“You Choose” Mural Commission for Suburban Land Agency
“YOU CHOOSE” is one artwork spanning two separate ICON water boxes in a brand-new suburb of Canberra (Whitlam). I was commissioned by the ACT Governments’ Suburban Land Agency (SLA) to create an artwork that challenged the viewer to consider their relationship with the natural environment surrounding the suburb, which is primarily undeveloped (or yet-to-be-developed Natural Temperate Grassland, Box-Gum Woodland, and the Molonglo River Reserve). SLA put me in touch with the Ranger in Charge of the Molonglo River Reserve, Nic Jario, from the ACT Government Parks and Conservation Service, who helped me narrow down a long list of threatened species who call this local area home. Nic also explained to me about the direct connection between urban stormwater from Whitlam and Molonglo river health, with human debris and soil runoff from Whitlam impacting the natural habitat of these already threatened species (see BOHIE 2023 for more detail).
I designed an artwork that proposes two different outcomes. One box features threatened species from the grassland and woodland habitats; the PerungaGrasshopper, Grassland Earless Dragon, Golden Sun Moth and Hoary Sunray wildflowers surrounded by crushed aluminium cans. In this proposal the natural elements are pixelated, as if fading from view. On the second waterbox I created an underwater scene featuring threatened and vulnerable species from the Molonglo River Reserve. These too are surrounded by crushed aluminium cans, though in this proposition the cans are pixelated and are ‘fading from view’. The end wall holds a message explaining the artwork and the titles of the featured vulnerable species, ending with the question ‘Which would you rather disappear?’
The mural site is located next to a children’s playground, and while painting I found that the mural artwork attracted the young childrens’ attention quite a bit more than their parents. The children seemed engaged by the message, and interested to learn more. Through asking questions I learned that many of their parents were new to Canberra, recent immigrants to Australia and have English as a second language. I found this to be an interesting demographic, as many first generation Australians are not familiar with the natural environment here beyond a natural fear of sharks, spiders and snakes. I hope that encouraging them to consider their own impact on a larger ecosystem, beyond their own property boundaries, will help instill a sense of belonging and connection to their new home.