6/20-21 Fred's Place

On Monday, June 20 the Land Arts crew plus John and Frank (an ANU post-grad) set out for Fred's place, approximately 20-30 min west of Calperum Station. There we would camp for the next couple of nights. This was the closest thing to a true UNM Land Arts experience so far in Australia. We were in a more remote location, we had only the barest equipment for cooking and there were no bathroom facilities (helloooo shovel!). Personally, this was a very important couple of days. I felt like I could walk forever and not reach any other human. And since my process, both in Land Arts and here in Australia, comes from direct contact with the environment, this kind of space was an important factor in allowing myself to be uncensored in my work. Generally speaking, I've found it difficult to get into a sustained rhythm of uncensored artistic activity for the past several years. I've had my moments, but they have been sporadic. This was a significant reason why I wanted to come to Australia.

Unlike my previous walk to the salt lake near Calperum Station, my walks here did not lead me out of one kind one environment and into another. It was entirely mallee, a term that describes these types of eucalypts as well as the particular environments where these plants are dominant. It was more minimal than other areas we'd visited. To my eye there weren't many varieties of plants, the main ones being the mallee and spinifex, which is a low-growing tussock grass with sharp-pointed leaves. These were the reason for my packing tape shin guards, which worked quite well to prevent constant pricking. Otherwise, this was not a densely overgrown environment. Much of the loose, red sand was exposed. I traveled perpendicular to the ridges, which run exactly east-west (you can see it clearly on the satellite images to the left). This made for fairly easy navigation to and from camp. My pics.

Our Map

Frank, Cedra, Bill, Joseph, John and Blake

Mallee and Spinifex

Evening as Cedra wraps up work on a drawing