THE ART - Canberra 100

“THE CENTENARY OF CANBERRA IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL AUSTRALIANS TO
CELEBRATE THE GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CANBERRA REGION AND INDEED
OUR NATION. THAT IS WHY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS CONTRIBUTED
$67.6 MILLION TO THE CENTENARY OF CANBERRA.” (Simon Crean, MP Minister for
Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, in a news release
regarding the Centenary Scientific Residency Commission, 30 March 2012)
As part of the centenary, and the many commissioned works to be presented in 2013,
three commissioned artistic works are presented as part of this resource.
STELLRSCOPE
BY ELEANOR GATES-STUART—A MAJOR VISUAL ARTS PRODUCTION, QUESTACON 2013
THE STORY OF THIS WORK OF ART AND ITS ACQUISITION
StellrScope is a perfect example of the
fusion of art, science, mathematics
and digital technologies to produce
an extraordinarily creative and
innovative art work. It is sure to
inspire all viewers, including school
students, about the beauty of, not just
the visual arts, but also science and
mathematics.
This exciting project comes about
through the Centenary Science
Art Commission. The Centenary of
Canberra Unit of the Chief Minister
and Cabinet Directorate of the ACT
Government launched a Science
Art competition for a commission
and exhibition in 2013 of new work.
The Request for Proposal, late 2011,
called for a research and development
program in collaboration with
a nominated science institution
approved by the Territory. The
intention was that an artist from
the Canberra region would work in
residence with a nominated science
institution to develop a new work
for exhibition for the Centenary of
Canberra. An associated aim was to
draw attention to the great strengths
of Canberra in the field of science
and some of the interesting ways that
Canberra artists are working with
scientists and innovative technologies
to produce new works.
Eleanor Gates-Stuart was awarded
the commission with her concept
of StellrScope and her residency is
with CSIRO. Her project explores and
builds on the story connecting the
Canberra region to Australia’s major
crop, wheat, from the time of William
Farrer through to the modern era.
As a fine arts practitioner, to an artist
working in fields of design, digital
art and communicating science,
Gates-Stuart has taken on what she
describes as a ‘massive’ project, to tell
this agricultural and scientific story in
new and exquisitely beautiful ways.
As more than one person has said to
her, ‘Who would have thought wheat
could be so interesting!’
StellrScope focuses on the physical
and biochemical traits of organisms in
physical plant structures, simplifying
complex visualisation data and
images to construct a digital video.
It uses the latest technology, multiple
digital projects and digital alignment
to immerse viewers in the world
of wheat so that they can see the
remarkable stages of wheat growth
and development and the importance
of, as one of Gates-Stuart’s science
colleagues expressed it, researching
‘the holes in bread’. William Farrer
understood the importance of wheat
for Australia and he experimented
with cross breeding, one of his main
tools being tweezers. CSIRO continues
to work with wheat, using highly
sophisticated tools and techniques,
to improve the quality of bread for
the benefit of today’s citizens and
associated economic growth.
In the media news release, 30 March
2012, announcing that Gates-Stuart
was the local artist to take up the
Centenary scientific residency, the
ACT Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher,
commented that recognising
Canberra’s role in the nation’s
scientific achievements was an
important goal and legacy of the
Centenary and Mr Crean, MP, said
that Gates-Stuart’s proposal joined
the dots between art, science and
agriculture. The acquisition of this
project is significant for Canberra and
Australia as a whole.
This project, probably more accurately
described as an event, will result in
a series of scientific art works for
exhibition at Questacon in August 2013,
during the celebration of 25 years of
Questacon. It will be an interactive,
immersive environment. An exhibition
documenting the StellrScope
residency will also be presented at
the CSIRO Discovery Centre including
a series of digital art works.
12 THE ART OF BRINGING THE ARTS TO CANBERRA