IASKA Mukinbudin

06/05/11

mukinbudin — Fri, 06 May 2011 06:43:35 +0000

I have just published a small book about my residency at Mukinbudin. You can preview or buy a copy through this link. Julia

Mukinbudin Residency 2010 by Julia Davis | Make Your Own Book

17/09/10

mukinbudin — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 23:35:47 +0000

Levelled Ground

The opening of ‘levelled ground’ at the railway station seemed a perfect way to finish the gold leaf work which was based on the stories of four people who, for four different reasons, are no longer living on their farms.

Unplanned by me, a microphone appeared for the opening speeches and enabled two of the artworks subjects to speak about their memories of the station. This felt like a continuation of the work and gave me a sense of completion.

In this exhibition each of the the four subjects were allocated a wall within the building. Their portraits were taken in a place of their choosing on the farms they have left and printed with black ink. Alongside this image, a gold leafed schematic based upon the digital information of their recorded voices is pinned to the wall. The schematics vary according to the tonal qualities and rhythms of the individual speakers. Copies of the interviews were available at the station.

Back in Sydney I am continuing to work on other projects initiated during my residency in Muka. The physical distance between the two places allows me to pause and experiment with some of the ideas.

Thanks again to the community of Mukinbudin. My experiences with you have been rich and memorable. I would like to acknowledge and thank again the four people who took part in this project, Ruth Nixon, Roy Jones, Len Shadbolt and Norma Jones.

Exhibition opening draws capacity crowd

IASKA — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:29:18 +0000

Julia speaking at the opening of Levelled Ground

The opening of Julia Davis’ Levelled Ground exhibition drew a huge crowd to the old Mukinbudin Railway Station. More photos from the opening and of Julia’s work will be posted this Wednesday.

Levelled Ground exhibition opens this Thursday

IASKA — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:35:15 +0000

Julia Davis will return to Mukinbudin this week for her exhibition Levelled Ground, a photographic and gold-leaf installation documenting the voices of Mukinbudin residents forced to leave their farms. The exhibition is part of the Mukinbudin Spring Festival and will be held at the old Mukinbudin Railway Station in Shadbolt Street. Levelled Ground will open daily from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 September, 10 am – 5 pm.

Exhibition Opening – Thursday 2 September, 4pm.

26/07/10

mukinbudin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:30:36 +0000

The site specific work for the Spring Festival in Muka is packed up and ready to travel West. It is based on interviews with four people who have a long history with Mukinbudin and in each case have stories of leaving the farms they love.

The descriptions of their relationships to the land have been translated into visual sound waves, which have been created in gold leaf on paper and will wrap the four walls of the station. It will be interesting to see how the work translates when it is installed in the railway station in early September. The images below are of the work in progress.

Julia in the Merredin Mercury

IASKA — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:07:33 +0000

Julia Davis got inspiration for her art from a farm tour with Mukinbudin artist Roderick Sprigg.

Julia Davis’s experiences in Mukinbudin are broadcast to the Wheatbelt in this week’s edition of the Merredin Mercury. You can read the story online at:

http://www.merredinmercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/artist-captures-essence-of-wheatbelt/1860074.aspx

31/05/10

mukinbudin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:35:18 +0000

This morning Heather Behme and Bill Crook came to the lake with me. The surface has levelled out and feels glassy. Emu and kangaroo tracks circle the periphery. Our tracks go from the edge towards the centre. The image in the middle was sent to me after a group of people visited the lake. I like the idea that they’re making new tracks in the salt and will think of them while I’m in Sydney finishing other works that began here. It’s hard to imagine what being in a big city will feel like again….I’m ready for culture shock.

27/05/10

mukinbudin — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:47:32 +0000

Last night I gave a talk (it may look more like a rap ) about my work and experiences here in Muka. Bill Crook mentioned that the water in the salt lakes becomes deeper with the full moon. I’d like to find out more about this. The moon’s full at the moment and Talitha and I plan to go to the lake tomorrow night ; hopefully it won’t be too cloudy or windy.

I have one week left here. At the beginning of this project I would have preferred to divide the two months into two separate visits. Now I can see that there have been many advantages of being here the whole time as I have been more able to observe small changes and shifts in the weather, landscape and community.

24/05/10

mukinbudin — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:33:56 +0000

Here are some more images taken at Lake Brown with Roderick and Talitha.

23/05/10

mukinbudin — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:23:44 +0000

The scale and space between objects here is something I look at every day. The edge of things; perhaps an old house, rock or the horizon is distinct. I’m aware of my own edges as well.

Len Shadbolt is a farmer who has a long family history in Muka. He said that living here made him notice small changes in the objects within the landscape. Maybe a fence needed fixing or a tree didn’t look so healthy. Paying attention to what’s around as well as acknowledging who’s on the road is part of the way of life here.

(The image in the centre is of a collection of cast metal pencil sharpeners in the Community Shed).