The Armchair Traveller: Littoral Zones and the
Domestic Environment
Deb Mansfield
Master of Fine Arts
Research Documentation
School of Media Arts
The College of Fine Arts
The University of New South Wales
March 2013
1 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’
Signed ……………………………………………......
Date ……………………………………………......
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.'
Signed ……………………………………………......
Date ……………………………………………......
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’
Signed ……………………………………………......
Date ……………………………………………......
2 ABSTRACT
Littoral zones are geographies of constant movement between land and sea. The armchair traveller sits in the domestic space day-dreaming about places elsewhere. Both littoral zones and the armchair traveller share an amorphous position of moving between the loci of here and there. They operate as unformed, fluctuating spaces that reflect what academic Elisabeth Grosz terms as the space of in-between.
While Grosz discusses the space of in-between in relation to architecture, her idiom is used in this paper to examine other forms as well (forms being any manner of identities). As such, this research paper argues that engaging with littoral zones – either physically, or as a daydreaming armchair traveller – not only signifies the in-between – but also encourages external perspectives upon forms. Subsequently, things that had seemed fixed or resolved, such as roles in the domestic environment, can be modified from a space external to them.
The difference between popular and unpopular littoral geographies is discussed, reasoning that atypical littoral zones are more adaptable to notions of unformed spaces. Several littoral narratives are also examined; 19th century French scenic wallpaper, the island-journey and the littoral-dominated films of John Sayles. Specific works of artist Simon Starling are used to illustrate a process of modifying and redirecting forms. The backyard will also be discussed as both a site of in-between and as a backdrop for photographic constructions.
It is the aim of this writer to use the abovementioned histories as a framework from which to consider the research and artworks supporting The MFA research. Ultimately, the aim of this paper is to argue that time spent imagining and engaging with atypical littoral geographies, is not to only gain an unfamiliar perspective, but to also to push upon and redirect things that had otherwise seemed resolved.
3 CONTENTS
ABSTRACT 3
INTRODUCTION 5
CHAPTER ONE - FRAMEWORKS FOR MAPPING 8
LITTORAL GEOGRAPHIES AND THE ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER 8 SCENIC WALLPAPER AS AN ESCAPE 9 ELIZABETH GROSZ AND THE SPACE OF IN-BETWEEN 15 BEACHES ON THE OUTSIDE OR THE ATYPICAL LITTORAL 16
CHAPTER TWO – MOVING AND MAKING 19
ISLANDS AT THE WORLD’S END: TASMANIA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 19 OVERLAPPING FORMS AND SPACES 22
CHAPTER THREE – CONSTRUCTION AND NARRATIVE 29
THE BACKYARD 29 PASSION FISH AND LIMBO 31
CONCLUSION 35
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 36
BIBLIOGRAPHY 39
APPENDIX #1 43 APPENDIX #2 50 APPENDIX #3 74
4 INTRODUCTION
This research paper investigates the place where land meets sea or water, which is commonly referred to as a littoral zone. Littoral zones are not singularly aligned to either of the land or sea identities, they are binary, and for this reason they are discussed within the research paper as a representation of the space of in-between, as defined by Elizabeth Grosz.1 In ‘Architecture from the Outside’, Grosz notes that the in-between “has become a celebrated and prolific metaphor for many feminist and post modernist discourses (…) the very site for the contestation of the many binaries and dualisms that dominate Western knowledge.”2 In a book, which specifically refers to architectural forms, it is helpful to think of Grosz’s theorising from the point of view of an ‘outsider to the field of architecture’ to consider not only man- made forms, but those in nature as well.3 The space of in-between is a fluctuating space that “lacks a fundamental identity, lacks a form, a giveness, a nature.”4 It is a formless space that exists in-between, and on the peripheral, of things that are resolute. Things or what is termed by Grosz as ‘forms’, can be understood as identities held by a fixed nature of understanding e.g. histories, materialities, objects and so on.5 The slippage between forms then, is a somewhat radical space that incites external, non-prescriptive perspectives. This concept strikes a significant parallel to this writer’s thoughts, that commonplace roles within the domestic environment can be negated through encountering – physically and imaginatively – remote littoral zones.
The space of in-between will also be discussed in relation to the mindset of the armchair traveller, “who travels in their imagination only”, daydreaming about places that are between a real and imagined place.6 The armchair traveller possesses a fundamental desire to
1 Elizabeth Grosz is an Australian academic who “has written widely on the body, sexuality, space, time, and materiality.” (Switala, K 1999, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg VA, viewed 27 June 2012,
5 escape the everyday, a longing to physically travel elsewhere but never actually having the opportunity, or possibly the gumption, to do so. Their day-to-day existence is anchored in the schedules of work and domesticity, all the while imagining elsewhere. Being neither entirely present in the real (nor actually physically experiencing their reverie) the armchair traveller oscillates between the binaries of here and there.
The mindset of the armchair traveller and the tidal movement of littoral zones share a process of oscillation. Yet, whereas one can physically access a littoral zone and encounter a geographical-space in flux, the armchair traveller exists outside the ‘encounter’, anticipating it nonetheless. This difference between the physical and the cerebral is not a quandary, but rather two different illustrations of slippage between forms: between land and sea, and between the real and the imagined. As such, this space of in-between becomes an unstructured vantage-point from which to observe the binaries it exists between and around. This could mean looking back at land or alternatively, reconsidering the routine of day-to-day. This research paper argues that such perspectives can provoke new ways to approach what had previously seemed determined – or at the very least, meditate on an alternative becoming.
Chapter One: A Framework for Mapping, establishes definitions for a littoral zone and an armchair traveller, outlining similarities between the two. Examples of 19th century French scenic wallpaper are used to elucidate the nexus for armchair travelling to the littoral brink. As such, this writer queries whether it is important to physically engage with littoral zones, or if armchair travelling to these geographies is sufficient. This research paper suggests that it is through a combination of both imagining and encountering littoral zones, that an unstructured and progressive space can be met. From this junction littoral zones are further discussed in relation to the commonplace ritual of journeying to coastlines for holidays and similar leisure activities. The argument is made that popular geographies – such as the quintessential Australian beach – operate as an extension of the fixed (traditional) roles encountered in the domestic sphere. Consequently, atypical littoral zones are defined, and suggested as the paradigm for unformed spaces.
Chapter Two: Moving and Making, introduces the two pivotal artist residencies that frame the MFA research: Launceston, Tasmania (Summer, 2009) and McIvers, Newfoundland (Winter, 2012). Both islands sit at opposite ends of the earth and are used as examples of atypical littoral geographies; for their physical polarities to edenesque littorals and their
6 peripheral relationship to their mainland counterparts. Similarities between the islands are discussed in addition to acknowledging that time between the artist-residencies – spent as an armchair traveller in Sydney, instructed the MFA research equal to the residencies themselves. This chapter also introduces the studio work explaining decisions concerning process and construction. Materialities and conceptual aims of the MFA research are reviewed in relation to the work of Michel Foucault and Simon Starling.7
Chapter Three: Construction and Narrative, introduces the backyard as a site that consolidates the MFA research through the staging of photographic constructions. Drawing on the observations of Moya Costello, the backyard is established as a tamed nature that sits between house and fence. As such, it is argued that by representing a physical in-between, the backyard is an ideal stage to merge two distinct spaces: littoral geographies and the domestic. This dynamic is also discussed in relation to filmmaker John Sayles, and his films Passion Fish (1992) and Limbo (1999), which are set in and around houses located on the shorelines of Louisiana, and Alaska respectively.
It is important however, to acknowledge that the MFA research focuses on unformed spaces and the process of external perspectives. That is, the emphasis is on the precipice or the space of becoming, and not the outcome of the becoming itself. The end result (or the change of forms) is not the focus of this research paper. Rather, it is the space from which this change is possible: the space of in-between. Ultimately, I propose to use the abovementioned narratives to illustrate a symbiosis that frames this writer’s own practice and excursions (actual and imagined), from a metropolis on the east coast of Australia, to the remote littoral regions of Tasmania and Newfoundland.
7 Michel Foucault was philosopher and theorist, 1926-1984, and Simon Starling is a contemporary artist b.1967. (The Modern Institute 2001, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, viewed 10 January 2012,
7 CHAPTER ONE – FRAMEWORKS FOR MAPPING
LITTORAL GEOGRAPHIES AND THE ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER
Fig.1 Example of a Littoral Zone Tidal shifts vary between littoral geographies, which inevitably varies the parameters of littoral zones themselves
While there is no single definition of a littoral zone, the broadest classifications position these geographies between the high water mark and permanently submerged shorelines. 8 Littoral zones (Fig.1) generally operate as characterisations of sub-classifications, as well as having legal implications for some sovereignties. Historically, littoral zones have also been the setting for ‘first-contact’ narratives, typically involving invasion and conflict.9 But the focus of this research paper is to establish that the parameters of a littoral zone are varied and unique to their individual geography. This includes lakes, rivers, wetlands and oceans (sometimes even extending to the edge of the continental shelf), with the breadth of tidal movement ranging from kilometres to minor shifts.10
The difficulty in locating fixed parameters for littoral zones reflects their very nature. Being neither entirely land nor water, littoral zones continually oscillate between these binaries in a state of in-between. They are held in a limbo between the land/water identities,
8 Miller, FP, Vandome, AF & McBrewster, J 2010, Littoral Zone, Alphascript Publishing, Mauritius, p.1. 9 Zeller, R & Cranston, CA 2007, ‘Setting the Scene: Littoral and Critical Contexts’, in Cranston, CA, Zeller, R (eds), The Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and Their Writers, Rodopi, Amsterdam, p.7. 10 Miller, FP, Vandome, AF & McBrewster, J 2010, Littoral Zone, Alphascript Publishing, Mauritius, p.2.
8 and also by the vast geographical differences amid littoral zones themselves.11 This vague and fluctuating position could be likened to a number of histories, but this research paper focuses specifically on the relationship between littoral zones and the armchair traveller.
The armchair traveller is a curious visual idiom that has both positive and negative associations, ranging from an inquisitive day-dreamer to a lazy person opting out of the real thing. The term has been referenced in relation to literature, accounting, travel, meditation, sport and digital culture, and also associated with the expressions: the armchair strategist, the armchair critic and the armchair philosopher.12 Similarly to littoral zones, the armchair traveller is not easily defined – there is no all-encompassing description. And like the limbo of littoral zones, the mindset of the armchair traveller constantly moves between the loci of here and there, without permanently settling on, or rather – being content – with either one.
Littoral zones and the armchair traveller share then, not only an amorphous position, but also an inter-connectedness of one undoubtedly desiring the other (that is, of the armchair traveller anticipating journeys to unseen coastlines). Yet, this writer argues that the armchair traveller’s position is a curious circumstance, and should not be relinquished for the sake of a more distinct or fixed position. To preference the imagined over the real or vice- versa, would dissolve the armchair traveller’s process of conjuring elsewhere, into the parameters of a fixed identity. That is, the armchair traveller would have to wholly embrace a domesticated existence – or alternatively, abandon the everyday for a nomadic, possibly eremitical life. To choose one way of living over another, whatever that may be, negates an open-ended narrative. The importance of such an ambiguous state is that is falls into the space of the in-between. And this is where peripheral perspectives can be encountered and alternative narratives for the ‘everyday’ – potentially conceived.
11 A beach is the simplest illustration of a littoral zone, yet with my own experiences I am constantly surprised by where I have come across littoral zones. While attending a conference in South Africa, I visited Table Mountain in Cape Town. On top of the flat mountain were many small wetlands, bridged with makeshift boardwalks and markers to show the way. (Mansfield, D 2012, ‘The Armchair Traveller: Littoral Zones and the Domestic Environment’, paper presented at the 8th Annual Literature & Ecology Colloquium: Coastlines & Littoral Zones, Kleinmond, South Africa). 12 In the foreword for a book of short stories, Bill Manhire writes, “one of the wonderful things about the literary imagination is that it can do our travelling for us. (…) These may be stories for the armchair traveller, but they give us the whole world.” (Manhire, B 2008, ‘Foreword’ in J Anderson (ed), Been There, read that! Stories for the armchair traveller, Victoria University Press, Wellington p.9).
9 SCENIC WALLPAPER AS AN ESCAPE
Fig.2 (L) Lengths 15-18 of Les Incas (1818) Joseph Dufour and (R) La Vigie de Koat-Ven (1861) Jean Zuber
One of the preeminent narratives of armchair travelling is epitomised in the panoramas of 19th century French scenic wallpaper.13 Surveys of scenic wallpaper, such as those conducted by Nancy McClelland and more recently, Odile Nouvel-Kammerer, reveal that littoral zones are a reoccurring and dominant feature within these large-scale scenes (Fig.2). 14 The inclusion of water, “play[ed] a key role in structuring the landscape by
13 Appendix #1: French Scenic Wallpaper began in the late 18th century and phased out approximately sixty years later (preceding photography). The wallpapers were a technical feat with elaborate scenes being carefully wood-blocked onto sheets of linen rag. Entire panoramic ensembles consisted of anywhere between one to thirty-five individual panels. Some prints were black and white, but colour was a significant characteristic. The wallpapers were innovative for being able to respond to architecture by covering all the walls of a room with only the doors and windows interrupting the visual sweep of “bringing the outside in”. (Nouvel-Kammerer, O 2000,‘Scenic Wallpaper, Social Mirror’, in O Nouvel-Kammerer (ed), French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, pp.103-134). 14 Odile Nouvel-Kammerer and Nancy McClelland separately authored two of the most extensive surveys of 18th and 19th century scenic wallpaper to date: French Scenic Wallpaper 1975-1865 (2000) and Historic Wallpapers: from their inception to the introduction of Machinery (1924) respectively.
10 establishing a haven,” and was also used to establish plausibility for the viewer – who was able to recognise familiar rivers, lakes or oceans lapping upon unfamiliar shores. 15
The seductive lure of scenic wallpapers, and specifically those, which ‘brought the outside in’, encouraged the armchair traveller – and in particular female armchair travellers – to daydream of exotic faraway places, whilst remaining within the confines and safety of the domestic unit.16 McClelland describes a particular armchair traveller called ‘old Martin’ – the owner of Paysage a Chasse (c. 1831) – who “no doubt, sat many a warm afternoon, taking the breezes from the Berkshire Hills to the Catskills.”17 Scenic wallpapers were designed with this audience participation – and anticipation – in mind; encouraging their patrons to project themselves onto the human figures depicted within the wallpapers (Fig.3).
Through creating alter-egos, Nouvel-Kammerer says a viewer “could not fail to recognise themselves in all these figures; scenic wallpaper was the setting for an extraordinary dialogue between two everyday experiences – the real and the ideal – each feeding off the other.”18 It wasn’t until the later years of wallpaper production that human figures were removed from the papers altogether. The manufacturers had come to realise that a more imaginative experience could be achieved by relying on the viewer to project themselves as they were, into the exotic landscapes. Reflecting the post-revolution mood, armchair travellers could – for a period – escape domesticity, immerse themselves and stand on the brink of another world.19 (Fig.4). “It was no longer a question of depicting the
McClelland’s publication is “one of the earliest comprehensive studies using original documents… and established [her] as an authority, a reputation that continues today.” (May, B 2008, ‘Nancy Vincent McClelland (1877-1959): Professionalizing Interior Decoration in the Early Twentieth Century’, Journal of Design History, vol. 21, no. 1, p.69). 15 Nouvel-Kammerer, O 2000,‘Scenic Wallpaper, Social Mirror’, in O Nouvel-Kammerer (ed), French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, p.110. 16 Women were the dominant patrons of 19th century scenic wallpaper: as wives and consumers, they had an obligation to “represent the family’s social identity through goods.” (Auslander, L 1996, Taste and Power: Furnishing Modern France, University of California Press, California, p.221). 17 McClelland, N 1924, Historic Wall-Papers from their inception to the Introduction of Machinery, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, pp.167-168. 18 Nouvel-Kammerer, O 2000,‘Scenic Wallpaper, Social Mirror’, in O Nouvel-Kammerer (ed), French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, p.126. 19 “The revolutionary heritage was a particularly important influence on nineteenth-century feminism
11 harmonious relationship between mankind and nature, but of experiencing a place where this symbiosis could occur every day.”20
Fig.3 Scenic wallpapers were designed (and sometimes re-designed) to be fashionable with the armchair traveller’s desires. Two different editions of the same wallpaper known as Le Petit Décor or Parc Français (L) first edition printed c.1820 - 1825 (R) second edition printed c.1830
Fig.4 Examples of people-less scenic wallpapers; L’Éden (c.1861) produced by Desfosse. Les Zones Terrestres (c.1854) produced by Zuber, and Gloire de Dijon (c.1853) produced by Jacquot
both directly and indirectly. (Moses, C 1985, French Feminism in the 19th Century, State University of New York Press, Albany, p.ix). 20 Nouvel-Kammerer, O 2000,‘Scenic Wallpaper, Social Mirror’, in O Nouvel-Kammerer (ed), French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, p.128.
12
Fig.5 Detail of panels 16 – 19 in Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (c.1804) Joseph Dufour
For this research paper, armchair travelling is presented as a sort of dream-like state; a conflation of domestic familiarity and longing for the unknown. In doing this, the suggestion is that the armchair traveller can think about their role in the domestic environment from a space external to it – even if that space is an imagined one. By hovering in a mindset of in- between, the armchair traveller can consider alternative ways of approaching their day-to-day routine. To elucidate, a desire to journey to remote and/or unknown coastlines, can potentially rouse the armchair traveller to transform their domestic experience and/or self. Scenic wallpaper manufacturer, Joseph Dufour, fostered similar personal developments for his patrons who purchased his most famous panorama: Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique c.1804. (Fig.5).21 In the prospectus that accompanied the wallpaper, Dufour suggests that the
21 Appendix #1
13 household audience use the wallpaper for educational and instructive purposes; that the elements (narrative and decorative) may operate “as a comparison to what has already been experienced; in books read, in the home and in the garden.”22
We hoped that viewers would be pleased to see assembled in a convenient and vivid manner this multitude of peoples who are separated from us by vast oceans, arranged in such a way that, without leaving his apartment, a studious man (…) might think himself, by casting his eyes around him, in the presence of the depicted people. (…) [A] mother will give effortless lessons in history and geography to her eager, inquisitive and intelligent daughter whose remarks, more than once, will be an occasion for a kiss on her innocent mouth to silence the naïveté’s within it, or to make a response useful to her education. (Dufour 2000, p.33)
The question to ask though is whether contemplating littorals as an armchair traveller is sufficient, or should these geographies be physically encountered? Is it enough to imagine the littoral – and perhaps oneself standing amongst it, or must these coastlines be experienced in the real? Elizabeth Grosz states “there can be no liberation from the body, or from the spaces or the real. They all have their nasty habit of recurring with great insistence, however much we try to fantasise their disappearance.”23 And it is not incredible to suggest that at some stage the armchair traveller should physically engage with an envisaged littoral geography – if only to inspire their later-date imaginings or anchor pictorial/botanical archives already in the home. For it is this writers argument that the ambition of the armchair traveller is not to stay permanently locked away inside – abandoning the body or the real for an indefinite transcendence; nor should they vacate their abode and relocate to a remote life on a littoral brink. Rather it is a symbiosis of imagining, anticipating, engaging and reflecting with littoral geographies that fosters a thought-provoking perspective. This oscillation between domestic and littoral spaces should be though of, not as a quandary, but rather as a process that encourages progressive instruction – a directive that Elizabeth Grosz associates with the space of in-between.
22 Dufour, J 2000, ‘Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique’, in S Hall (ed), Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, National Gallery of Australia, Australia, p.33. 23 Grosz, E 2001, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A., p.18.
14 ELIZABETH GROSZ AND THE SPACE OF IN-BETWEEN
The armchair traveller’s process of shifting between the real and the imagined, can be best described as a vacillation between point A and point B. This description, illustrates both the movement, and the space, between fixed points – or what Grosz terms as ‘forms’.24 The movement between forms – and for this research paper, that equates to the space between land and sea, and between the real and the imagined – is a progressive space. It is a space that incites a re-consideration of how binaries are experienced. As this dynamic underpins the selected works and histories mentioned in this paper, it is essential to specify what Elizabeth Grosz constitutes as the space of the in-between:
The space of the in-between is that which is not a space, a space without boundaries of its own, which takes on and receives itself, its form, from the outside, which is not its outside (this would imply that it has a form) but whose form is the outside of the identity, not just of an other (for that would reduce the in-between to the role of the object, not of space) but of others, whose relations of positivity define by default, the space that is constituted as an in-between. (Grosz 2001, p.91)
Considering this, a comparison can be made between Grosz’s space of in-between and those narratives that are by their very nature ambiguous – or even unstable; much like littoral zones and the mindset of the armchair traveller. The space of the in-between is essentially the “only space of movement, of development or becoming.”25 And as such, forms – cultural, historical or otherwise – have the potential to be reformed or understood anew when considered from the peripheral. 26 Quite simply, what had seemed fixed or resolved, can actually be modified and expanded – but only from a space external to the form. Subsequently, the amorphous natures of littorals and armchair travellers become worthwhile tools in initiating this change or becoming. What that becoming may look like is unknown to this writer and not the emphasis of this research paper. Rather it is to argue that the
24 Grosz, E 2001, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A., p.91. 25 Ibid., p.93. 26 “The in-between, formed by juxtapositions and experiments, formed by realignments or new arrangements, threatens to open itself up as new, to facilitate transformations in the identities that constitute it.” (Ibid., p.94)
15 littoral/armchair traveller dynamic, represents an ambitious – possibly radical – space, from which change originates. It is the space of subversion.27
BEACHES ON THE OUTSIDE OR THE ATYPICAL LITTORAL
It is arbitrary however to label all littoral zones as representational of the space of in- between. Certain littoral zones have moved beyond the formless dichotomy of land/sea and into somewhat fixed, and iconic cultural constructs. This writer grew up and lives on the east coast of Australia, which as part of Oceanic region is also by default part of the ‘exotic’ Southern Arcadia: infamously crafted by a European vision of the South Pacific (inclusive of Arcadian paradigms of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ primitivism).28 The rise of this tropical Arcadian mono- geography has become synonymous with Pacific and Oceanic identities and has been revisited time and again by artists and industry alike.29 Yet, seeking out our own slice of paradise is a shared human desire and Bruce Bennett writes “we all have a beach somewhere,” going on to describe visiting his as a boy; 30
27 Ibid., p.93. 28 Bernard Smith discusses the categorizations of ‘soft’ and ‘hard primitivism’ in his publication: European Vision and the South Pacific. “Landscape settings became an important element in the ennobling of savages.” (Smith, B 1985, European Vision and the South Pacific, Yale University Press, New Haven, p.40). 29 “Images of islands, especially in Polynesia, critically of Tahiti, emerged and evolved in the aftermath of island encounters with outsiders, many of whom were male. Visions of utopia dominated discourse, in different phases, as distance and smallness enhanced enchantment, yet remained centred of Tahiti, after subsequent encounters with diverse groups. Perceptions of dystopia and the ‘ignoble savage’, and the need for redemption from outside, never displaced alternative notions. Islands became incorporated into distant lands in different ways, eventually in islander diasporas, yet utopia persisted in new artistic and literary forms, supplemented by photographs, postcards and stamps, film (including travelogues), popularised anthropology and geography, and eventually tourism and television. In turn islanders replenished old images and reconstructed new ones in the shift from an imperial to a remarkably similar post-colonial politics of place and people”. (Connell, J 2003, ‘Island Dreaming: the Contemplation of Polynesian Paradise’, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 29, no. 4, [abstract]). 30 Bennett, B 2007, ‘A Beach Somewhere: The Australian Littoral Imagination at Play’, in CA Cranston & R Zeller (eds), The Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and Their Writers, Rodopi, Amsterdam, p.31.
16 (…) located some fifteen kilometres from the city of Perth and eight kilometres from my home… As you pedal steadily up the last of the sand dunes transformed into asphalt road, you catch your first glimpse of the ocean. Although it is early afternoon, the sea breeze is already in, and beyond the gleaming white beach, the blue sea is flecked with white… The beach is now very close, as you rest on the pedals for the last downhill run, then park your bike, grab your towel, and race for the water. (Bennett 2007, p.31)
Nonetheless, Bennett’s beach is an example of an iconic mono-geography; white sands, blue seas and skies, and is embraced by the majority of Australians as the “pre-eminent holiday destination”31 – which historically has been a holiday for “everyone but the housewife, for her it meant a change of kitchen sink… [with] no real escape from suburbia and domesticity.”32 When reading the description of Bennett’s beach it is easy to envisage (if not envy) his coastal haven, but the text also hints at the long-standing relationship between Australian coastlines and the Australian male.
Historically, Australian men and women have been segregated at the beach, with women denied permission to participate in organised sporting events such as surfing competitions and females only permitted to sign up as lifesavers in the late 1970s. Even now, the concept of Max Dupain’s Sunbaker (the bronzed, idealised masculine figure) is still packaged as the Australian beach myth, and marketed and sold overseas. The latest popular reality series Bondi Rescue (2006-2009) also reinforces masculine hegemony at the beach, maintaining the iconic image of all that we simultaneously celebrate with the ANZACs: duty, mateship, larrikinism, heroism and physical strength. (Cantrell & Ellison 2009, p.2)
White, Cantrell and Ellison acknowledge that for (Australian) women, beach-holiday spaces are an extension of conventions already established in the domestic space. Simply put, daydreaming of, or visiting Bondi Beach is fundamentally contradictory to imagining or travelling to remote – possibly nameless – littorals. The argument then, is that popular or leisure-focused littoral zones are problematic in representing the ambiguity of an in-between space. Rather, excluded littoral geographies – or what I will term for this research: atypical littoral zones, are the geographies to precede an external and progressive perspective.
31 White, R 2009, ‘A Short History of Beach Holidays’, in S Hosking, R Hosking, R Pannell & N Bierbaum (eds), Something Rich and Strange: Sea Changes, Beached and the Littoral in The Antipodes, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, p.12. 32 Ibid., p.12.
17 Atypical littoral zones share no definable characteristics except for a position of outsideness to culturally dominant littoral geographies.33 Any attempt to profile atypical littorals would begin a process of inclusion and exclusion, negating their original position of being on the outside. Consequently, this progression would, as determined by Grosz, create a new ‘form’ for those selected.34 Grosz clarifies this position of outsideness as not necessarily negative, but rather “the locus of futurity, movement, speed; it is thoroughly spatial and temporal, the very essence of space and time in their intrication.”35 This statement is key for providing a new platform from which to consider overlooked or atypical littorals. That imagining and/or visiting atypical littoral geographies, is to anticipate the un-prescriptive space of in-between. Which is to also suggest that imagining and /or visiting typical (popular) littoral geographies, is to anticipate a prescribed narrative – much like the alter-egos in 19th century scenic wallpaper.
This chapter asserted that the armchair traveller and littoral zones inherently oscillate between fixed endpoints. This illustrates not only the instructive and progressive space of in- between, but also an inter-connectedness of one dreaming about the other. 19th century scenic wallpaper illustrated the ambition of wallpaper manufacturers to edify their patrons through littoral contemplation and education. Whether this dynamic is substantive however, is contentious. This writer ascertains that an all-encompassing process of imagining, reflecting and journeying to atypical littoral zones, most effectively introduces a space of non- prescriptive encounters. From this junction, Chapter Two will introduce specific sites that further reflect this position of outsideness; Tasmania and Newfoundland.
33 This is this writer’s definition. Atypical littoral zone is a term I have coined specifically for this MFA research. The term outsideness is taken from: Grosz, E 2001, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A., p.xv. 34 Grosz, E 2001, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A., p.91. 35 Ibid., p.94.
18 CHAPTER TWO – MOVING AND MAKING
ISLANDS AT THE WORLD’S END: TASMANIA AND NEWFOUNDLAND
Research for The Armchair Traveller was underpinned by two excursions: Tasmania (a summer artist-residency in 2009) and Newfoundland (a winter artist-residency in 2012). Both artist-residency houses are located on the peripheral. The Tasmanian dwelling rests on a sheer cliff-face in Cataract Gorge, through which the South Esk River runs and meets Launceston’s Tamar River, and the house in Newfoundland sits on the edge of the Bay of Islands, a fjord-like valley that runs into the west coast’s Gulf of St. Lawrence.36 These artist- residencies were specifically chosen for their geographical polarities, non-edenesque climates, and the physical location of the residency houses on the littoral brink (Fig.6).
Fig.6 Artist Residency Houses: (L) McIvers, Newfoundland and (R) Launceston, Tasmania (2009-2012) Deb Mansfield
Even though Tasmania and Newfoundland are situated at opposite ends of the earth, they share several narratives, with the most prominent being that they exist culturally and
36 Appendix #2: displays maps and images of the residency houses in Tasmania and Newfoundland.
19 economically in the shadow of their mainland counterparts (the Tasmanian jokes this writer grew up with, are just as prevalent in Canada about ‘Newfies’37). Both islands have long, and in some instances difficult, histories with primary industries such as fishing, sealing and forestry.38 Interestingly, they have also played significant roles in the explorations of James Cook; who after completing a successful mapping of Newfoundland’s difficult coastline, was promoted to captain the famous Pacific expeditions.39 Nevertheless, what pervades mostly about these two remote geographies is, what Laurie Brinklow describes as, their ‘islandness’. Brinklow explains that the sometimes difficult and expensive journey to remote islands “represents something very basic: an in-between time when you can just be, islandness must always come back to water and that liminal space between land and sea.”40 This is a rather apt analogy of the process behind The MFA research. Because even though images of the artist- residency houses bookmark the front and back covers of the exhibition catalogue,41 the intention has been to examine the island-journey in its entirety – inclusive of time spent at home. That is, deconstructing a littoral visit, and/or anticipating an upcoming journey, has informed the studio work proportionately to the research collected abroad. 42 Curtis and Pajaczkowska argue that a complex relationship exists between journey and narrative. That “as a structure of development, growth and change – the acquisition of knowledge and solution of problems – is conceived as a physical process of movement, of disruption, negotiation and return.”43 And it is through this process of venture and return that an
37 “The ethnic label Newfie is a site of ideological dispute: for some, it is simply an informal term for residents and expatriates of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, for others it may function as an in–group term of solidarity which takes on negative connotations when used by non–Newfoundlanders, and for still others it is the equivalent of a racial slur.” (King, R & Clarke, S 2002, ‘Contesting meaning: Newfie and the politics of ethnic labeling’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, vol. 6, no. 4, [abstract]). 38 Further reading at: At the Crossroads: Newfoundland and Labrador Communities in a Changing International Context (1997) by John C. Kennedy and Old Growth Logging: does it matter if environmental protection costs jobs? (2005) by Robert Gale. 39 Captain James Cook visited Newfoundland between 1763-1767. Cook’s first Pacific voyage was between: 1768-1761, the second: 1772-1775, and the third: 1776-1779, which ended with his death in Hawaii in on the 14th February, 1779. (The British Library Board 2003, Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, MiddlesBorough, viewed 9 January 2012,
20 exploration of unformed spaces can be physically encountered on the islands’ littorals and also imaginatively encountered back at home as an armchair traveller.
Fig.7 Document of The Armchair Traveller (two-seater) (2013) Deb Mansfield
L Tickner, J Bird, B Curtis, & T Putnam (eds), Travellers Tales: Narratives of Home and Displacement, Routledge, New York, pp.199-215.
21 OVERLAPPING FORMS AND SPACES
Upon return from the residency in Tasmania, several photographs were mechanically constructed into photo-tapestries.44 One particular photo-tapestry was upholstered into a reproduction Louis two-seater lounge, to create the piece The Armchair Traveller (two-seater) (2013) (Fig.7). This lounge has a raw-wood (mahogany) frame that was picked out from an upholsterer’s catalogue;45 specifically chosen for its imitation of European high culture (original Louis settee’s would have furnished the rooms where 19th century French scenic wallpapers were hung46). Yet, the aim of The Armchair Traveller (two-seater) is not to simply replicate a decorative furnishing, but rather to locate a specific era of armchair travelling and ask the viewer to consider where the armchair traveller begins their journey.
Similarly to Simon Starling’s Weeding Aralia (Fig.8), The Armchair Traveller (two- seater) employs an iconic chair design to position a certain history. For Weeding Aralia, Starling (who typically favours modernist and ecological narratives47) appropriated a Kerstin Horlin-Holmquist chaise lounge c.1958, upholstered with Josef Frank’s Aralia.48 The Aralia design (which depicts a colourful, stylised jungle) has a curious history, because Frank always resided in cities and never actually visited ‘exotic’ jungle locations. Aralia was actually based on second and third hand sources such as children’s books.49 In Weeding Aralia Starling modifies the jungle motif through ‘weeding’ (overprinting) the design with white-ink. This is done – not to fault Frank’s armchair travelling – but to contribute to, and redirect Aralia’s
44 Photo-tapestry is a term I have used to describe these forms. 45 The frame is carved in Indonesia using government-owned plantation timber. 46 Auslander, L 1996, Taste and Power: Furnishing Modern France, University of California Press, California, pp.270-271. 47 Modernist ideologies are a common theme in Starling’s work, he has referenced, amongst others, the work of; architect Simon Schmider, composer Arnold Schonberg, Walter Gropius (principal for the Bauhaus school of Design), architect and artist Richard Buckminister Fuller, architect Dane Jorn Utzon and designer Paul Henningsen. 48 Kerstin Horlin-Holmquist (1925-1997) was a furniture designer. (Virtanen Antiques 2001, Harmony Antiques, Perth WA, viewed 9 January 2012
22 narrative.50 Michael Meredith writes that Starling “seems to sing the praises [of modernism] while lamenting its failures.”51 Yet, Katrina Brown notes that Starling’s process inherently “solicits an appreciation of difference and empathy for known but not experienced distance sources.” 52
Fig.8 (L) The original Aralia design by Josef Frank c.1947 and (R) Simon Starling’s Weeding Aralia (c.2007-8)
Both Weeding Aralia and The Armchair Traveller (two-seater) employ their particular chairs, so as to draw a new intersection for the forms’ (seemingly) resolved identity. For The Armchair Traveller… floral upholstery that is typical to Louis-style furnishings53 – has been replaced with a photo-tapestry of an atypical littoral zone.54 The original photograph used for this photo-tapestry (Fig.9) shows a composition that disregards the clean, visual sweep distinctive to traditional landscape photography; holding the viewer/sitter in the space of a muddy wetland at low tide. In Weeding Aralia, Starlings modifications foster a re-
50 Aralia is again used by Starling’s in Djungel (2002): a 15 metre curtain, screen printed with the Aralia design using woodblocks cut from a Trinidadian tree. Starling can be viewed talking about Djungel’s printing process at: Dundee Contemporary Arts 2005, DNS Admin, Mountain View CA, viewed on 10 January 2012
23 consideration for known materialities that “render transparent the processes, perhaps even allowing the forms of desirable objects to be really seen for the first time, rather than merely recognized.”55 His process also echoes Grosz’s emphasis on the importance of disrupting the operations of identities, socially and culturally.56 Starling (in Brown 2002) also acjnowledges that “aesthetic changes often come on the back of a desire for fundamental social change, they mimic this desire in some sense.”57
Fig.9 (L) Original photograph of the Tamar Wetlands (R) detail of a the photo-tapestry weave
As with all of the photo-tapestries in the MFA research, the wetland image upholstered into the Louis lounge is distinctly photographic, with digital pixilation identifiable at close range (Fig.9). The photo-tapestry originates from a low-resolution digital image (scanned from photo negatives) and is machine-woven, with much of the process happening online and outsourced to factories overseas. This process brings together multiple forms: the negative, the digital image, woven materials and the ‘machine’58 – creating a symbiosis of old
55 Brown, K 2002, ‘Djungel Dwelling’ in S Starling (ed), Djungel, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland, p.33. 56 Grosz, E 2001, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A., p.93. 57 Brown, K 2002, ‘Djungel Dwelling’ in S Starling (ed), Djungel, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland, p.28. 58 There is an opportunity to write further on these relationships. However, for the purpose of this research paper, the focus will remain on the littoral, the armchair traveller and the in-between. Further
24 and new technologies. A similar nexus of past and present is found in the reproduction chair frame, which has been carved by both hand and machine. Both the photo-tapestry and the chair-frame, sit somewhere between the handmade and the automated – possibly an aesthetically rudimentary space – but also a heterotopic space. As explained by Foucault, heterotopias can be thought of as a juxtaposition of incompatible spaces into a single space.59 This is again illustrated in the piece Folded Littoral Zones (2013), (Fig.10).
Fig.10 Document of Folded Littoral Zones (2013) Deb Mansfield
In this work photographs of littoral zones were made into photo-tapestries, which were then folded and placed on top of one another to create a pile. This pile then sits in the space of a gallery, showing only fragments of what actually constitutes it. The work is part littoral, part photograph and part tapestry – while being singularly none of these things – but all of them as a heterotopia. Foucault’s third principle of heterotopias discusses how Persian carpets – as a replica of nature – act as “a sort of garden that can move across space.”60 But
reading on photography and the ‘machine’ at: Flusser, V 2000, Towards a Philosophy of Photography, Reaktion Books, London, p.9. 59 Foucault defines Heterotopias using six key principles, but also notes that “heterotopias obviously take quite varied forms, and perhaps no one absolutely universal form of heterotopia would be found.” (Foucault, M 2009, ‘Of Other Spaces: Heterotopias (1967)’, in J Voorhies (ed), Of Other Spaces, Columbus College of Art & Design, Ohio, p. 118). 60 (Ibid., p.120).
25 unlike the carpets of past, the photo-tapestries in Folded Littoral Zones are never fully revealed. Instead, the viewer experiences these forms through a series of folds, an upholstered chair, and a single photograph: The migration of an ocean (tapestry) into the space between house and fence (Fig.11). In this image, the viewer is finally able to see a photo- tapestry in it’s entirety. Yet, the ‘garden’ – or rather the ocean – while visually accessible, withholds the tactile exchange between the body and the weave (similar to bare feet on the Persian carpet). And while it is unlikely that an ocean will find its way into an inner-city backyard – the image along with its title presents exactly that. Intrinsically calling into question perhaps, previous understandings of a domestic garden/backyard and what it is to photograph the littoral; or what it is to photograph a photo-tapestry, of a photograph, of a littoral zone.
Fig.11 The migration of an ocean (tapestry) into the space between house and fence (2013) Deb Mansfield
26
Fig. 12 The becoming of a backyard through (piped) water at a littoral slant (2013) Deb Mansfield
Overlapping landscapes/spaces are also explored in The becoming of a backyard through (piped) water at a littoral slant (Fig.12), which presents a semi-rural backyard filled with pine trees, an empty washing line and a black hose making its way up and back down a tree branch. The placement of the hose mimics the angle of a littoral gradient, the one mutual but drastically varied element between all littoral zones (Fig.1).61 Similar to The migration of an ocean…, this construct brings together two distinct spaces – the littoral and the backyard – to create an ‘other’ space.62 The geographical markers have shifted in both these images; the
61 The angle of a littoral gradient differs between each geography i.e. a steep vertical cliff face, or a flat horizontal wetland. 62 Gail Tuttle observes similar dichotomies in the works of artist Marlene MacCallum, who “create[s] photographs of diverse spaces,” staging situations where photographs are photographed and a theatrical space of interior and exterior is juxtaposed, ready for manipulation. (Tuttle, G 2007, ‘ Art is the uncanny because it veils reality, and also because it tricks’ in M MacCallum (ed), The Architectural Uncanny: Marlene MacCallum, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery, Newfoundland, pp. 45-56).
27 littoral is not quite the littoral, and the inner-city backyard has expanded into semi-rural backyard – or vice versa. The backyards in these images play an important role in establishing a space that sits between the home and the wilderness – between the known and the unknown, as discussed further in Chapter Three.
28 CHAPTER THREE – CONSTRUCTION AND NARRATIVE
THE BACKYARD
Fig.13 A chaise on the brink (2013) Deb Mansfield
Staging photographic constructions is a re-occurring method within this writer’s art practice. For previous works, constructions have been created inside the home and photographed as disorganised still lives.63 For this current work however, the camera has been moved outside and the photo-construct stage shifted to the backyard – with the exception of the photograph; A chaise on the brink (2013) (Fig.13)64 The backyard is situated between the house and the property border (fence or otherwise) and is more private than the
63 Appendix #3: Samples of photographic constructions from previous works. 64 A chaise on the brink presents a reproduction Louis chaise frame standing upright, somewhat wedged between two curtains, and obstructing access to the outside space (which is faintly revealed with overexposed foliage towards the top of the image).
29 front yard – where one is in full view of the street.65 Similar to the verandah, the backyard is a space between the home and ‘out there’ and what Moya Costello describes as an “intermediary space [where she] is comforted by not being in the landscape, fully exposed to the potential harshness of the elements – sun, wind, rain – yet still remain[s] in touch with its sensuality.”66
The backyard is an extension of the private experiences associated in the home, while still being part of the outside’s ‘sensuality’. These sites can be understood then, as a physical space of in-between - but not necessarily a formless space; because the cultural and physical parameters of the backyard are a well-known identity – particularly within the Australian context where family gatherings and BBQ’s are played out.67 Yet the backyard is still an interesting halfway site into which forms can be placed outside their usual location or system. Considering this, the backyard constructions utilized for the three photographs; The potential of planks on castors leaning between two houses, (Fig.16) The migration of an ocean (tapestry) into the space between the house and fence, (Fig.11) and The becoming of a backyard through (piped) water at a littoral slant, (Fig.12) have been composed so that typical or overly obvious signifiers e.g. BBQ, swing set, garden settee, mowed grass, swimming pool etc. are missing.68 Nevertheless, what remains in these photographs, still describes a backyard i.e. fences
65 “The backyard presents a different, more diverse appearance than any other yard space: a scene that is on view only to the household, guests and in certain cases, the immediate neighbours. The backyard forms a dichotomy with the front yard. Where the front yard is for display and communality, the back is a private domain to be used for functional pursuits, whether domestic or recreational.” (Hall, T 2010, The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, p.29). 66 Costello, M 2009, ‘At Home in Text on the Coast’, in S Hosking, R Hosking, R Pannell & N Bierbaum (eds), Something Rich and Strange: Sea Changes, Beached and the Littoral in The Antipodes, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, p.289. 67 “The Backyard provides what is, in effect, an outdoor room. Being at the back is important because such a location provides security, privacy and a quiet ambience in a way that space at the front of the house cannot do. This outdoor room can be used for sitting out in appropriate weather. It can be used for alfresco meals, parties and other social gatherings. In the Australian social context, it is the location for the barbeque. The privacy also makes it an appropriate location for a swimming pool – again taking advantage of the Australian climate.” (Hall, T 2010, The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, p.23) 68 The backyards used in the Armchair Traveller series include my own and my sisters. It is important that the backyards I photograph be places where I have lived e.g. my permanent residence and the artist residencies, or have consistently visited e.g. my sister’s place.
30 (stonewall and lattice) planted gardens (pines, vines and shrubs) and in two of the images – a washing line. The objects brought into these backyard spaces: a black hose, an ocean tapestry, raw wood planks and castors – have been staged so as to encourage consideration for things known i.e. reflecting on alternative narratives and the space of becoming.
PASSION FISH AND LIMBO
Filmmaker John Sayles uses a triad of littoral geographies, domestic spaces (inside and out) and open-ended narratives in several of his films, the most notable being Passion Fish (1992) and Limbo (1999).69 The landscapes in both these films example the ‘wild frontiers’ of American landscape. 70 Passion Fish is situated in the Louisiana swamplands, and Limbo is set in and around a small coastal town in Alaska. (Fig.14 & 15)
Fig.14 Characters: May-Alice, Chantelle and Rennie in Passion Fish (1992) Written and directed by John Sayles
69 John Sayles is an independent American filmmaker (Sayles, J 2006, Direct Privacy, Metairie LA, viewed 19 May 2011,
31
Fig.15 Characters: Donna, Joe and Noelle wait to be rescued off a remote Alaskan island in Limbo (1999) Written and directed by John Sayles
Both movies see the main characters living – or hiding – in houses perched on the lands edge, and both storylines take these characters on multiple excursions into their individual littorals.71 Yet, juxtaposing Passion Fish’s final scene (of two women sitting quietly in a boat out on the bayou, talking about their future) is Limbo’s ending of a shoreline scramble for a seaplane that will either rescue the characters, or bring their demise.72 As the screen fades to white, the sound of the seaplane’s engines grow increasingly louder, leaving the viewer unsure of the characters fate. One film review noted that a frustrated patron “hurled something at the screen after the end credits started rolling”.73 Nonetheless, through an imaginative open-ended narrative, Sayles confronts “the binaries of modernism and post- modernism [offering] a choice of sublimity or language”.74
Sayles’s reliance on the concept of limbo, both for his title and for the film’s enigmatic conclusion, is fitting in a work that explores inherently slippery terms. The word Limbo
71 View examples of these scenes at: ‘Passion fish-part 11’ (Virginia15DX 2005, DNS Admin, Mountain View CA, viewed 5 May 2011,
32 comes from the Latin term “limbus,” meaning “border,” or “edge,” and thus continues a theme central to so many of Sayles films… [This] allows Sayles to refute binaries and to embrace open-endedness and ambiguity in a very dramatic way.” (Barrett 2006, p.249)
But while Sayles is able to script either quiet or dramatic narratives, it is his ongoing use of the littoral ‘edge’ to frame his storytelling that is most interesting.75 By placing his characters physically and sometimes mentally on the brink, Sayles illustrates the narrative of transformation through littoral confrontation – albeit optimistic or terrifying. In the past this writer has responded to Sayles’ storytelling by visiting some of the sites where he has filmed.76 For the MFA research however, the challenge has been to bring back into the domestic space, the open-ended narrative associated with littoral geographies. This transference, or process, could possibly instruct a new way of thinking about the everyday – particularly as an armchair traveller. And by photographing fragmented (littoral) forms in the backyard, this writer aims to question the certainty of things known. As such, the construction or arrangement of forms for the camera – as illustrated by The potential of planks on castors leaning between two houses, (Fig.16) is to introduce a consideration for the space or precipice of becoming – and not the outcome itself.
The aim of the MFA research has not been to create a caricature of coastal life in the backyard, nor is it about abandoning the home for a life on a remote littoral brink. It is never about preferencing one opportunity at the expense of its binary. This is the core sentiment of this MFA research; there is no inclination to adopt one form/option over another – it is simply about identifying and enjoying the spaces between such points. In doing so, there exists the ability to incite alternative narratives (whatever they may be) for things that had seemed pre- determined; or at the very least, to think on them from a space of in-between. As such, the
75 Sayles has consistently utilized littoral zones as a framework, or as a central character in his films. The west coast of Ireland was the setting for The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), an anonymous South American coastal town in Casa de los Babys (2003), Florida’s beaches were the setting for Sunshine State (2002), and Amigo (2011) was set in the Philippines. All these films exemplify Sayles adaptation of littoral regions as a discourse between transitional environments and character transformation. 76 After viewing the film Passion Fish, I decided to make work about the Louisiana littoral. In 2006, I was awarded the Siganto Travel Scholarship, which enabled me to travel to Louisiana and collect research for the series Hush Now, Louisiana.
33 ingredients in the backyards: the planks, hose and tapestry, remain in a permanent limbo of becoming – similarly to the desires of the armchair traveller.77
Fig.16 The potential of planks on castors leaning between two houses (2013) Deb Mansfield
77 One of the dominant objects repeated throughout the studio research is wood (raw and manufactured) because it is a material that easily examples the idea of reformation.
34 CONCLUSION
This research paper has argued that littoral geographies are spaces of continual movement and oscillation. This process is mirrored in the mindset of the armchair traveller. Both are unformed spaces to be encountered either physically or cerebrally. This encounter underpins the unique perspective that being external to forms, enables an opportunity to change things seemingly fixed in nature – inclusive of narratives, identities/roles and histories.
Several histories have been discussed so as to illustrate how littoral journeys (real or imagined) can potentially alter the domestic experience; 19th century French scenic wallpaper exemplified a prescribed interaction, guided by the aspirations of commercial enterprise. Simon Starling’s work illustrated subversions of modernist and ecological narratives; presenting to his audience a platform from which to consider – or reconsider – previous understandings of objects and histories. And the littoral-dominated films of John Sayles portrayed a more ambiguous and open-ended narrative of the littoral/domestic relationship. All of these histories touched on the idea of reformation through a process of external-ness and as such, they have hopefully operated as a framework from which to consider The Armchair Traveller: littoral zones and the domestic environment. More so, they have potentially shaped this writer’s argument that time spent imagining and engaging with atypical littoral geographies, is not to only access the space of in-between, but to incite change for things that had seemed unchangeable.
Since 2000, this writer has researched the littoral/domestic relationship through photomedia-based art. This current research has aimed to extend upon previous investigations, by focusing on the perspective encountered on the brink, and not solely the brink itself. It has been undertaken by crediting the process of journeying to remote islands as equal to armchair travelling in the home between excursions. Employing this process incites a viable method for encountering new perspectives and possibly alternative narratives for experiencing the everyday. However, this latest contribution to the domestic/littoral symbiosis is not a finite resolution of this relationship but rather a definite junction from which the next line of inquiry can begin.
35 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ______
Figure 1: Draft Guidelines for the Selection of Methods to Determine Ecological Flows and Water Levels – 3 Lakes and Wetlands. Ministry for the Environment 1998, New Zealand Domain Name Registry Limited, Wellington, viewed 17 February 2011,
Figure 2: L). Les Incas (c.1818 by Joseph Dufour) R). La Vigie de Koat-Ven (c. 1861 by Jean Zuber) Nouvel-Kammerer, O (ed) 2000, French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, p. 162 & p. 79.
Figure 3: L.) Le Petit Décor or Parc Français (c.1820-1825 by Joseph Dufour) R). Le Petit Décor or Parc Français (c.1830 by Joseph Dufour) McClelland, N 1924, Historic Wall-Papers from their inception to the Introduction of Machinery, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, p. 189.
Figure 4: L). L’Éden (c.1861 by Desfosse) M). Les Zones terrestres (c.1854 by Zuber) R). Gloire de Dijon (c. 1853 by Jacquot) Nouvel-Kammerer, O (ed) 2000, French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, pp. 218-220.
Figure 5: Panels 16-19 of Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (c.1804 by Joseph Dufour) Hall, S (ed) 2000, Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, National Gallery of Australia, Australia, Front cover.
Figure 6: L). The artist residency house: McIvers, Newfoundland (2012 Deb Mansfield) R). The artist residency house: Launceston, Tasmaina (2009 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2012, ‘The Armchair Traveller: Littoral Zones and the Domestic Environment’, paper presented at the 8th Annual Literature & Ecology Colloquium: Coastlines & Littoral Zones, Kleinmond, South Africa.
36 Figure 7: ‘The Armchair Traveller (two-seater)’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
Figure 8: L). Aralia (c.1947 Josef Frank) DesignLuxe
Figure 9: L). Work-in-progress from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) R). Detail: ‘The Armchair Traveller (two-seater)’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
Figure 10: ‘Folded Littoral Zones’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
Figure 11: ‘The migration of an ocean (tapestry) into the space between house and fence’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
Figure 12: ‘The becoming of a backyard through (piped) water at a littoral slant’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
Figure 13: ‘A Chaise on the Brink’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
Figure 14: TOP L). Screenshot from the film Passion Fish (1992 Dir. John Sayles) The Post Punk Cinema Club
37 R). Screenshot from the film Passion Fish (1992 Dir. John Sayles) Sundry Thoughts 2000, Domain Admin, San Fransisco CA, viewed on 14 Februrary 2011,
Figure 15: L). Screenshot from the film Limbo (1999 Dir. John Sayles) Sony Movie Channel 2010, Domain Administrator, Culver City CA, viewed on 1 June 2012,
Figure 16: ‘The potential of planks on castors leaning between two houses’, from the series The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield) Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
38 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Auslander, L 1996, Taste and Power: Furnishing Modern France, University of California Press, California.
Barrett, L 2006, ‘The space of ambiguity: representations of nature in Limbo’, in D Carson, & H Kenga Dianne (eds), Limbo Sayles talk: New Perspectives on Filmmaker John Sayles, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, pp. 238-258.
Bennett, B 2007, ‘A Beach Somewhere: The Australian Littoral Imagination at Play’, in CA Cranston & R Zeller (eds), The Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and Their Writers, Rodopi, Amsterdam, pp. 31-44.
Berardinelli, J 1999, Reelviews, Mount Laurel NJ, viewed 12 May 2011,
Brinklow, L 2011, ‘The proliferation of island studies’, Griffith Review, vol. 34, pp. 1-6.
Brown, K 2002, ‘Djungel Dwelling’ in S Starling (ed), Djungel, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland, pp. 23-57.
Cantrell, K & Ellison, E 2009, ‘Between flagged borders, across gendered lands: the voiceless female space in contemporary representations of Australian beach’, Proceedings of the ECCQ Multicultural Summit ‘09, Ethic Communities Council of Queensland, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane.
Connell, J 2003, ‘Island Dreaming: the Contemplation of Polynesian Paradise’, Journal of Historical Geography, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 554-581.
Costello, M 2009, ‘At Home in Text on the Coast’, in S Hosking, R Hosking, R Pannell & N Bierbaum (eds), Something Rich and Strange: Sea Changes, Beached and the Littoral in The Antipodes, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, pp. 288-296.
Curtis, B & Pajaczkowska, C 1994, ‘Getting there: travel, time and narrative’, in G Robertson, M Mash, L Tickner, J Bird, B Curtis, & T Putnam (eds), Travellers Tales: Narratives of Home and Displacement, Routledge, New York, pp. 199-215.
Dufour, J 2000, ‘Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique’, in S Hall (ed), Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, National Gallery of Australia, Australia, pp. 32-41.
Dundee Contemporary Arts 2005, DNS Admin, Mountain View CA, viewed on 10 January 2012
Flusser, V 2000, Towards a Philosophy of Photography, Reaktion Books, London.
39 Foucault, M 2009, ‘Of Other Spaces: Heterotopias (1967)’, in J Voorhies (ed), Of Other Spaces, Columbus College of Art & Design, Ohio, pp. 111-124.
Gale, R 2005, ‘Old Growth Logging: does it matter if environmental protection costs jobs?’, International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 203-220.
Grosz, E 2001, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A.
Hall, S (ed) 2000, Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, National Gallery of Australia, Australia.
Hall, T 2010, The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
Kennedy, J 1997, ‘At the Crossroads: Newfoundland and Labrador Communities in a Changing International Context’, Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, vol. 34, no.3, pp. 297–317.
King, R & Clarke, S 2002, ‘Contesting meaning: Newfie and the politics of ethnic labeling’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 537-556.
Kingdaifox 2005, DNS Admin, Mountain View CA, viewed 12 September 2011,
Limbo 1999, DVD recording, Green/Renzi Productions, New York. Directed by J Sayles.
McClelland, N 1924, Historic Wall-Papers from their inception to the Introduction of Machinery, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.
MacCallum, M 2007, Marlene MacCallum: The Architectural Uncanny, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery, Cornerbrook.
Manhire, B 2008, ‘Foreword’ in J Anderson (ed), Been There, read that! Stories for the armchair traveller, Victoria University Press, Wellington.
Mansfield, D 2012, ‘The Armchair Traveller: Littoral Zones and the Domestic Environment’, paper presented at the 8th Annual Literature & Ecology Colloquium: Coastlines & Littoral Zones, Kleinmond, South Africa.
Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD, viewed 30 July 2012,
May, B 2008, ‘Nancy Vincent McClelland (1877-1959): Professionalizing Interior Decoration in the Early Twentieth Century’, Journal of Design History, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 59-74.
40 Meredith, M 2002, ‘Simon Starling: Casey Kaplan’, Artforum International, vol. 40, no. 9. Miller, FP, Vandome, AF & McBrewster, J (eds) 2010, Littoral Zone, Alphascript Publishing, Mauritius.
Moses, C 1985, French Feminism in the 19th Century, State University of New York Press, Albany.
Nouvel-Kammerer, O (ed) 2000, French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris.
Nouvel-Kammerer, O 2000,‘Scenic Wallpaper, Social Mirror’, in O Nouvel-Kammerer (ed), French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, pp. 103-134.
Passion Fish 1992, video recording, Atchafalaya Productions. U.S.A. Directed by J Sayles.
Ryan, J 2010, John Sayles, Filmmaker: a Critical Study and Filmography, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, NC.
Sayles, J 2006, Direct Privacy, Metairie LA, viewed 19 May 2011,
Siefring, J (ed) 2004, The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, United States.
Skyla
Smith, B 1985, European Vision and the South Pacific, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Starling, S (ed) 2002, Djungel, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland.
Storer, R (ed), 2002, Jones/Starling, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Switala, K 1999, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg VA, viewed 27 June 2012,
Tackett, J
The British Library Board 2003, Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, MiddlesBorough, viewed 9 January 2012,
41 The Modern Institute 2001, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, viewed 10 January 2012,
Tuttle, G 2007, ‘ Art is the uncanny because it veils reality, and also because it tricks’ in M MacCallum (ed), The Architectural Uncanny: Marlene MacCallum, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery, Newfoundland, pp. 45-56.
Virginia15DX 2005, DNS Admin, Mountain View CA, viewed 5 May 2011,
Virtanen Antiques 2001, Harmony Antiques, Perth WA, viewed 9 January 2012,
White, R 2009, ‘A Short History of Beach Holidays’, in S Hosking, R Hosking, R Pannell & N Bierbaum (eds), Something Rich and Strange: Sea Changes, Beached and the Littoral in The Antipodes, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, pp. 288-296.
Zeller, R & Cranston, CA 2007, ‘Setting the Scene: Littoral and Critical Contexts’, in Cranston CA & Zeller R (eds), The Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and Their Writers, Rodopi, Amsterdam, pp. 7-30.
42 APPENDIX #1
* Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique
* Samples of 19th century French scenic wallpaper
43 Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (c.1804) manufactured by Joseph Dufour
SOURCE: Dufour, J 2000, ‘Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique’, in S Hall (ed), Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, National Gallery of Australia, Australia, pp. 32-41.
44 Locations for each scene of the wallpaper are listed firstly in their nineteenth-century French (italic) and secondly in the standard English
1 Nootka, Vancouver Island, British Colombia, Canada 2 Uliétéa, îlés des Amis Raiatea, Society Islands, French Polynesia 3 Happáee, îlés des Amis Lifuka, Ha’apai Group, Tonga 4, 5, 6 Otahïti Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia 7 Tanna, Nouvelles Hébrides Tanna, New Hebrides, Vanutau 8, 9 Îles de Sandwich Hawaii, USA 10, 11 Nouvelle Zélande New Zealand 12 Entrée du prince Guillaume, nord de l’Amerique Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA 13 Annamooka/Annaamoka Nomuka, Ha’apai Group, Tonga 14 Nouvelle Calédonie New Caledonia, French territory 15, 16 Tongatabo, îlés des Amis Tongatapu, Tongatapu Group, Tonga 17 Sainte Christine, îlés Marquises Tahuata, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia 18 Îles Marquises Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia Middle distance: cap de Diemen, nouvelle Hollande, îlés de l’Amirauté Tasmania, Australia and the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea 19 Rapanui Îles de Paques Easter Island, Chile middle distance: cap de Diemen, nouvelle Hollande, îlés de l’Amirauté Tasmania, Australia and the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea 20 Pelow/Palaos Palau
SOURCE: Dufour, J 2000, ‘Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique’, in S Hall (ed), Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, National Gallery of Australia, Australia, pp. 32-41.
45 Lengths 22-23 from Chasse de Compiegne (c.1812) produced by Jacquemart
SOURCE: Nouvel-Kammerer, O (ed) 2000, French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, p.29.
46
Lengths 26 – 29 from Monuments de Paris (c.1812) produced by Joseph Dufour
SOURCE: Nouvel-Kammerer, O (ed) 2000, French Scenic Wallpaper 1795-1865, Flammarion, Paris, p.111.
47 Document of unknown French scenic wallpaper.
“Mr. Worthington tells us that the murals in this room date from the 18th century, but note the curtain in the center of this photo painted to match the mural. Lady Kenmare was once a scenic painter in Hollywood, and it is said that she painted the curtain, herself.” (Tackett 2011)
SOURCE: Tackett, J
48
Document of Vues D'Amérique du Nord (c.1834) produced by Jean Zuber
SOURCE: Skyla
49 APPENDIX #2
* Maps of the artist residency houses: Tasmania and Newfoundland
* The Armchair Traveller exhibition catalogue
* Samples of visual diaries/mind maps for the MFA research
50 Map locating the Tasmanian and Newfoundland residency houses (2013 Deb Mansfield)
51 Exhibition Catalogue for The Armchair Traveller (2013 Deb Mansfield)
52
53
THE ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER Littoral Zones and the Domestic Environment
DEB MANSFIELD
Following page: The migration of an ocean (tapestry) into the space between house and fence 2013, Giclee print
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
Above: The potential of planks on casters resting between two houses 2013, Giclee print
66
The Armchair Traveller (two-seater) 2013, photographic-tapestry upholstered into a replica Louis settee (L) Back view (R) Front view
67
68
First published for the exhibition The Armchair Traveller at MOP, Sydney
Front cover: McIvers, Newfoundland Back cover: Launceston, Tasmania
March 2013, Sydney, Australia
This project was supported by an Australian Post Graduate Award through the College of Fine Arts, the University of New South Wales.
The project was supported by two artist residencies:
The Cataract Gorge Artist Residency in Launceston, Tasmania (provided by Launceston’s Parks and Recreation). Special thanks to Gina Lehman. 2012 Full Tilt Artist’s Residency in McIvers, Newfoundland. Special thanks to Colette Urban.
Thank you to my supervisor Debra Philips for her onging support and guidance.
Thank you also to Izabela Pluta, Bronwyn Rennex, Karen Ryan, Kathy Yeh, Camilla Birkeland, Paul Adair,
Erika, Toni and Brendan.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrival system, without the written permission of author/s.
69
70
71 Samples of the visual diaries documenting the MFA research (2013 Deb Mansfield)
72 Samples of the mind-maps developed for the MFA research (2013 Deb Mansfield)
73 APPENDIX #3
* Examples of past work and research
74 Pierced Swamp and The Mississippi (2007 Deb Mansfield) From the series Hush Now, Louisiana
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
75 Footstool with native and Palm wig with fish tank (2005 Deb Mansfield) From the series Anticipating the Islands
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
76 Mangrove Wall – Artist’s Residence (2003 Deb Mansfield) Photographic liquid emulsion applied, exposed and chemically processed in situ at the artist’s residence.
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
77 Mangrove Wall – Institute of Modern Art (2004 Deb Mansfield) Photographic liquid emulsion applied, exposed and chemically processed in situ at the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane.
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
78 Horse on concrete blocks and The crouch (2005 Deb Mansfield) From the series Old with me
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
79 300 Wall Ducks (2001 Deb Mansfield) Installation document of 300 unique b/w photograms
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
80 The Port (2003 Deb Mansfield) Different sized woodblocks, covered with C-type photographs and resin
SOURCE: Mansfield, D 2007, 3E Innovative, Salisbury QLD,
81