until the end of April at the Wintjiri Arts and Museum.
Click the video below to learn more about the exhibition.
The idea for the exhibition is entirely the brainchild of Ben Beeton who has been actively involved in art/science residencies around Australia and abroad for the last decade. Ben is quickly becoming one of Australia's foremost experts on deep time geology and particularly as it pertains to the region known as "Oceania."
The methodology is simple; travel to a certain geographic area, collect data, formulate the history based on the data and finally transform raw data into beautifully unique artworks that display pictorially and might i add poetically a sense of place in condensed form.
Ben's practice is unique in that there is a systematic approach to the collection and presentation of data as it is perceived from an evolutionary viewpoint. There is a sincere attempt to tell the story as the artist sees it personally.
Click the video below to learn about Uluru Looking Back at You an encaustic painting by William M Boot.
There are other artists such as John Wolseley and Janet Laurence who attempt to engage with the environment and issues such as indigenous species habitat loss, extinction, global warming and desertification. This activity by an increasing number of artists is part of a global shift in perception towards a new understanding of the Earth and it's delicate ecosystems. As interest grows about the natural environment and man's relationship with it, it is appropriate to expect in the future that more artists will incorporate these issues into their art practices.
The central aim of Ben's practice is to make tangible to a wider audience his singular vision of the natural history of the world through syncretic artistic means.
Learn more here, here and here
Click the video below to view the amazing "Field of Light" by UK light artist Bruce Munro currently on at Uluru every night until the end of April.
