M - Antennae The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture

Georgina Reid
For the Baby, In Light of the Darkness series, 2007. Photo: Iain Woxvold. � Georgina Reid
inappropriate -- given the limits of the
institution?
I understand your point here, but I would not really go
along with your first premise, that ‘this kind of artwork’
shares a romantic, nostalgic sensibility, because the
exhibition was much more varied than this suggests. The
art in this show does not take refuge in redemption,
which is why I described it as courageous. It is art that
may be sombre and reflective, but as I said in my
catalogue essay this is a process of reflectivity that
actively resists the emergence of a cultural regime of
nostalgia arising from an environmentally impoverished
world. That is, a process of resistance and challenge, not
of a retreat into narratives of redemption. Moreover,
some of the work in this show felt to me like the more
dire warnings of some scientists who claim that we have
actually already passed the point of redemption - which
is not the same thing as despair, but nonetheless suggests
that androgenic climate change is the most serious
question of our era.
To my mind the varied responses to the
environment was one of the most persuasive aspects of
the show. Many of the works engaged with the
androgenic causes of climate change, and the
anthropocentric cultural histories that led to those
androgenic causes.
In your opinion, which work resonated the most
with audiences, and why?
We put Mark Wilson’s and Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir’s
polar bears right up front, and they certainly made an
impact with most people. My daughter and her friends -
77
cool-urbane teenagers, were seriously impressed by the
sheer magnificence of these creatures, underscored by
the rather pathetic ironies of their deaths and
provenance as objects of display. Senator Bob Brown,
like many others, was fascinated by the tornado of
carbon dioxide whipped up by Cameron Robbins, and
he also liked Tony Lloyd’s big lush painting of a sublime
mountain range - rendered fragile by a single of jet steam
in the sky. Many people said that Simon Perry’s piece
really left them feeling unnerved, which certainly pleased
Simon. Jill Orr’s work and Ken Yonetani, and Greg
Pryor’s installations also drew a lot of admiration, and a
lot of people really liked the sonic works in the show -
Max Eastley’s marine mammals calling to each other
under cracking and splitting Arctic ice, and Phil
Samartzis’s recordings of coal extraction and humming
light bulbs. But having said that, I really do think that it
was the combined effects of so many diverse views on
the theme that impressed people, along with the
consistently high calibre of the work. I am really grateful
to have had the opportunity to develop this show with
the staff at the RMIT gallery, because it was so successful
with the public.
What are currently working on?
I am really busy with the research cluster - projects like a
new course called ‘Art, Climate Change and
Environmental Sustainability’ team taught by artists and
theorists, and several other research projects such as a
book that I hope to complete this year, but right at the
minute I am preparing a paper on “Derrida and Darwin
on Human and Animal Emotions, and the Question of
Shame as Ontological Difference” that I will be delivering
in London this June.