The Wrong Kind of Beauty: An interdisciplinary Art-Science invesigation

Abstract

BK: The Wrong Kind of Beauty is a project of Bloom Collective exploring gullying, processes of erosion and soil degradation and their impacts on Australian ecosystems. The work was created as part of the Artists in Residence Science program at the Ecosciences precinct, Brisbane. Bloom Collective is Jan Baker-Finch, Renata Buziak, Erik Griswold, Vicki Kelleher and Vanessa Tomlinson. For this project, BC worked closely with scientists Peter Zund, Joanne Burton, and Alex Garzon-Garcia. Video by Greg Harm, Tangible Media. The Wrong Kind of Beauty is the Bloom Collective’s embodied, experiential response to the fragility of the landscape produced by the gullying process. The harrowing and ongoing drama of the landscape, simultaneously reveals moments of delicate sculptural beauty, explored here through poetry, movement, sound and visual documentation. The photographs and videos presented are from a site at Murphy’s Creek near Toowoomba, generously made accessible by the property owner. Printed fabrics and poetry as well as audio visual work were made in the gullies, and in response to the gullies. SG: Before the Bloom Collective met members of the Landscape Sciences, we didn’t know the word gully could be a verb. Gullying is a natural process. The Grand Canyon was created by gullying over millions of years. Human activity, such as land clearing and overgrazing can contribute to gullying, causing rapid land degradation and soil erosion. The latest scientific studies indicate that gullies are a major source of sediment flowing to the Great Barrier Reef (Bartley et al., 2017). The Bloom Collective were introduced to gully research by members of DES, identifying causes, measuring rates of change, tracing the effects on ecosystem, and considering rehabilitation options. The Wrong Kind of Beauty ruminates on all of these concerns. Outcomes included a curated exhibition including these 3 videos at the Art Meets Science Exhibition: Ecoscience Precinct, Boggo Road, Dutton Park.