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C hristopher
Headley
the Garden Path
Fall (detail)
Trees in pots, self supporting fence, ceramic flowers & synthetic grass, 2007
Dimensions variable
Christopher’s distinguished career in ceramics began in
Adelaide and he received recognition as early as 1984,
when he was published in the December issue of Ceramics
Monthly (USA). Since then he has been published and
exhibited widely and in the mid 1990’s took up a role at
Monash University-Gippsland. In 1999 he completed his
PhD at Monash University-Gippsland and currently works at
their Caulfield campus as Coordinator of Fine Arts. He
recently held Tempest, a major exhibition of his works at
Latrobe Regional Gallery and also curated the Works on
Water exhibition at Herring Island Gallery in Melbourne.
30
‘ Fall’ is a work that attempts to
seek out the sublime. The sublime, so
does it really exist in our apres-post,
techno-centric society, with its
detachment from nature and
consequently our loss of fear of the
natural In the aftermath of the
destruction of the World Trade Centre
towers we find ourselves today living in
a new state of fear; fear that can only be
described as phobia. It is often difficult
to separate phobia from aesthetic
experience. After you climb a cathedral
tower and peer out through a slit in the
walls of the spire, your legs go wobbly.
Is this because we are afraid of heights,
afraid of God, afraid of nothingness and
therefore overcome by a feeling of awe;
or is it simply that we are suffering from
fatigue If we take in what we see, a
beautiful view of nature; are we then
arriving at the feeling of sublimity
What if that feeling is forced upon us
Then, ‘ Fall’ records the instant after the
event. The work comprises three actual
trees, a scattering of ceramic flowers
and a white picket fence. The trees
could be set out as permanent plantings
but here are sited temporarily in large
pots. The constructed flowers are
moulded from everyday kitchen utensils.
The picket fence is installed as if it were
a typical suburban Melbourne front
fence. These three elements evoke
feelings of comfort and domestic
security. Yet, the scattered flowers ‘fix’
in time the moment of fear/shock
immediately after the event.