Sydney College of the Arts The University of Sydney DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2017 THESIS TOUCHING IMPERMANENCE experiential embodied engagements with materiality in contemporary art practice by Katherine Fries August 2017 This volume is presented as a record of the work undertaken for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. I certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any other degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Katherine Fries Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv List of Illustrations v Abstract xi Introduction 1 Chapter one 21 Following the sentient matter-flow Chapter two 40 Co-creation, interconnection and interbeing Chapter three 77 Touch, embodiment and multisensory connections Chapter four 113 Impermanence: present time and ancient place Chapter five 151 Enchanted attentiveness Conclusion 197 Bibliography 204 Index 213 Appendix A: Catalogue of Work Presented for Examination 217 Appendix B: Other works completed in PhD research 236 Appendix C: Future Stratigraphy – curator’s catalogue essay 246 iii Acknowledgements I am extremely grateful for the assistance and guidance given to me in this doctoral project by my supervisors: Dr Lindy Lee for sharing her substantial knowledge and experience of being a Zen Buddhist artist, which has been richly formative in my research and my practice, for her generous ongoing support of my work, and for teaching me how to teach; Dr Ann Elias for her valuable input, taking on the supervision of my candidature at the very end and kindly seeing me through the final stretch; and Dr Thomas Loveday for our conversations at the beginning of my candidature. I would also like to thank Anne Ferran for her professional proof-reading of this thesis; Dr Deborah Dawes for prompting me to propose an abstract for the 2014 New Materialisms conference at SCA, subsequently opening up my engagements with these discourses; Oliver Smith for his support of my role facilitating the SCA New Materialism in Contemporary Art Research Cluster in 2016 and 2017 and my role as program coordinator and exhibition curator of Future Stratigraphy; and Dr Oliver Watts for engaging me in lecturing in the Art in the Anthropocene critical studies course. I have been extremely fortunate to be part of the SCA Grad School’s golden years 2014 and 2015 – collective club, curator visits, lunch club, studio discussions and constructive art crit sessions that mutually nurtured a very supportive post-grad student community – these friendships and connections will see us all into the future beyond SCA. I would also like to thank the artists and curators I have worked with in various capacities over the course of my PhD candidature, including Tracey Clement, Sean O’Connell, Danica Knezevic, Jane Polkinghorn, Madeleine Boyd, Fiona Davies, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Yvette Hamilton, Ellen Dahl, Nicolas Tsoutas, Barbara Campbell, Sylvia Griffin, Lizzy Marshall, Penny Dunstan, Alison Clarke, Dell Walker, Shoufay Derz, Lachlan Warner, Melissa Howe, James Nguyen, Kieran Begley, Liam Garstang, Sara Morawetz, Gillian Lavery, Renuka Fernando, Michelle Heldon, Taryn Raffan, Elyse Goldfinch, Diego Bonetto, Megan Robson and Anne Zahalka. I am ever grateful to the support of my family and friends, particularly my mother Vivienne Fries. And to those dearly departed, my father John Fries (1943-2009) and his sister, my aunt Felicity Fries (1947-2016), whose joyous embrace of life is keenly remembered. The depth and scope of my research has been greatly assisted by the Australian Postgraduate Award and Post Graduate Support Scheme, which enabled me to travel to Finland for the Silence Awareness Existence residency, present at the 2016 Encountering Materiality conference at the University of Geneva, participate in an api-centric natural beekeeping course, a gourmet mushroom growing workshop, a wild mushroom foraging workshop, and attend the 2015 Energies conference at MCA Sydney and 2015 Transversal Practices: matter, ecology and relationality conference at VCA Melbourne. I have been fortunate to attend a number of artist-residencies during my PhD candidature, including Fremantle Art Centre Residency WA, BigCi Residency NSW, Gunyah Residency NSW and Arteles Creative Center Residency, Hämeenkyrö Finland. I would also like to acknowledge the Japan Foundation New Artist Award 2010, which enabled my visit to Japan in 2011. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and pay my respect to Eora, Walyalup and Worimi Elders, past and present, and to their families; they are the traditional custodians and cultural knowledge holders of the lands on which much of this research has taken place. iv List of Illustrations Figure 1 24 Artist unknown, White Taihu Rock, Jiangsu province China, circa 12th Century, 142 x 133 x 60 cm, Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection. Gadigal Country. Image source: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/339.2003/. Figure 2 26 Artist/s unknown, Ryōanji rock garden, circa 15th Century, gravel, rocks and moss, 120 x 3000 x 1000 cm, Kyoto Japan. Photo credit and image source: Kath Fries, 2011. Figure 3 27 Lee Ufan, Relatum- Gravitation, 2007-2008, iron plate and stone, Lisson Gallery. Image source: http://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/lee-ufan-new-work. Figure 4 30 Giuseppe Penone, Albero Porta-Cedro (Door Tree-Cedar), 2012, cedar wood, 124 x 41 x 41 cm. Image source: http://mymodernmet.com/guiseppe-penone-the-hidden-life-within/. Figure 5 32 Nancy Holt, Up and Under, 1998, concrete tunnels, soil, turf, with snow, visitors and footprints, Strata Projects, Pinsiö, Finland. Photo credit and image source: Kath Fries 10/02/15. Figure 6 35 Wim Delvoye, Cloaca Professional, 2010, mixed media, 710 x 176 x 285 cm. Photo Credit: Rémi Chauvin, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart TAS, Palawa Country. Image source: https://theconversation.com/blending-science-art-and-other-excrement-54584. Figure 7 37 Olafur Eliasson, Ice Watch, 2015, melting fjord icebergs from Greenland, situated outside Place de Panthéon Paris, November 2015. Photo credit: Martin Argyroglo, Studio Olafur Eliasson. Image source: https://qz.com/565451/to-confront-climate-change-an-artist-has-put-melting-icebergs-in-the- center-of-paris/. Figure 8 37 Olafur Eliasson, Ice Watch, 2015, melting fjord icebergs from Greenland, situated outside Place de Panthéon Paris, November 2015 (detail view). Photo credit: Martin Argyroglo, Studio Olafur Eliasson. Image source: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ice-watch-olafur-eliasson-climate-summit-384704. Figure 9 38 Olafur Eliasson, Ice Watch, 2015, melting fjord icebergs from Greenland, situated outside Place de Panthéon Paris, November 2015 (detail views of audience interactions). Image sources: https://news.artnet.com/art- world/ice-watch-olafur-eliasson-climate-summit-384704 and https://freeyork.org/art/olafur-eliasson-brings- large-icebergs-to-raise-the-issue-of-climate-change/. Figure 10 55 Kath Fries, Worlds within, 2012, found termite-eaten log and beeswax, 35 x 38 x 32 cm, ‘Situational – works from Bundanon’ solo exhibition, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown NSW, Gadigal Country, March 2013. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 11 57 Kath Fries, Making beeswax funnels, 2014, Sydney College of the Arts Studio, Lilyfield NSW, Gadigal Wangal Country. Photo credit and image source: Kath Fries 29/06/14. Figure 12 59 Kath Fries, Divest, September 2014, beeswax and ash, total dimensions approx. 800 x 400 x 300 cm, ‘New Materialism’ group exhibition, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Lilyfield NSW, Gadigal Wangal Country. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 13 60 Kath Fries, Divest, September 2014, beeswax and ash (detail view of window), ‘New Materialism’ group exhibition, Sydney College of the Arts Galleries, Lilyfield NSW, Gadigal Wangal Country. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. v Figure 14 61 Kath Fries, Divest, October 2014, beeswax (detail view), Fremantle Arts Centre residency studio, WA, Walyalup Country. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 15 62 Kath Fries, Divest, March 2015, beeswax and ash (detail view), ‘North Sydney Art Prize’ exhibition. Coal Loader Tunnel, Waverton NSW, Cammeraygal Country. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 16 63 Kath Fries, Divest, March 2015, beeswax and ash, ‘North Sydney Art Prize’ exhibition, Coal Loader Tunnel, Waverton NSW, Cammeraygal Country. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 17 64 Kath Fries, Divest, December 2014, beeswax and ash, ‘Colour, Form, Line’ group exhibition, Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt NSW, Gadigal Wangal Country. Photo credit: Kath Fries. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 18 65 Kath Fries, Divest, June 2015, beeswax and ash, ‘Surface as Sight’ group exhibition, Verge Gallery, Darlington NSW, Gadigal Country. Photo credit: Document Photography. Image source: http://kathfries.com. Figure 19 66 Kath Fries, Divest, February 2016, beeswax and ash, ‘The 64th Blake Prize’ group exhibition, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre NSW, Darug Dhurawal Country. Photo credit: