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Abstract

This research is an investigation into a visual language as my response and
reading of the narrative related to a sense of place in an altered landscape:
a space where humans have carved their autobiography into the earth.
Robert Smithson, in the 1960s characterised regions like these as the edges
of post-industrialism or Nonspaces. They also exist as communities,
holding onto an identity forged by their definitive history and cultural
influences. Incorporated in the research is the exploration of ordinary or
everyday landscapes within the context of Cultural Landscape studies.
In focussing on the 'shaping' of the town and environs of Zeehan, a
once burgeoning mining settlement on the West Coast mining strip of
Tasmania, history, industrial archaeology and the impact on the natural
environment are taken into account. Zeehan is a shadow of its dynamic
past, a boom and bust story that is now enshrined in a local museum,
and evident in the relics adorning the main street and surrounding
countryside. It is a place of hidden history inextricably linked to the
development of Tasmania. However in the new millennium the
underground continues to be the lifeblood of this former silver boomtown.
Seeking an appropriate format of presentation of this cultural landscape
resulted in the development of installation-based artwork: an intersection
between digital media, large-scale drawing and sculptural concepts.
Re-interpreting and re-presenting the spirit of nature and technological
interaction in the so-called Nonspace incorporates the exploration of a
phenomenological approach as well as more formal methodologies.
The research also examined the concept of the Nonsite. According to
Smithson, the Nonsite was a representation or interpretation of a particular
site: an abstract three-dimensional logical picture.
With its integration of diverse media, the project relates to a field of artists
and filmmakers working within the themes of Cultural Landscape (Jan
Senbergs, Susan Norrie and Jem Cohen), Museum Strategy/Archaeology
as Myth (Mark Dion, Alan McCollum), and The Grand Narrative (Joan
Jonas, Kutlag Ataman and Bill Viola).
I discuss their works in relation to matters concerning landscape and
human intervention, historical discourse, fragmentation of time, the
blurring of boundaries and the overlapping of genres.
My original contribution to the field is to extend the presentation of
the documentary film/video genre from an ostensibly two-dimensional
medium to an installation based artwork within an art gallery space
utilising the seemingly incongruent mediums of large-scale drawings
and sculptural elements. Within this context the resulting narrative
creates an environment, which both immerses the viewer and provides
contemplation, presenting a re-interpretation of the Nonsite as reading
of the Nonspace.

Item Type:	Thesis - PhD
Authors/Creators:	Ellmoos, Niels Neilsen
Keywords:	Site-specific installations (Art), Installations (Art), Landscapes in art, Industrial archaeology
Copyright Holders:	The Author
Copyright Information:	Copyright 2006 the Author - The University is continuing to endeavour to trace the copyright owner(s) and in the meantime this item has been reproduced here in good faith. We would be pleased to hear from the copyright owner(s).
Additional Information:	Thesis (PhD)--University of Tasmania, 2007. Includes bibliographical references
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