A Reification of History Painting within an ‘Colonial Expanded Ghost Field: Story’ an ‘Bunyip, exegesis Gothic, parenthesised the by Panto’. exhibitions,

and

Graham Cheney

An exegesis submitted for the Degree of Masters of Fine Arts College of Fine Arts University of New South Wales December 2011

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A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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(Banjo Paterson. Waltzing Matilda, 1895)

“And His Ghost My be Heard……………..”

1. Cheney, Asphodel Meadows. 2008.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Table of Contents

(i) Statement of Original Authorship Abstract

4 Introduction

Part 1 5

1.1 Pluralism and the Expanded Field 7 1.2 Painting in the field Expanded 10 1 .3 Affine spaces 12 1.4 The Snap and Shot the History Painting 14

Background

Part 2 21

2.1 The Garden 22 2.2 Idealised Classicism 24 2.3 Documenting Colonial visions 26 2.4 Finding Elysium 29 2.5 Fauns and Eucalypts 29 23. .6 Part Australian 3 Gothic beginnings 34

3.1 Evil industrial machines 35 3.2 Zeitgeist: Spirit of the Age 37 3Part .3 Australian 4 Gothic Fiction 38

4.1 Historical re-­‐enactments and pantomimes 41 4.2 Doppelganger Dundee 42

Conclusion

Bibliography 43

44 List of Images

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A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Abstract

A R eification of History . Painting

A Reification of history painting; is an exegesis that contextualizes a series of painted -­ re enactments, using published, non-­fictional and fictional examples of Australian Gothic literature as their originating subject matter. By modifying Krauss’s model of the expanded field model painting can be broadened to provide an agency that includes among other additional qualifiers the dualities of history, politics, fantasy and documentation. This adapted model provides schematic locations that are able to accommodate instances of a multiple, concurrent subjective historiography.

Each year Australian historical societies gather to act out significant historical events; The Battle of Vinegar Hill in Sydney’s North West is one of these. In -­ this re enactment, ordinary people take on the roles of the early colonists who took part in the original battle. The event and its telling isn’t diminished because some of the people playing the roles are the wrong height, weight, gender or simply have poorly made costumes. Similarly my historical narrative paintings allow for flexible, participatory approaches to reengagements with key historical events. The series of paintings that accompany this exegesis cast contemporary figures acting out the events of each story, like a backyard pantomime within the context of an allegory. These stories become narratives and dramas set in uncanny historical landscapes.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Introduction

Adapting Krauss’s concept of the expanded field enables framework the elaboration of a in which real magined and i examples of Australian Gothic literature can be included as the subjects of history painting. While not entirely Wikipedia’ a documentary account of events, an argument can still be constructed for the paintings of the age of exploration to be considered as a form of historical account in the age of ‘ or a time when fiction becomes fact.

The reification of History painting is an exegesis proceeding from exhibitions, ‘Colonial ghost story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’ and selected previous projects which similarly were engaged with -­‐ the re staging of historical events such as the Dismissal (Blacktown Regional Gallery, 2004) This paper will look at how the Australian psyche has developed with regards oloni to C al Gothic Literature and raises the possibilities of the narrative weight of fiction to added to the accumulative weight of history as a perimeter fence around any future expanded field of History Painting. Consequently, he t works from se the exhibitions take examples of writing from colonial authors who were articulating a New World, geographically, but also a New World with regard to the topography of the imagination. The colonists written about were tested not only against the landscape of alien enemies, but their ‘characters’ were repositioned by significant alterations in the cultural landscape resulting from rapid technological and societal change. In this I have proceeded from the assumption that similar transformative forces of adaptive renewal exerted pressures on Krauss’s theorising. And hat t comparable overlapping historical circumstance of technological and societal change made possible a convergence in the defining attributes of the, Expanded field Sculpture and any Gothic subsequent Expanded field of History Painting. I intend to show how styles primarily associated with Europe were adapted by antipodean authors when writing about the unprocessed experiences of eighteenth century Australians in a manner that prefigures both the strategy and outcomes of my adaption of Krauss’s canonical model. I will commence with a compendium of terms that Reification: are central to my process: To reassess with regard to the fixed properties or defining attributes of among History other Painting: things a genre or a theory. History Painting is usually considered to be a genre in painting defined not so much by formal or stylistic signifiers, but rather a relationship to the construction Narrative Painting: of history as a sequence of narrative highlights. Narrative painting is a visual methodology based around the central role of storytelling to perceived relationships between subjects – individuals and groups, within the field of representation in any given painting. It engages with codes and Diaristic signifiers Art as Practices: an integral part of its visual vocabulary. The use of discrete, personal events and figures as surrogates, which enable diaristic art, practices to use the framework of the ‘everyman’ as a default Australian setting in History: the construction of narrative. Gothic Literature: The totality of antipodean memory, actual and creative.

th A stylistic category of writing prevalent from the 1700’s to the late 19The century, Expanded which Field: has a romantic hero, overcomes significant pluriform obstacles.

A Reification of History Painting within A term an Expanded that transcends Field: An singularities exegesis parenthesised in cultural by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and practices. ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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The following chapter looks at Painting within the Expanded Field of Art, and examines how the works from the exhibitions Colonial Ghost stories and Gothic Panto Bunyip, (including selected previous examples) form part of contemporary Australian History Painting.

Part 1

1.1 Pluralism and the Expanded Field.

In the expanded field of art, it is possible to include iterature Gothic L as a source for History Painting, by constructing an appropriate overlapping field around its instances and those of History Painting. This field would have History Painting as its inert or neuter term within the boundaries of a pluralist art world where one or more sources of authority fiction co-­‐exist. becoming The aim fact being to construct at a field th can accommodate all points where documented Gothic Literature, is interchangeable with events as recorded, an instance of .

Through the metaphor of a labyrinth or alist maze, poststructur authors such as Jose Luis Borges and Umberto Eco are able, in text, to refer to the postmodern condition of experiencing information via multiple pathways and alternate roads, in much the same way as the connectivity of the Internet. In taking a pluralist look at history painting, rather than through valence or sense of historicism, one can woodchip the ‘Sculpture linear tree in of thehistory expanded , permitting field’. wormhole views of historical s narrative to open up, and be navigable in any direction. Rosalind Krauss introduced this view in her, 1979, essay, ‘This is obviously a different approach to thinking about the history of form from that of historicist criticism's constructions of elaborate genealogical trees. It presupposes the acceptance of definitive ruptures and the possibility of looking at historical process 1 from the point of view of logical structure.’

‘Painting in the Expanded Field’ 2, 3 In his essay Gustavo Fares 2004, introduces the work of Arthur C. Danto in response to the notions ‘anything that, in goes’ a postmodern e environment wher artists can be liberated from the object, it is difficult to determine the art object from objects of the world. Therefore a consequence of the attitude is the diminished role of art and artists, and as a consequence painting and by association History ‘ painting.

Arthur C. Danto proposes that the first understanding of the term “pluralism” is the result of the changes in the art world since the 1960’s. In his view, starting in that decade, the crisis of -­‐ the art object assumed spread wide dominance. This was for Danto especially the case in the work of Andy Warhol, who made evident the problem with/of art. That problem is no other than distinguishing the art-­‐object from the -­‐ objects of-­‐the-­‐

1 Krauss p44

2 Gustavo Fares ‘Painting in the Expanded Field’ 2004

3 Danto, Arthur. ‘The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art’ 1986

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4 world. When the artistic object came ed to be consider as neither superior nor inferior to objects in the real world but too similar to them to ’ allow for a visual distinction.

Similarly, Fares, in discussing concerns of cultural plurality raised by noted art historians Hal Foster and Frederic ites Jameson, c in his , essay the work of Robert Morgans, stating that art can be either symptomatic, i.e.: a spectacle, or significant, i.e.: thought-­‐provoking. The concept that cultural ideas aren’t pre-­‐determined allows us theoretically to accept all the orms myriad f of a rt.

However, Foster points out that from a global perspective, this may also imply a significant divide between neo -­‐colonial and developing cultures: Forster states:

‘pluralism5 expects the Western -­‐ first world to produce art and theory, he while t rest of the world becomes a province that, at best, produces art and theory limited to their own spheres’

In constructing this expanded field, where painting acts as the inert instance, we must again return to Krauss and the model of the expanded field. Krauss proposes the location of sculpture in postmodern ideology can be determined by the characteristics it doesn’t possess, e.g. sculpture isn’t architecture or landscape.

‘Krauss That is, states ; the not-­architecture is, according to the logic of a certain kind of expansion, just another way of expressing the term landscape, -­ and the not landscape is, simply, architecture. The expansion to which I am referring to is called a Klein group when employed mathematically and has various other designations, among them the Piaget group, when used by structuralist’s involved in mapping operations within the human sciences. *’ 6

Diagram . 1 Expanded field Krauss

4 Fares p477.

5 Foster p55

6 Krauss 37

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Krauss’s expanded field is essentially an undefined area whose boundaries contain opposite poles that give reference points at which works of art can be positioned. From the same essay Krauss puts forward that an expanded field of painting, reproducibility and uniqueness could be used as poles, to create the long field a with 3d and movement, “In order to answer these questions about painting, Krauss (p43)

recommends the use of the categories of uniqueness/reproducibility as the opposite binary terms within the Griemas rectangle.”7

Fares, on Krauss’s suggestion, constructs a field for painting as a Klein, and observes the poles, rather than opposites, are actually in the same sphere, and as an alternative to a Klein or Piaget group, proposes a Griemas rectangle where reproducibility and uniqueness can perform as part of the same spectrum.

Diagram 2 . Fares klein

The field in which it is suggested painting may be located looks like this.

Add uniqueness and reproducibility -­‐ as a z axis and it becomes,

Diagram 3. Fares griemas

7 Fares p480

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1.2 Painting in the Expanded Field.

In referring to the work of Krauss and Fares, the following models have been developed as an alternative. By modifying the original Klein representation to a Modular, it is possible to make a macro and micro vision of the expanded field.

Diagram 4 Presents an expanded field to locate of instances art making in the pluralist Artworld.

.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Diagram 5. Represents the expanded field of History Painting. It is this model that will provide a vector for Gothic literature to be included as a form of History Painting.

Agreeing that uniqueness and reproduce-­‐ability exist within an extended pluralist model of the expanded field, and that painting has the capacity to move between poles, it is possible to create a similar pecifi expanded field s cally for instances of History painting in which the inert component appears as a fixed plane on which real and imagined stories, recounted events or cultural ideology can be located are able to shift towards either 3d or movement. As a cube the model of the expanded field of history painting provides six expanding faces. Its poles are documentary/politics, history/fantasy, and the structural 3d/movement.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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1.3 Affine Spaces

In his Essay, ‘The Expanded Field of ’ Painting , Gustavo Fares mentions the inclusion , of affine spaces, and history, as part of paintings expanded field, but offers no resolution on how this may be achieved. The affine space is multidimensional, with the viewing experience being determined by on. its locati His other inclusion, history, is a general acknowledgment of its place as an instance. I believe the inclusion of affine spaces and history can be best represented at the broader end of the expanded field i.e.: like the galaxy of the world where Hermeneutic the solar system circle of the Artworld is found. In architecture, a hermeneutic circle is used as a way of researching, evaluating, and finally implementing a design or outcome. The , as a diagram, appears like a snake eating isfied its tail until it is sat and stops. Adapting this approach as a module, with the characteristics of encounter and experience, provides a nonlinear path of information resulting in an Artwork. Therefore alternate paths of history can be en-­‐counted in affine spaces not specific to the Art maker. It’s imagined that it is within this contextual landscape that the expanded field operate. This model therefore allows the theories of the expanded field to continue in an ever-­‐expanding field.

Diagram 6. Hermeneutic module

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Diagrams 6 and 7 provide a modular for the inclusion of affine spaces and history by using a hermeneutic approach to examine how western cultures changing access to information affects the process of Information through encounter and experience. Expanded Using poles field to ainting. for P create a field in which history painting is the inert instance, and by adding the suggested, le po s of reproduction (sic) and uniqueness, it is possible to construct an

Diagram 7. Affine spaces

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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1.4 The Snap Shot and the History Painting

‘I’m not trying to imitate a photograph; I’m trying to make one. And if I disregard the assumption that a photograph is a piece of paper exposed to light, then I am practicing photography by other – means. Gerhard Richter,’ 8

1972.

This chapter Looks at the essays, ‘The Painting Advent over of photography: Expanded Painting’, the question of medium in Gerhard Richter’s Over-­‐paintings, by Rosemary Hawker, Practice 2008, and Medium Sculptures in the Expanded Field, by Rosalind Krauss, 2007, and Paco Barragan, 2008, and discusses them in relation to the roles of , employed the Painting ‘Charon the Ferryman’. This painting is an historicised narrative, telling ‘The Story of Greenman’s Inn’ a Ghost tale, from the Hawkesbury River NSW. It is one of a series of four -­‐enacts, paintings that re the drama of a haunted area of Hawkesbury River, and uses published news articles from the late 1800’s to mid 1900’s. The setting in which this story takes place is an isolated river settlement, only accessible by water. The Four paintings in the series follow the unfolding tragic history as the loci of Greenman’s Inn, goes from rength hope and st to eventual decline fall and death. Finally all that is left are the ruins, which become home to the spectre of a young mother and her child. The paintings relate the tale of the supernatural, using Greek mythographic detail and physcopomposity against a background of the specific geography of the Hawkesbury River and the temporal indexes of contemporary Australia.

In the essay marker ‘Sculpture at a in particular the Expanded place, for field’, a Rosalind specific meaning/event 9 Krauss, begins with a look at the historicity, of the medium, of Sculpture and its pre modern function as monument, or Krauss puts it ‘ . The sculpture ‘Sacrifice’ by Rainer Hoff serves, as the centrepiece of the ANZAC war memorial in Hyde Park Sydney, and is such a monument consistent with Krauss characterization. Hoff’s monument is specific to its place and serves a marker for a focused meaning. The rearrangement of the social classes and social Institutions, in early modernism, fractured this relationship, facilitating sculptures transformation from monument to a sovereign object th of -­‐ self reference and freed from place and outside time. Navigating the first part of the 20 century in this fashion, sculpture by mappable the 50’s had nearly exhausted all it’s immediate spatial and temporal potential, and had become more about what it wasn’t than what is was. It is these terms that Krauss uses to chart a terrain where contemporary sculpture exists ‘Sculpture as in a the type of double negative – Expanded neither Field’ landscape nor architecture. Krauss reconciles that which sculpture 10 is becoming to its originating purpose by elaborating the theory of ‘Spiral in which Jetty’ the categories ‘Wrapping of landscape, of Little architecture Bay’, and sculpture are cleaved. Post modern sculpture, such as earth works, by Robert Smithson or Christo’s, operate as sculpture within an expanded field, not least because our culture, using theories set out by Krauss, determines that within the rules of what is current Art practice they fit. Other cultures, of course who haven’t heard of the expanded field, also create similar spatial interventions, and as Krauss points out, other cultures produce similar works -­‐ such as, Japanese gardens, and Labyrinths, but these are not sculptures ir and the location outside and the singularity of site (place) with sight (sculpture) does not constitute sculpture in the expanded field because the same notions of sculpture don’t exist in that culture. 8 Richter p73

9 Krauss p217

10 To cleave, means both to split or separate and to adhere or stick to.

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The expanded ‘Advent of field the of Expanded sculpture, Painting’ having ty mutated over thir years across media categories, is attenuated upon and its material focus shifted by Paco Barragan, in his essay, the , 2008. Here Barragan argues that both the resurgence of painting post 9/11, and its earlier death actually turn out to be market driven cycles of boom, declines fall and rebirth. Currently, Painting is reinventing itself again using new technologies, such as Photoshop, and entering new spheres of delivery, in particular online networks. By engaging with Krauss, Barragan was required to adapt the generalisations of her theory to the specifics of painting. Similarly, I have acclimatised the congealed legacy of Barragan/Krauss within the genre of History Painting by expanding History Painting’s identifying attributes of mocumentary non-­‐ fictional narrative to include Gothic literature, hearsay and embellished reportage. Barragan in his essay points out, that within the current cultural context, painting while being different still engages with the practice of the individual artist qualified by medium. As these are aspects first addressed by Krauss in her earlier essay, I have conflated their positions and naturalised the attributes commonly identified by them within the context of Shapes Australian in inhabitation: history own and my practice. Painting in the expanded field’ Works are identified as painting not on the basis of flatness or canvas brushwork but by Mark the Titmarsh, hermeneutics in his essay ‘ of painting: what at the present can be proposed as a says, painting 11 “ Affine spaces ”. Titmarsh’s view can be illustrated by the modular diagram, in which I use a hermeneutic basis to create the field, where current art practice takes place. (refer Diagram 6, 7) Painting in the context of parallel relationships

In my next modelled diagram (refer diagram 4) I again cite Barragan, who in referring to Krauss’s expanded field, articulates an expanded filed of painting that in contrast to the expanded field of Sculpture locates itself within a set itive of pos conditions, that includes some or all of the other mediums -­‐ such photography, performance, video and audio. Painting in the context of parallel relationships establishes a reification of history painting as an attribute of painting in the expanded field, which in turn proceeds from sculpture in the expanded field.

The concluding Charon the diagram ferryman graphically (refer diagram 5) models paintings aspects in the wider context of history and evidence articulating a logic for locating historical paintings such as in a postmodern context by arguing that post modernity can be understood firstly as an expression of modernity in the expanded field. While the model is based on the flat, Klein diagram, proposed by Krauss. A 3 dimensional interpretation not only contemporises and augments her model but allows for the use of multiple mediums and in varying concentrations rather than propose a series of singular paths as suggested by Barragan’s -­‐ Multi inclusion diagram.

11 Titmarsh p30

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Diagram 8. Multi -­‐inclusion diagram.

Locatable within the geography -­‐ of post modernity as an expression of the possibility of an expanded field of modernity is the artist Pedro Barbeito and his practice. Barragan in his essay informs us that Barbeito, sources low res images from the Internet that are digitally worked into high res Photoshop images, which are then hand painted. Barbeito creates works, which reignite the debate between figuration and abstraction, originating in modernity, in he which t pixel can be understood as an index of abstraction, and outcomes in which digital manipulation and distortion are formal processes. Similarly the work ‘s presented in this exegesis can be described -­‐ as hand painted techno referential figurations whose original source imagery are obscured by digital filters before being Charon transferred the Ferryman to canvas.

The painting, , is made up of numerous layers of media. It involves multiple versions, any of which can serve as finished works, published and unpublished. Some layers of media remain, and end up the final work, while others become discarded in the process of making. The choices of what media to discard and what to keep are defined by questions of idiom and medium.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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2. Cheney. Charon the Ferryman. 2008.

3. Nuclear testing in Bikini Atoll

Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll,

The black and Charon white the photograph of Ferryman. acts as sublime cultural imprint. The photo is a well-­‐recognised icon that provides the compositional structure for the painting The original photograph was taken on board a US naval ship and shows sailors wearing protective eyewear, sitting on deck chairs, witnessing one of man’s greatest follies, the explosion of a nuclear bomb in the on small south pacific atoll.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Hopper. Men in the , sun 1960

4.

5. Cheney. Men in the , sun 2008. 6. Cheney. Men in the , sun 2007.

The photographic image of the original, while appearing y to have the immediac of a snap shot, is in fact, an example of post-­‐war propaganda. The image is both considered, and composed, with the mis-­‐en-­‐scene photographer, carefully planning all aspects of the shot. The actor/sailor’s were directed and arranged, orial to get the best pict result, making a visually correct picture according to the accepted and understood design principles but violating the rules of documentary photography of the time. By using photography, to “document” an event, but to proceed aesthetically contradicts the definition of “document” and betrays the media’s indexical authority and its claim to represent a singular moment in time, marking an event.

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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embellished reportage However it could be argued that the original photograph, as a form of Charon the Ferryman is a readymade study for a work in the expanded field of history painting. By the time, the photograph of Bikini Atoll became the underpainting for , the Men image in has the Sun, passed through the hands and been painted by various artist’s, and used in many editions of print media exemplified by the American Artist Edward Hopper, in his work Charon (1960). the Ferryman

The version which appears in , begins with -­‐ a re enacted by friends and family, around a blue screen, figures are then excised digitally and placed in Photoshop. The cut out figures are grouped with the original photo, and mashed with researched images from the Internet. The developing image is worked on multiple layers that are digitally corrected and adjusted. Once Bikini the Photoshop’ed photograph Atoll has been saved for the last time, and before flattening, I discard the hidden layers. The image exists in digital space as a multi layered work, with the original image still hidden in the base layer. Following the flattening of the layers, the image is digitally printed, and transferred to a canvas, where it is hand painted in charcoal acrylic binder, acrylic paint and oil paint. Literally and literarily painting over photography, making clear that by Painting creatively over rendering photography: a singular experience The or question moment of in Medium in Richter’s the world, through over-­paintings’, the expanded field of History Painting, acknowledges what Rosemary Hawker points out in her essay, ‘ “painting has 2008, also been that, in pursuit of something we now think of as photographic.”

In the late modern school of photorealism, painters such as Chuck Close and Ralph Goings, reached an apogee in the manipulation of pictorial space in canvas painting before the advent of what I am naming history painting in the expanded field. The paintings for Colonial ghost story and Gothic, Bunyip, Panto, reject the modernist, self referential, high-­‐end rendering, produced by the photographic process. Instead I have contrasted manographical process with those originating in photography by introducing and retaining drips and scumbles, even elevating these chaotic events to equal status with the figure. The marks on the canvas themselves become indexes, as there random qualities either become retained or rejected, and again over-­‐painted, obliterating the photographic origin of the work. The rejection of the photograph becomes complete, by embracing the use of familiar design language, the same used, in western painting, beginning with Painting Giotto, over and photography remaining common at present.

In the 2008 essay ‘ ’, Hawker points out;

“The use of the painted smear, or blur, employed -­‐ by Gerhard Richter in his over paintings, attempts 12 to recreate the blurring that is sometimes made by the camera, and that the blur, is evidence of truth in photography, and can be seen as photography’s reality effect.” Betty

Richter’s, photo-­‐paintings, such as (1988), meticulously recreate images formed by the younger medium of photography ated into images medi by the older medium of painting. The blur and over-­‐paintings, acknowledge the impact of photography, and the photo on broader culture. Ironically, it is the blurring, that appear in Richter’s paintings that tell us most about medium of photography.

12 Hawker p50

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‘The blur for Richter is both idiomatic of photography as medium and able to open up the photographic affect in painting. Its signifying range as played out by his painting is extraordinary and yet it remains necessarily meaningless.’ 13

Rosemary Hawker 2008.

Painting references itself by including abstract elements, unique to the medium of painting, i.e.: the influence, two colours or shapes have on one another, or; the random bleeds of paint that soften edges, creating sublime ethereal moments that can only be achieved, via the act of painting, this is, the truth in painting. Historically Painters such as, Rembrandt Van Rijn [1606-­‐1669], Edouard Manet -­‐ [1832 1883], Mark Rothko -­‐ [1903 1970] and Eric Fischl -­‐ [1948 ], and even, Pierre Brassau [active 1960’s], clearly demonstrate the painter’s intention when balancing chaos and order, when itself becomes used as an index Charon for the the act of painting. Ferryman' Colonial Ghost Story Gothic, Bunyip, Panto The final painted surfaces of ‘ and other works from the exhibitions, and, , include marks and artifacts that are unique to the painting medium, and in so, attempt to reject of underlying traces of photography.

13 Hawker p51

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Colonial Ghost Stories and Gothic , Bunyip, Panto, to illustrate how historical, events, fictional and fantastic make possible the reification of history and narrative painting, resulting in the possibility of an expanded field of history painting.

Background.

I regard it -­‐ as self evident that ollowing f the arrival of the First Fleet, the developing Australian psyche was influenced by distance, isolation, and fear of the unfamiliar. Traditional narrations construct an isolated community surrounded by a vast, dark and sinister The landscape Hawkesbury. G azette Around the campfires, stories were confabulated in which haunted gothic landscapes triumphed over recently arrived mortals. Non-­‐fictional sources such as , a local newspaper from Windsor, N.S.W, reported many examples of macabre and unexplainable spectral gs sightin in its pages between 1830 and 1930. Similar to their European and American counterparts, like Shelley and Poe, who introduced the world to stories of 14 horror and romance in the gothic style, colonial Australian authors wrote many works of ustralian fiction. The A author Marcus Clarke gave us the historical tale ‘For the Term of His Natural Life’. Clarke along with other writers, such as Mary Fortune, , Price Warung and Henry Lawson, provided fictional gothic, tales of desire, mystery, tragedy, and Byronic heroes, all contributing to the establishment of an antipodean culture.

Exemplifying the ambiguous, and unmapped terrain between fact and fiction, identifying it as potential loci for the expanded field of history painting is our national song and default national anthem ‘Waltzing Matilda’ which has as its central protagonist the ghost of a . swagman The segue between the poetic effect and mnemonic result that is the legacy of Banjo Patterson’s folk tale set to music Wolf can be characterised as an early example Creek of the expanded field of History Painting where a fictional event has displaced recorded fact as the basis for a nations master narrative. More recently the film , has eclipsed the true story on which it is based, as an index of the macabre, and horrifying.

14 Marcus Clarks ‘For the term of his natural life’.1872

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Part 2.

2.1 The Garden.

The garden, paradise or Utopia : has many names Elysium, Heaven, Nirvana, Zion, and Valhalla. Whether it be through journey, deed, or enlightenment, for most people, our time on this plane is spent trying to return to the garden from whence we were long ago banished. For Australian colonial settlers, this garden might have persisted as a memory of England, but zeitgeist allowed the new arrivals eate to believe they could cr a new garden at the underside of the earth.

Diagram 9 . A possible expanded field of history painting

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7. Cheney. Elysium . 2008.

The American historian, Frederick Jackson -­‐ Turner (1861 1932) wrote of how the further west into the wilderness the frontiersmen travelled, the more the American character was formed by the battle between the unforgiving wilderness and the landscape.

“Turner … The American says: character did not spring full-­blown from the Mayflower,’ it but that ‘ came out of the forests and gained new strength each time it touched a frontier,"15

With the arrival of the first Fleet in 1788, Europeans, after eight months at sea, disembarked from their s ship to stand upon a small sandy beach in Farm Cove Sydney. Unsure of what may lay only a few hundred feet beyond the wall of vegetation, the convicts perceived the landscape as an ungodly void full of bizarre fauna and flora, and on contact with the original inhabitants regarded the indigenous people as unaware of Christianity, or civilized in any European customs.

15 Turner

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8. Cheney. Tartarus. 2008.

In the same way that the American frontiersmen fought to civilise the landscape, colonials’ first battle was to establish a place where they could live and survive in safety, a garden. Before creating a new garden at the other end of the world tensions between the colonials and the harsh landscape had to be overcome. The arrivals were aware the land contained all the necessary ingredients for a society, but before it could be tamed, many hard fought confrontations with dark forces needed to be won. 2.2 An Idealised Classicism.

In Greek mythology the god Hephaestus, like his Roman equivalent 16 Vulcan, nurtured the wild and tamed its beasts, creating, domestication, industry and language. Hephaestus is attributed with being the bringer of civilisation to the ancient world. (Panofsky,).

The vista observed by the first -­‐ temperate coast dwelling colonial painters presented a vastly different one from the world they had left. With no pre-­‐existing classical structures in the landscape to paint, there was no archaic backdrop for the new colonial artists to compose their narratives of triumph in the New World. As was the trend of age, Colonial Artists liked to 17 recall, idealised classical gardens of antiquity and familiar green valleys bathed in diffused light, bursting with heroic vegetation and forgotten temples set in Claudian landscapes, populated with pastoral gods and nymphs. In 16 Panofsky. Iconology, chpt, 4

17 reference being to Claude Lorraine the French classical landscape painter

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contrast the Australian landscape was covered in matted dry grey-­‐green trees beneath intense light that cast deep, cold shadows that could swallow people.

As more freed convicts and freeholders annexed parts of the landscape, becoming new landowners, the permanency of a long-­‐term arrangement became nt. evide For most settlers there could be very little prospect of a return to Europe, and the representation of their new Garden took on a psychological element, revealing things held in the very back of peoples minds. Within the first few decades of settlement artists adopted a decidedly omantic more r vision that respected the landscape, one that brought with it an appreciation of nature’s qualities and abstracted virtues like truth, pragmatism and endurance, all imbued with mystical beauties.

Historical references for Australian painters eager to establish a link with the vast colonial landscape became a Govett's method Leap of attempting and Grose to River master Valley, 1873 the romantic vision of the landscape, as was the inclusion of stories about real events and places locations. In Eugene von Guerard’s (1811-­‐ 1901) , the powerful vista of The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, dwarfs the travellers, and in true Romantic fashion, depicts a frontier that can never be considered conquered. Von Guerard paints steadfast, sandstone cliffs that display their resolute yet sublime sovereignty over all things in the landscape. Von Guerard achieves this by providing an incomplete scenario. Appearing to be the end of a long journey, the scene offers viewer alternate endings with tree bridges, sheer waterfall drops, deep impenetrable valleys and hidden rivers, peril just feet away.

Von Geurard. Govett's Leap and Grose River Valley. 1873.

9.

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2.3 Documenting Colonial visions.

Hawkesbury Gazette The triumphs and defeats of mortals over the haunted Gothic landscape appeared in newspapers such as the ‘ ’ a publication printed and distributed throughout the Hawkesbury river settlements. As with all emerging societies of sufficient size, Colonial Sydney pon reflected u itself through colloquial introspective tales. Many stories are still retold today, having been read by curious generations, becoming regarded as part of our collected cultural body, the more bizarre attaining the mantel of ripping yarns. The vast and unyielding landscape provided many opportunities for the hidden sinister nature of humans to rise to the surface. In places like Wisemans Ferry, the only crossing for travellers between Sydney and Coaly Town (Newcastle), wanderers reported strange happenings and ghost sightings, particularly around the home of founder and former smuggler Solomon Wiseman (1777-­‐1838).

10 Cheney. Still ill, Solomon Wiseman unveils a Bunyip. 2010.

.

The towns of Parramatta and Toongabbie tled were set for their accessibility to the waterway, which flowed to the Harbour. The Parramatta River brought crops and food to the colony from the newly established gardens of Toongabbie and the Hills district. As a child growing up in Sydney’s outskirts I can remember, buried in our garden, remnants of orchard paths and fully established Mulberry trees, even though the housing estate where we lived was only built in the 1960’s. Our backyard was a A Reification repository, of History Painting full of within the an bits Expanded of Field: other people’s lives. An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Similarly, The Hawkesbury River, northwest of Sydney, flowed from the foot of Blue Mountains and into Broken Bay, the next bay north of Sydney. It was also chosen for the network of rivers and the transport it provided for the growing British outpost. The river was a sinister landscape littered with small trading spots and inns, the home of smugglers, pirates and run by corrupt government officials and powerful landlords. Windsor, the main town along the river, was farmed on its fertile floodplain, and produced crops to feed the colony. But much of the crop was often made into the rum that fuelled much of the madness of Sydney. 18 Windsor could be reached by water and land, and the tales of the taming of Sydney and surrounds came from many sources. The Former Mayor of Windsor and Historian Rex Stubbs published, in 2002, a collection of the more unique stories reported in The the Hawkesbury local Newspapers Regional over Gallery the previous 150 years. November The first 2008. 19series of paintings, Colonial Ghost, originate from stories published between 1830 and 1930.These paintings were first exhibited in

11 Cheney. Haunted hill. 2010.

. 18 Stubbs, Rex. ‘Ghosts Myths and Legends of the Hawkesbury.’2002

19 Graham Cheney and Patrick Shirvington Hawkesbury Regional Gallery Nov,1998

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Sydney Gazette Hawkesbury Gazette’ One such story, originally published in the ‘ in 1804, and retold in the ‘ in the 1830’s, reported the excursion of a group of school children in costume to a haunted cemetery, rumoured to contain the grave of a ghost. The ghost was of a small , boy who in 1804, received a bite from ke a poisonous sna , perishing from its venom. In the original reporting of the story, the writer adds a Gothic tone to the true story. The suptl’ serpent Presumed drowned Haunted Hill

The painting series, , and draw upon the tale for reference.

12. Cheney. The suptl’ serpent. 2008.

“… a wound appeared on the left arm, thro' which the noxious viper had poured the contaminating fluid.”20

20 The Sydney Gazette of 21st October 1804.

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2.4 Elysium or Tartarus.

Much of the reporting of so called Elysium factual Charon accounts the Ferryman often Asphodel lacked any evidence, and was second, Meadows third or Tartarus more hands old before being committed to print. This of course is by no means a new occurrence. In the Paintings, , , and , the story of Greenman’s Inn makes parallels between the worlds of Greek ology myth and a hideous river h port, w ere the tragic spectre of a young girl and her child appeared to unsuspecting transients and intruders. Only accessible by riverboat, the secluded inn was the place of many tales of kidnap and murder. The present day ruins create a disturbing scene for the ghost story and reflection of the areas “ wicked The inn past. was built by convicts, and its walls of massive stone were three feet in thickness. A crumbling mass of masonry overgrown with blackberries, ack the haunt of bl snakes and -­ death adders, is all that remains of Greenman's ” Inn nowadays. 21

2.5 Fauns and Eucalypts.

The melodramatic lives of mortals were not the only unhappy spirits left behind in the Australian Gothic landscape. Indigenous myths of ere the uncanny w native in the unfamiliar land where hearsay and exaggeration of the home-­‐grown beasties played a part in their documentation. Although the new lands had no fauns hiding behind eucalypts or nymphs sunning themselves on rocks in secluded creeks, the echidna was named Travels after of the Sir John mother Mandeville of ’ all monsters in Greek mythology. Gulliver’s Travels’ The ‘ nowadays are read much like Swifts’ ‘ , but to an audience with very small knowledge of foreign lands and people, there was no o need t doubt Mandeville’s fantastic account of his travels.

Mandeville “Another writes: Isle is to the southwards in the great sea ocean where there are wicked and cruel women who have precious stones ir growing in the eyes they are such a nature that if they look upon a man with an angry intention the power of those stones slays him with a look as the basilisk does”.22

Hyde Park Barracks Colonial Australia was a soup of many British ethnicities, all having a folk law of their own. In Sydney’s , now a museum, here t is an exhibit of some objects found under the floorboards during renovations and remodelling. One object is a coin, wrapped in a handkerchief-­‐sized piece of cloth, probably belonging to a child in the late 1800’s. Knowing that the Charmers of Cornwall believed that by rubbing a coin on toothache or wart, the offending ailment was cured once it passed to someone else. The parcels were left at random places, awaiting an unsuspecting new owner. It is possible to surmise this belief may have been brought to the new land and practiced in the Hyde Park Barracks.

The Irish, whose ranks accounted for many of the new arrivals, brought with them their own mythological creatures and beliefs with them, even if they weren’t followed to the

22 Mandeville p175

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Banshee woman from the fairy , mounds same extent as it was before St Patrick’s introduction of Christianity. The or was an omen of death that came from the otherworld heralding death.

Aboriginal Bunyip clans h suc as the Eora, Durug and Burragawrongle, had a belief in similar creatures that summoned death and created chaos humans. The ‘Advertiser of aboriginal ’ folklore wasn’t just restricted to Sydney but spreads across the East coast Still of ill, Australia, the with Smuggler the Solomon first public Wiseman description unveils a Bunyip being reportedly made in The Geelong 2 July 1845. In ‘The the Painting Bunyip’ .

By RC Praed -­‐ (1851 1908) is a story based on the , Aboriginal legend a mythical creature that inhabits waterholes. In the short story, Praed suggests that the aborigines often changed the details of their stories to confuse white who farmers, never quite knew if they were be told the joked truth or being with or made fun of.

Praed’s story “The tells us: blacks have an impish drollery and love of mischief, and they delight in imposing on the credulity their of white auditors.” 23

‘Sun For the farmers of the Windsor’s fertile alluvial soil, the sighting Sun’ of a Bunyip almost appears to be an ordinary event. In an article in the Sydney ’ 1924 newspaper, a strange creature was reported being seen along the Terrace at Windsor. The ‘ uses eyewitness accounts to give the story a credible source,

Reporting: “The only authentic narrative of the ‘beasti’ comes from Mr. W.J. Riley, who with his brother Mr. R. Riley, works on an orchard along The 24 Terrace.”’

With Mr Riley “While recounting: walking along The Terrace at midday, we were attracted by something in the water beneath, in a deep hole -­ I should say about 20 feet deep,’ said Mr. Riley. ‘We looked down and saw a big ugly thing, 2ft.6in. to 3ft. in depth, with a length of from 5ft. to 6ft., and a yellowish or sandy colour. As to whether its skin was scale-­covered or not we could not see, the top of The Terrace being probably 200 yards from the water. It was moving around continuously, and, though we watched for over 15 minutes, we could not get a good look at its head. It had a square-­looking ‘fish-­tail’.”25

Hawkesbury River The Terrace is a physical location familiar The to Purple N oon’s most T ransparent Australian art admirers. Situated on the Might, , it has become famous as the spot from which Arthur Streeton, painted the iconic Australian impressionist landscape. 1896. As it Bunyips happens, one hundred 26 years after Streeton painted from the terrace, I sat in the very same spot painting a series of works featuring the archetypal vista, but unfortunately missed the appearance at the time. 23 Praed, Rosa Campbell. ‘The Bunyip’, 1891

24 see stubbs report from Sydney “Sun “the august 1924

25 Sydney "Sun" 28/8/192

26 The Terrace north Windsor is a cliff on the opposite side of Windsor river, to that of the Town, from it’s vantage point it is possible to view

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13. Cheney. The purple n oon, 1996

“They say it's greyish to black in colour, has a big bulky body with two sets of flippers, a long neck and serpent-­like head and an eel-­like tail and lurks in the Hawkesbury River.” 27

Hawkesbury Gazette’ Yowie The “great persistence hairy of man” the ’ public of s interest Aboriginal folklore 28 in mythical Bunyip creatures is evidenced when in 1979 the ‘ reported a Katoomba man had been Bunyip following, both the or ‘Loch Ness monster’ as well as the story. The Katoomba resident had developed theories explaining the existence of the creature similar to the and, having scientifically Debil studied Debil rs encounte of the beast and its common description, believes it to be an extinct plesiosaur. Reference is made to these stories in the painting, . In the painting, swimmers become alerted to an uncomfortable presence in the water, while the unsuspecting youth in the background, continue to jump, as young locals have for decades, into the the a large section of the valley.

27 (Gazette 1979.)

28 (Gazette 1979)

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greenish river water from Windsor bridge. As a boy, I often wondered what was really below the surface of the water, before taking the plunge.

14 Cheney. Debil, Debil. 2010.

Death . Bird Banshee

The (another indigenous myth), with similar characteristics to the of Irish legend, is a large black Burrogawrongle bird whose weird cries always precede death. Death comes either Hawkesbury to the Region one who hears it or some unfortunate person they know (even those vaguely acquainted). Originating from the clan, the traditional owners of the , the story was told to the settlers, becoming a part of white folklore.

Local Historian, “The Stubbs, weird cries writes: of the 'Death Bird', so the legend runs, spell death, if not to the people who hear it, at least to their relatives. Several Hawkesbury natives, who have been keeping a tally of the visitations of the 'Death Bird', case tell of 20 deaths and in every the weird cries of the river terror preceded 29 their deaths.”

29 Stubbs

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‘Death Bird’ Interestingly, as late as the 1920’s, stories of this sort were still reported and considered news worthy. A tragic incident associated with the and a group of motorboat enthusiasts “The yacht on in the R Colo iver question, was over reported which in the a local bird flew, paper during this time. was the Kathleen, owned and being steered, at that moment, by Mr. Phil. Gell, whose tragic death occurred so suddenly a fortnight er.” lat 30

Greenman’s Inn Charon the Ferryman’ The death bird and its omens makes an appearance in the first of paintings, . Royal Academy of Sciences, London in 1800’s In an age that practised acts of cultural superstition, it is curious of the rigour required by biologists when presenting, to the , a platypus. The platypus was Bunyip originally believed Bunyip fake, made from Royal sewing more than one Academy animal together of Sciences and creating an eclectic new mammal. In the triptych based on the myth, an allusive is presented to the .

15 Cheney. Still ill, Solomon Wiseman unveils a Bunyip. 2010.

.

30 (Windsor and Richmond Gazette -21st December 1928).

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2.6 Australian Gothic beginnings.

Australia provided an interesting yet tormenting landscape The Bulletin for ’ prolific colonial Authors to The write Australian new, Town short and stories Country Journal 31 and essays about. The burgeoning publishing industry provided popular periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, such as ‘ and ‘The Ghost upon the rail ’

Melbourne’s Punch ’ 1859, Magazine by John Lang (1816-­‐1864) is thought of as being the beginning of Gothic literature in Australia. Appearing 32 just 3 years after the publisher of ‘ ’ Fredrick Sinnett -­‐ (1830 1866), wrote in an essay, of the ‘slight The Ghost probability upon the Rail of there being Fischer’s a Australian hic style of Got Ghost’ literature

’ retells the story of ‘ . Sent to Sydney as a convict, and after serving his time, Fisher acquired land and cultivated it. In doing so he made what was considered, at the time, a e small fortune. Unlik many before him, Fisher now had the means to return to England, even if only briefly, and could prove to his family he had finally ‘made good’ a bad beginning.

Sadly Fischer never returned to England; a neighbour and confidant, who bludgeoned him to ath de and buried his corpse in a dry riverbed, betrayed him. Fisher’s sudden departure without the courtesies of a farewell was regarded as uncharacteristic and suspicious. However there wasn’t any evidence of foul play and no body to prove any mischief. The history of this story can be viewed from a spectrum of documents: reported newspaper source, short fictional story and more popularly a ripping yarn.

In his I’d novel have Clarke held writes my referring tongue to the accused: about a ghost (for ghosts are only creatures of our consciences 33 “… ”.

The ghost of Fischer was reportedly seen by a number of locals. The spectre appeared, sitting on a bridge, a short distance from Fisher’s farm. Curiously it was always seen pointing toward a distant location, obscured by foliage along a creek bed. The local constabulary, following the spirit’s directions, made the gruesome discovery of Fisher’s remains. The story of Fisher’s ghost is unique in Australian history: the ghost helped in the arrest and conviction of the murderer.

From ripping yarns, author Paul Taylor mentions the fame of the ghost, having a creek named “ But after his him Ghost (not Lives to on mention prosaically the festival, in Art prize etc.): the name of the creek where Gilbert skimmed the water for his body: Fischer’s Ghost Creek”34

31 The Anthology of Colonial Australian Gothic fiction, Gelder and Weaver, 2007

32 Gelder & waever .p2

33 Anthology of Aust gothic p24

34 Ripping Yarns p172

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Part 3.

3.1 Evil Industrial Machines.

The Castle of Otranto’

‘ by Horace Walpole (1717-­‐1797) is ar reg ded as the first ‘a Gothic GStory, othic Story’ published . The in 1764. The Castle first of edition Otranto’ credits the story as a translation from an Italian story, but by the time the second edition was published, the subtitle read For some, ‘ marks the beginning of a style of writing that echoed the emergence of its architectural counterpart, Neo-­‐Gothic or Victorian Gothic. Neo-­‐Gothic was a rejection of neoclassicism. Neoclassicism champions liberalism and republicanism, the type that was embraced by the newly emerging United States, bringing with it the triumphs of Greece, Rome, and the Renaissance.

In Comparison, the new Gothic recalled a golden age, a time before industrialisation and machines, and longed for a return to an age when society was teeming with romance and atmosphere, a time filled with Byronic heroes and idealised, flawed characters who battled against villains and tyrants in landscapes of 39 crumbling, human creations and decaying architecture. Gothic literature was about melodrama and parody, its settings were characterised by dark long thin shapes, moody and sublime.

In Great Britain at the beginning of the industrial revolution, the change from a primarily agrarian based society to an environment of factories created a mood of mistrust Idylls in of st the machines, King’40 and the modern way of thinking that machines represented. Alfred The Tennyson: Lady 1 Baron of Shallot’, Tennyson, (1809-­‐1892) wrote of Arthurian legends in the poem ‘ casting clearly defined modern themes in a Medieval setting. The poem ‘ published 1833 and 1844, provided much material for the pre-­‐Raphaelite Brotherhood, who used many of Tennyson’s poems as source material for their paintings. The artist, John William Waterhouse (1849-­‐1917) painted 3 different versions of the Lady of Shallot in 1888, 1894 and 1916. The poem, was also used as subject A matter by Convict’s William Ghost, Holman Hunt (1897-­‐1910). Lady of 41Shallot ,

The painting, uses Waterhouse’s The as a compositional framework to tell of the tale of an original Australian romance. It is the story of n a indentured convict who escaped with his lover to the wilderness. He was shot and killed by the troopers, and now his ghost can be seen floating above Cowan Creek searching ‘There he for saw his bride. Judd standing on a rock with a gun in his hand. The two saw each other at the same moment. The constable fired first hitting Judd in the heart. He fell dead instantly. His wife rushed out of the uilt, little hut they had b and fainted over his body. Hurriedly they buried him, with no tombstone to mark the spot. From that day on, and for

39 Gelder, Ken and Weaver, Rachel

40 see Idylls of the king

41 Waterhouse, John William, 1888, Tate Gallery London.

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many years afterwards, residents said that they often saw the ghost of Judd hovering at night, over Cowan Creek.’ 42

16. Cheney. Convicts ghost. 2008.

42 see Stubbs

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17. Cheney. Convicts bride. 2008.

3.2 Zeitgeist: Spirit of the Age.

Frankenstein; The Modern Prometheus ’ In England during this time Mary Shelley, in 1831, published ‘ . Shelley’s novel uses the Gothic genre to explore cting the confli relationships between one’s spirit and . society The novel expresses the spirit of the age. Victor “So Frankenstein much has declares : been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein — more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.” 43

43 see Shelley, Victor Frankenstein in Ch. 3

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18. Cheney. Poe’s bedroom. 2010.

The Gothic style in the United States of America contributed to the how young republic viewed itself, particularly in the rejection of classicism and the ‘Fall monarchy following of the House the of UsherAmerican ’ Revolution. Supposedly based on a true story of lovers buried in an embrace beneath a building on the Boston wharves, Edgar Alan Poe’s 1893 ‘Fall of the H ouse tale tells of of Usher’ a woman who breaks free from her entombment, only to die in her brother’s arms. Mixing a contemporary setting with the story of Historical myth. uses the Gothic style to create the scene’s all-­‐important atmospher“A ics. valet, Poe of writes; stealthy step, thence conducted me, in silence, through many dark and intricate passages in my ss progre to the studio of his master.’ Edgar Alan Poe, Fall of the House of Usher 44

.”

Neo-­‐Classical, Quasimodo in France, didn’t The have the same mHunchback onarchical of overtones Notre as Dame’ 1842. other parts of Europe, yet in this environment, Victor Hugo, presents us with the expertly crafted Byronic hero, , in the novel, ‘ 45 Hugo describes the real architectural detail of Notre Dame when telling the tale of Esmeralda, the innocent maiden and the gruesome yet misunderstood Quasimodo.

44 Poe, Edgar Allan. The Fall of the House of Usher

45 Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1842

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3.3 Australian Gothic Fiction.

In Australia a developing Labour ideology, following the Eureka stockade and influenced by Fabianism, helped nourish the romantic predisposition of a society that favoured strength against corrupt classical authority.

19. Cheney. Fairlane . 2010.

‘ The M ystery of Major Molineux’

Ghost 1881, by on R the Australian ail, author Marcus Clarke, is a story about ownership and property. The plot is already My Kinsman: familiar in Major Australian colonial ’. Molineux (writings 1831) recalling John Lang’s, 1859, a squabble and tragedy over land and ownership. Clarke wrote the story fifty years after ‘ was first published by the American writer, Hawkings Nathaniel . Clarke’s work is seen as a The direct Kangaroo echo Gargoyles’ and homage to The American writer.

Turcotte , in his essay ‘ , clarifies the importance of the reference to real “As events Clarke’s when writing writing fiction, noting; matured, however, he moved away from the more imitative use of the Gothic indigenous to a more ‘ ’ application. It would be possible to argue, in fact, that the Gothic became a way for him to , assert a national history or to make his own landscape ‘legitimate.’ He did this not by inventing fictional ‘ghosts,’ but by Gothicizing

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‘facts.’ He delved into the convict past and extracted its darkest chronicles, such as retelling the true story of Alexander the Pearce, first man to escape from Macquarie ” Harbour. 46

20. Cheney. Indicus Cannabis. 2010.

Indicus Cannabis Fairlane Indicus Cannabis, Marcus Clarke’s short , story “ ” is vivid with atmospheric descriptions of dark magic. The paintings based on the story, and envision, Clarke’s, gothic The invention pegging s. out of officer Franke

The paintings, ‘ ,’ 1892 make use of Price Walburg’s story of the same name as subject. Walburg tells of yde a convict housed in the H Park barracks sent to serve his time under the corrupt villain officer Franke. Franke, whose cherubim features masked a true scoundrel, was in charge of an outer domain gang. The gangs cleared the outskirts of Sydney around Surry Hills to Rushcutters Bay. Eventually the le princip character sacrifices his own morals, to protect others of the gang. An escape is planned, a small ship is taken by force and a voyage to freedom is planned, but the plan is 47 revealed and as a result the villain is overthrown. The story contains murder, conflict, and eventual conquest, but not for the hero, with his life ending in a noble death. 46 Turcote; Kangaroo Gargoyles p356

47 Price Warburg, Pegging out of Officer Franke

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21 Cheney. The pegging out of officer, Franke. 2010.

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Part 4

4.1 Historical Re-­enactments and Pantomimes

The Battle of Vinegar Hill th , 4 of March 1804, is a true story of a convict uprising in Sydney’s northwest. The account involves freedom from oppression and sacrifice, all healthy, Gothic devises. Convicts from the Castle inl Hill settlement, ma y transported Irish, many of whom took part in the first Irish rebellion , (1798) held a second uprising against the authority of the British colony. Their plan was to march over 600 men to Constitution Hill (Windsor), there meet up with another 1000 rebels, march on Parramatta and then Port Jackson (Sydney), and there commandeer a ship and sail to freedom.

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Against the Wind’48

The uprising was dramatised in the 1978 Australian TV series, ‘ . In 2004, the centenary of the uprising was -­‐ celebrated, and a re enactment of the battle was held (as close as possible) to the . original sites Celebrations including the creation of life-­‐sized cardboard -­‐ cut out figures painted by local school children (I can bear witness to this, having lived with one of the uncanny cardboard effigies, brought home by one of my children after the event; the cardboard figure itself although eventually returned to dust) became a new part of the history of the event, an artefact that belongs to the Samuel continuation Marsden of fleeing the Vinegar story. Hill,

The Defence 2010, of R depicts oukes Drift’ the flogging parson Samuel Marsden who was seen fleeing the battle. In a similar fashion to Alphonse de Neuville’s painting in the Art Gallery of NSW ‘ , which tells recounts the famous battle in which Michael Caine in the film fought version the Zulus.

22.Cheney. Samuel Marsden, fleeing Vinegar Hill. 2010. 4.2 Doppelganger Dundee

Noh

NohAlthough not specifically considered Gothic, the Japanese theatre of recounts tales of ‘moments in dreams’ through a Noh performance combining history and the supernatural. theatre has been passed down , over 650 years telling tales of those times, while still responding to each era in which it is performed. plays usually tell of the life of a commoner who interacts with the troubles and laments of other commoners. People assimilate through the recognition of the past world and society. Some of the masks are 600 years old, and once in costume and hidden behind the masks a player can become any spirit “In almost or ghost, any play even a god. in which a ghost plays a major role, audiences know that in it is a human that is playing the role .” of a ghost on stage 49

48 Seven network and Pegasus productionAustralia1978 director, G.Miller

49 Nogaku performers association copyright(c) 2008, Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 Japan

A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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Noh Modern film directors of horror are Noh aware that an over-­‐exuberance of horror can become comedic. In a similar fashion, the player’s skill is in helping the audience to forget the now and believe the performance. For the play this is also achieved through emotion, experience and reliving of the history of the story. This happens regardless of how many times the viewer has seen the play, for each performance adds to the refinement of the form. Wolf Creek

Based on a true story, the Australian film ‘ ’ written and directed by Greg McLean in 2005, uses the murder of a British backpacker Wolf to Creek conjure ’ a horror story set in the desolate outback. By no means misty moors, the dry plains of Australia are still consistent the spirit of a good ’s Gothic tale characterising attributes. In ‘ a loner murders the two female companions of the flawed hero who not only has to endure the savagery of the event but also defend himself against the wrongful accusation of being the perpetrator responsible for the crimes. The aboriginal critic Woorama reveals an intersecting Gothic truth about the Australian character in his review “Clancy of the of film. the Overflow, the Man From Snowy River, Crocodile Dundee, The Jolly Swagman -­ the larrikin exterior is d strippe away to reveal the hideous doppelganger lurking beneath the Australian identity. This ugly, rude ‘roo shooter’ drugs three tourists and abducts them in the middle of the fabled ‘outback’. He rapes, tortures, mutilates and finally executes his victims, but not before they discover his vast collection of souvenirs from an array of missing -­ persons artefacts, cars, photographs, camping gear, and of course body parts.” 50

The writer goes on to reveal the underlying cultural multiplicity of the forms “interpreThe one tations. surviving character is even crucified by the psycho swagman, giving the colonial public a Christ figure to take away the guilt of invasion ” and ongoing Indigenous genocide. 51

Conclusion

Having an interest in History Painting, (particularly when expressed as a political vision), and seeing how it relates to Australia’s cultural history, I find problematic the limitation of history painting to an academic pursuit that’s best left as an illustration of events. This is true particularly en wh deciding what significant moments re of our past a worthy of recording. The sending of visual artists into areas of conflict and war zones by the Australian defence force has long demonstrated the use of ‘interpretation’ as a form of balance. On a less grand scale, the subjects for the paintings in this exegesis represent gathered stories and reports from various sources between 1804 and 1935, stories that have been written in a Neo-­‐ Romantic style, or as it is more popularly recognized, Gothic.

50 Jun 24, 2006 Woorama

51 Jun 24, 2006 Woorama

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Nonetheless balance is similarly required when examining the literature of the time, because it is this literature that reveals, with foundations, of how Australians externally communicated the things they conceived within. With the capacity to re-­‐examine our ural cult past, I conceive there may be a case for the inclusion of forms of Gothic literature to be accepted as versions of history alongside more familiar forms of documentation. The model of an expanded field, first put forward by Rosalind Krauss, provides the opportunity to redesign a space where the practice of painting allows the spectrum of sources for History Painting to be flexible enough to include Gothic l iterature. It is necessary to point out that by interpreting the expanded field, using a 3d model may satisfy the logic for instances of painting in the expanded field, a model that examines Painting in terms of history and evidence is unable to use the same poles. However both models based on Krauss’s expanded field can be proved true when instances such as the paintings from the Exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Stories’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’, are positioned against them. By using key words the paintings are subjectively given a point of origin within a a field, reference to the inert plane of history painting. As a result of this research and an extension of these ideas, a model based on keywords and contexts, rather than poles, may make it possible to provide a 3d conceptual map of history painting.

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Figures Asphodel Meadows Charon the ferryman. 1. Cheney, G. . oil on canvas, 180cm x 150cm, 2008. 2. Cheney, G. Men in the sun oil on canvas 180cm x 150cm, 2008. 3. Nuclear Men testing in the in sun, bikini atoll 4. Hopper, E. Men in the , sun, oil on canvas.1960. 5. Cheney, G. Elysium digital image, 150cm x 120cm, 2008. 6. Cheney, G. Tartarus. oil on canvas, 150cm x 120cm, 2007. 7. Cheney, G. . oil Govett's on Leap canvas, and 180cm Grose x 150cm, 2008. River Valley, Blue Mountains, New South Wales8. Cheney, . G. oil on canvas 180cm x 150cm, 2008. 9. Eugene Still Von ill, Geurard. Solomon Wiseman unveils a Bunyip oil on canvas, 68.5 cm x . 106.4 cm 1873 10. Cheney, G. Haunted Hill . oil on canvas, 100cm x 120cm, 2010. The suptl’ serpent. 11. Cheney, G. The Purple . oil noon. on canvas, 100cm x 90cm, 2010. 12. Cheney, Debil, G. Debil. oil on canvas, 180cm x 150cm, 2008. 13 Cheney, G. T he Royal Academy oil on receive Canvas their 120cm x Bunyip. 120cm. 1996 14. Cheney, G. oil on canvas, 100cm x 120cm, 2010. 16. Cheney, G. Convicts Ghost. oil on canvas, 100cm x 120cm, 2010. Convicts Bride. 16. Cheney, Poe’s G. bedroom oil on canvas, 200cm x 150cm, 2008. 17. Cheney, Fairlane G. oil on canvas, 150cm x 110cm, 2008. 18. Cheney, G. Indicus Cannabis. . oil on canvas, 100cm x 120cm, 2010. 19.Cheney, G. T he Pegging . oil on Out canvas, 100cm of Officer Franke. x 120cm, 2010. 20.Cheney, G. Samuel Marsden, fleeing oil on Vinegar canvas, 100cm Hill. x 120cm, 2010. 21.Cheney, G. oil on canvas, 100cm x 120cm, 2010. 22.Cheney, Diagrams G. oil on canvas, 100cm x 120cm, 2010.

1. Krauss, R. The Expanded Field. 2. Fares, G. Griemas rectangle for the inclusion of Reproducibility and Uniqueness. 3. Fares, G. An Expanded ing. Field of Paint 4. Cheney. G. Modular for an Expanded Field. 5. Cheney, G. Expanded Field of History Painting. 6 & 7. Cheney, G,. Affine Spaces and History. 8. Barragan, P. Multi Inclusion Diagram. 9. Cheney, G. A possible expanded field of history painting A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.

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A Reification of History Painting within an Expanded Field: An exegesis parenthesised by the exhibitions, ‘Colonial Ghost Story’ and ‘Bunyip, Gothic, Panto’.