night of the asrai

This video forms part of my installation '29.5 nights to catch the moon'.
Below is a brief explanation of how the installation came to be..
Chisholm Open Studio installation
With the imminent completion of my Chisholm studies combined with a hectic personal life,
and the successful installation of the Growing Home project. I really wanted to change the
rhythm of my life for my next project. Something a lot more introspective. So - I decided to
attempt a slow project that would allow a more meditative approach to the work.
I had recently attended a traditional string making and weaving workshop at the Koorie
Heritage Trust Cultural Center so the practice of traditional weaving appealed. I researched
techniques in net making, made a net loom and had a couple of practice runs.
There was a fair bit of synchronicity with this project. As the beginning of the weaving
coincided with the new moon, I thought that it would be interesting to make a series of nets,
one each day for a short time (1 month) to provide me with the discipline and consistency of
regular art practice. The net making did indeed become quite meditative and provided time
to consider ways in which the works might be displayed. I enjoyed the way each net had its
own character, often depending on my mood, time of day and time available to complete that
day’s work.
I became aware that there would be a full lunar eclipse that month so decided to dye the
cotton I was using to weave the nets using eucalyptus dyes. The cotton was soaked for
several days, then dyed after the dye bath preparation, allowed to rest over night then rinsed
and dried ready to to used in weaving.
The night of the full moon, I photographed the stages of the eclipse and on looking at the
images the next day realised although not technically great photographs, they were
appealing and told some kind of story. I combined them into a slide show and decided to
create a soundscape to accompany the images.
Bjork’s Biophillia app provided inspiration for sounds, and I had hoped to be able to use the
app to write a soundscape but communication between platforms became too challenging.
Garage Band, became the software of choice, knowing that it would link with iMovie in the
creation of a projection that I could combine with the nets in an installation.
In exploring myths relating to the moon and fishing, I discovered the story of the Asrai which
I then adapted to provide a thematic background for the installation. At the last minute, on
the recommendation of Robyn Rich I recorded the story over the soundscape, creating another
layer for the installation.
Although the presentation of the work will only be for the night of the Open Studio, I hope to
find other opportunities to display the work in the future.