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This file is part of the following reference:
Lord, Anne Mary (2008) Art and ephemera post-structuralist perspective: visual art, ephemera and environment. PhD
thesis, James Cook University.
Access to this file is available from:
http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/15317
Art And Ephemera
A Post-Structuralist Perspective:
Visual Art, Ephemera and Environment
Thesis submitted with documentation of installations and exhibitions by
Anne Mary LORD, Dip. Fine Art Alexander Mackie CAE;
Grad. Dip. Education;
Grad. Dip. Printmaking Monash University Gippsland;
MVA Griffith University
in December 2008
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the School of Education and School of Creative Arts
James Cook University
ii
Statement of Access
I the undersigned, author of this thesis, understand that James Cook University will make
this thesis available for use within the University Library and, via the Australian Digital
Theses network, for use elsewhere.
I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis is protected under the Copyright Act and
I wish the following restriction to be placed on this work.
Proper public written acknowledgement should be observed for any copying of plate, text
or diagram.
Beyond this, I do not wish to place any restriction on access to this thesis.
.................................................................. ..........................................
(Anne Lord) (Date)
Statement Of Sources
DECLARATION
I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for
another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education.
Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been
acknowledged in the text and list of references is given.
.................................................................. ..........................................
(Anne Lord) (Date)
iv
Electronic Copy of Thesis for Library Deposit Declaration
I, the undersigned, the author of this work, declare that the electronic copy of this thesis
provided to James Cook University Library is an accurate copy of the print thesis
submitted, within the limits of the technology available.
.................................................................. ..........................................
(Anne Lord) (Date)
v
Acknowledgments
Firstly I wish to show appreciation and grateful acknowledgment to my Primary Supervisor
Doctor Linda Ashton and Associate Supervisor Professor Ross Gibson for great support,
guidance and above all a focus on the highest professional standards. They are artists,
writers and researchers and provided support through knowledge, their high achievements
and vast experiences.
Linda Ashton has shown immense patience, friendship, and guidance, and provided
unwavering standards in her supervisory role, providing insight as a perspicacious and
strong person. Theoretical perspective, particularly through the post-structuralist lens,
opened new ways of looking at visual arts theory and practice.
Ross Gibson has given generous guidance and his expert knowledge of contemporary arts,
authorship and understanding of place, particularly regional insights, though from an
international perspective. Knowing what a candidate needs to ask and words about ‘getting
the voice true to yourself’, assisted the emergence of my story.
My husband Cleve Patrick McGuane I acknowledge lovingly for understanding, great
support and wisdom.
My mother Mary Louisa Lord has shown enduring patience and kind support. My siblings
are always there for me as well.
The School of Creative Arts, James Cook University is my host institution and for this
academic support I am grateful. The School of Education, JCU has allowed me to access a
new terrain in post-structural theory and art education, with their Senior Visual Art teacher
Dr. Linda Ashton and this generosity is appreciated.
Professional proof reader Mary Gallagher has devoted considerable time and effort to the
intricacies of meaningful English. Australian Standards for Editing Practice have been
vi
followed and editorial intervention has been restricted to Standard D, Language and
Illustrations, and E, Completeness and Consistency.
Artists, listed prominently in the thesis, have generously provided information and time,
and more importantly their rigorous critical engagement with a discipline that is only just
being recognised as truly scholarly and intrinsically part of research culture. Visual artists
are acknowledged as mentors and all-important participants of this research.
vii
Abstract
A principal objective for this study was to investigate visual art that incorporates ephemera
for conceptual and practical reasons. In my study, the ephemeron is not archived, it is
intentionally allowed to disintegrate as an art process and I link this act through art praxis
to potential metaphors for environmental wellbeing.
My research identifies new approaches in art practice that address ecological strife. Post-
structuralist theorising was applied to the visual arts to empower the ephemeral art object.
The scope of this study involves potential locations or sites to effectively present and
publicise this practice. Other than professional support from the art industry, the scope was
broadened or restricted by an artist’s ability to respond with a very light environmental
footprint to art and ephemera. Internet was a methodological strategy to counter what might
have been isolation, and participants responded using email, from regions and centres. Thus
it was significant for assembling data. My roles as artist, researcher and educator led to
online communication and publication about this topic, and temporary art ~ installations 1
created for this study are a substantial part of this research.
Mentors and models in the contemporary visual arts include professional creative arts
practitioners and their work. Selected mentors (artists and authors) and models (current
examples as well as precursors) assisted in identifying parameters for this study in a climate
of global environmental change. Buskirk’s (2005) ‘contingent objects’ and Bourriaud’s
(2002) ‘relational aesthetics’ are crucial for this study in recognising alternative approaches
to ‘art history’. Selected theorists assisted methodological strategies to question the power
of archived art as the art canon. Critical distinctions of ecological responsibility separate
current art perspectives about land from some pre-1990 practice.
1 The symbol ~ is used throughout the thesis to identify a situation where the words can be
interchangeable.
viii
Tiravanija’s the land (1998 - ongoing) includes key ideas that extend parameters for
investigation of art not necessarily archived during or after installation, and he uses
ecologically sensitive and informed approaches to comment on current environmental
issues. Art collectives, such as the land, access the digital as a tool for ephemera and to
counter regional isolation.
Memory triggered by sight, and site as culture in nature, provided inspiration for this
investigation, where art and nature are potentially interchangeable. Memory plays a role in
identifying regeneration and transformation, evidenced in artist Wolfgang Laib’s materials:
pollen, wax and milk; Gustav Metzger’s (1961) ‘acid nylon technique’ and his (2007)
‘shattered stones’ extend the scope of performative art objects, as does Sheela Gowda’s
Collateral (2007), made from incense. Models from pre-1990 artwork and readymade
precursors elucidate aesthetic of ephemera through time-based change.
Post-structuralist theory and discourse analysis facilitated a revised positioning of visual
art, through interaction of visual art and ephemera and how this impacts on contemporary
society. My ‘Glossary for Art and Ephemera’ contributes to new knowledge. Through this
theorizing glossary I invite dialogue from scholars, visual artists and the art industry.
Neo-narrative and autobiographical voices query how the process of ephemera and
disintegration could identify new visual arts practice, and how this practice impacts on
decisions in disparate communities. Access and equity are discussed through facilitating
artists’ stories into my study, as voices that have been excluded in the past. Agentic ˚ re-
positioning of art that privileges ephemera in a binary ˚ 2, as opposed to the archived, is
predominant in this study. Analysis of the data empowers ephemera as art, and as metaphor
to activate change in attitude to crisis in natural environment.
2 Option K for ˚ denotes the word is referred to in the glossary, Chapter Four.
ix
Qualitative research assists the development of key questions about the relationship of
visual artists’ concepts about material change and how they impact on the broader
community’s environmental concern. Material investigation played an important part in the
thesis, for though ‘art and ephemera’ is anti-archive, the disintegration and ephemeral
nature of art materials are key to the art discussed in this thesis. This study presents a
humble practice and materials ranging from pollen, fading photographs and incense to
flotsam, detritus or garden mulch. The study identified art methods that empowered the
ephemeron in visual art to act as a metaphor for the implementation of potential new
policies for sustainable modes of practice in and beyond the visual arts. These apply to
creative arts models for social and pedagogical application that could relieve stress caused
by excess of commodity. These provide ways to address environmental concern. I have
accumulated significant data and refer to this to provide recommendations for educational
curriculum development to suggest that art and ephemera be considered as a viable and
pragmatic alternative to, and not a replacement for, archival practice. Authors referenced
for practice-based research and pedagogy, include Davies, Ashton, Foucault, Sullivan and
Thompson.
James Cook University research strength, People Identity Place, supports my regional
influences from northwest Queensland. My original home, with naturally treeless plains,
lies between the watershed for the Lake Eyre Basin and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Significant
ideas emerged for my artwork from this region that is dry for most of any year. Sketches,
diaries and archived photographic records contribute to my reflection on place. My findings
inform researchers about the relationship of artists as cultural providers and communicators
of ecologically sensitive issues. These methods demonstrate concern for the twenty-first
century environmental situation identified by Stern (2007). Though much has been
discussed and created in the area of art and social change, this research project identifies
changes apparent in the natural environment, to act as creative visual art metaphors to
increase awareness of climate change.
‘Art and ephemera’ is asserted as a viable alternative to archival art. Forms of art and
ephemera exist as statements about conditions of change, and, of these, key pieces
x
illuminate the impact of people in their own natural environmental location and how this
could be addressed through change of attitude. My concern for regional place and
environment led to development of my art praxis that comments on, and addresses, human
activity and impact on place.
xi
Table Of Contents
PART ONE: CONTEXT 2
Preface 4
Chapter One
1.0 Ephemera in Art, Culture and Society 6 Introduction 6
Background and Context of the Study 7
Accepted Histories 9
Immateriality 10
Contemporary Issues of Natural Environment 12
Researcher’s Prior Knowledge 13
Research Questions 14
Mentors and Models 16
Ephemera as a Concept in Art 18
Place 20
Personal Perspective and Rationale for the Thesis 22
Ephemera as Site-work 24
Cultural Diversity and Concepts for Ephemera 25
Aims for this Study 28
The Visual Artist and Cross-disciplinary Issues 29
Introduction to Perspective and Methodology 30
Scope of the Research 32
Chapter Two
2.0 Perspective:
Post-structuralist Positioning for Art and Ephemera 35 A Premise - Theories of Place, Time and Change 35
Challenge to the Status Quo 38
xii
Environment and Ecology 42
Periphery and Local Knowledge 44
Beliefs and Ecology 45
Social Scale and Art and Ephemera 46
Post-structuralist Perspective and Theorising 47
Contradictions 54
Natural Environment 55
Art Research and Discourse 61
Chapter Three
3.0 Methodology 67 Introduction 67
Widely Differing Phenomena 70
Introductory Positioning 71
Socio-political Contexts 73
Research about Art 74
3.1 Gathering Data 76 Collection Strategies 76
Autobiographical Data 77
Attribution and Ethics 78
Textual Devices for the Thesis 79
Qualitative versus Quantitative 80
Dullness and Richness 82
3.2 Primary Data 83 Key Primary and Autobiographical Data 83
Digitised Objects and Memory Work 86
Place 87
Exhibitions ~ Installations and Publications 88
Site, Art and Ephemera 89
Visual Diaries and Researcher’s Practices of Ephemera 90
xiii
Eroded Material as a Tool for Art 90
Toward Installation and Site 92
Paper and or Digital 93
3.3 Secondary Data 93 Criteria Checklist and Mentors 94
Aged Icons to Multi-Media 96
Mentors Models and Maquettes 97
Academics ~ Artists 99
Mentors and Eco-systems ~ Environments 100
Chapter Four
4.0 Glossary: Art and Ephemera 104 Introduction 104
The Glossary in Art 104
4.1 Glossary for Art and Ephemera 106
4.2 Locality - Inland and Trees 129
Kaza’s (1997) ecosystem cultures 134
4.3 A Premise for Analysis 136
Environment and Earth 138
Environment: Locality, Inland and Trees 139
Spirituality and Cultures: Respect for Land and Trees 139
Objects, Disintegrating: Anti-commodity 140
Immateriality: Documented moment: Internet and Decentralisation 140
xiv
PART TWO: THEMED ANALYSIS
Chapter Five
5.0 Precursors and Models for Art and Ephemera 142 Introduction to Models 142
Links with Aboriginal Art 145
Precursors: art ~ ephemera 148
Chinese Tang and European Medieval Icons 152
5.1 Twentieth Century Influences 158
Material Influences 160
An Argument for Slippage and Non-categorisation 163
Changing Technology: ‘art and ephemera’ 176
East ~ West: an interface 170
Technology Models and Ephemera 175
Concepts Related to Photo-documentation of Ephemera 177
Memory and (No) Documentation 179
Earth Art, Eco Art and Ephemera 180
Problematising the Gallery as Site 183
Links to Contemporary Visual Arts 184
Perverse Art 186
Developmental Processes for Art and Ephemera 187
Chapter Six
6.0 Blurring the Boundaries: Spirituality and Cultures,
Ephemera and Art: Respect for Land and Trees 192 Some Prototypes – in Concept and Form 192
Valuing Visible Elements of Change 195
Influences from Visual Collections 201
Time-based Change 204
Mindful Attention 206
xv
Ready-mades 213
Pollen and Bio-mass 218
Emerging and Contemporary Models: Links to Spiritual Beliefs 220
Ephemera and Impact Linking China and Australia 221
Material Choice and Ephemera 224
Place as a Root for Ephemera and Reverence 227
Links to the Contemporary 231
Chapter Seven
7.0 Artists ~ Mentors: Contemporary Art and Ephemera 234 Wolfgang Laib and Gustav Metzger 235
Events and Site 242
Mierle Laderman Ukeles 244
Sheela Gowda 246
Ann Hamilton 250
Ephemera as Metaphor 253
Ephemera and Memory 254
Digital Documentation as a Trigger 256
Sensory Aspects of Art and Ephemera 258
Entrepreneurs and Discourse 260
Identifying Problems 265
Dissolving Difference 267
Chapter Eight
8.0 Art and Ephemera in Australia 271 8.1 Leave No Trace 281
Townsville Art and Ephemera: Locality 286
A Brisbane-based Art and Ephemera 290
Sydney-based Artists and Ephemera 292
8.2 Events: Strand Ephemera (2007) and In Site Out (2007) 296
Key Examples Strand Ephemera 298
xvi
Comparative Positions 307
Key Examples In Site Out 308
Chapter Nine
9.0 Objects and Passing 315 Meaning and Transition 316
From Archival to Ephemeral Artwork 320
Commodity and Anti-commodity 323
Objects: Fabricated to Change 325
Cultural Metaphors and Ephemera 333
Ephemeral Ready-mades 342
Ephemera as a Process 344
Ephemeral Art Objects (Lord) 2004-2008 349
Objects, Fabricated and Disintegrating 357
Understanding Disintegrating Icons 359
Chapter Ten
10.0 Ecology, Art and Ephemera 363 10.1 The Environment, Issues and Art 363
Opportunities to Create Art for Environmental Issues 368
From ‘Land Art’ to ‘Land, art’ and ‘the land’ 371
Strategies 376
10.2 Web Pages and Regions 378
The Manifesto Then and Now 385
Making and Sending a Message [From Print to Digital] 386
Homogenising Technology, Printouts and Alternatives 389
Immaterial 391
Responsibility 392
Chapter Eleven
11.0 Ethics of Waste and Aesthetics of Garbage 396
xvii
Introduction 396
Tiravanija’s ‘the land’ and Ukeles’ garbage 397
Things Left in Gutters and in Pristine Places 399
Claiming the Gutters 403
Tools of Change (2007): Metal Objects in Earth 413
Getting to Chalk, Ochre, Survey Pegs and Un-mapping 414
Chapter Twelve
12.0 To the Future: Conclusions in the Interim of Change 417 Responses to Research Questions and Findings 418
Social Contexts for Issue-based Art and Ephemera 424
Potential Contribution to Policy for Education 426
A New Project – ‘letting go’ 429
Future Directions: New Work 430
Implications for Future Practice-based Research 431
The End is a Beginning – Publication 433
The Scope of the Study and Limitations 433
Conclusion for Art and Ephemera: In the Interim of Change 437
Bibliography 439
Appendices 498 Appendix I 498
Figure Background Landscape to Ephemera
Appendix II 499
Researcher Anne Lord’s Practice-based Research: Emergence of Projects
Pre-requisites: Drawing, Brush and Ink, Lithography, Livres d’artiste
Photography as a Tool
Appendix III 503
Exhibitions ~ Installations, Projects, Ephemera and Process 2001 to 2008
Appendix IV 504
Urban Troposphere 2001
Catalogue
xviii
Invitation
Appendix V 505
(W)ink (2002) curated group exhibition and catalogue
Appendix VI 506 Survivor Trees (2003) - a series: Decisions about place - Australia to China
Appendix VII 509
Exchange (2003)
Solo Exhibition
Catalogue, ISBN
Appendix VIII 510
Red Gate Residency, Beijing and Australia China Council Residency,
Shanghai – new work in China
Appendix IX 513
Absence (2004) an installation at Umbrella Studio,
19 November to 12 December 2004.
Solo exhibition Catalogue and essay
Appendix X 517
Corresponding Latitude KickArts Cairns 2004-5 group exhibition and catalogue
Appendix XI 519
Walk This Way, (2004) group exhibition and catalogue
Appendix XII 519
Healing and Books Livres d’Artistes
Erosion - Finding Metal
Appendix XIII 521
Artists’ Books
Broken arm - Artist’s Books, ‘Throw Sad Things to the Wind’
Mackay Artspace
Artist’s Book Sinistre Dextra and from left to right
Artist’s book - An 1890s portrait
Broken arm, dyslexia - Artist’s Books Show, 2005
Port Jackson Press, Melbourne
xix
Black and White Books, Artisan Books, 159 Gertrude St Fitzroy,
Melbourne, Mending & the Mattock
BOOKS.05 Noosa Regional Gallery, 2005
Appendix XIV 524
Artists’ workshop, Leave no trace
Processes of Change
Habitus Habitat
Appendix XV 527
New material, studio garden soil – metal, rust and humus
Appendix XVI 528
Habitus Habitat December 2005 - February 2006
Habitus Habitat Touring 2008 to 2011
Appendix XVII 530
Watersheds and Basins (2006) and Murray Darling Palimpsest MDP
Catalogue
Artist’s Statements
Ephemeral Milestone
Peg for non-site
Impossible Bucket
Appendix XVIII 530
Tools of Change (2007) – development
Drawings of eroded metal developed from August to October 2006
Tools, some found in the garden and some in second-hand shops. Fourth October I
bought an old saw. Then I found some more, neglected and rusted.
Faded photographs realise the significance of these in the work I have done for re-
writing history paper, 2006-7.
Transparency of shadows
Tools of Change (2007) the installation. Catalogue, ISBN and Invitation
Appendix XIX 533
Ashton Opening Night Address (2007)
The School of Creative Arts James Cook University
xx
Appendix XX 536
Ice Sculptures and Community Responses
Strand Ephemera 2007
In Site Out 2007
Appendix XXI 537
A Searching for links; B Poisoned trees and callous acts; C Anne’s Diary
Appendix XXII 543
Ethics Approval H2255 22 November 2005
Appendix XXIII 544
DVD works produced during the candidacy for PhD
List of Publications:
Exchange (2003),
Absence (2004),
Watersheds and Basins (2006),
Tools of Change (2007)
Citations: Absence
Strand Ephemera
In Site Out
Appendix XXIV 545
Conference Presentations during the study:
2001 International Conference of Arts and Humanities Hawaii;
2006 Re-writing History; MDP 2006; ERE 2007; In Site Out 2007
Appendix XXV 546
Ongoing work
xxi
List of Tables Table 1.1 Art Industry tools and the researcher ~ artist’s tools 8
Table 3.1 Research Models in Table Format 80
Table 3.2 Studio Practices Culminating in Exhibitions / Installation 88
Table 3.3 Tools, Objects and Materials 91
Table 3.4 Researcher ~ artist’s art and ephemera since 2005 92
Table 4.1 Wabi-Sabi 128
Table 5.1 Collapsing binaries of new and old, archive and ephemera 156
Table 5.2 Blurring a Binary 177
Table 7.1 Revised Binary: Potential for Archive ~ Ephemera 259
Table 7.2 Dissolving Boundaries Between Tradition and Ephemera 269
Table 9.1 A Binary of Desire and Taboo, Waste and Want 348
Table 11.1 Revising perceptions / prejudices 410
List of Figures Figure 3.1 Methodology: A Bridge between Theory and Method
(Nagy Hesse-Biber and Leavy 2006, 21) 68
Figure 3.2 Adapted Nagy Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2006)
(Lord) in blue interprets and extends this diagram for Art and Ephemera 69
Figure 3.3 Key Areas for Synthesis of Art and Ephemera 72
Figure 5.1 Models and ongoing influences from art movements;
Futurism, Arte Povera, Fluxus, the SI 165
Figure 5.2 Tang and Medieval similarities 165
Figure 5.3 Archived and Non-archived 165
Figure 5.4 Gutter Waste Humus Garbage Earth 166
Figure 9.1 Lord, Diary Drawing 25 September 2007 317
Figure 9.2 Disintegration and Ephemera as Object:
Themes in Art and Ephemera 318
xxii
List of Plates Plate 1.1 Wolfgang Laib 2005, Pollen from Pine
Art Gallery of New South Wales 3
Plate 1.2 Rirkrit Tiravanija 1998 ongoing, the land
www.theland.org 3
Plate 1.3 Gustav Metzger 1965, Auto-destructive Art Acid Nylon Technique
(Henri 1974) 3
Plate 1.4 Gustav Metzger 2007, Aquivalenz Shattered Stones
Munster Sculptur Project 3
Plate 1.5 Sheela Gowda 2007, Collateral
Muenster Sculptur Project [photograph Lord] 5
Plate 1.6 Wolfgang Laib 1992, Pollen from pine
[photograph Fondation Beyeler Basel 2005] 5
Plate 1.7 Chia Ming Cheng 2005, Burnt Joss Papers
Sydney [photograph Lord] 5
Plate 1.8 Anne Lord 2005, Impossible bucket
tree humus and glue 5
Plate 1.9 Wolfgang Laib sieving hazelnut pollen for installation
Centre Pompidou Paris 1992, [photograph Fondation Beyeler Basel 2005] 17
Plate 1.10 Wolfgang Laib 2005, Pollen from Pine
AGNSW [photograph Lord 2005] 17
Plate 1.11 Anne Lord 2005, metal spike drawing on paper, 21 x 27 cm. 21
Plate 1.12 Anne Lord 2005, hose connector eroded metal,
studio-garden, digital photograph 24
Plate 1.13 Anne Lord 2005, Discussion at Wallaman,
re-photographed pixels from monitor 31 x 42 cm. 27
Plate 1.14 Anne Lord 2005, Eroding Peg on fallen tree,
[Digital image - photograph Lord] 35
Plate 2.1 Sanja Ivekovic Poppy Field 2007,
Documenta XII, Kassel [photograph Lord] 58
Plate 2.2 Sakarin Krue-On 2007, Terraced Rice Field Art Project
xxiii
Documenta site work on hillside Bergpark Wilhelmshohe,
in front of Schloss Wilhelmshohe castle, [photograph Lord 2007] 59
Plate 3.1 Anne Lord 2007, Old metal rods dug up in studio garden,
graphite on paper 84
Plate 3.2 Flood on open ground at Kilterry house N W Queensland –
[photograph 1930s Bert Seymour] 85
Plate 3.3 Anne Lord 2006, Metal axe-head, rusted and split 91
Plate 3.4 Anne Lord 2006, the impossible bucket, and humus materials 92
Plate 4.1 Anne Lord 2003, Eroded Coolibah from the series Survivor Trees
56 x 76 cm. lithograph 130
Plate 4.2 Anne Lord 2003, Eroded Coolibah and Mandarin text,
from the series Survivor Trees detail 56 x 76 cm. lithograph 130
Plate 4.3 eroded Buddha in Yungang Caves
Datong north west China 700 AD 132
Plate 4.4 unknown photographer, 1890 photograph, left original state of
silver-gelatin, right Lord 2007 An 1890s Portrait,
digitally enhanced image of woman [re-photographed Lord 2005] 133
Plate 4.5 Lord 2008, Kilterry signpost, 100 metres from house,
and the ‘Lane’ going north 135
Plate 5.1 Alan Sonfist 1975, Pool of Virgin Earth, on chemical waste dump
Artpark, Lewiston, New York, Diameter 25’ x Depth 6’ [Lippard 1985, 229] 144
Plate 5.2 Models and influences: Aboriginal cave paintings
[photograph cited in Chaloupka 2000, 11] 146
Plate 5.3 left Stones with grinding marks on site, right 2005, sharp rocks for tool making,
Mount Isa [photographs Lord] 146
Plate 5.4 Joseph Beuys 1970, Thousand Oaks Documenta7, Kassel Germany [photo
Right, Günter Beer http://www.diacenter.org/ltproj/7000/dokumenta7.html] 147
Plate 5.5 Models and influences: Beuys 1970, Thousand Oaks,
Documenta Kassel, Germany 147
Plate 5.6 Lord 2003, Hangzhou cave wall with crouching figure 148
Plate 5.7 Margaret Lyne 1920s Lace – some unravelling threads
xxiv
[photograph Lord 2008] 149
Plate 5.8 Medieval Figures, Notre Dame Cathedral Paris
[photograph Lord 2007] 149
Plate 5.9 Lord 1998, Orange digital image floated in water and caustic soda,
20 x 20 cm in Fold installation 150
Plate 5.10 Lord 2007, Backless Axe eroding rusted object,
retrieved from Townsville studio garden 151
Plate 5.11 Tang lady Art Gallery New South Wales
[photograph Lord 2006] 152
Plate 5.12 left medieval figure Notre Dame Paris front door
[photograph Lord 2007] right Standing figure of a Buddha,
Northern Qi (550–77), limestone, 150 x 40 x 25cm.
Courtesy of Qingzhou Municipal Museum and Shandong Provincial Museum
[http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/?p=11581 viewed September 2008] 155
Plate 5.13 Readymade iconography eroded Buddha, photograph #34,
Yungang Caves near Datong [photograph 2003 Lord] 157
Plate 5.14 Gustav Metzger 1965, Auto-destructive Art,
Demonstration of Acid Nylon Technique
Cited Henri 1974, 167 Plate 136 Happenings 168
Plate 5.15 Agnes Denes 1982, Wheatfield—A Confrontation,
Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan [photograph John McGrail] 171
Plate 5.16 Mierle Laderman Ukeles 1977-1980, Touch Sanitation New York City,
Sanitation Department [www.feldmangallery] 172
Plate 5.17 Lord 1994, Earth face, site work on claypan,
NW Queensland [photograph Lord] 187
Plate 5.18 Lord 1995 -1996 ROT recycled paper 400 x 200 x 200 cm 188
Plate 5.19 Lord 2004 Absence installation Monotypes, digital banners,
earth, lithographs, table, chair, plastic suitcase, ice, water 900 x 1100 cm 189
Plate 6.1 Rirkrit Tiravanija, the land 1998 ongoing, and
artist group Superflex Supergas, a biogas system
[photograph Baas and Jacob 2004, 175] 198
xxv
Plate 6.2 Rirkrit Tiravanija, the land,
http://atc.berkeley.edu/upload/Rirkrit_Tiravanija1154977193.jpg 199
Plate 6.3 Lord 2007, Winged Ice Buddha, a mythic Australian figure
three stages 210
Plate 6.4 Ernesto Pujol 2004, Boy from The Land 2002-2004
[photograph Baas and Jacob 2004, 196] 211
Plate 6.5 Interpretations of the compassionate bodhisattva,
left to right, Reigen Eto (1721-1785) White robed Kannon, [AGNSW 2005, 68],
Kuan Yin and Avalokiteshvara [McArthur 2002, 43 and 117] 214
Plate 6.6 Marcel Duchamp (1967), Ready-Mades et Editions
de et sur Marcel Duchamp, poster 215
Plate 6.7 Dalai Lama in Stages of Mediation Sydney June 2008,
Blurring and meaning [photograph Lord] 219
Plate 6.8 Eroding Buddha <eroded061> Yungang caves near
Datong [photograph Lord 2003] 222
Plate 6.9 Sand Mandala made by Buddhist monks, 2008,
in Stages of Meditation Teachings Sydney 11th to 15th June 2008
[photograph Lord] 224
Plate 6.10 Sand Mandala made by Buddhist monks, 2008,
Stages of Meditation Teachings Sydney,
11th to 15th June 2008 [photograph Lord] 224
Plate 6.11 Anne Lord 2004, Buddha’s Footprint lithograph, plastic,
‘permanent’ markers for north Queensland rivers [photograph Lord 2004] 228
Plate 6.12 Lord 2004, Bodhisattva V Lithograph 56 x 76 cm 229
Plate 6.13 Detail folded hands Shanghai museum [photograph Lord] 229
Plate 6.14 Eroded Buddha <046> Yungang Caves [photograph Lord] 230
Plate 6.15 left Buddha and followers, right Flying Bodhisattvas,
Shanghai Museum [photographs Lord] 230
Plate 7.1 Wolfgang Laib’s Pollen 2005, indicated by Lord
AGNSW – [photograph Mona Ryder] 237
Plate 7.2 Gustav Metzger 2007, Aequivalenz – Shattered Stones
xxvi
Muenster Sculpture Project [photograph Muenster catalogue] 238
Plate 7.3 Sheela Gowda 2007, Collateral, (detail) incense (agarbathi),
on stainless steel, 200 x 200 cm variable [photograph Lord 2007] 247
Plate 7.4 Sheela Gowda 2007, Collateral, incense (agarbathi),
on stainless steel, 200 x 200 cm variable [photograph Lord 2007] 248
Plate 7.5 Zheng Guogu 2005, Add Oil and March Forward,
(detail) fried dough, 9 x 25 x 11 cm each [photograph Lord] 249
Plate 7.6 Ann Hamilton, Myein 1999, Venice Biennale
[cited Baas and Jacob 2004, 178] 252
Plate 7.7 Zhang Huan 1994, 12 sq meters,
[photograph www.Guggenheim.org] (viewed 14 November 2008) 262
Plate 7.8 Janine Antoni 1992, Gnaw,
lard cube after collapse – photograph Brian Forrest (Buskirk 2005, 13) 264
Plate 7.9 Willoughby Sharp, curator (left), and Thomas Leavitt,
director Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University,
watering Hans Haacke’s 1973, Grass Pile, [cited Boettger 2002, p. 162, fig. 69] 267
Plate 7.10 Anselm Kiefer 2007, Women of Antiquity (detail) Myrtis,
a Greek poet blamed for competing with Pindar
[photograph Lord at AGNSW] 269
Plate 8.1 Joan Grounds 1994, Transpoes, with Sherre DeLys,
Royal Botanic Gardens Glasshouse [photograph Grounds] 273
Plate 8.2 Signs from Staunton’s Philosopher’s Corner (studio garden),
[photograph Lord 2005 276
Plate 8.3 Collected items for consideration Madonna Staunton,
[photograph Lord 2005] 278
Plate 8.4 Log, fungi and shadow [photograph Lord 2005] 282
Plate 8.5 Barbara Pierce 2005, folded tape at Wallaman Falls National Park,
in the artists’ workshop Leave No Trace [photograph Ed Pierce] 283
Plate 8.6 Barbara Pierce 2005, Tally (one of two), temporary work with leaves,
Wallaman Falls National Park Leave No Trace [photograph Ed Pierce] 284
Plate 8.7 Troy Whelan 2005, stories and temporary work,
xxvii
Wallaman Falls National Park, Leave No Trace [photograph Lord] 285
Plate 8.8 Linda Ashton 2003-2007, Well Travelled Trunks
[photograph Ashton] 286
Plate 8.9 Linda Ashton 2003-2007, Well Travelled Trunks,
School of Education garden [photograph Ashton] 287
Plate 8.10 and Plate 8.11 Linda Ashton 2003-2007, Well Travelled Trunks,
external site and external corridor [photograph 8.10 Ashton, 8.11 Lord] 288
Plate 8.12 Marion Gaemers 1999, Figure V from the series Dancers,
stitched palm flowering stems and rag [photograph Lord] 289
Plate 8.13 Luke Jaaniste 2005, sticky tape on amenities floor cover,
QUT Art Museum [photograph Lord] 290
Plate 8.14 Luke Jaaniste 2005, hole punch leaf,
QUT Cultural Precinct [photograph Lord 20 Sept 2005] 291
Plate 8.15 Tim Silver 2008, Untitled adrift, National Art School Gallery,
[photograph Lord] 293
Plate 8.16 Tim Silver 2005, Adrift series, National Art School Gallery,
2007 [photograph Lord] 294
Plate 8.17 Chia-Ming Cheng 2005, If the dead use money,
perhaps they need cash registers too, Kudos Gallery,
COFA Sydney [photograph Lord] 295
Plate 8.18 Ice sculptures, Harbourside Ice and J.A.T. transport
[photographs Lord 2007] 297
Plate 8.19 Gabrielle Hegyes 2007, Strand Ephemera
Townsville [photograph Lord] 301
Plate 8.20 Anne Lord 2007, Winged Ice Buddha: Australian mythological figure,
[photograph Lord] 302
Plate 8.21 Lord 2007 Winged Gecko – six stages 305
Plate 8.22 Lord 1995-6, ROT, recycled paper, 400 x 200 x 200 cm.
site in The Valley, Brisbane [photographs Thierry Auriac] 306
Plate 8.23 Lord 2005-8, Impossible bucket, humus,
and cellulose glue 30 x 25 x 25 cm installed, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery 307
xxviii
Plate 8.24 Lord 2005 and 2008, Impossible bucket,
humus and cellulose glue 30 x 25 x 25 cm, studio garden 307
Plate 8.25 Gabrielle Hegyes and Jo Anglesey 2007,
Overlayunderlayoverlay, 700 x 700 cm. at In Site Out 309
Plate 8.26 Lord 2007, Ephemeral Characters (detail praying kangaroo),
approximately 80 x 50 x 50 cm. In Site Out, Orange New South Wales 310
Plate 8.27 Stephanie Radok and India Flint 2003, Immigrant Garden I,
chalk drawings Adelaide Festival Centre,
[right] Stephanie Radok and India Flint 2002,
chalk drawings Immigrant Garden II Art Gallery SA Courtyard 311
Plate 8.28 Lord 2007, melting Winged gecko,
Strand Ephemera, [photograph Lord] 312
Plate 9.1 Lord 2003, Water Willow, from the Survivor Series
lithograph 56 x 76 cm 320
Plate 9.2 Lord 2005, Eroded Survey Pegs,
Graphite on paper [photograph Lord] 321
Plate 9.3 Lord (2007) Hammerhead in display case,
Tools of Change exhibition at Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts 322
Plate 9.4 Lord 2007, left spike, right bolt each 150 x 180 cm. plan copies and
carborundum on paper, Tools of Change installation, Umbrella Studio 322
Plate 9.5 Hans Haacke 1993, Germania,
Venice Biennale German Pavilion
[http://media.newtimes.com/1929884.64.jpg] accessed 7 July 2008 327
Plate 9.6 Avital Geva (1993) 1993, Greenhouse, installation,
Venice Biennale 1993, pp. 134 + 135 328
Plate 9.7 Petre Nikoloski 1989-99, Spaces XXXIV Magic Forest,
installed 1993 (Venice Biennale, pp. 164 + 165) 329
Plate 9.8 Rosemarie Trockel 2007, Model for
Less Sauvage than Others, (Muenster 07, pp. 244- 247) 330
Plate 9.9 Rosemarie Trockel 2007, Less Sauvage than Others,
Lake Aa (Muenster 07, 244- 247) 330
xxix
Plate 9.10 Rosemarie Trockel 2007, Less Sauvage than Others,
[photograph Sculpture Projects Muenster 07, 244- 247] 331
Plate 9.11 Lord 2004, [detail] Absence installation ‘permanent’ markers,
on plastic 900 x 1100 cm below eroded Buddha images,
Yungang Caves near Datong, and earth on plastic 332
Plate 9.12 Madonna Staunton 2008, Philosopher’s Corner studio garden
[photograph Lord] 334
Plate 9. 13 Barbara Kruger, 1990, I shop therefore I am,
Photolithograph on paper (31.5 x 25 cm);
shopping bag, (43.9 x 27.3 x 10.7 cm) http://www.MoMA.org/collection 335
Plate 9.14 Margaret Lyne cut lace and worn threads [photograph Lord] 337
Plate 9.15 Margaret Lyne re-applied fabric 1930s [photograph Lord] 337
Plate 9.16 Lord 2005, Peg on a rotting log digital 339
Plate 9.17 Lord 2005, No peg on rotting log digital 339
Plate 9.18 Lord 2005, Peg on a rotting log graphite on paper 340
Plate 9.19 Lord 2005, Peg on a rotting log lithograph on paper 340
Plate 9.20 Eugene Carchesio 2000, From Nothing series 1
(six details approx. 29 x 21cm.) Watercolour on paper,
[photograph UQ Eugene Carchesio 2002, 5] 341
Plate 9.21 Lord 2004-5, Eroding Buddha series
digital 160 x 126 cm. installed in Umbrella Studio 342
Plate 9.22 Lord 2004-5, Eroding Buddha series
digital 160 x 126 cm. installed in Umbrella 343
Plate 9.23 left Bodhisattvas in the Hua Yan Monastery in Datong,
[scanned from post card]
right Lord 2003, Bodhisattva and Kangaroo V, brush and ink 344
Plate 9.24 Lord 2004-8, Impossible bucket 30 x 25 x 25 cm.
humus and glue disappearing 345
Plate 9.25 Lord 2004, (left) Ice Buddha opening night,
Absence installation Umbrella Studio Contemporary Art
(right) remains Sunday morning 349
xxx
Plate 9.26 Lord 2007, Ephemeral being, praying kangaroo with wings
80 x 50 x 60 cm. ice 352
Plate 9.27 Lord (2006) Ephemeral Milestone 2006-2009 estimated time,
side and top [photographs Lord] 355
Plate 9.28 Pingyao lady, ceramic (detail) Chinese [photograph Lord 2003] 359
Plate 9.29 Tang lady, Shanghai Museum, [photograph Lord] 361
Plate 10.1 Rirkrit Tiravanija 2005, Untitled [Guggenheim Museum web site] 375
Plate 10.2 RAQS Media Collective (2001-2002) 28f28" N / 77f15" E ::
Documenta 11, Kassel, Germany (http://universes-in-
universe.de/car/documenta/11/halle/e-raqs-zoom4.htm 382
Plate 10.3 RAQS Media Collective 2001-2002, 28f28" N / 77f15" E ::
Work in Documenta 11, Kassel, Germany http://universes-in-
universe.de/car/documenta/11/halle/e-raqs-zoom4.htm 383
(detail: projection on the floor of the exhibition space, Documenta-Hall)
Plate 11.1 Lord 1997, coke bottle and hose (detail in Fold exhibition)
paraffin wax and caustic soda on drawing on frizzled paper 400
Plate 11.2 Lord Heel-less stiletto (1997 - ongoing) disintegrating object,
from flotsam and jetsam photographs 401
Plate 11.3 Lord 1997, Fold (detail) floor installation,
Umbrella Contemporary Arts, glass bricks with images,
water, oil and caustic soda 402
Plate 11.4 Lord 2001, Urban flags - Burnt split, photo-screen print,
organza layers, aluminium fastened at top [photograph Rob Parsons] 406
Plate 11.5 Lord 1999, ongoing, Flotsam and Jetsam,
public art (detail 20 x 20 cm) white bird strangled with a white shopping bag,
UV cured images on metal in glass bricks 407
Plate 11.6 Lord 1999, flotsam and jetsam [details],
red pants, strangled white bird 408
Plate 11.7 Lord 2005, Horizontal peg on disused step,
Wallaman Falls National Park 415
Appendix Plate 1 Lord 2003, Mimosa - Survivor Trees calligraphy 551
xxxi
Appendix Plate 2 Lord 2004, Absence installation eroding Buddha images,
remains of the Ice Buddha 513
Appendix Plate 3 Lord 2004, Ephemeral Beings Digital prints, plastic,
permanent markers, white plaster figurines, earth 516
Appendix Plate 4 Lord 2007, Hammerhead in display case for Tools of Change,
Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts 518
Appendix Plate 5 Lord 2005, No peg chalk remains 523
Appendix Plate 6 Lord 2005, tree fungi as readymade ephemera conducers 523
Appendix Plate 7 Wet Tropics Great Walk, June 2005, [Queensland Government,
Environmental Protection Agency, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service] 527
Appendix Plate 8 Lord 2005, Decaying log [photograph Lord] 527