How the bushfires changed my appreciation of this work of art

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This was published 3 years ago

How the bushfires changed my appreciation of this work of art

By Kerrie O'Brien

In this series, The Age invites leaders in art to nominate a favourite local work. TarraWarra's Victoria Lynn chose Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office's In Absence.

Installation view of In Absence by Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office for the 2019 Architecture Commission at NGV International until September 2020.

Installation view of In Absence by Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office for the 2019 Architecture Commission at NGV International until September 2020.Credit: Ben Hosking

Though a very imposing, black wooden structure, In Absence really beckoned the viewer to enter through a tall passage in the centre. Inside there were two semi-circular chambers. Looking up, you saw the glass yams created by Yhonnie reaching down towards you - I thought they were like rain and they reflected the light. Of course from her point of view they represent yams and the fact that prior to European settlement there was an Indigenous population which had sophisticated ways of farming, harvesting and working the land.

I saw this work before the bushfires over the summer. After the fires there was a lot of discussion about Aboriginal cool burning techniques that historically are used to clear the land and sustain it. When I look back at my photos of In Absence I realise it was like a charred landscape as well, because the exterior had this burnt, blackened feel, so it was quite prescient.

The piece is as much a work of architecture as it is an art installation. You can't split the two. Once inside you could lie on the ground or sit on a bench and gaze up at the sky, as I did with my teenage daughter and we just watched the shadows change and the clouds racing by: the aperture at the top created the most dynamic play of light and dark and shade.

Even though it is a minimal, austere structure, the light gave it this dynamism and movement. In Absence references the fact that Australia was not without people when it was colonised, it was not terra nullius; there was a great deal of activity, it was a place of belonging and farming and sustenance for Aboriginal people.

The piece had an interesting combination of tranquillity and peace, you could sit there for a long time and feel cocooned by it but it also had this towering sense of awe and wonder. It managed to be both intimate and awe-inspiring. It's my favourite of the NGV's architecture commissions to date.

Installation view of In Absence by Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office for the 2019 Architecture Installation at the NGV.

Installation view of In Absence by Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office for the 2019 Architecture Installation at the NGV.

The semi-circular shapes of each side are partly based on the idea of the habitats that Aboriginal people created for themselves, so it had that domestic size to it, but its height is more like a forest. I think it's Tasmanian wood. Like trees that grow up towards the light, the work had that feeling of being in in a forest. It was a very successful collaboration between architects and artist.

A Kokatha and Nukunu woman, Yhonnie made the hundreds of glass-blown yams in conjunction with the Jam Factory in Adelaide. She was born at Woomera so she has a deep connection with South Australia and goes back there a lot.

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Victoria Lynn, director TarraWarra Museum of Art

Victoria Lynn, director TarraWarra Museum of ArtCredit: James Boddington

This piece is about food and sustenance and the symbolism of the yam for Aboriginal people. While such meanings are really wonderful and provide many rich metaphors, it was its spatial ambience that really had an effect on your body and your mind. It's a remarkable piece.

Yhonnie Scarce will exhibit at TarraWarra Museum of Art later this year.

  • Victoria Lynn spoke to Kerrie O'Brien

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