The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 52 No 3 November 2013

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Focus: Ecology and Ceram ics --- During my PhD project, titled Carbon Credits, as a strategy for questioning and re-forming my own perceptions of duty-of-care for country, I investigated the social and political attitudes of British colonists to land and environment in Australia. In eighteenth century Britain, the common land rights of the poor had been whittled away.' The rights to control and make use of land were reserved for the wealthy and ownership of "[p!roperty became the essential qualification for holding political rights and freedoms".2 Thus those with political power could ensure their rights to ownership were not eroded and the freedom to control property was not enjoyed by anyone but themselves. Christian doctrines of improvement, combined with a belief in the moral value of work, justified the taking of land. This was compounded by Darvvin's theories of survival of the fittest, which could be interpreted socially as 'the most able to conquer' .3 It was also assumed that land held in common ownership was synonymous with neglect. that cultivation depended on individual possession and such use reinforced the rights to own land. The Australian Indigenous population did not engage in land management practices that were understood by the British. Land was held in common and boundaries between different parts of the country were not visible to the European eye . It was not parcelled up into individually owned portions; therefore, rather than seek to discover alternative methods that might be employed by those who had thrived in Australia, it was advantageous to conclude that there was no active management' prior to Western occupation, merely an opportunistic exploitation of seasonal plenty. So, following beliefs held by the colonists, the Indigenous inhabitants had no land rights and the country was there for the taking. Philosopher Mark Smith highlighted a similar situation that had occurred during the colonisation of America, where "it had been widely believed that, in the absence of farming, the Indians had no legal right 10 the land they occupied" 4 However, Indigenous land management practices were responsible for the long-term productivity and biodiverSity of Australia. Practices included skilled use of fire, selective harvesting, organisation of sanctuaries, and the promotion and regeneration of both plants and animals. There was an instilled awareness that the "interdependence of all life within country constitutes a hard but essential lesson - those who destroy their country ultimately destroy themselves" .5 1n the contemporary world, Rose maintains that " in this time of ecological crisis, globalising hegemony and threats of terrorism and escalating warfare, our work towards alternatives to crisis and chaos depends on decolonisation".6 As a result of my investigations I devised work that interpreted my local landscape, developing a new appreciation of responsibility for its care as well as recognition of my inculcated assumptions of entitlement. In addition to my usual practice in slipcast porcelain, I explored other media, finding an affinity with those that bore a procedural similarity to ceramics but also contributed conceptually to the project. The most significant medium was charcoal, collected from burning fence posts. I viewed their burning, which also served to heat my house and water over winter, as a performative aCknowledgement of the necessity for a decolonising approach to this country. This action fostered a sense of being owned by the land and directed by its requirements for health and sustainability, rather than viewing it as a possession to be exploited. Since the completion of Carbon Credits in 2010, what I consider to be a new wave of colonialism has overvvhelmed the area in which I live. It takes the form of ecologically disastrous Unconventional Gas Mining (UGM), including Coal Seam Gas (CSG) and Tight Sands Gas (TSG) . During one of the meetings I attended, at which information about UGM was distributed, one of the other attendees expressed shock at the seemingly limitless power of mining companies to access any land to pursue exploration and production of unconventional gas. An Indigenous elder who was also present then responded with: "Well, now you know how we felt" . This statement really brought home to me the enormity of British colonisation of Australia. It also fostered a realisation that history is repeating itself as this country 46 THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2013
Focus: Ecology and Ceramics becomes colonised and the landscape industrialised by global corporations whose primary motive is financial gain. In Australia, the government, no matter who owns the land, controls access to whatever is under the ground: however, it is powerful global corporations who benefit from this arrangement, with 84% of profits from mining going to overseas shareholders.? Landholders are disempowered and communities are frayed and divided by the inroads of mining into social cohesion and community infrastructure. Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney stated that "the gas belongs to everybody" .8 He also acknowledged that landholders have a right to compensation. However, when baseline testing of air, land and water for pollutants is never undertaken, companies can proclaim that they are not responsible for environmental damage. Land affeded by CSG mining has proved unsalable, with no compensation offered. Currently, legislation is proceeding through NSW State Parliament that will change the State Environmental Planning Policy to give mining companies greater powers to enter land and conduct gas exploration and produdion adivities without consulting the landholder. Contemporary occupiers of the land are being rendered invisible by this legislation, just as the Indigenous population in the eighteenth century was by terra nullius. 9 The economic "significance of the resource is to be the consent authority's principle consideration" .10.11 Environmental attrition is omitted from the equation when balancing the national books. Economic benefits can be easily measured - " The dollar sums for what has Protestors block.ading drill rigs at Glenugie, 2013; photo: Liz Stops THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2013 47
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Page 3 and 4: Contents The Journal of Australian
Page 5 and 6: ----------------_. . Now and Then I
Page 7 and 8: Gwyn Hanssen Pigott. Pale Shadow, 2
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Page 11 and 12: Tribute: Gwyn Hanssen Pigott Viewed
Page 13: --- Tribute: Gwyn Hanssen Pigott At
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Page 22 and 23: Clare Twomey, Plymouth Porcelain: a
Page 24 and 25: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics of craf
Page 26: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Opposit
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Page 31 and 32: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics and tra
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Page 35 and 36: Altair Roelants. http://writingthev
Page 37: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Sally C
Page 40 and 41: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Ceramic
Page 43 and 44: Focus: Ecology and Cerami cs OpPosI
Page 45 and 46: Focus : Ecology and Ceramics Throug
Page 47: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Land an
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Page 54 and 55: Focus: Eco logy and Ceramics w . w
Page 56 and 57: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Julie B
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Page 60 and 61: Focus: Ecology and Ceram ics Barbar
Page 62 and 63: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics burnt t
Page 64 and 65: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Unfired
Page 66 and 67: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics ----- -
Page 68 and 69: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics cathy K
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Page 72 and 73: Focus: Ecology and Ceramics Highlan
Page 74 and 75: View I The Fuping Experience Megan
Page 76 and 77: View I Cheryl Lucas Three woodfired
Page 78 and 79: View II Vipoo Srivilasa, 2012 Afflu
Page 80 and 81: View II All work by Vipoo Srivilasa
Page 82: View III Stephen Benwell: Beauty, A
Page 85 and 86: IIC 'Vl a ":' '' gazlne The Janet M
Page 87 and 88: OVerseas After the conference concl
Page 89 and 90: Event 5-7 Firing underway with Yuri
Page 91 and 92: Promotion LIQUORICE ALLSORTS 1. Con
Page 93 and 94: AYWO PORCELAI ..... .L~"-'~l.L'-"ng
Page 95 and 96: Pocket PhD sculptural forms and rub
Page 97 and 98: Community Opposite page: 1 Ashley F
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Ceram ics+ Around this time, call-o
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Cera mics+ Opposite page: Above: 14
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Up the Pub lic Art Path THE JOURNAL
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Ecological Ceramics WINNER Photogra
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Ceramic Shots 1 Photographer: Shann
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Tra de Selling Your Work - Wholesal
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Trade Make sure it is a simple but
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Join the Pots 1983: Gwyn Pigott: Pr
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Collectio n Miles Franklin's warata
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expedition conducted in 2002 to the
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they don't last as well. Only a lig
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Jennifer Collier pays tribute to Ja
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A year of workshops in south-east Q
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A recent exhibition near Hobart At
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Busy in the West We're preparing fo
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Become a subscriber The Journal of
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On the Shelf On the Shelf NEW Lustr
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Cla ssifieds FOR SALE URGENT SALE H
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OLD SAINT LUKES STUDIO POTTERY & GA
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MKM IlANDROLLERS'" Summer School I
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A SMooth ~n.d Con.slstent porcel~ln
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• Allin Ooe Mixing Pugmills • P
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Invited Artists Asia jean Moon Hwan
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WALKER , Feeneys Clay Proudly manuf
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The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 52 No 3 November 2013

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