Dylan Newell
The Field presents a vision that works towards a post-colonial utopian future; one in which First Nations People have the inherent right to build on their traditional lands and determine how they want to live. Moreover, it envisions a future in which all living species have an equal share in a living future—where the complex nature of multispecies interconnections are respected and built upon as they were for all-time before colonisation. This project is about care: Care-for-earth, care-for-people, care-for animals, and care-far-plants.
Amid the sixth mass extinction event, there is a multitude of critically endangered animals connected with the Fields bio-region. The Regent Honeyeater is estimated to have only 250 individuals remaining and was the inspiration for this project. The Field aims to become an intermediary zone for wild release for these animals. Its geographical location on the edge of natural habitat allows for a semi-wild captive-release program. It can be a precedent for other such locations with other species.
The semiotic aesthetics of the bird aviaries are derived from Peter Sloterdijk’s philosophy of sphereology. While human’s build life support bubbles that cover the globe in foam, there remain few, if any, wild places left for others. As Sloterdijk predicts, the other-than-human must also be placed on life support in this scenario. The utopian ideal of this project, however, is in the temporal quality of the unprocessed materials—the domes are temporary bubbles designed to biodegrade—no longer needed.
The material inspiration for the enclosures comes from an eel trap created by Boon Wurrung artist, Mitch Mahoney and Mutti Mutti and Boon Wurrung/ Wemba Wemba artist Maree Clarke, where reeds were the primary structural material. However, the project does not take on the structure of an eel trap. Instead, it relies on the efficient structural principles of arches and domes utilised by many ancient civilisations, including Aboriginal Australian’s. The Common Reed, a global plant, is an abundant and fast-growing aquatic grass. It shares many structural qualities with bamboo and is thus an ideal material for curved, self-supporting structural members. It is also a material ideal for low-skilled community building where labour is the fundamental component of construction.
