Master of Contemporary Art

Laurent Labourmène

Studio Practice 1

Contents:

1. Artist statement

2. Process | Research | Background work

3. Finished art works

4. References

1. Artist Statement

For the late Caribbean poet, writer and philosopher Édouard Glissant “the imaginary is all the ways a culture has of perceiving and conceiving of the world. Hence every human culture will have its own particular imaginary” (Poetics of Relation, trans. by Betsy Wing, 1997). My research and practice is driven by a fascination with how we might transform our personal and collective imaginary at a time when it is dominated by a pathologically short attention span. Throughout this semester, the sounds of a wet sclerophyll forest, a live audio transmitter, a science fiction film and a ritual performed by stratigraphers are just some of the things that have lent material to the process of exploring this territory for me. The works shared here engage human and non-human animals, the living and the not-yet-born, silence, sound, text and the imagination as agents for inviting us to consider our interconnectedness with a living planet in the context of geological time and change. 

I gravitate to the work of creative explorers who aren’t defined by any one particular artistic medium. I’m especially drawn to Julian Charrière’s scientifically rigorous field-informed works; Katie Paterson’s intimate and poetic explorations of deep time; Trevor Paglen’s forensic investigations of the historical moment we are living in; and Tomás Saraceno’s dialogues with other forms of life. The themes they each explore intersect with my interests and research too.  I’m particularly inspired by the collaborative and cross-disciplinary nature of Paterson and Saraceno’s respective studio practices. Blending disciplines, sharing knowledge and creativity are part of my practice too. Many of the works I’ve been developing this semester have started to take shape through conversations with scientists, biologists, futurists, ethicists, acoustic ecologists, musicians, anthropologists, designers, furniture makers, software engineers, geologists, and technologists.

Over the last four months I’ve broadcast the sounds of a forest located one hour away live to the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music; transmitted a silent message from unborn future generations to us, their ancestors; re-imagined a ‘golden spike’ as a wayfinding device to help us orient ourselves differently in space and time; begun planning the co-design of a chair for our distant human and other-than-human descendants; started researching the creation of a set of wooden phonograph records that will play the sounds from an area of ancient forest that may soon be no more. I discuss these art works in turn, with a particular focus on research and process, throughout the following website pages. I also share each of them, including those under development, in my on-campus installation.

2. Process | research | Background Work

This section explores the process, research and background work that underpins my Studio Practice. Given the nature of my practice, it forms the bulk of this assessment document.

Early May, my academic supervisor Dane Mitchell shared a research document map (see Figure 1 below) with me which he developed for his 3rd year students while encouraging me to adapt it for my own purposes. While all of this might seem obvious, it has helped me to organise things conceptually while recognising areas which I need to focus on more. I’m starting to see how the research aspects of my practice include at least 6 areas of focus: ideas and plans; materials research; drawings and sketches; experiments and trials; artistic research; theoretical and contextual research.

Below I touch on each of these areas in terms of each of the 5 distinct works I’ve been developing this semester. Looking back over the last 3-4 months, I notice a strong focus on ‘ideas and plans’ and ‘experiments and trials’. Over the coming 6 months my plan is to continue to develop each of these  distinct works while also further grounding them in relevant ‘artistic, contextual and theoretical research’.

WORK a

Ideas and plans

For this work, I envisage the soundscapes (their geophony and biophony) from some of the last remaining great quiet places on Earth echoing in real-time to a central listening place located within the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music.  I first had this idea back in 2021 and wrote it down on a black piece of card in 2022 which i affixed to one of the pin boards I use in my studio. Over the last 6 months  I’ve been researching some of these areas as well as reaching out to specialists and institutions working in this field of inquiry. Some of the more well documented locations include the Zabalo River (Ecuador), the Ho Rainforest at Olympic National Park (USA) and Haleakala Crater in Hawaii. At the outset of this semester my plan was to begin transmitting live from locations much closer to home.

Materials research / Drawings and sketches / Experiments and trials / Contextual research

With experience field recording but no experience live broadcasting, I had a number of challenges before me this semester. In March I responded to the UK-based arts cooperative Soundcamp’s international call for proposals to participate in Reveil, a global project they coordinate each year on Dawn Chorus Day. My proposal was one of a handful they agreed to support. They provided me with some resources, including a manual and participation in two online workshops (late March and early April) focused on live streaming and the related technology used to enable it. I wanted to support the Reveil project while also learning some new skills in the process so I could explore live audio transmission as part of my creative practice. Throughout the month of April I successfully built and tested a streaming device made from a Rasberry Pi (a small single board computer), omnidirectional microphones, modem and powerbank. But it was time to test this transmission device out in the field too.

My initial plan was to transmit from the Tarkine in North West Tasmania for Reveil. I had been invited to travel there by the Bob Brown Foundation early April but I needed to postpone this to later in the year. In lieu of this, I wanted to explore areas closer to home. I reached out to Dr Alex Maisey (a Research Fellow with the Research Centre for Future Landscapes and Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University) to discuss transmitting live from the Dandenong Ranges, an area he is familiar with in light of his doctoral research exploring the role of the Superb Lyrebird as an ecosystem engineer. My initial email to Alex outlined my intentions with the project as well as my commitment to doing this all in a way that's mindful and sensitive, minimising any disturbance to the  environments that I’ll be working in. We met early morning in Sherbrooke Forest on the 25th April and he offered to share some locations I might like to consider throughout the forest. We spent most of the morning hiking and talking throughout the area. My main questions for Alex were related to his doctoral research and any protocols (scientific, ethical and cultural) that I would need to consider in terms of my work.  Alex initially offered to include my activities under one of his research permits (specifically the Sherbrooke Lyrebird Study Group) but after further discussion he felt that this wasn’t necessary at this stage given the exploratory nature of my work. We discussed revisiting this in June/July after I had spent some time conducting some experiments and trials throughout the forest.

After Alex left that morning, I returned to a number of areas we visited . I tested the wifi reception for each and settled on one of the first locations Alex had shared with me. I explored some areas which might be appropriate for locations for the placement of my audio transmitter, took some photos and performed a number of tests with my audio transmitter in this area. I decided that i would return here on a sunny day after further tests back home in Melbourne.

My very first live audio transmission test from this area and streamed back to the VCA began on the 30th April and finished on the 1st May. I’ve documented this in the images and videos shared below. Fast forward  6 weeks and I’ve now conducted 20 similar live broadcast tests (this includes 9 from this area, 10 from home and 1 from Royal Botanical Gardens), transmitting to multiple spaces across the Faculty (The Octagon and multiple studios within the Stables complex and, more recently, the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music). Throughout this time I’ve made over 100 hours of field recordings and shared many of the aforementioned live transmission tests with Faculty members (to date this includes: Dane Mitchell, Sean Lowry, David Sequeira, Tristen Harwood, Jamie O’Connell, Kim Donaldson, Vikki McInnes, Mark Shorter, Kate Just, Eugenia Lim, Masato Takasaka) and peers (Oliver Henry) inviting feedback from each. 

In parallel to these tests and experiments, I’ve initiated conversations with the following institutions to discuss the long-term vision of Work A and their potential interest in supporting it: the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT), Art Processors (Australia), Quiet Parks International (USA), Soundcamp (UK), Locus Sonus /L'École supérieure d'art d'Aix-en-Provence (France). To date I’ve had positive feedback from all and I’m now starting to explore specific ways each of these institutions will be able to support the project. For example, in April I spoke with Melissa Delaney (CEO, ANAT) about a number of the projects I’m working on and we discussed the potential role that ANAT might be able to play in terms of helping to auspice partnerships and funding for one of them via their Bespoke Residency program. I’m meeting with Melissa in August to discuss next steps as I put together a detailed plan and budget which will form the basis of this ANAT residency program with a specific focus on Work A.

Video documentation of first live audio transmission from Sherbrooke Forest 1 hour away to the Octagon, VCA, 30th April 2023.

WORK b

Ideas and plans

For this work, I initially envisaged a solitary pale blue light bulb pulsing in a vast, quiet, darkened room, communicating through silence a message from unborn future generations. In my imagination this message from our descendants has time travelled from a distant future to make its way to us, their ancestors. My thinking had been that I’ll write a script for the work which will then be translated into morse code. I planned to learn how to program an LED light bulb (using a Raspberry Pi , a small single board computer) so that the work could unfold as described above. I decided to explore another path in the interim which is documented in the following section.

Materials research / Drawings and sketches / Experiments and trials / Contextual research

I generated a message in March and converted it to morse code. This was then translated to light and filmed. A conversation with Dane in April encouraged me to present a version of this work for my crit. I have since projected the work onto the floor of the Octagon and other spaces within the The Stables complex. Some of these tests and experiments are detailed below. The work is still being refined and new iterations are currently being explored and developed. This includes installing and documenting the work in the Martyn Myer Arena in July-August. Other versions of the work will involve working with both a light bulb and drone technology rather than a projector.

WORK c

Ideas and plans

This work emerged from my study of deep time. This study includes reading various journals and books written by geologists and other scientists (including: “Timefulness : How Thinking Like a Geologist Can Help Save the World “ by Marcia Bjornerud) . It has also included initiating conversations and interviews with others such as Vincent Ialenti (author of “Deep Time Reckoning”) late March 2023 whose research documented the people and institution responsible for the long-term safety of a Finnish nuclear waste repository.  I’ve also been studying the work of the International Union of Geological Sciences (the scientific body that names the Earth’s epochs and eras) and some of the sites it has named as finalists for a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. I’ve been especially intrigued by a certain ritual that takes place in the field of geology and how geologists mark the boundaries of geologic stages:

“An international group of geologists is on the cusp of deciding how to literally mark the times we’re living in. In 2009, geologists formed the Anthropocene Working Group, to define our current geological epoch. They asked are we still in the Holocene, which began around 11,000 years ago, or has human activity so dramatically changed the planet’s geology that it needs a new boundary? The term ‘anthropocene’, from Ancient Greek anthropo, meaning human, was coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to illustrate this idea. In May 2019, the AWG agreed to listing the Anthropocene as a “formal chrono-stratigraphic unit”: that is, an official part of the geographic record. They recognised the start of the Anthropocene as the middle of the 20th Century. Next in the working group’s line of site is a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, or GSSP. These GSSPs are markers that define the boundaries of geologic stages. They’re noted in specific locations around the world by “golden spikes”, which note which geologic era the site emerged.” (Ellen Phiddian, 2022)

Every time I found myself looking at these photos of “golden spikes” (see images below) it occurred to me that I was being transported back in time and that these markers become enablers of a certain kind of time travel. Early March, as I was reading about geologists deliberating about where to specifically place the next “golden spike”, an idea came to me. I recall thinking: I’d love to create a golden spike that doesn’t have to go anywhere in particular but can be placed anywhere at all: a universal golden spike. Shortly after this I began to envisage a set of small, initially brass, cylindrical discs with text engraved on each face.

Materials research / Drawings and sketches / Experiments and trials

As I’ve documented below, I've started to create two prototypes for this golden spike: two small (10cm in diameter x 5cm in height) discs made of industrial grade solid brass . Two of the images below have been edited to show the text I’ll be engraving on the face of each of the prototypes. My plan is to engrave each with a CNC milling machine through FABLAB in July/August.

WORK d

Ideas and plans

I created a version of this short text-based art work mentioned above in 2022. A work that was initially made to unfold purely in the imagination has begun to unfold in other ways as well. I initiated a conversation late November 2022 focused around this text with a business leader who heads up a company that works across a number of areas including furniture design and manufacturing. I wanted gauge his interest in potentially supporting a project with this text at its heart. I discussed the vision to initially work with a designer and other collaborators to create a chair for unborn future generations. I also discussed my other plans to initially write to 100+ companies inviting them to participate in a social experiment where they would place an empty chair representing unborn future generations around their boardroom tables for a year. I’d in turn create a book which would document the process including, amongst other things, replies to the letter from these organisations. I also discussed other possible permutations of the work, including opening up the process where I’d invite others to also design this chair, documenting the process photography and film. His response was enthusiastic and we agreed to meet again in 2023 after I had secured support from a designer I wanted to work with on the project: Trent Jansen.

I had been following Trent’s work for a number of years and he came to mind again in 2022 when I wrote the text above. He is a designer and academic (University of NSW Art & Design) who gained his PhD under Australian art historian Ian McLean. Trent’s work is informed by deep, collaborative relationships with people and a unique style of design known in his studio as “design anthropology”:

This method was devised to move design beyond the stark pragmatism of Modernism and its incongruence with the beautiful imperfection of humanity. Instead Design Anthropology focuses on these imperfections, studying the history and culture of human societies and taking design inspiration from the rich stories that punctuate human heritage. The products, furniture and interiors that result from this design method are richly symbolic, and tell innately human stories. Objects and spaces designed explore the unique identities of individuals, families and communities, embodying engaging narratives that excite with their exoticism, or comfort with their familiarity. Every project developed under this model is designed to appeal to our emotions, becoming important artefacts in our lives, and forging a long-standing, meaningful relationships between designed artefacts and the individuals, families and organisations who commission them.

I had a chance to meet with Trent and two of his recent collaborators (Errol Evans and Tanya Singer) during Melbourne Design Week last month. They were in town to give talks at Agency Projects and open their exhibition Kurunpa Kunpu / Strong Spirit (a cross-cultural design collaboration between Tanya, Errol and Trent) at Art Bank in Collingwood . Trent and I followed this up with a meeting on the 25th May where we had the chance to discuss Work D in detail. His response was enthusiastic and he offered to support the project moving forward. As a first step, he invited me to spend some time at his studio in Thirroul (NSW) to explore things further. I suggested that this would be possible in July during my university break and after I put together an initial brief for the project. We also discussed me undertaking a residency to develop the project at Bundanon in 2024 (which is located not far from his studio in NSW).

WORK e

Ideas and plans

For this work I envisage a set of laser cut, wooden phonograph records that play the sounds from an area of an ancient forest that may soon be no more. Over the coming six months of 2023 my plan is to travel to the Tarkine in North West Tasmania to do some field recordings throughout various logging coupes, parts of the rainforest that are designated for logging, documenting in detail the particular acoustic signatures of some of these areas. At this time I also plan to visit areas where logging has already taken place. Here I will collect some of the remnants of trees that have been left behind by the logging companies. My plan is to then return to Melbourne and create a set of laser cut wooden records made from these clear felled trees, embedding the ancient forest soundscapes within them.

 3. Finished Artworks

work A

Study No. 19 for The quiet room (working title). Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country. Duration : 23 h 40 min. Clip from silent documentation video.

Study No. 19 for The quiet room (working title). Duration : 23 h 41 min. Clip from documentation video.

Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country, biophony, geophony, anthrophony, live audio transmitter, Yamaha Stagepas 400BT PA System, Norwegian Standard 8178 auditorium.

work B

They speak to us through silence, HD Video, 50 sec.

work c

Work D

work E

 4. References

Most of my research for Studio Practice (including books, articles, films and videos) is organised in a “channel” I’ve created on Are.na and includes over 290 separate links to date. Most of these links have been read / watched / viewed / listened to at some stage and have been saved here for future reference. Occasionally I print a particular reading or image, re-read things, highlight passages of interest, write notes on the printed version of the reading and then file or affix it to one of my pinboards which i use in my studio. I created this out of necessity as I was often losing track of articles I’d read. While locating an article or other online resource here can still be like “trying to find a needle in a hay stack” at times, it’s still a method that works for me: https://www.are.na/share/wrCUoCt