This coming week I was supposed to be at my artist residency at The Corridor Project out in western central NSW. But the best laid plans are often disrupted. Our car needs extra work before the long drive south and parts needed to be brought in from Melbourne, so the residency is postponed for a week.
While waiting for the car repairs, I have switched focus and started preparing for my big upcoming project Dear World. It’s such an honour to be one of five applicants to receive an Ingrained Foundation Climate Action Arts Grant.
Although there is plenty of time to organise the logistics of the project, I like to be super prepared. This extra time at at home means I have been able to work out how to set up the paper pouring ‘stations’ for the masses of people who are expected to attend the Tweed Regional Museum’s Big Street Party on 5th September.
I’ll be setting up the paper pouring of the big paper world and smaller 10cm circular paper worlds in the Tweed Regional Museum’s courtyard. I tried laying out how people will scoop their three colours of pulp from recycled foil containers inside the bamboo embroidery hoop frames. The next step was how to move the wet pulp on the chux squares to dry. The solution: first lay the chux squares on firm plastic sheets which have come off the covers of plastic sleeve binders in order to move them easily.
Trying out different variations of pulp pouring ‘stations’ has given me more confidence in being able to manage all the moving parts of the project. I even tried out painting paper trees as an adjunct to this (or another) project. I’m having paper dreams of all the possibilities of pulp pictures I could make in embroidery hoops.
Meanwhile there are publicity posters to create. I’ve also made a start on these, creating the image in the free Canva App. I will made variations of this with dates, times and instructions for the world pouring day.
I want to evoke the spirit of that first paper world I poured in 2020 which was inspired by John Lennon’s song Imagine. If we can’t imagine the type of world we want to create, we will be given the world others dictate for us. One of the failures to move forward on climate change is that it is such a big issue we can feel overpowered. What can one person or a small group of people do to enact change?
Dreaming and imagining, they are the hallmarks of artistic thought. It starts with an idea and works outwards in ever increasing circles. For me it is image of the swirling ‘blue marble’ planet as seen from outer space by the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972. What a precious, beautiful planet we have. It’s worth fighting for!
I’m thinking globally and acting locally. Knowing the world is an interconnected web of entities, each tiny part working together. When one thing is out of balance, it affects everything else. I’m dreaming of the climate in balance and inviting others to create a paper world as it can be, of white glaciers, blue rivers and green forests.
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace... You...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one…John Lennon 1971
Work in progress of advertising poster for the Dear World project.