The Sickness of Long Thinking
Solo exhibition 2008
The Goat Gallery, Natimuk, Victoria, 3409
Natimuk, Australia
“Road and Route; A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is a triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.”
Artist’s statement
This collection of images was captured in an era of my life that was spent as a passenger on several voyages. A two-year period studying the changes in landscape travelling to, from, and around Natimuk.
The very first shots were born on the Melbourne – Natimuk V/Line train/coach trips armed with a newly acquired second-hand digital camera, severe boredom, a passion for image making, and a fascination for the changes in landscape and light.
‘The sickness of long thinking’, was inspired by a theme featured in a book given to me by my partner Simon Barley that he read on his return trip to France from his mother’s funeral. I finished the book on my journey from Africa to his funeral two months following.
The story is a book of journeys, disappearance, the fields of heaven, grief, the isolation of living in a remote town, winter partners, and the sickness of long thinking. “You cannot tame a wild animal, because it will always remember where it is from, and yearn to go back."
On occasion, I stand back and view a sequence of these pictures taken in response to my circumstances. If I allow my soul to listen carefully I can hear the land murmur tales of its own transformation through love and loss.
The Wimmera Mail-Times, May 12, 2008
I am intrigued by how valuable the variables of time and distance are between people and places. Especially that of Melbourne and Natimuk. The inevitable five hour 'V/Line void', was often something I loathed.
Gradually, owing to the intensity and often gruelling experience of travelling alone throughout the world and in some aspects of my life, it has slowly dawned on me that like the human soul the land demands this space in order to transform itself before arriving at its destination. Without this space there is no journey. Without the journey there is no progression. Simple really. How naive of me to fancy the escape of such a fundamental universal law
This is why I think it most fitting to represent these images as they are. A sequence of snapshots taken much like recording the undeveloped thoughts of a passenger that emerge and evaporate on any given voyage
Take your time with the journey of books and stop along the side of the road as often as you like.
