BeLonging: Biomic Design as Anthropology

BelONCING Acknowledgements

I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I I would like to thank, Rachael Mullet, Dot Peters

This durable visual record embodies the research

and Betty Tournear for their wisdom and Albert

around the topic of 'Belonging" and reflects the

I\tullet for his assistance in (hi::. research.

conrcnrs of the oral and visual presenration ~1I1d the exhibJf1o!l given in March) 998.

And also Ill)' supervisors, I);l\'id Lugton and KjeH Grant for their guidance.

Mark Watson Masler of Design (Industrial) By project

durable visual record

8

e

LON

C

1

N

G

Inde.

I

INDEX ACKNOIVLEDGEMÂŁ ITS

1.0 1.1 1.2

rationale

1.3

methodology

2.0 2.1 2.2

IDEOLOGY pluralism

12 12

hermeneutics

14

2.3

dominance

16

2.4

societal modes

17

2.5

neo pagJ IlIsm

19

3.0

PERCEPTION

3.1

nature / nurture

I TRODUCTIO description

3 3 9 9

3.2

innate behaviours

21 21 24

3.3

closure

27

3.4

significance

3.5

world view

28 29

4.0 4.1

AFFORDANCE

31

context

31

4.2 4.3

economy

35

ada ptel rion

36

4.4

geogrdphlGll speciation

37

5.0

BELONGING

39

5.1

ideology

5.2

perception

5.3

affordance

5.4

critical regionalism

42 43 43 46

5.5

antipodean

48

6.0

BlOME

51

6.1

environmentalism

52

7.0

CONCLUSION

7.1

methodology

7.2

conservation Nhic

7.3

biomic design

56 56 59 60

8.0

EXHIBITION

62

9.0

BIBLIOGRAPHY

68

1

B •

o • •

••

IntroductlDn

FiKure 1.

TOils. (rom the col/ectlOn III the National Gallery, Canberra (Caruana 1993:102 (fig.84), used the message stit;ks left at a camlJslte to mdl(;..zte the dIrection of tTduel of the lead group. The "ava", gorde" III the case of thIS research IS the Koons totemIC relatIonshIP wIth the physlc.ll CIIVlTomnCll(

2

BelON61NG Introduction

1.0

INIROOOCIION

I

realisation in regard to the research.

This research project has involved some five years

1.1

DESCRIPTION

of musing and interaction over the concept of The research undertaken was to examine tradiidentity, and was triggered by my participation tional aboriginal artefacts and compare them with in a furniture design competition held in 1992, artefacts used by the wider Australian community. run by a group called 'Artists & Industry'. The The study starred as part of an overview of competition was entitled' Australis Cognita', or 'Windows on Domesticity', which was a topic recognising Australia. that RMIT wished to explore, my area of research relates to domestic objects, in particular Some 600 entries were received, and on close the domestic or regional aspect of these objects inspection, only a handful attempted to address the were explored. identity issue. This, for me was perplexing, and reinforced my feeling, that little was known or

All research is drawn around a hunch, the presupunderstood about an Australian cultural identity. position to this research is that the physical envi-

ronment is a strong stimulus in the development Michael Rorh (1996:21) wrote on the Heidegger of a people's identity; knowledge about it assists

idea of identity: in the human quest for belonging.

"The principle of identity is the highest principle of thought, the first determination

The physical state of 'belonging' is something

of Being, it unites thought and Being.

known to all, yet not readily understood from a

When we let the principle lay it's claim, our

most basic behavioural stance, it is at the heart of

thinking becomes true in the highest sense,

the nature I nurture debate.

it becomes identical with Being. "

There are a number of ways that humans belong; I joined the Masters program at RMTT in 1993 two important forms are to belong to a group, a and a research project was formulated around the time, or an economic category, and are all c1assificaissue of identity. The following chapters represent tiolls of that grouping or; to belong to a place, a a map, or linear progression of my journey or region or an environment is the other aspect of

3

BelONGINt:

IntroductiDn

belonging to which we subscribe. These are made

scribed into a generation of new artefacts.

possible through material culture, using visible sym~

More significant is the fact that these aspects

bois that we attach to our person to idenrify us.

of the human condition arc the most important to understand when researching a cross cultural

\'V'estern culture has clearly defined attributes

topic such ~lS the perceptions of the phYSIC~ll

which identify and group us

elWlronment.

IIltO

socia - economic

cl.tsses, ~lnd these attributes arc dcvelopeJ or adopted to cst.tblish c1e~trly defined hier~lrchies.

These aspects I have orden::d inro silbsequcnr

The Jll1assillg of wealth is the ultimate ascendan-

ch.lpters of this ViSU,ll record, and cover the areJS

cy in \Vestern culture, since the breaking lip of a

of Ideology, perceprion and affordanee.

feudal society 'land' is no longer seen as an indication of wealth. Some vestiges of feudalism still

To gain insights into the Western outlook on the

exist in small pockets of Europe but the main-

physical environment, the intention of Illy

stream of Western society lise artefacts to position

research was to spend time interviewing members

themselves in the power hierarchy.

of the Aboriginal community to interpret how their culture perceived the phYSical environment

It is the use of the symbol, the 3 pointed star of

and the role ir played in the ideology of thelt

Mercedes or the brand of the basketball boor that

culture.

identifies in Western culture, not the land. I hold that this Internationalism in design and marketing

Isao Hosoe (1990:85) stated, at a conference on

of contemporary artefacts is a transient ideology

'Cultural Identity and Design' in Ulm, Getmany

which is shifting gradually to a more regionalist

in 1989, rhat:

outlook.

.. History teaches us that very often the real The object of this study has been to focus on the

cliitural innovation of tomorrow is hidden ill the taboo of the presellt day".

role the physical environment plays in the form that artefacrs rake, and I identified a number of I quote this here to illuminate a contention aspects, or subliminal controls which must be among academics that we should leave the

addtessed if the understanding of relarionships Aboriginal communiry alone, [Willis & Fry (1988 with the physical environment are to be tran-

189)1 and hold that "why not contrast objecrs

4

BeLONGING Inlroduction

with those of the Vietnamese community?"

The intent of a comparison of Western material culture with Aboriginal marerial culture is to

"The most important of these is the first states /ngamelJ. <'Pseudo Europeanisrn clogs the minds of most Australians. pre-

accepr rhar rhelr knowledge of rhe land has a

velltmg a (ree appreciation o( Natllre ".

value in comemporary sociery, rhe perceprion rhar ir is nor, or I" some how 'other' [() the needs of Eurocentrism holds

SWdy;

Robin Boyd was possi-

bly, uninrelltJoll.llly

deri~i\·e

COlllelllpOr<H} sOClcrr is to live with one's 'head III in hiS Boyer Lecture

rhe s.lnd.'

(1967: I0) on

This taboo has haunted this srudy and is reminis-

~ln

Australi.\Il identity, stdting:

.. I am not talking of a chmtl'inistic,

cem of Australian society's treatment of the work

nation£1[;stic:• ./indyworribak kind of

of Rex Ingamclls when he founded the

AustralialllS11l. I am SUH/J/y saying we liue

Jindyworobak movement in 1936, which advocat-

;'1

ed greater access to and understanding of the cul-

a carner of the globe which is differelll

from other corners for uarious reasarzs.......

{Ure of Indigenouc;; Australi,anc;;.

It is rhose 'reasons' which are the main subjecr of Serle (1973: 132) quores Ingamells' manifesto as : my research, our exposure to the Australian phys-

"those individuals who are endeal/0uring to

ical environment is in ir's infancy and an

(ree AI/stralimz Art (rom whatever alien

Aboriginal perspective, in sheer terms of the

;,zflltences trammel it

length of it's uninrerrupted exposure, cannot be

An Australian

culture depellds on :

1.

discounted.

A clear recognition of environmental

vahles.

In rhose days, and indeed rhese, Ingarnells' philos-

2.

The debunking of much nonsense.

ophy is treated with great derision and I or dis-

3.

All IlIIderstandillg of Australia's

missal, which is a grear shame as rhe body of my

history and traditions, primeval,

work revolves around the human perception of

colonial and modern. "

rhe physical environmenr in a specifically erhological, rather than ethnological manner.

5

BelONtilNIi l"trDduction

The indigenous people that inhabited this area, that is, the South East of the Australian continent, had rituals and artefacts that held a relationship

'Respect' as denoted by the Shorter Oxford Dictionary (/992: 1809:/1) :

.. A view; a backward surtle)'. .. or

with the land, which indicated that they hclonged

(1992: 1809://1) "Defereuttal regard or

to an area and clan grouping, much as contempo-

esteem felt or shoum towards a /Jerson or

rJry societ)' lIses artefacts to disllngllish thcm-

thillg. ..

selves from others in their community, the only difference is the reference to 'place'.

As the relation.:-.hip developed with the Kouri cOllllllunity and further interprcl3tions relating to ~ub-

It was during m)' involvement with the 1994

the developmenr of the three chaplers on the

j\ltelbollrne Moolllha Street parade that I hap-

IlIne, it became apparent rh:H the area of 'biolllc"

pened upon a revised tirle for the research. The

should be investigated. This area takes into

original title submitted to the Higher Degree com-

account evolutionary biology, and assists with

mince was" Addlllg Value to Domestic Ohjects"',

understanding of

m)' involvement WIth tht: Pacific Island cOl11l1luni-

graphic speCiation.

D~H\\'iniall

theory and gco-

ty at Mool11ba, identified that it was a sense of 'Belonging', that the t:thnic community was aspir-

A number of conclusions were drawn and tested

ing to achieve.

at an International Interior Design Conference in Killarney, Ireland ill Septembet 1997. The theme

Belonging became the main focus of the research,

of the conference was "A Sense of Place", and I

and is central to it; as the Koori community have

presented a paper on the progress of my research

belonged to this region for a substantial period,

for this project.

substantially longet than the European settlets, then it was more through a sense of respect than

It was apparent from the papetS delivered at this

curiosity that my research involved their under路

conference that the research, had similar relation-

standing of the physical environment.

ships with other streams of thought, especially with Matcello Minale, who presented a paper on the 'sense of belonging in a technological age', which expressed concern over the results of

6

Bel

0

N GIN

S

Introduclion

human interaction widl technology.

The ultimate test of the research has always been the creation of

~l

number of artefacts to delllon-

strate the findings.

The next step in the project was to extrapolate the fUllction of these artefacts to objects lIsed today by the wider community, and make p~lflsons.

COI11-

And to evaluate the regional significance

Three types of artefacts were selected after inves-

to cSl,lblish if there is a value to he a:::.cerrained

t1gJtion within the MU'iClIlll of Vinorid'S collcc-

from the AbOriginal interpretation of regiOlulisl11.

tion of Koori Ill,ttcrial culture. There was at the time of investigatioll, some 1301 Jrtefacrs of

Three obj<-=crs were selected for their simil<lrity of

South Eastern origin, a slimmary of these was

funcrion and worth. These were:

undertaken and through IIwcstigatioll with Cultural Officers of the Victorian Koori Heritage

I.

The Plastic Shopping Bag.

Trust, links were ascertained, between the arre-

2.

The Tupperware Container

facts available for study and Koori artisans from

3.

The Credit Card

across this region, who produce similar arref<lct".

The flrsr rwo artefacts were fairly easy to arrive at The intention of this selection process was to gain

for comparison, the third stretched the limits a bit

a view of artefact utilisation from regions across

but formed an interesting analogy.

Victoria. The result was ro identify that the most significant number of artefacts within the

The conclusions to this research are manifest in

Museum's collection, related to traditional crafts

the design concepts that were presented within

practiced predominantly by women, from a broad

the exhibition associated with this project and

spread across Victoria.

form an appendix to this visual record.

These artefacts were:

1.

The String Bag

2.

The CooJamoll

3.

The Digging Stick

7

B •

ON.

N

•

Introduction

Figure 2.

The StrlllglJilg

Figure 1.

The Coolamoll

Figure 4.

The O'KKl1Jg Stick

IlIu~1:rations

from 'Womens Work'

(Sculthorpc 1992: p. 14,6 and 4)

8

BeLONGING

Introduction

past mistakes of those who wrongly interpreted

1.2

RATIONALE

actions of alien cultures, thus being disproved lar-

The object of the research is to investigate the sig-

ter as not much more than second guessing.

nificance of the physical environmenr in the form

1.3

METHODOLOGY

or morphological design of the objects.

The research h,ls involved field work and imcrview~

In

~dl,

I have concentrated on three aspens

with pr:lctirioners of tradition~d JneL.1Cl

dOIllI-

mallllfaC(lIr~, Il.lnt

in our

u~e

predom1l1antly around objects used

of .}frdaers that determine the in the collection Llnd producrion of food.

strategies of culture in rhe human sphere of influ-

encc; an awareness of these is a key starting point The scope of the research has been restricted to for a shift in the change of this culture. regional Victoria, in an cHon to marc easily focus on the interpretation of a local stimulus.

These aspects are universal in that rhey are part of human nature and common to all peoples, Contact was made with the Koori Heritage Trust, their interpretation is different based on their and it re~pec{ive cultural

W ..IS

orgJnised for the project concept to be

'world view'. presented at their monthly meeting, March 2nd., 1994, at the Museum of Victoria. [t appears as

The process of working with another cultural item no. 8 on the agenda, as 'Research Proposal: group, such as rhe Vicrorian Koori community, Mark Watson.' acted as a foil by which I attempted to isolate myself as much as is possible from my Anglo Approximately twenty Cultural Officers wete preCeltic world view and reflect upon, not so much sent from all regions coveted by the Victotian the Kooris world view, but the composition of the government borders, and was endorsed by all predominant Western ideology. sent. Once the project had received approval from the group, the study could proceed.

The three chapters on ideology, petception and affordance were included to emphasis the difficulThe first phase of the research ptogram was for a ty faced in the early part of my research, in crossbibliographical survey, this took place in mid cultural research. This is not to be played down, 1994. The amount of texts available was limited or belittled in any way. History is littered with to the fields of anthropology and sociology, which

9

BelONGING Introduction

indicated the level of interest in this topic at the

areas that the artisans resided; most still living in

time. Libraries covered by this phase included, the

close proximity to the area of their ancestry and

Museum of Victoria, the State and RMIT

birth.

libraries, including the VET sector, L1trobe, Melbourne and Monash Universities, the Victorian

Ardl~leological

Survey group, Jnd the

The project was described

TO

the artisans, and

after a time most reticenrly Jgreed to p.uticipatc

Institute oi AbOriginal & Torres Strait IsLtnder

in the research.

~Iost

Studies in Canherra.

image l.Jken

the from of video or photograph,

III

decltned to be have their

a request with which I complied, as Ihe nature of During the course of th:n year, the "International

the research was sensitive to these Elders, in thJI

Year of the Indigenous Peoples" was launched

they felt that they were losing something by

and there was

imparting their knowledge. This is understandahle

.J

noticeable increase In interest,

leading to more Government funds available for

behaviour in the light of past treatment of the

Indigenous writings and research, much of which

Koori community by, as they say, 'bloody

is just appearing now.

"Ologi...t's .. 路.

The result of this research was the selection of the

In all, the access to this, what is classed as 'out-

type of artefact and the availability of artisans

side' knowledge, was given freely, no attempt was

with knowledge of the artefact, and its manufac-

made to illicit information or knowledge not

ture.

freely available within the culture.

The Museum of Victoria published a 'Guide to

The research has been formu!ared to be presenred

Victorian Aboriginal Collections' which indicated

in the form of an oral and visual presentation, an

the origin, type and number of artefacts, and it

exhibition comprising three concepts and a visual

was this availability which narrowed the research

record. The structure of the visual record is that

to three artefacts and three areas.

of a chronological diary, with inclusion of significam 'adages' from thinkers that have gone before,

The second phase of rhe research was to make

their ideas, like campsites, are stopping points for

contact with the artisans, and times were

reflection.

arranged for meetings and for field [[ips to the

10

BeLONGING Introduction

my enqUires.

r have chosen

to adopt a narrative format for the

And a heart felt thanks to Albert Mullett, an

language of this visllal record, to reflect the oral

Elder and spokesperson belonging to the Kurnai

nature of the information gathered from the

clan (Gippsland region), who lent me the occa-

Koori community, to lTl.lke the information more

sional 'ear' throughout the length of this project;

accessible to them

rlUIl

\vould a dry academic

could have ~lrrivcd at a conclUSIOn to this marrero

documenr.

I have also chosen

wirholit his assistdnce and guiddllce. I doubt if I

to

dC\'IJtc from the norlll and

present this visual record in twO column format, as the text is easier to read frOlll an ergonomic stance, in that the ere perceives Within a small cone of vision and focal readjustment across long lines of text doesn't afford ease of reading and partiCipation.

I would like, at this point, to thank all the Elders from the respective clans for access to their lands,

people and culture. I have gained greatly from the experience and trust that the research will achieve gains for the Koori communities.

Most particularly, I would like to thank Dot Peters from Healesville, Betty Tornear from Geelong and Rachael Mullett from Bruthen for their time and understanding in assisting me with

11

BelONGING Ideology

2.0

IDEOLOGY

I

ideas alongside the most popular.

Terry Eagleton (1990:95) :

Recent events in Australian politics has seen these

issues illuminated to the public in the form of

"Ideology is 011 the ol1e hand al1 'everyhody kl10ws " a ragbag of tamished adages;

'political correctness' and the right of 'free speech'.

but this reach "me" dOWI! assemblage of tags al1d cliches is forceful enougb to impel

the subject to murder or martyrdom, so

The idea, or the public coming to terms with the

deeply does it engage the roots of a unique

notion of 'political correctness', started for me

idel1tity. "

when David Williamson responded to criticism of

his play "Dead White Males".

2.1

PLURALISM

Following its opening in Sydney to good reviews, In the course of academic inquiry, in the pursuit the play started its season at Melbourne's

of knowledge that will, hopefully, ultimately add Playhouse Theatre. Williamson responded to

to the sea of ideas, and upon acceptance by a some vehement criticisms by a journalist, namely society, become ideology. Within this frame work Guy Rundle, who Williamson describes in a

has crept the notion of pluralism, meaning the response in 'The Age' newspaper's Arts &

advent of morc than onc meaning within a particEntertainment section (8.6.1995: pI6), as part of ulac society. "a new breed of ferocious young critics in

Melbourne who took no prisoners."

Gombrich (1979:188) makes a plea for pluralism:

ÂŤOne of the least desirable consequences of

the academic industry seems to me a cer-

Rundle's main assertion in his criticism, according

to Williamson, was that Williamson "had never

lain atrophy of discussion, as if vigorous

been an intellectual". And Williamson goes on to

criticism might endanger a colleague's

Slate: "that our thinking is often a product of ide-

chances of promotion.

'J

ology rather than reason". Williamson held that the ideological school to which he belongs is that

There is no question that ideas should be open to of 'liberal humanism' which ÂŤpictures the indiscrutiny hy a society, the qualifying factor should vidual as rational and able to make informed

choic~

he the right for the existence of;] multitude of

12

BeLONSINS ldeDIII!l1

Figure 5.

ARr~

& [\I~RTlI\\II\

DaVId Wtlbamsoll respollds to cnticism as It llppeared III 'the Age' lIewspaper. (8.6.1995: p. 16)

Kevie", 'missed poin

Figure 6.

WORLD :'JEWS Coca colomsatiofl sees weslem clVllisatlOfl displacmg trllditlOflaJ cultural behe{s.

13

BeLONCING Ideology

es on rhe basis of assessed evidence".

2.2

HERMENEUTICS

Rundle's criticism of Williamson, could on One hand seem faruous, and rhe orher keenly perceptive,

Ricoeur (1981: 55) :

depending on the audience. Rundle also works as 311

academic, and was sidlllg with the socialist fcmi-

nillSlS about the sexist nature of Williamson work.

.. Ilermenclttics is not a reflectiol1

011

the

ImJ1tall sciences, but au explanatioll o( the ontological ground ulJOlI which these sciel1ces can he constructed. \Vhcllce the sell-

Bubner (19X8: 121) expounds:

tel1a! which is crucial (or

liS:

hermeneutics

tlms construed cOlftains the roots o( what .. the domain of criticism tl)lts embraces

call be called 'hermeneutic' ollly ilz a deriLJ-

more than simply the falsification of a the-

ative sense: the methodology of the human

or)' b)' statemellts o{ {act. Basically, all

SCIences.

trndictiol1S arise withil1

0

COil-

theory, so that

criticism moves between incompatible theo-

The Shorter Oxford Dictionary gives the definition

retical elements, whether it be incom/Jotible parts of a single theory or two cOlltradictory theories, or finally between the rudiments of a theory

ifl

(l

theory and

the form of

basic propositions."

of rhe word 'I Iermeneutics' to mean rhe "Art or Science of Interpretation". bllt goes on to qll<llify this wirh the disclaimer of 'especially of scripture', which weights the use of, or access to inrerpretation, to a certain ideology; 'scriprure' is traditionally

So criticism according to Bubller, is more than a

thought of as Jud:EO - Christian within 'Western'

contest of fact, but more an analysis of 'knowns'

socieries and limits the scope of interpretation to

to compare with the 'theory' to establish its suit-

within the doctrine of that ideological view.

ability or fit to a particular reading of society.

Ruskin, as an English academic of the late 19th The cultural diversity of a society, especially a

century, dedicated his life to the formulation of an

'multicultural' society such as contemporary

ontological Ithe science or study of 'being') model

Australia's, is young, and concepts of existence

of existence based around this (then) traditional

and the voicing of those concepts are new to most

Western <world view'.

individuals. Greater access to information and views allow 'healthy' debate to establish this 'fit',

Fuller, as an English academic and art critic, took

and open up interpretation.

pains to debunk the traditional Western ideological

14

BeLONGING

Ideology

view, slating along with Ruskin, the great modernist

Bur hermeneutics deserves a freer intcrprewrion

zealots, such as Gropius and Adolf Loos.

of itself.

Australian Architect, David Week (1995:88) holds

Fuller (1988:63) quotes Ruskin:

.1

that:

\VIJel1 'he '/;a lldages o( fashiol1' where

"//ermClIl'lItIC5 tells us that truth is created 110t by

rel110L ed {rom the eyes and the arteries o{ l

oPpOSltlOll,

but by inclusion."

the sOIlI, then human ai/miratiou retl/nzed 'into that bed which has beell trilced (or it /)' the (il/ger o( God' "

The \'Vesrern approach to rhe debate of ideas is ~1Il adversarial one, with argul1lent leading to derisIon, and only rhe 1110sr brave or sure will venture to

This ideological stance, at this poim in time, express

:1

poinr of view.

explained all and nothing together, ~lnd was raken

up hy lhe faithful and challenged by the faithless.

Week puts forward the position that between the funcrionalisr and rhe srylisr camps in Archirecture

Tuan

111

'Tnpophilia' (1974: 107) : there can be an arbitrary oal~lIlce, dependlllg on [he

"111 the course of the Eighteenth century,

projecr, the client and [he circumstances, ThiS is a

the European cognoscenti deified nature.

com1110n sense approach to problem solving, rather

To philosophers and lJOets iI/ particlilar,

[han the thin argument of "We do i[ [his way

nature came to stand for wisdom, spiritual

because we have always done it [hiS way", which is

comfort, and holil/ess; (rom it people were

supposed to derive religious enthusiasm, moral goodl1ess. and mystical understandil1g o( mall mId God."

a dogmatic approach based on the 'Hero' principle,

and is the foundation of the adversarial approach [Q

Western academic debare.

Week (1995:87) cominues:

"Since there is no objective realit)', build-

ings don't have to correspond to anything.

Since there is no absolute truth, we can only ;udge an architect by his verve, vigour and wit with which her manifesto is pro路 pOl/nded. "

15

BelONGING

Ideology

Appleton (1990: 12) :

Fuller (1986: 10) ciles the German architects of

the early part of this century as purring forward

"One of the reasons why there has beell so

the following manifesto路s.

much resistauce to the Idea of evolution by llalural selectioll has always been an Ql'er-

Firsl from Adolf Loos :

siol1 to Its implications (or the dig1lity of our own spaies.

.. I haue discovered the trllth and presel1t It Rusklll and his contclllpor<1ries were

c~lught

up in

to the world; clIltllrai CI'O!UtiOl1 is eqltilfalent to the remol'al of ornament frum arti路

;] quest" for higher principles which were designed [0

c1es in every day use

.

elevate Western man over his minions. This

'dignity', as Appleton put if, set Ruskin at odds and from Mies Van Der Rohe :

with Darwin over the 'Origin of the Species'. As it turned our, the populous followed Darwin's idea,

"The individual.....is losing significance; his

and a small camp of the faithful departed with

destiny is no longer what interests

Ruskin.

decisiue Gthicl1emcnts ill all fields arc

itS.

The

rmpersu11a! ami their authors for the most Currenr academic debate is cast in the Darwinian

part unknown. They are pari of a trend of

Ollr time towards anonymity. .. mould of the 'strongest will survive" or a good theory will stand the test of criticism, and is conAnother great from the modernist school, \Xlalter trolled by our innate sense of dominance and subGropius in his manifesto on the foundation of the ITlission, which is inherent in most mammalian

'Bauhaus' school at Weimar, Germany around the species. same time, saw his objective for an alternative

2.3

DOMINANCE

approach to design as an attempt to free the enslaved artisan frol11 the 'toil of ornament', and

It would appear that, in contemporary Western

the scholat from the clutches of 'church and

discourse, one must have a manifesto. This state

state', rebelling against the 'Academies' for what

of affaits has existed ptedomioantly in the 20th.

he saw as their support for the class system.

century.

16

BelONGING Ideology

A quote from the Gropius manifesto (1959:27):

The Western idea of individualism is a societal mode developed since the end of World War 2,

"Art wonis

10

triumph over nature and to

resolve the opposition in a Hew unity, muJ

current debate is evolving around the rights of the I11dlVldual within a community and the rights of

tbis process is cOl1summated 111 the fight of <l

tlJe spirit against the material lUorld. The

community within a society.

spIrit creates (ur itself a H('/l! life other than

Ihe life uf lralllre. ..

SIllCC ~ertlelllent of

Australta by European'>, the

UOlllll1.lIlt Ideology, has heen that of the Anglo路 Fuller (1986: I I) summed up the scenario:

SJxon Protcsti.ll1t, with its world view on society

bi.1Sed around 'work ethic' and .. Now we have the lIew ZiOI1 in which the only worthwhile lavour is immediately pro-

Chris(i~1I1ity.

Changes to this world view have

COllle

about

slowly, with rhe influence of other erhl1lc groups

ductive, oruamel1l is banished alld people inhabit not houses bi/t 'machines for living

in' and it does not work. .,

such as the Chinese and most significantly the Irish. The 1950's saw an influx of Mid, Southern and Ea,>tern Europeans, and lately, A<;i:1I1 immi-

The dominance 01 the modernist movement,

grants are as'iernng their Influence.

(which supplanred the dominance of the art and craft movement) is all pervasive, through to the

Yet with the adoption of the more inclusive fornl

present day, and voices OUTside that powerful

of hermeneutic, this dominant Western 'superiori-

school are only

ty' concept can be adjusted to read the Aboriginal

JUST

starting co be heard.

experience into a society, without having to

2.4

SOCIETAL MODES apptopriate a vast slab of their culture to gtaft onto ours, as Robin Boyd (1967:10) was indicat-

Eagleton (1990:3) : ing, when he spoke about the Jindyworribak

"The construction of the modern notion of

movement of the 1930's and 40's.

the aeslhelic artefacI is Ihlls illseparable from the constructioll of the dominant

The leader of this movement, was Rex Ingamells,

ideological forllls of Ihe modem class -

and the group name is taken from an Aboriginal

society, and indeed (rom a whole new (orm

word, 'jindyworobak' meaning 'to annex - to

of humall sub;eclivily appropriate 10 thaI social order. ..

join'.

17

BeLONGING Ideofogy

In his book 'New Songs in an Old Land' which is

"We drink an older culture,

a compilation of Australian Poems suitable for

old as Alcheringa,

High School students and first published as a

through every pore

school text in South Australia in 1943.

from bush - fed, dust - fed, wdttlc and gum fed, air."

Ingamells (1943 : vii) statcs: It wac.; while rcading through the pot=IllS Ihilt

.,/ do

110/

assert that there e.m he

110

great

Australiml literature withou! tl'ideslJread

IllaOe it through the final censorship by tht' bureaucracy, that I come across Dorothea

understanding of Aburiginal/ure and cus-

lam, though I am convinced that

lure will be sounder for

all

Ollr

cul-

alJpreciatiol1 of

these; but I do contend thaI there can be no maturing of our cullure witholt! a er assimilation

011

MacKellar's 'My Country'.

profJ~

environmental grounds."

Readlllg through rhe first verse, which I had always remembered from m), early school years as starring with "(love a sunburnt country..... ", "t~Hrs.

Brave words ro be C~lstJllg about,

JI1

~1I1

in fact with the following:

Anglo

Saxon Protestant bureaucracy in the midst of 'The love of field and coppice, World War 2, with all the patriotic fervour, and of green and shaded lanes, Anglophile passion abounding at that time. It of Ordered woods and gardens must be remembered that at that particular rime Is running in your veins; in history, censorship was a matter for the Strong love of grey blue distance, National interest, not particularly to control the Brown streams and soft, dim skies minds of the populous; though once given power, I know but cannot share

It,

it is always hard to give it back.

My love is otherwise.

1 love a sunburnt country

'

Ingamells, as editor of 'New Songs in an Old Land', tried to have included in the selection, a

MacKellar's prose strongly indicates an affection poem by Ian Mudie entitled 'Echo of Alcheringa', for a different stimulus in Topophilia, not which was rejected by the High Schools embraced by the cognoscenti, of my early childCurriculum Board, bur Ingamells, cunningly had hood. As the 50 or so years have past, the pupils it inserted in the preface:

18

BelONGING Ideology

that sat in those classrooms, and enculturated

Cassell's 'Book of Quotations (p. 604) :

with the Anglo Saxon Protestant, blinkcred seed, arc now the leaders of this cOllmry, determining

for all Australians, policies for the direction of

.. Nescire aulem quid antea quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerttm. Quid enim est !Etas IlOm11lis, nisi memoria rerum

our

SOCiety.

VelerllJ11 CU1J1

2.5

slIperioruJ11

aclale cOlllexilur?

NED PAGANISM To he Ignorant of what h.lppened bdore you wcre

As we progress

;1S

;]n Australian society. with ..111

born

IS to

be eVt:r a child. For what is man's life-

its influences, internally yet predominJntly exter-

time unless the mcmory of past

nally, the relev~l1lce of the old strucrures are can路

wirh rhose of earlier times?"

ev~nts

is woven

stamly being tested.

Religion has been a major influence within our

Cicero. Orator, 34, 120.

societ)'. And man)' good things have been derived from its influence, Judaeo - Christian beliefs were

If ideas such as the above were prevalent in

put

\'Veslern SOClct), some

111

place

:1S .tn

ideology to counter perse.:utioll

and dominance by the pagan Roman Empire.

IWO thou~alld

years ago,

we are supposed to learn from our mistakes. Yel we appear doomed to repeat them, as selfish val路

With rhe fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of

ues override common sense.

the Judaeo - Christian camp, persecution and repression were used to put down the pagan

New interpretations of consumerism and Western

camp. Again we see the concept of inclusion

societal concepts are moving towards this ideo-

being ignored and a dominant, higher authority

logical shift.

succeeding. Obviously inclusion, means that you have to exist with your opponents, when it has

Prof. Klaus Lehmann stated in his paper at the

proven far easier to eradicate the opposition.

Ulm conference on Cultural Identit), and Design (1990:91) :

As the world moves towards a greater under-

staoding of its 'ontological self' perhaps a recon-

.,/ therefore suggest that twelltieth celltury design, and classic German design ;n par-

sideration of the basic tenets of superseded sys-

ticular, has Protestallt features. This is the

(ems could be entered into.

19

BelONG/Nt: IdeDiagy

Duly way in which I can explain its intro-

Principally, totemism formed a kind of conserva-

version and (ear of sensuality. and German tion erhic, one based on mutual existence and sur-

admiration of Italian design. New German design wants 10 gel rid of all this. it wants us to be more sensual and 1110re Catholic."

Protesranrism and Modernism ran hand in hand with the desire for purity <lnd

<l

viva!. Ritual evolved around a long time partnership of hunter and quarry.

HOWIll

(1904:152):

vilification of the

Catholic practice of IdoLHry, not realising the void heing created in the form of sensory depriva-

.. But I tlunk we may sa(ely go so (flr as to consider It llery probahle. i( food animals and plants were fotems in the earliest

tion. Lehmann was calling for more 'Catholic' or

times, that magical practices might easily

ornamental design to be embraced by German

arise for the purpose o( increasing the food

designers, I hold that Christian principles be pur

sUPllly of the prlstiue totemic groups. ,.

aside and a new look at paganism is warr,:lIlted as a religious ideology for design.

In conclusion, it would appear that Western ideology can benefit frolll an IIlclusive approach in

Human sacrifices aside, the pag:J1l worship of

perceiving its position, and t:l11hracing an ideology

nature and her cycles is closer to the Aboriginal

more in sympathy with the natural world.

experience, from a largely totemic relationship with the physical environment.

Western material culture needs to reconnect with its objectivity, not simply through a morphologi-

Elkin (1938:165) wrote:

cal representation of natural form; it needs to be deeper than that.

ÂŤTotemism is

a view of nature and

life. of the universe and man, which colours and influences the Aborigines' social groupings and mythologies, inspires their rituals and links them to the past. It unites them in 1lalares activities and species ill a bond of mutual life giving, and

imparts confidence amidst the vicissitudes of life."

20

BeLONGING Perception

3.0

PERCEPTION

Carolyn Bloomer (1976:43) :

Conversely, the extent to which a city dwelling PAYE employee relies on the olfactory senses is

"In short, /Jerception is the process lJy

reduced, yet replaced by temporal sensitivities,

luhicb a persoll neIll/ely constructs reality.

attributable to their ability to collect, store and

How you interpret your I}er(-eplll~ll eXIJericllces

aHd

depends

Oil

011

where and

lu!Je1l you

hue

IJOul you dell! u.lith the ua/lles ami

sigllificllnce yOHr

clf/fure

dls,>clllinate knowledge. Which in turn, requires a different set of perceptual prioritit:s.

l../ssiglls to your

experiences.

Professor Dr. Ernst Boesch, a European Psychologist, presented a paper at the Ulm confer-

3.1

NATURE I NURTURE enee on '"Culturalldemity and Design',

111

1989,

he st.Hes (1990:55) : In reaching an understanding of 'society', a cOllsid-

erariol1 of our perceptual senses is required, to dif-

.. And thus we would have to conclude that

ferenriarc between what is natural behaviour and

only those people whose experiences and

whar is a learnt response

ways of action ,Ire the same, peucll1e

TO

Mimuli.

things in the same way. ..

People's ability ro perceive is greatly restrained by the environment within which they were raised.

Having occupied the Australian environment

As with ideology, perception is very much a parr

(despite the significant efforts of our forebears to

of cultural training; the anatomy and physiology

alter it) for some two hundred years, the physical

across various ethnic groups varies slightly, yet their

environment is perceived differently. The

perceptual senses vary grearly according ro needs in

Aboriginal experience of the same environment

order for survival.

is speculated to be some one hundred and twenty thousand years old, and is knowledge not to be

A hunter gatherer relies on the senses of sight and

dismissed through a petception of cultural

hearing in a different way to that of a city dwelling

superiority.

PAYE (pal' Itax] as you earn) employee. The keenness of the hunter's senses direcrly affects the wel-

It is interesting to view the works of European

fare of the group to which they are responsible fot

Master painters, such as Eugen Van Guerard and

feeding.

John Glover.

21

BeLONGING Perception

Van Guerard arrived in Melbourne in 1852, aged

Tuan (1974:122) :

about 40 years. One would suppose that he was a

.. Wlhy does the artist choose to depict cer-

practiced arrisan of some twenty years, and

taill facets of realit), ami 1I0t others? The

schooled in rhe current style of Vicllcsse land-

O1zswer cannot he simlJle for among the scape painting of the time, yet his renditions of

in(lttcl1ces that impinge on the artist are his

the Australian indigenous landscape accenruates

academic trahzing, the tech'Jical skills lll'ail-

his (ilfficulry

alJle to

111

coming to terms with the stf:lnge-

IJi111,

the nature symbolism of the

time elml the scenes that surround him . ..

ness or rhe otherness of the new form"> presented to him.

Through the 'Ileidelberg School of Artisr's' using Similarly Glover, born in Leices{crshire, England

the French Impressionist style to accentuate this

in 1767, arriVing in Tasmania in ) 831, had cliffi-

foreign bnd~cape, it

culties perceiving his new envirollment, Lynn

Heysen , born in lS77 in IIalllburg, Germany,

Elwin (1977: II) quores John Olsen on Glover:

arriving in Adelaide, Ausrralia in 1883, (aged 6) did

.. For Glol'er. lIa/nre was passillc and 110Sla/gic alld it is natura! that the trees i11 [his

<I

Wi:lS

not rill the time of flans

true representation of rhe indigenous

Alistralidn lands(ape eventuate. Uncluttered by the excessive b<lggage of a set of European artistic

{Jailltillg] 'The River Nile' sholiid resemble a decorative frieze. Nostalgic he was, but

cultural blinkers, Lynn srates (1977:80) :

be made these changes ill his vision at the

age of 63."

.. Heysen saw the tree as individual presence, but also as essential pictorial structure.

,~

As the visual stimulus of the new environment washed over these two accomplished arrists, it

Fuller (1986: xvii) states in regard to his percepmust have been as perplexing ro them as a bowl tion of the Australian landscape: of fruit appears to a first year art student. The results speak for themselves, with serpentine gum

"J lIIade my first trip to Australia ill 1982,

trees and picturesque vistas suggesting a

alld I wellt agaill ill 1984, alld 1985. These

Ruskinesque "divine hand' in creation or 'divine

journeys have had deep alld still COlltillUillg

providence' in affordance.

effects

011

my attitude to art, lalldscape alld

illdeed lIattlre itself. They have also challged my life in more personal ways. /11 Olle

22

•

•

ON'

N

•

,.~ptJon

John Glovers pamtmg 'The Rlller Nile' 1837, (Natloltal Gallery of Vfctorlll collection).

Figure 8.

HeIde/berg School artIst Arthur Streetolls ·hre·s 011, Lapstone Tunnel' I 8Y/. (A rt Gallery of New Smith Wales colledlo,,'.

Hails Heysens ·Sunshine a1ld Shadow' /904-05.

(NatJOftal Gallery of Victona collecttOn).

Heysell was seen to be the first ar!Jst to percteve the visual stmlU/lfs of the Australiall Bush.

Though flot Itative hom. he spent most of h,s formatIVe years fit the mdtgenous etlVJrOltmettt.

23

BelONGING Perception

sense, at least these Australiau lectures

Carter (1987:61) :

chronicle my autipodemz transformations. ..

"111 the coulext of Australian spatial histoFuller (1986 : xix) continues:

ry, these questions were anything but academic. It is argllahle. for instance, that tbe

.. Nonetheless, it is impossible for someone

(ate o( the Aborigines hllllg precisely on the

borl1 and bred in Europe to euter Australia

outcome uf tIns debate. For, if names pre-

tmd 110t be ouerwhelmed by its geography;

serl/ed the s/JtJtlality of experience, there

hooks mId images CllllllOt prepare its terrible vastnes5 rcccil/ed

110

(me

(or

was

el/el1 though I

ITO

reaSIl11 to prefer English l1ames to

alwriginol ones; indeed, aborigil1al names,

more than a Sltccession of

with tbeir local genealogy and resistance to

momentary glimpses of the terrain outside

possession (ellen pronunciation and

the great cities, I could not evade an intu

transliteratIon), were, in these senses, mure

4

ilioll o( Ihe dread(ul otl,emess o(

appropriate. They could be said to eX/Hess

Australia. "

the 'otherl1ess' of the travellers experience. "

I Illterpret the 'dreadful' element to which Fuller wa'> eluding was rhe visual difference

TO

3.2

INNATE BEHAVIOURS

his faml1-

lar environmenr, that of field and coppice of

Wilson io Biophdia (1984:103):

England. Nor as an aesthetic judgement, bur more as a feeling of anguish as he struggles to transpose his cultural perception over the physical environ-

'The al1cient olfactory brain speaks to the modern cortex'.

ment before him, unable to imagine by that overDay ro day existence tends to overlook the signifilay of how to exist. cance of our innate sensibilities. The hypothalamus (Wilson's ancient brain) has evolved wirh This otherness is taken further when Carrer man through his many metamorphoses, the correcounts the actions of the Australian pioneer, in [ex peculiar to the 'hominid' family is a relatively trying to put names to places, against this new recent development. environment.

24

BelONGING

Perception

Schneider & MOrlon (1981 :83) wrore:

[injunction means: a sropping point, indebtedness : attriburable

tol

"The power that nature wields over man, in terms of hoth the limitations imposed

Innate sensibilities are largely overlooked by the

and the opportuuities offered, has shaped a

bOlld that has held man to nature for as

design professions of raday, the IIldivldualist

long as we call delennil1c. This primordial

deSigner in an arrcmpr to he recognised, creates

bOHd remail1s today, despite the struggles

environments

of mallY to break it. ..

sensorial torture c1umhers than the refuges (hey

i.lJ1d

objects more recognisable in

:l

are supposed ro be.

Ricoeur (1992: 353): \X'estern Architecture in particular has suffered

路路The ultimate equit/oca/ness with respect to the slalus of the Other ill the !Jhenomena of conscience is perhaps what needs

lO

this devolurloll; there is an anecdote about the occupant of LeCorbusier's modernist masrerpiece,

be

preserlJed il1 the (inal analysis. It is decided

'Villa Savoye', a charming bourgeois lady of rhe

111 a dearly 'l11tIJro{l%g;col sense ;',

1930's, who had to change for ned in a wardrobe,

FreudiQ/l 11leta/,syc!Jo!ogy: 11/oral C()N-

because the architect refused ro allow her to

science is another name (or the superego,

install currains to her external windows.

which itself is made up of (sedimented,

for~

go lien, and to a large extell!, repressed)

identificatiolls with parental and ancestral

The journeymen professors frol11 the Domus

figures. Although set on the plane of sci-

Academy in Milan, [raly; when visiting Melbourne,

ence, psychoanalysis concurs here with

were put up ar a fashionable, bourique horel, rhe

innumerable popular beliefs that the voices

Adelphi, in Flinders Lane and would daily recount

of ollr ancestors continue to make them-

horror stories of shins being impaled on sharp

selves heard among the living and in this way ensure, not only tbe transmission of

edges and pointy objecrs.

wisdom, but its intimate personal reception at every stage. This dimension, which could

There is a lor the Architects, Demon, Corker,

be called generati01lal, is a1l undeniable

Marshall can learn from rhe Zen reachings of 'Feng

component of the pbenomenon of injHllc-

Shui', yet Western culrure, wirh its dominant ideolo-

ti01l a1ld, all tIJe more so, of tIJat of indebtedness. .,

gy, fails to register the concept, because it comes from a supposedly inferior colrural group.

25

BeLONGING Perception

Pugh wrote on innate values (1977:173):

Pugh continues (1977:174) :

"The human mind is motivated by a very

"There is reason to believe that the con-

complex structure of built in "values".

flict and frustration experienced by modern

These "innate values" include both the

man may reflect basic incompatibilities

emotions and the traditional biological

between the ancient human motivations

drives. The values also hlclude a number of

and the modern social environment."

other important elements that are less

fre~

quently identified as part of an innate moti-

Again a quote from Pugh (1977:175) :

vation system _., .. Regardless of what changes we may conBourassa (1991 :66) picks up on this line of

sider for a society, we can expect that indi-

thought in his investigations on the <Aesthetics of

viduals will continue to be I'rlotivated by

Landscape' :

the same structure of innate values. People may learn to change their secondary values,

'''There are three rnodes of behaviour

but they cannot change their innate values.

Thus the imlate human value structure

Biological laws Cultural rules Personal strategies

The biological constrains the cultural which in turn constrains the personal. ,.

places important limits on man's ability to adapt to change. If we are to propose realistic concepts of social reform, we must be sure that the reform concepts are compatible with the innate values."

In other words, our innate sensibilities, determine Gould and Gould (1994:43) : or influence our culture, with ramifications on OUf

personal lives, and the values we aspire to.

"Perhaps it should not be so surprising that much of the most complex behaviour seen in nature should be innate: after all, it would be very hard if not impossible to learn anything so intricate. "

26

BeLONGING Perception

The Gould's explain further (1994:68) :

When viewing an abstract work of art, parricular-

Iy those of the 'Optical' group of artists, it takes .. Behaviour that seems inexplicable may be relying

Oil

cues il1uisible to ottr s/Jccies, or

3

deal of study before the image is revealed to rhe viewer. The moment of recognition is identified as

processing that we lack, or stimulus selec-

ti/lily wholly differCllt frolll ollr ow/I. What

the moment of closure.

aPIJarclltly is learned may instead be the emergence of a latenl but Inslillclll 'C belh1VIOU

r

.

ImJgll1e seeing

d

familiar face in the strecr, and

unly after c1o~cr scrutiny do the features become recognisable rind the person is idenrified.

So DeM's 'pointy bits' create all environment of

danger to the user, instil

;:Ill

innate fear reaction,

and keep that person on edge, while Trying

[Q

inhabit that environment. As to whether this is a

\'Vhen viewing foreign objects though, the cultural significance may not be recognised, and a dlffer-

ent interpretation is made.

good or a bad outcome, is an object of study. Yet C0l111110n sense or innate senses

wcndd

IIldicare

Carolyn Bloomer, (1976:64) wrote:

that ,I restful, safe envirolll11enr is a preference.

"Al1d yet the histury of sciellce provides

3.3

CLOSURE

wonderful examples of how difficult it is 10 see something when yotl have no prior con-

Closure is an aspect of perception which is not at

all prevalent in

OUf

cept of its structure. "

day to day activity, it would

fall under the primary values according to Pugh

She stares in the same text (1976:61) that:

(1977:175):

., Early theorists looked to characteristics of '路It is the olfactory recogllitioll of visual

the stimulus for answers - They thought

stimulation. "

that characteristics inherent in the stimulus imposed certain closure patterns

011

the

mind. More recent research in perception

however has tended to shift tl,e emphasis from the structure of the stimulus to the structure of the mind itself. Accordillg to this newer view, closure demonstrates the

27

BelONSINC

Perception

reverse - that the miud has succeeded in im/Josing a pattern

011

De Saussure, the] 8th century French linguist,

the stimulus. In was the first to postulate the 'sign' and the 'sign i-

other uJords, the stimulus does Hot determine the closure, instead /Jre-existiug nren路

fie,' in language, Culle, (1976:67-68) :

tal models /Jrogram how the stimulus will

be perceilled. ..

"The link between the sIgnal and significatiOI1

is arbitrary. Siltce /lie are trea/iug a

sigH as the combination in wbich a signal is Bloomer, like Bourassa, (1991: 66) is suggestlng associated u11Ih

11

sigm(icatioll. U.N! can

the slrong ill1po'iilion of cultural cons.trdilll ~1I1d

express tIns more simply as : tbe linguistic

experiences on closure. The pattern she talks of,

sign is arllitrary.... No ONe dis/Jutes the (act

is the fabric of our society, and when a foreign

that linguistics signs are arbitrary. 81ft it is

influence or obJect is viewed for the first time, we apply ,ha, pa[(em

'0 ,he fo,eign object. W"h

ofteH easier to discoL'er a truth than to assigll it to its correct /Jlace. ..

every possibility of misreading the illtenr.

Cowa,d & Ellis (1977:28) pu' ,he case ,ha, :

Gomhrich i'i regarded as the foremost ..l luhoriry 011

visual perception and he notes on closure

路'There are tfi'l) systems of medl1illg : the

denotative and the cowwtative, the obiect lal1guage (the film, the toy, the meal, the

(1982:16) :

em; in as much as they signify) and the "The true mIracle, it seems to me,

IS

that we still

myth which attaches itself to it. ..

store so many impressions that recognition of the Cowerd and Ellis, rela,e

(0

De Saussure (1976:3) :

familiar is guaranteed. It is clear the distinction between the familiar and the unfamiliar must be

"Structural linguistics alld the possihility of

of the utmost biological importance, not only to

analysing all social practices as languages both

man, but even ro animals."

emerged from the examination of tbe 'sig"':

the relation between the means of expression 3.4

SIGNIFICANCE

e. g. the sound (the signifier) and the COllcept (the signified) neither of which pre-exists the

We heard Pugh's thoughts on values, and we come to the point where significance is to be scrutinised.

other Ilor has any meaning outside their relation. It was a matter 'lOt simply of realising their inter - relatedness as categories, but also

of suggesting their separation. "

28

B~lONGINS Perc~ption

The values of Western society~ no matter how

Cowerd & Ellis (1977:3) :

'advanced' or 'progressive' we may consider them

.. This se/Jaratioll, glimpsed by Saussure, made possible a study of the ,elations

to be, are subjective, and judgemental along side

a foreign set of values.

entered mlo amongst the signi{iers themseilles ill the prodltCliou

of mconillg. " Christi,lll Norberg - Schulz (I

Norberg - Scbulz (1980: 17) :

no: 10) :

.. Charade,. is delcrmillcd IJy how

tlJlngs

are, aJ1(1 gives our inl'csligatiol1 a basis in "Symbo/isatiol1 implies that an eX/1ericlIced

the COllcrete phenomena of our ellery day

meaning is "tr1l11slated" into G110ther mc,b-

life - world. .,

Wit.

A /la/ural character is (or instance

franslated fmo a blli/dmg whose pro/JeTties

somehow make the character manifest. .,

\Vestern society's ability

[0

move Mound the

globe allows it to compare and contrast, more so than the peoples of rhe 'third world', making

Yi - Fu Tuan (1974:145):

these people the "uhject

"A symbol is a repository of meanings.

perceive as

or prejudice.

barb~Iric ~lcts,

What we

such as circumcision,

Meal1ings arise Ollt of the more pro(Olwd

have been pracriced by these cultures through the

experiences thai have accumulated through

eons, and actions to stop these practices, though

time. Profound eX/Jcriences often have a

noble within the Western humanitarian sense, are

sacred, other worldly characler even

viewed as interventionist, and resisted.

though they may be rooted i/1 huma/1 biology."

Carrer (1987:345-6) :

3.5

WORLDVIEW "These observations reinforce the poi/1t

With the advent of the ability of world sOCIety to

that the anthropologists' haerest ill fixing boundaries and territories resembles the

travel, it has meant an opening lip to the 'othcr-

archaeologist's fascination with relics and

ness' of foreign cultures. Yet these cultures can

sites: both activities divorce the obiects of

only be interpreted in terms of

study frol/l the context of their productio/1,

OUf

ellees and our own 'worldview'.

own experi-

that living spaces, i/1 wbich places have histories and implements are put to Ilse.

29

B~lONGING

PefCeptJOn

To descrilJe a country is flot to stand back. as if one were

110t

there, but to travel it

agatn.

In

SllIll1ll3f)',

an understanding of perception illu-

minates many possibilities for inrerprct3tion of belonging, accellluatc, the pitfalls of misilltcrpre路 ration, and prejudice.

30

BeLONGING Alfor(Jance

4.0

AFFORDANCE

in a way that no existhzg term does. Tt implies tbe complementarity of the animal

and the enuironment. .'

Friedrich Nietzsche (1878 [19941:290) :

.. Feeling in the COllntr)'. If one does not

IUI/'e sltlble. calm lines

011

the /mrnOH of

his life, like liues of 11I0wlfailllo/ls

Gibson (1977: 127) gives as 3n example of this concept:

or ffrcs,

(hell 1I1ll1lS illJlcrmost lUill itself !Jeco1l1e!s!

"If a terrestridl surface is nearly horizontal

restless, distracted and covetous, like the

(iI/stead of s/'lI1tedl. nearl)' flat (iI/stead uf

ell)' dwellers character: he kl1oll's 110 ha/J-

CDfll.lCX

pil1ess and gives nOlle. "

extended (rela/illl! to the size of the animal)

or

(OUCtWc),

t1nd sufficiently

ol1d if its substance is rigid (relative to the

4.1

CONTEXT

weight of the ouimal). then the surface

affords Slfpport . ..

The concept of Affotd"nce is a difficult phenomenon to grasp, as its mechanics arc largely subliminal. The

IllJlate

He continues ( 1977: 128):

senses rh.1ÂŁ group logether ro form

the whole are all encol11p:lssing.

.. If a slfrface of slfpport with the fnlfr properties {horizol/tal, flat, extel/ded, rigid{ is also knee high above the grolfnd, it affords

The context of Affordance was first illuminated when j.

J.

Gibson put forward the theory in his

sitting

01/......

The other al/imals afford,

above all, a rich al/d complex set of inter-

ground breaking work on perception, 'The

actions, sexual. predatory. nurturing, fight-

Ecological Approach to Visual Perception'.

ing, playing, cooperating. and comlnunicatmg.

Gibson wrote (1977:127) : This construction of the human's relation to

'The affordances of the environment are

physical space was a new way of perceiving the

what it offers the animal, what it provides

environmenr. And it was consistent with other

or fumishes, either for good or ill. The

ideologies around the subject of human existence

verb to afford is fOl/nd in the dictionary,

at the time.

but the noun af(ordance is not. Thave

made it up. I mean by it something that refers

10

both environment and the animal

31

•

FICUU

6. Drawings by Jane Gear

FICUU

FICUU

8.

Flcon 11.

•

D

N

•

9.

Figure 10. jaue Gear explams vartOUS vIews of similar topograph,es wIth differmg vegetatio1l 4fordmg a v.:mefy of duess a"d opportulllfles. Illustratio1tS from Appleton (1990: p. 36 a,u/ 37).

32

B~LONGING

A"onJance

Paul Carter (1987: 124) in 'Road to Botany Bay'

Bloomer (1977:35-6) :

wrote of Major Mitchell's journals while survey路

"'Gibsons model of perception is

all obiec~

ing the interior of New South Wales in the 1830's:

live one with a clear method of approach.

By regroulJing the senses around the types of informatioll that imfividuals seek in theIr transac/iolls

with the physical Clll/irOl1mrl1t,

he has provided liS with a rich I1Icchal1it.:a/

11lOde! of perceptioN from which

fL/('

might

vetter undC'rsltl11d some of the processes

that generate experience in architecfure.... placing the whole body,

.. Here u/as an almost boundless extent of

the richest surface

lJ1

a latitude corresp011d路

lug to that o( Chhld, yet still lincu/tillaled and wHJccltfJied f)y

/Ht.lll.

A great reserve.

prouit/ed hy uature (or the

exlenSION

or his

race where economy. art. alld IIldltstr)' might su{{ice to lieople it with a peace{ul.

110t

happy and contented population. ..

jllst the eyes ond ears. a/ the cClllre of the

perceptual experience. ., As Carter indicates, Mitchell's language is a little flowery, ill this dissertation, creating 'word Bloomer's view on Gibson (1977: 129) : pictures', that would put a real estate salesman's

"AI1 important fact about the affordl1llces

efforts at sales - copy writing to shame.

of the ellviro1lment is that they are ;11 a

sellse objective, real, and physical. unlike

Carter explains this (1987:245) :

values Gnd meanings. wbich are oftell supposed to be subjective, phenomenal and

"Mitchell's landscape was one where trav-

mental..... It is {a{{ordance} equally a {act o{

eller and IJoet. colonist and critic. !night

the environment and of behaviour. It is

{eet equally at home. It looked (orward to

both physical and psychical, yet neither."

a cultivated society."

The cord that affordance struck with me, in relaCarter again on Mitchell (1987:245) : (Ion to the research, was to deconstruct my notion of the physical environment and forced me

"To an European, the prospect o{ an Opel1

to question what ultimate differences there wefe

country has a double charm in regions for

between the Victorian Aboriginal experience of

the most part covered ill primal forests.

the physical environment and contemporary

calling ttl) pleasing reminiscences of the

Australia's, from a basic biological stance.

past, brighter prospects {or the {llture inspiring a sense of freedom. especially

33

BelONGING Altordance

when viewed from the back of a good

It can also be used in interpreting the contour of

horse. ,. a landscape or anything material.

So Mitchell saw the landscape afforded him ease But more important is her notion of 'refuge sym-

of travel through its 'openness', a good horse

bO!JSIll', in that it affords comfort to the -refugee'. freed him (rol11 excessive physical exertion,

Not onl)' comfort, as Gear (1989:276) cominues: affords hlln joy

III

reminiscence Jnd bright

fUllire

pro~pects frolll the tnllh of the land. He also S~lW

"..... partici!Jatioll

1J1

of the arts offers

a/l

it, and related it in rerlllS of what it afforded the

the means for orientation ;11 clIery sense o{

European colol11<.11 culture.

the word, and the same is true of other ar/-

forms: (r0111 vital sensory feedback aud Other scholars who have picked up on

Gib~on's

stimulation (which we promotes growth

lead include the English Psychologisl, Jane Gear

ill

HOW

the

k"ow actually

IlCrl'OltS

system) to

insights il1to alternative modes of /Jerce/J-

also interested in the concept of Visual perccp-

tio11 ami behaviour which offer whole

[ioll. Gear wrote 'Perception and rhe Evolution of

rmlges of possibilities al/{I the "ery stuff of

Style' in whii..:h she evaluates art

concept format i011".

31ld liS

role

III

the

psychologIcal realm of humans.

Where Gear indicates the growth in the nervous

Gear (1989:224) states:

system, she is pointing to studies by American scientisr Rosenzweig, who found that the number of

"The mass produced ornaments of the lime were characterised by their roundNess, by a

synapses in the connections in the brain, according to Bloomer (1990:49) : " ..... is related to enviton-

certain sculptural quality within which there were very often quire deep hollows

mental stimulation. Rats brains had 10째.10 more

and niches which when perceived physiog-

weight in an enriched sensory environment, than

nomically, were extraordinarily ricb in

those deprived of sensory stimulation".

refuge symbolism. .,

Physiognomy is described by the Oxford dietionary as "The art of judging character from the features of the face or the form and lineaments

of the body generally."

34

BelONGING AfforrJance

Bloomer (1990:49) also points to research under-

Appleton (1990:24) states:

taken by Darwin were he observed the cortex of

"If environmental perceptioll is

domesticated animals is thinner than wild anill131s,

all

essential

prelude to environmental adaptation, it is

in rich natural environments. "The implications"

of the lItmost importallce that the perceivsrdte~ Bloomer '"(or human beings 3TC profound

ing organism shall be able to dct on the sig-

and complex."

11tlls git'ell by thesl' symbolic oIJiects. It must be illlcrested not ul1l)' r'(lhat

This sCience seems to run at odds with the whole

it

~

both these questions, but also Wlbot's i11 it

for me ?"

concept of rhe modernist movement, which for ideological reasons advocared the shedding of

IS

111

4.2

ECONOMY

ornamenr (the very stuff refuge symbolism is

made 00 for a morc pure fOTm.

The concept of economy in \'(fcstern culture is largely viewed in a monetary sense, though rein-

Appleton (1990:47) :

terprclation of what is included in the 'schemata' of fiscal economy, like the views of

.. W/hat I should

11010

like

10

examine a lit-

tle more closely is not so much the {unc-

B~Helllan

(1995:47) are including ecological value in project cost benefit analyses.

tions o{ buildings as places o{ re{uge but

rather the symbolism through which we comnllmicate a sense of such a (unction to

Yet the area most truly affected in the under-

those of us who observe them . ..

standing of affordance is the conservation of physical energy and of species survival. In review-

Yet Gibson (1977:130) resolves that:

ing these aspects of affordance in terms of its reaction with the physical environment, we will

"Why has man changed tl,e shapes and substances of his environment? To change

come to understand the lwhat's in it for me' concept of affordance.

what it a{{ords him. He has made more available what benefits him and less pressil1g what illjures him."

35

BelONGING Afton/ante

in {utile struggles against one another. This

Gibson (1977: 135) :

is true, ellen i{ we define "use{ul" in al1 apparently Darwinian way, as concerned .. Perception is economical, those (eatllres with rearillg childrell. If males diverted illto

of a thing are noticed wbich distinguish it useful chalmels the energy that they waste (rom other things tbat it is

110/ -

hut

110t

all competiNg with each other, the s/Jecies as a

tIJr features that distinguish il (rom every-

whole /could rcar more children {or less thing that it is not. " effort and less {ood consumed. ..

Gear puts forward a number of bnuscape skerchWe make Inlute economical decisions on e~

[I

d.lIly

of:l disranr horizon, (figure 10,1'32) all have b~sis,

if not by the minutc. We feel anguish when

the same topography, but differ ill terms oj light we can't park our car close to (he entrance of the and vegetation. Each affording the viewer a difshopping mall; once parked we select

[I

route

ferent set of responses to rhe ea<;e of the going.

which hopefully will take us in a straight line or The heavily wooded horizon looks like hard the shortest path to the entrance.

work, while the next sketch shows a heavily wood horizon with a clearing

Oil

the top of a hill,

When scaling a cliff face, (or for the less cld,enaffording a clear vantage (() the next horizon turOliS a tiered stadium), instinctivly we seek out

beyond. toe holds and finger grips which assist in the task of ascention. Unconscious decisions are made

[Q

This is the innate survival response, of economy assist in your safe arrival with the expcnditure of

of effort keeping some in reserve if needed. the least alllount of energy.

Economy of movement has been overtaken in modern society to be replaced by economy of

4.3

ADAI'TATlDN

production, an industry dedicated to the exclusian of humans frolll toil.

Yvcs Coppens article in Scientific American (May

1994), proposes that the divergence of the Dawkins (1995:118):

hominids from the gteat apes was a product of speciation brought about by tectonic movement

"The wastef"llless

of the harelll eCOIlOIllY

can be summarised as {allows: Males,

of land plates in the Rift Valley some 8 million years ago. With the generation of a linc of peaks,

instead of devoting themselves to useful work, squander their energy and strength

disturbing weather patterns and altering climates

36

BeLONGING Rffordance

to establish two distinct ecosystems.

impact on the make lip of the human species,

Coppens puts forward the proposition that West

which are peculiar to, and contained within, a

of the Rift Valley maintained its forests and

certain topographical region.

woodlands and humid climate, while the east became open SJvanna. The west maintalllcd its

Like a Venn diagram, these regions have ovcrlaps

'status quo' ;:Ind the cast 'adapted' to lheir lIew

with neighbouring groups but at the celltre and to

environl11enr, forming wh:1t

the edges which Iluimalll no relatiollship \vith

IS

now considered to

be the break between pJllldae and Ilomillidae.

neighbours through topographic barriers,

[chimp:.Inzee and l113nl

tained over time developments within fhe gene

IS 111311\-

pool which differentiare physically, thar species

Numerous academics from Tuan, Gibson,

frolll its neighbour.

Bourassa to Appleton, have all suggested that humans show a preference to lighrly treed open

Wilson (1995: 166) wrote, in his ground breaking

savanna, and if this is overlooking water, all the

research in Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity,

better. So

hllll1an~

have ad,lpted to their new

physical environment, yet they show

J

on geographic speciation, that:

1I11late

preference for the environment that nurtured

.. Ellough immigrants (ly, swim, or drift ashore to colonise the island, yet not so

them.

many in each generation to (orm the commanding elements of its populations. If the Bateson lists the meaning in his glossary

(1979:227) :

island is large and old and distant enough, the descendants of the immigrants evolve into new races peculiar to the new home. ,.

"Adaption. : feature of an organism whereby it seemingly fits better into its

UGiven enough time the races diverge still further

enviro1l1uellt and way of life. The process of achieving that fit . .,

from their sister populations on the continent and on neighbouring islands to deserve the taxonomic

4.4

GEOGRAPHICAL SPECIATION

rank of species. We rhink of such local races and

species as endemic: they are native to the island Different modes of living along wirh different

and nowhere else in thc world."

physical environments and diverse societies, all

37

BeLONGING Affordance

As time passes and generations of Australians adapt to their new environment, it will afford them a benefit, purely through irs difference.

Appleton 11990: 70):

..... our habits of elll'irownental perceptioll

can he seen as prol'iding a daect link between oftr cl olutio1lary history, as 1

described by the scientists, and those aesthetic values which we see as belonging to the world

of the arts. ..

So we conclude from the previous three chapters that there is a wealth of thought in these adages and postulation" whicb, when hrought together form a body of

~lrgumenr, and

if persuasive

enough will become the dominant ideology, perception, and affordance. These work together and have commonality across all cultures, and inform our research into the notion of belonging and the physical environment.

38

BeLON&ING 88longing

I

5.0

BELONGING

Marcelo Minale stared in his address to the delegates at the 'Sense of Place' conference at

'Car; sun! parentes, Cllrl liheri, propinqui,

Killarney, Irelend in 1997:

(ami/iares; sed omnes omnium carttales patrin WTa cOlHplexa est. -

Dear are

0111' parents,

"\V£" are lookmg for the 'common deno"ll··

dear arc our children, our ucighbullrs, our lwtor"

companiolls;

bUI

all the a((ectioll:i of all

wen are bound tip

ill 011(' Jhl/IUi!

in the field of design when trying to

prfJLIide a design soluliul1. "

I""d..

Not rhe 'otherness' but the ·samcne",,·. lhis model Cicero. De Officiis, Book I, 17.

(C",e1I's 'Book fits with the deconstructionist mode of modern

of Quotetions' p.S03) thought.

We have reached a point in this Journal \\'here the

Roth (1996:10): threads of information presented in the previous

chapters need to be drawn together, and interwo-

"The decol1struclor does not wish to raise

\'ell with an interpretation of the phySical envi-

(It((erel1ce ahozl(' identtl)', but to tr'lJls(orm

rOllmcnr Jnd the Eu[opc,lIl dlld AbOriginal experi-

buth liifferenre ami identity so that they

cnee of belonging.

may

110

longer occur in opposition to each

other. " In doing so, it is necessary to realise that the Heidegger is regarded as the body of knowledge direction adopted for this research is in the field in the field of belonging, Roth (1996:22) writes: of ethology, rether than erhnology. The element to the research that fixed my attention the most,

.. No longer is identity, or sameness, a

were the similarities rather rhan the differences

determination of BeilIg; rather. the Same

between the people, and their respective cultures.

determhles Being. The Same, what the IJrincip!e of identity claims, is prior to Being and thought. Being and thought are together. t!Jey belong together. in the Same."

39

B.OIISIN(;

&Ionglng

figure J 1.

Ballllcr headlllles {rom The Her.Jld 51111' 'U?Wspr.1f1er lIulicl1tmg reflectlO" 0" belollglllgs retrlelled from the ashes of a dwelli"g following bush fires III February 1998.

Herald

~UIJ

Figure 12.

A refuge

110

more.

figure 13.

Reflect/Oils

011

belollgings.

40

B~LO"G1NS

Belonging

Belonging is the blend of Ihe ontological 'being'

Eagleton wriles on the object (1990:288) :

Jnd the 'longing' or desire to fit in to a group,

"Consider wbal it is about any obiect, that

community, clan or society.

is al once coustilulille o( its being and qulle bidden (rom view. To begin witb, there is Roth (1996:21-22):

its telJlporality - the {act that what we see wben we c()ntem/Jlate something is mereiy

"The principle of idenlity is the highest

,1

kind o( suapshut or (rozen moment o(

IJrinciple of thought, the (irst determinatwu

the tem/nJrtll process which goes to make

of Being, it Ituiles thought and Being:

up its ualure

when we let the principle lay its claim,

Ollr

110

obiect swims into

uiew other thall against the background o(

thinking becomes [rue i11 the highest sense,

some 路world路, some dimly appreheuded set

il becomes idclltieal with Bei"g. ..

of inlerlaced fWlctiuns and localions. It is this uetwork o( perspectives and relaliolls,

Apart from the personal, '"belonging' also pertains (0

the artefact which in turn reAects an individ-

wecwing a thing through to its core, which provides the very matrix withiu which it becolJles idellli{iahle alld intelligible. ..

ual',; belonging to

.1

society.

Norberg - Shulz (1985:20): This facet of 'belonging' as artefact was brought home ro me, after viewing numerous television

"Tbrough idellti(ication rnoll possesses a

news programs, involving stories of people

world, aud thus an ide"tily. Today identity

removed from their dwellings and towns by cara-

is often considered an "interior" quality of

strophe, either natural or man - made. The visuals

each individual, and growing up is under-

were of people in cars, carts and on foot carrying

stood as a "realisation" o{ the hidden sel{.

The theory o{ idmti{ication, however,

their 'belongings'.

teaches us that identity rather consists of an interiorizotion of understood things, and

Stories and visuals of distressed people fleemg

thai growing "p therefore depends on

bush fires and grieving the loss of personal arte-

beil1g open to what surrounds

liS . ..

facts which they had no time to collect and carry to safety in their bid for survival.

41

BeLONGING

Belonging

He conrinues:

Robert Green edited a book of essays

0"

Weberian thought and (1973: II postulates: "Altbough the world is immediately givell,

5.1

it has to be interpreted to be understood.

"A product of modern European civilisa-

allli although man is !Jart of the world, he

tion. studying (lny problem

has to c011cretil.c Jus belonging to feel at

tory, is bUlllld to ask hilll {it} self. to what

home. ..

combmalwlI of czrCll1nstmlces the (ncl

of universal his-

should be at/rifmted. that ill \'(Iesterl1 ciuili-

IDEOLOGY

sation, amI in \X1estern cil'ilisatioll ollly. cultural pheNomena lJazle appeared winch (as

The idea of belonging is a developing area of

we like to think) lie in a fine of develop-

thoughr, one not widely ohserved, through many

ment hauil1g 1l11il'crsal significance and value ..

motivarions.

As we identified in earlier chapters, the effecr of

Christia" Norberg - Schulz (1980:5):

dominant ideology is damning ., MIW

clweiis when he can oru'ntille Imnseif

within and i(iÂŁmtify himself with ronmelll~ or~

(111

cnl'i-

missive cultures wlthlll

.1

{Q

minority or sub-

society. 'Universallty'

hJS a western ideological 'spin' to it. Though free

in short, when he experiences

the ellvir01l1nenl as meaningful. ,.

market forces of the universal army of economics are prized as rhe dominant or Darwinian Illodel for developmenr / progress / advancement, history

In this sense the idea of 'meaning' has not had teaches us that the lessons of yesterday are soon much tin1c for it to be aired amongsr rhe, largely forgotten, when the possibility of financial teward new, citizens of rhis continenr. Debate in is sensed.

Australia has been wide sptead on the concept of multi - cultutalism, based in the 'pluralist' ftameJankowski in his book 'Islands in the Street', work, yer belonging is sensed as 'other' in that we looks at the composition of street gangs, in the U. read 'time' in our own life span.

S. A. (1991:84) and puts this theory on ideology:

.. Every gallg studied employed ideology as al1 organisational resource. By ideology I mean a logically conllected set of beliefs

42

BelONGING Belonging

that provide the members with (I) a picture

This feeling of alienation is a subject of study, and

of the world, (2) all IIIterpretatioll of this

has a relationship with work done by pictllre, alld (3) a illstificatioll for its supe-

American Architect, Kent Bloomer (1977: 34) :

riorily Oller other pictures. .,

"The Haptic sense is the sense of touch

Jankowski (1991:H4):

reconsidered to inc/ude the entire IJOdy rather than merely the iustrument of to/lch,

"Idcology serl'es t lÂŁI() 11l1erC0111lerfed (uuc-

such as the /lllJ1ds. To sense hapticall)' is to

tions ill gallgs. First. it Olll'1IlfJts tn explain

experiellce ubiec:ts

how the world fUllctlOllS

actually touchillg tbem. "

Oil fl

broad soci-

JJI

tbe eJll'iro1l11lcnt by

etallcve!: secolld, it creates a set of moral

prillcil,les that will solidify the grollp . ..

5.2

Bloomer continues (1977:35) :

PERCEPTION Similarly you may sense body motion haptlcally

The perceprion of belonging has losr irs place or

by detecting the movcment of joinrs and muscles

sense of place wirhlll society. As I indicared in rhe

through your entire bodyscape. (This property of

inrroduction, the concepr of land as a value system

Ihlptic sensing is callcd kllucsrhesia.)

lost irs imporrance ro European I \Vesrern societies 5.3

AFFOROANCE

around the industrial revolution, wirh the break up

of Feudal societies.

Belonging affords an innate connection wirh the physical cnvironment, only through a re-emerfndividualistic pursuits rook precedence over comgence of environmental values or ethics.

muniry values, the English model speciated from the Western European model, and it was rhis isolated

Gibson (1977:143): family unit that sptead to the cornetS of the globe in the 1800's.

"The medium, substances, surfaces, obiects, places and a/her animals bave

This sensarion of being alone in a strange place has

affordallces for a givell allimal. They offer

profound ramifications on the senses, and brings

benefit or illiury, life or death. This is why

about, as the Gould's described it (1994:197):

they lIeed to be perceived. "

"latent" and "pathological behaviour."

43

BeLONGING BelDnging

Philip Drew (1985:47) :

Tucker conrinues :

"If natural man was free to saunter, civi-

"The trouble was, they caught all commer-

li.zed /man/, Thoreau 1loled, carries his

cially alld became so popular, galleries were

house on his back

askillg me to do more aml more, so I had

al1d the house, far

(rom serving its i1lhabitants, had hecome a

to stop thellT with a crash alld (urn to

burden to them, an IIl1lUeildhrg property

tougher sl/bjects. ..

which, more often 'hall

110t,

imprisuned its

occupants instead of housing them. ,.

Nt}, undersldnding of his situation i<;

lh~H, III

order

for Tucker to belong ro rhe dOllllllant Ideological

An example of Belonging that firs with the catc-

school of 1960's Australian painters, he had to

gory of affordance, revolves around the art of

force himself

Australian Artist Alben Tucka. In an interview

the place of his belonging, to swim with the imcr-

with Janet Hawley, a journalist with the Age

national 'dour' school of grim pictures and rop-

Newspaper's 'Good Weekend" magazine pub-

u.:s.

aW:l)'

from his feeling of elation for

lI,hed on February 18, 1995, Tucker painted a series of Australian landsc3pe:s un his return from

Yi - Fu Tuan wrote 'TopophiIJJ'. whICh mea.ns

his European sojourn of 13 years:

the love of topography or place. (1974:247) :

.,/ was bowled over with the uniqueness of

"Topophilia takes many (orms and varies

the bush. birds, trees, in a romantic. nostal-

greatly in emotional range alld intellsity. It

gic way, and it's probably the only part of

is a start to describe what they are: (leeting

my life's work that wasn't grim"

visual pleasure; the sensual deligbt of physical contact; the fondness of place because it is {amiliar, because it is home and incar-

My reading of Tuckers 'romance' was the fact

nates the past, becatlse it is, it evokes pride

that the physical environment of his native land,

of ownership or of creation; joy in things

afforded him a better existence than the frugal

becallse of animal health and vitality."

'caravan' existence on the Boulevards of Paris, in

familiar surroundings with family and friends for

Robin Boyd speaks of the indigenous environ-

support.

ment in 'The Australian Ugliness'

(1980:93) :

44

BelONGING

Belonging

路'Modern Australians have no eS!Jecially psychopathic (ear of the

glllll

out of home. Independence and freedom, affords

or the wattle, them the opporrunity to develop their own cul-

but no two trees could have been desigl1ed 10 be less sY"lpathetic to the qualities of

ture and sense of belonging.

tidiness and conformist indecision which arc desired in the artificial background. ..

But Serle (1973: 62) saw that unlike the United Sr~1fe~,

Hoyd follows the same Ime

III

Australian pioneer culture was shortlJ\'cd:

'Ausrr.l1ia's I lome'

(1952:175) :

"The !hlst(Jral fulk clliture had only a IrlHit路 ed time to del1elo/J in isolation IJefore the

路'There is dissatisfaction with nature. The Australian home builder found no place fur

illl/,ac! of indllstrial society first dillited II and then eliminated it."

her wilhill the palillg fellces of Ilis lot. I Ie destroyed every native tree. planted one or two disciplined English saplings and

Although shorr lived, the independence had long enough to form the 'altruistic' character oj the

trimmed the grass, the hedge and shruhs with geometric shapes. .,

'ega lirarial1路.

Serle (1973:90) : This propensiry or preference for the familiar cuts deep within the psyche of the pioneer, Serle (1973:60) :

"The main Australian dream had been of a society in l.vhich none would be poor and all would live in at least modest comfort, in

"The 80's {1880] were the sprillg time,

a colllmullity free from the evils of the old

adolescellt period of Allstraliall history. 111

world

these boom years, the utalJian assumption

had died away, while industrialisation and

of Australia's destiny as another United

urbanisation proceeded."

TlJe idealist impulse ill the bush

States, peopled by a chose 11 white race, superior to the old world and free from its vices, held sway as never since. ,.

The fathet of rhe 'Victorian Acclimatisation Society' was Frederich McCoy, the first professor of Natutal Science at the University of

So the 'tytanny of distance' that Australian's feel, Melbourne. in their relationship with 'Mother' Europe, is likened to a contemporary 18 year old, moving

45

BeLONSINC

l2Ionging

Jenkins (1977: 16) cites this report No.7 delivered

Frampton (1992:314) conceptualised his theory

by McCoy in 1862, to the founding fathers of the

un Critical Regionalism:

Acclimarisariol1 Society: "Thus we come to the crucial problem COl1'" I( Australw had heeu colol/ised by al/Y o(

{rol1til1g nations just rising {rom ul1derde-

the lazy natious o( the earth this nakedness

lIelupmel1t. 111 order to get em to the road

uf tbe Ic7JullL'ould haue been an o/J/Jressil'(,

towards moderl1iz:atum,

J1lls(ortfmc, Imt Englishmen IOllc a good /)u'ce

jettiso11 the old fultural/hlst which has

of VofllJl!<lry hard u.lork, and you will all, 1

beell tbe raisoll d'etrc

am sure, re;oice ulith me that Ihis great pica'

is the paradox: Junl' to !Jecome modern and

of nalure S work has beeN left to ItS to do,

to return to sources: boll' to rel,illC an old

That this large continent extending (rom the

dormal1t CIVilization ami take part in ul1i-

10th to the 40th parallel o( latitude, cal",ble

llersal ciuiliz,atlol1. .,

IS

It

necessary to

o( {/ lIaholl ..... Tbere

o( supportil/g 100 out o( the 180 species o( knOWN ruminating animaLs, may by us be

While largely directing this proposition towards

fit/ed with such a selection (ronz them as may present the highest points of excellence, omit-

ting the mlawr kind,

the good we do

Asia, I believe it bears some relevance to Ausrralia, as a newly emerging \'Vestern society.

will live after us, and so become a lasting

benefit to the millions of men who will in the

Carter (1986:158):

(ulll/ess o( time, iI/habit this lal/d. " "Inside the line is culture; beyond it, The pioneering spirit still lives within the typical

nature. As the (rontier moues, nature is

Australian, the advent of the four wheel drive

bulldozed into submission. .,

passenger vehicle is a case in point.

Steven Bourassa (1991 :21) : 5.4

CRITICAL REGIONALISM

"To the extent that landscape is art or arteDiscourse amongst western academics as to the

{act, it shares architecture's continuity with

possibilities for advancement in the development

the dewratiue arts, ill its design it reflects

of architecture have speculated that real advances

answers to practical questions about what

in new directions in architecture will be attained

(its. The localised quality o( architecture means that to a large exlellt architectural

through inspirations drawn from the physical

design is a matter o( decidil/g what (its iI/

environment.

46

BelONGING B6/onging

the context of the surrotmding landscape.

Norberg - Schulz (1980:5) :

Thus it is appropriate to re{er to lalldscape as the relevant aesthetic object in evaluat"Since ancient times the gel1ius loci, or ing architecture." spirit of place has been recognised as the concrete reality man has to (at.:e and cume Karp, in his book 'Being Urban' (which he cowrore with G. P. Stone &

w.

to terllls With

ill

I,is daily h{e路路

C. Yoels) which

investigates the sociology 01 city life.

lie expand, on the concept (1980: 18) :

,. 'Genius loci' is a Roman concept.

Karp (1991:56) :

According to ancient Roman helie(, every "EcologIsts seem either to forget or disregard the fact t!Jat space has meaning (or

'mdependent' being !Jas its gel1ius, its guardian spirit. This spirit gIVes life

10

peo-

ple and places, acco111/Jal1ies them (rom

people"

birth to death, alld determhlCs their character or essence. ..

Karp (1991:57): lie continues (1980: 19) : " As symholic

interactioJlists~ we

see the

need to assess the relationship betweel1

"/11 fact, modern man (or a long time

space, the symbolic meaning attached to

believed that sciellce alld techllology had

space, and human behaviour itself. ,.

(reed him (rom a direct independence

011

places.

Karp (1991:57) :

This belie{ has proved all iUusioll; pollutioll and environmental chaos have suddenly 芦Unless we consider the use, the meal1ing, the sylllholic siglli{icallce. and {requently the sentiment and emotions attached to

appeared as a (rightening nemesis) and as a result the problem o{ IJlace has regained its true importance.

U

various (ealllres o{ the city's topology. we shall incorrectly ullderstalld patterns o{ interaction in the city, and by defillitioll,

Philip Drew (1985:49), in his treatise on the

there{ore, incompletely ullderstand t.he

Australian Architect, Glen M urcu[['s attempts at

city's social organisatioll, ,.

an Australian identity summons up the notion of <genius loci' in his work:

47

BeLONGING

Belonging

"It ;s more importallt than ever that

5.5

ANTIPODEAN

Australian's identify with the land and Peter Fuller (1986:68):

allow the special qualities of it 's landscapes to 110urish and il1form their lives al1d clIIture, evel1 as it did (or the Aborigine. The lal1d must be allowed to seep il1tO the Australian psyche. Australia must 110 longer be allowed to rematll tll1 tmklloU'1l land. Instead, it must IJccome the known

"So long as Australians cOlltinlfe to look to Europe and Arnerica for conformatioll of (heir OWll idelltity, they will neller exist as Clllything

hill

a perilJberal cultUrl!, (oreN!"

ccJlldcl1l1led to he (w 'exotic' (Iud alien peo路 pie. As JlIt1ll Dnllila suggests, they will only

land 'Terra Australis Cogllita'"

acbiel1e identity through the assertion of their 'otIJerl1ess', hut not through hls/stellce Bourassa (l991: 137) :

Oil

"The critical regionalist is aware of Jll1illersal techniques hut does 1lOt alJply them

路differellce'. .,

The exotic 'otherness' as, Fuller purs it, is rhe substonce behind the tag or lobel of the

arbitrarily, withoul respect to local conditions. At the same time, the critical regionalist does not resort to a

senti1llentallJer~

nacular or a reactionary historicising. "

'antipodean'. Literally meaning the 'other foot" Of wfong four, by a Eurocentnc culture, rhi,; otherness is ridiculed as retardation, ~l hack ward-

ness. Yer Bourassa (1991: 139) :

LS

only evidence of OUf yourh as a nation

of peoples from all over the globe, settling in a strange environment and adapting or evolving as

"The critical regionalist realises that urban

this otherness becomes the familiar.

form must be bounded and defined if it is to serve as a repository for human meaning. Critical regionalism's salient cultural

Belonging in this sense is the opposite to 'bewil-

precept is 芦place' creation; it's general

derment', the European construct of the 'wild')

model is the 'enclave' - that

associated to their 'dark, dark woods', and folk-

;Sl

the bounded

urban fragment agaillst which the imozdation of the place-less, consumerist environ-

loric, demons and gremlins, which painrs the wilderness as evil. Therefore, to be 'bewildered'

meT/t will find itself momentarily checked." means to be losr or in an unfamiliar, rhus threat-

ening environment.

48

BeLONGING Belonging

The European construe[ of the familiar is then,

{Greco-Roman} / Christian cosmology

developed ill wlJich the Alltipodes agaill the ordered or civilised, a sure footedness, being

became a place the opposite of that which is supposed to exist on

the opposite side of the globe.

011

the otl"r side of the

world, but a place which was inhabited by wild humans rather /bml a people wbo, il1 accord with the classicalllotion of a geo-

Phd,!, Drcw (1985: 49) :

graphic Antipodes, Il'ere essentially the same as those ill the Northerll hemisphere. "

"Tbe word 'aIlti/Jodes' - bauing tbe fect o!'/Jus/te - illustrates boUi Europetlns saw Australia, aud Australian culture bas devel-

The 'wild man' notion is a European construct

oped ill

and must have been influential in the first settlers

011

mllipodean marmer, that is, (eet

to feet luitb Europeall, alld later with

treatment of the Aborigine, nor only rh.:u, but

American clflture, The orientatlOl1 implied that Australian culture was expected to dis-

tho~e back on the mher side in Europe, painted

playa certain symmetr)~ more or less as an

all Australians as antipodes, and wild men.

inverted mirror image of European values

Something that did not sit well with the colonial-

awl

ist, and would have been 11lfluential in their

(HIt lire. "

attempts to assimilate the Aborigine.

Otherness, in the human sphere of influence, is effectively brought about by place, individuals

We now can summarise, from this investigation of

within that place, are (as Heidegger suggests) the

belonging, overviewed by the realisation of the

'same', and belong together. The development of

base elements of dominant Wesrern I Australian

a sense of belonging, is brought about by a feeling

behaviour as the dominant population, that an

of safety. of security. of the ability to survive.

area for investigation and interpretation lies in the

Then the 'otherness' is only sensed by strangetS,

field of the optimising the oor understanding of

in a place, unfamiliar,

the physical environment and its signifying benefits to our society.

[an McLean (1998:12):

.. When classical antipodal cOlleepts begall to infiltrate the late medieval alld early

Renaissallce period, a hybrid classical

49

BeLONSING Biome

6.0

BlOME

other species, and unfortunately within the same speCies.

The state of belonging is ;1ssisted by a stable en VI-

r0I1111enr, this optimal environment is tt:fmed a

Biome indicates the right set of conditions to

'biome'. apart (rom issues of speciation caused hy

profligate and exist; roo favourable conditions

shifts in environmental conditions. IC()ppen~

and the specie<; will over populate and through

(1994)1 ;1 species will expand and prosper If the

exhaustion of resource::., will cause a correction ill

environmental conditions are favourable.

bi::1lJnce and diminution in population'i.

Belonging, in this sense is helped hy an environ-

This is the backbone to Darwinian theory.

ment that is familiar, provides, dnd is non threarel1lng.

As designers, an understanding of this structure is required to be able to place objects infO this ellvi-

Norberg - Schulz (1985: J 2) :

ronll1enr without (or with minimal) disturbance ro this 'hlome', this praclise is not widely under路

"To dwell in the quahtative sel1se is a /}(1sic condition of hllrnanity. When we identify

stood within the Industrial De::.ign profession, and is currently reflected in an organic morphology,

with a place. we dedicate ourselves to a way of beillg ill the world- Therefore

within the form given to artefacts.

dwellblg demands something (rom us, as well as from our places_ We have to have

The Eastern philosophy of Feng Shui is a case in

all open milld, alld the places have to offer

point, of an ideology affording a more sympather-

rich possibilities for idel1tificatioll. .,

ic biome for human existence within the built environment.

The term 'biome', is a term not usually attriburable to the human species, mainly because of the Rossbach (1987: 10) : human sensibility of being above or higher than other species, through our notion of being superi-

.. Feng shui seeks to find alld create a bal-

or. This distraction, which has been ingrained,

anced and harmollious home, and thus

predominantly in Western cultures, through the

brillg the occupallts good health and emo-

use and rnasterdom over domesticated livestock,

tional equilibrium . ..

and has expanded through this connection to

50

•

•

o • •

••

Blome

figure 14.

1"tenor blOrne of the Chu1t {amtly resldlllg ill ReservoIr, Victoria.

Origmati"g from Caml)(xfltl, wIth their bdotlgmgs.

figure 15.

InterIor blOme of the JllnJa {Illmly resldmg m Northcote, V'ctor'll.

Ongmdtmg {rom Somalia, with their bdongmgs.

•

I Figure 16. l11tcnor h,ome o{ the Roach {Ilmily residing m ReservOIr, Victonll.

Ongl1lJtmg {rom VictoTia. with theIr beloltgmgs.

lIIustr.uions from 'The Inlerlor' magazim:, 1992.

51

BelONG

NG

Biome

Rossbach (1987: 10) continues:

So according

ÂŁ0

Groves, Westerner society still

has its rituals, but there meaning or significance

"This idea of balance is more sophisticated tbal1 mere symmetry. It aligns a home

Or

a

has been, largely lost to Western civilisation. This is a point taken lip b)' Melbourne Architect, Peter

person with the uatural and mall-made ele-

ments, tlJ/fs creating a peaceful, han1tonious (low within the

Corrigan in an afterwÂŁtrd to Groves' book.

flluirol/lllel1l . ..

Corrigan (1991: 105-6) : The \'(Iest is tinkering with this concept, ret is still scepric~d,

frol11

ir~

.. If we are to sustain a sellse of /Jlace in our

domina1H ideological posillon,

cities, or more to the point, ill the buildings m it is yet to he convinced, paYing only lip service ro

which we hue amI work. then tee/molo},')'

the concept. mainly to secure archilccrural con-

must be allocated its proper role. Architecture

frdC[S from affluent Asian diems_

both exploits and is serviced by teclmolog)', but it also traNsceNds 11, and in some very im/Jortant ways is profoundly anti - tech-

Building as we know it in a Western environment,

nological ill its ualues. The general public is rechnologlG11, the question is, docs this lechnol-

ogy serve

lie;;

in rhe

cre~1tion

craues arelnlce/ure Ih,lt establishes place

of conducive biomes,

and satisfies our aspirations for permanence Gnd survival. Nowadays, ;n social

or disserve us ?

terms, the language of patriotism may not be (ashiollable, but the appetite (or 'roots" -

Groves (1991:1031:

albeit often make - believe ones - is

1010/)-

peasable. " "Feng-shui is (ascillating - to Westerners especially - because it is dynarnic in cbarac-

6.1

ENVIRONMENTALISM

ter, a Iivilzg tradition which is taken very seriously by mallY Chinese people. Some may say that, currelltly, there is nothing

Carrer (1987:253) quotes J. E. Brown from his

/ike (ellg - sImi ill lVestem culture, I hope

'Practical Treatise on Tree Culture in South

this book has shown that this is Ilot the

Australia (188l:14) :

case. Western building ceremonies relating to tunzing the sod, laying a (oundation stOlle, completing the roo( - (ramillg alld opening a new building are quite similar to (eng - simi ill form and (unction . .,

., 111 an ornamental point of view, then, trees are a Ilecessity o( our li(e; they instruct the mil1d il1 the work of the Creator, alld they elevate the soul to things

52

BeLONGING Blome

noble and cultivated ...trees have a wonder-

displaced by the reality, of the recognition of the

fuily refining influence UPOll human nature, reasons for their departing the 'old country' in the

to such

arl

extent that by our cuitivati011 of

trees, so I think, may Ollr social standard be estimated. ,.

first place. Thar is, that Australia afforded them a berrer existence than their native bnd.

r trU'it that Brown's IIlterpretation of the word 'clIl-

Ennronlllenralislll,

tivate' would mean plc1ntJtiol1 forestry, but the date

n,l1lce ot ~ Sllsf,lin,lble ecolog)l. and the creatiun of ~l

of his work, being 1881, would mean the 'clear fell'

hlllll.lIl

IS

two fold. It

IS

lhe

Il1Jinre-

hiOJ1lc.

variety of forestry.

The crc:llion of Western style environmenrs within

Desmond Morris (1967:241) :

this island continent, resound from the cultural baggage of the European influx. From the early setrlement of easy country, to the wholesale destruction

"This dues Ilot imply a nawe 'retllrn to nature'. It simply meallS that we should tailor our intelligent opportunist advances to

of vast tracts of forest, by the late comers, to open lip the country, to suPPOrt \Vestern agrarianism.

our basic behavioural requireme1lts. We must somehow Im/Jrol'(! ill qualit)' rather than quantity. If we do this, we caN cOl1tiHue to

Small pockets of 'old growth' forest areas, are becoming the 'exotics' within the Australian physi-

progress technologically in a dramatic and exciting way without denying our evolutionary inheritance. If we do not, thell ollr suppressed

cal environment. As the farming sector lays claim to

biological urges will build up and up until

area in its expansion over this continent. Yet it is

tbe dam bursts and the whole of our elabo-

this stimulus, that creates the 'otherness', and the

rate existence is swept away in the flood. "

sense of place. The matk of the visual stimulus, created by the indigenous environment is only

Technology is viewed within the Western context,

recognised by the new comer, upon his return to

as a means to an end. This is true to an extent, the

his roots.

scary bit about technology is that, the technologist's don't know what the end will be. The ethical

Many people, have expressed rhe sentiment, as did

debate about 'genetic engineering' is a case in point.

Albert Tucker, that an appreciation of the distinct Australian physical envirolllnent, was only realised when the romantic notion of the 'old country' was

53

BeLONCING Biome

Marrin Heidegger (1977:4) :

The development of an awareness of the values of an indigenous vegetation is gradually being encul-

.. \Ve ask the question concerning techno/a路

gy when we ask what it is. Everybody

rurated within the wider commulllty. More by stealth, than by popular demand; most stalurory

knows the two staternenls that answer Ollr questioN. One says: Technology IS

d

menus

authorities across Australi.,l have recognised rhe

to an emf. the other says: Tee/motug)' is a

economies of lIIdlgcnous vegetatIon, suited ro the

human nelil/ily. The two de(imtlOlis of

and c1im<ltlC

tcc/nm/ogy belong togethcl: .,

indigenous gr;.1sses to the sporadic

conditloll~.

Wnh the introduction of ().I~CS

amongst

rhe asphalt of our large urban centres, in a bid for he connnues (1977:5) :

sustainable foliation and a softening of the

illrer~

face.

"Btlf this much remains ClJrrect: modern

technology too ;s a means to an cnd. That

Steven Bourassa (1991 :67) :

is why the instrumental conception of tech-

nology conditiol1S every attempt to bring man ;nfo the right reiatioJl to teclJllO/ogy.

EL1Crythhlg depends all oltr Hltl11iplllating

technology in the proper manuer as a meaus. \Ve will, as we say, "get" techno/a路

gy "spiritually in hand." We will masler it.

"\Vhat is fairly certain, however, is that a biologic-a I aesthetics mltst lJe geared towards sllrl'ival, whether of the individual or the species. Aesthetic preferences must

be {or lalldscapes that al'/Jear to ellhallce survival. .,

The will to mastery becomes all the morc urgenl

the more technology threatens to

slip from human control.禄

The Western idea of Aboriginal environmentalism is clouded by sentimental notions of being 'as one

Hannah Arendt (1958:151):

with nature', yet it must be realised that all human existence, has an impact on the cnviron~

"The question therefore is not so much

ment.

whether we are the Masters or the slaves o{ our machines, but whether machines still serve the world and its things, or if, on the contrary, they and the automatic motion of their processes have begun to rule and even

destroy world alld thillgs . ..

54

BeLONG

NG

Siom,

Renew (1993 :23):

路'Alloriginal people were Nof nomadic hUNters struggling to mainta;'l an unchanging li(es/yle in a !Jos/i1e eNvironment. Rather as lmwlIiltors the)' established specialised productioN tim! aistnlmtioJl systems elm!

extellsil'c/y modified tlJeir CIlUirUml1Cl1t support this

to

pl'OnltdJOll. "

AborigiJ1<ll action along with clil1l~Hic oscillations had great impact

011

Australia.

Bourassa (1991 :69) :

.. Melli

has (or sometime modIfied the land-

scape fl!ith (ire win I" fJlm/iug ami also /0

encourage a savannah路 like hiome. "

Material culture imbued with a regional signifier as a strategy, to induce a state of belonging, within a biome established to trigger a subliminal environmental ethic.

55

BelONGING

Conclusion

7.0

CONCLUSION

In an arrempt (() rationalise the sea of information

stances and dead ends arose. \'(that had nor been

before me, this visual record acts as a compilation

factored into the methodology was the lack of

of the 'adages' .1nd cliches frolll pas-r thinkers in the

expo,;:ure that the Koon subjects of the project had

field of elwironlllcntal p~ychology, embracing the

to the rigour of aC~ldellllC research. Their sense of

arguments and ~l<:;saying the weight, lead me to tIll''>

time, and research rill1c1l1lcs, were worlds aparr,

conclusion.

causlIlg malor extensions to the lIlitial programmc.

I endeavoured to (ocus on the three artefacts,

A pure form and function analysis, as first pro-

described earlier. It . . \'as through that interface, that

posed, proved problematic also, in the matching oi

canvas upon which I could represent the findings of

artefacts to knowledge. The re~ll value from the

the research more adequately.

research arose from interaction with the arrisan themselves, the traditional oral nature of the Koori

As a rc<:;ult, new light plJyed upon the accepted

culrure is foreign to \'(testern factual, literature

'norms' of cOlltemporary tll3terial culrure, or the

based academic endeavour.

dominant school of thought within the Industrial Design profession.

Most information was delivered in the oral mode, along with practical display of their craft and skills.

7.1

METHODOLOGY This reinforced the impression that aside from regional differences in method, a totemic signifi-

Predetermining a structure for the research, as cance still applied to the 'making' of artefacr. determined by the Higher Degrees Committee, proved problematic in the instance of this research.

Roth (1996:28) : I stated in the introduction that a presupposition is at the heart of all good research. Mapping a path

"Belonging together is the way Heidegger

for research to follow, may serve science well, but it

understaluls the Same. Only what is different

is like going to sea with a stuck compass.

can belong together, only what is spalmed by a distance - near or far - can be side by side."

In determining the structure before the event, the methodology was subject to adaptation, as circum

56

B â&#x20AC;˘

o â&#x20AC;˘ ,

.,

Ideotogy Figure 18.

A VIsual stimulus common to both the KOOrt and the contemporary Australi,m IS thiJt of the colouratlotl of the river red gum.

It is the 'same' stimulus yet perceIVed dlffer(!mly.

IS

It's I'll/que qualttles are yet to be realised by C01ltemporary Australta.

~Igure

19.

Umque yet mlllsible.

Figure 20.

A cOItseTvatio1l ethic I1IStl//ed 111 contt.,'mpordry material come"t call be acllleved throllgh reglstermg WIth the IIser .l 5lthlin/lIlal signifier.

Recogllitloll of a regIOnal bio",e estahltshes a sense of belongmg.

57

BelONGING

Conclusion

This concept of 'Same' affected me, in that it was-

having the living descendants before me, proved to

n't the contrast with Koori a rrefacts tha t held my

have more to offer than the static artefact.

attention, it was the elements that we had in

The greatest obstacle that had to be overcollle ill

COI11-

1110n, the basic ethological needs, which are com-

the research was the fear of appropriation.

mon to all hum<1ll's.

A, TIlley (J 991 :97) puts it: Yct in materird culture the Koori experience dif"Appropriatio}l is the !Jrocess by lvhich the

fered frol11 that of Western society.

revelation o( new mudes o( !Jeing

giues

the subject new capacities (or knowing

The project faltered around rhe pomt that

J

presup-

himself. If the reference of a text is the pro-

posed that the Koori comllluniry had similar prior-

jection of a world, then it is not in the first

iries to mine. This proved nor ro be the case, they

instance the reader who fJrojects himself

are comfortable in the knowledge of their spiritual

The reader is rather broadened iu his

connection with the land, their main priority for

capacity to project himsel( hy receiving a /lew mode of bei/lg from the text itself. ..

researching their culTUre

IS

to re-instil self esteem

within their community. In \'(festern culture a The temptation was there, to emblazon conrelllreawakening of the human connectedness with the porary artefact with Aboriginal markings, an natural environment is what l see as the missing approach which seemed hollow, and of little factor in the production of contemporary artefacts, meaning to those with little or no knowledge. an instilled conservation ethic.

Ultimately I opted for an element within the physical environment common to, or the same to the The initial intention was to conduct a form and Koori and conremporary Australian society, that function analysis, of the 3 artefacts chosen, hoping of the bark colouration of the indigenous river that information relating to these objects would redgum. offer clues as to meanings of attachment to place, utilising this knowledge to then design concepts of This token element was used to adorn the surface contemporary anefacts of a similar application. of the contemporary artefacts design by myself as a 'roa'. The 'taa' is a marker or message stick, left Yet, for calculation of human interaction with the at a campsite, to indicate to those that followed, physical environment through mmcrial culture, the direction taken by the leading party. I appro-

58

BeLONGING Conclusion

priated the significance of the 'toa' in reflecting

would occur, of a regional nature, to make sense

upon the artefacts generated from the research.

of their existence. This instilled a totemic signifi-

The intention was not to present highly resolved

cance upon the artefacts used, and generated an

product at the end of the research, hut indicators

ethos of empathy with the physical environment.

or dIrection markers for others to follow.

It was this aspect of Kuori culture which was of \'(/e , the designers. carry forward the ideas of

ety,

~\l1d

give them form. \Y/e do not design in

\'~\Iue to

SOCI-

panil:uLlr

ISO-

of the kind,

latioll, as our 'individualistIc' era would suggest,

~lnd

my rese.Hch, their totemic love

its reflection in the .HtelJCfS they

crcated.

but are informed hy philosophers past and present, by the mobile temporality of artists, poets

E. O. Wilson (1995:362) :

and ,...' riters and the mood of the masses to their economic, ecological and ontological well being.

"'n my opinicm the most importallt impliJ

cation of an innate hiophilia is the fowldation it lays for an enduring conservation It is that stimulus which informs our industry,

ethic. ..

and needs to he retleered more in the objects we

create, a change in the methodology of rhe appliThe importance placed on the regional nature of cation of Industrial Design, is what is required. the artefact arose from not only the local materi-

7.2

CONSERVATION ETHICS

als the artefact was fabricated from, but the peo-

pie assembled to collecr, process and fabricare Belonging, as it appeaccd to me rhrough rhe inter-

and the stories (old among young and old,

action with the Koori practitioners was imbued

around the process of the making.

rhrough rhe artefacrs they produced, in rhat rhey applied significance to contemporary artefacrs

Parrick McCaughey, gave a lecrure to the

rhrough the oral tradirion of knowledge transfer,

Contemporary Sculptors Association, at the Yarra

and practical tuition of relating stories within a

Sculpture Space on September 17, 1998, entitled

group all assembled around rhe same rask.

'Freighted Objects - British Sculpture from Whiteread to Epstein', rhis description he attached

Through this group interactivity, of oral trallsmis-

to movements in contemporary British Sculpture

sion and practical application, myth generation

currently, relating to the object as metaphor.

59

BelONCING Conclusion

McCaughey held rhar, roo lireral exposure of

In doing so, the artefacts produced in the exhibi-

meaning dulled the enjoyment of the viewer, to

tion were imbued with a regional contextualisa路

interpret on an individual basis. McCaughey was

tion, not immediately recognised by those fro III

emphasising the Ileed for a deeper meaning in the

outside of this physical environment, that the

crcarion of sculprure, yet 11m ovcrrly obvIOus as

redgum is Indigenous to. This signifier, becomes

to depri"c the viewer of the clemem of do.. ure.

more ohvlOus

.1S

you travel the length and

breadth of VlCfori . l , with regional difference~ III This suhlime messaging is not widely rr~valcnr in

colouration alld rcxrure, becoming more pro路

rhe world of contemporary artefact Llbricatioll,

nounced through local knowledge.

leading ro a diminution of the value and therefore

a person's retention of the artefact.

A Western inrerpretation of the Aboriginal experience is problematic, as if Western society

7.3

BIDMIC DESIGN anticipates that- 4 to 5 generations is adequate time for cultural connections with the land to

Biomic design is the concept of a holistic diminish. The \'(/estern experience over a hundred ~lpproJch

to the design 01 cOll(cmpor<H)' arrefact, generations

IS di~location

and ethnic disruplJoll,

taking infO account the fittingness of the (unction, the agrarian society of the 17th Century, belllg the significance of the (Drill, the environmenral the last connection with the construct of land and sensitivity and the love of the objecr. Current

belonging. The rotemisation of the physical \'(Iesrern intent with material culture is lacking in environment through artefact is an avenue for a more sympathetic response to these issues. the innate sensibilities of topophilia to eng,lge.

In generating artefact from the research, the It is this aspect that I have determined is vital to

approach adopted was thar of interpreting the an environmental sense of belonging in the world physical environment from that which we still of material culture. By a reconnection with the share with the Koori community. Choosing a physical environment, through artefact, the benesymbolic aspect raised concerns of appropriation, fits to society in the form of an environmental

so rhe approach chosen was the lireral rransfer of ethic, will be significant. A different way of thinka visual stimulus shared as grollnd dwelling mam-

ing, with different drivers to rhose presently premals. That of the colouration and texturation of the Eucalyptus camaldulensis or river redgum.

60

BeLONGING

Conclusion

scribed by Western society, where technology and materialism is no longer deified rhrough quantity

but by quality.

61

BelONGlltS

rhe bhibitiDn

8.0

THE EXHIBITION

The following chapter shows the exhibition of

To polarise these artefacts on the opposite side of

artefact, which, like the 'roas' mentioned earlier

the room was displayed a carved wooden coolam-

arc indicarors of a direction

on, a digging stick and n string dilly bng. Set

fa

travel in.

agaInst a backdrop of A3 colour photocopies of a

The

Ollt

come of rhe rc.. e~lrch has culminated in

fl\Cr

redgulll biome, the setting W~h designed to

the design of three arreiacrs for use in conrcmpo-

illullllnate the 3 object;;; I had designed

rary society, utilising the knowledge gained by the

response w this stimulus.

III

research conducted with the women and frol11 other projects undertaken with the Aboriginal

Ct:nrral to the exhibit was

community over the life of rhe program. The

to the carry bng, which took the form of a shop-

choice of three objects is essenrially an arbitrary

ping trolley with a detachable carry bag, con-

decision on my part, it could have been ten, had I

structed of the woven polyethylene and painted

the rime, the energy Jild the resources.

wll h the colouration of the river redgum.

The exhibition occupied an area of some 30

To either side of this were the plastic howls and

square metres, in the corner of a design studio,

the identity electronic pen, which were set upon

within the Industrial Design department of RMIT

cardboard shelves supported by actual branches,

University. The room had no natural light source,

displaying the colouration of the river redgum.

Ill)'

designed response

and provided a sterile environment to present such a contrasting topic.

After the slide and oral presentation of the projeer, the exhibition was viewed as the final focus

The display of artefacts was therefore structured

of the project presented.

to contrast the steriliry of contemporary artefact

against a backdrop of woven polyethylene scrim.

Closure had effectively been reached.

Contemporary artefacts were displayed as follows: a suspended, single, green plastic Tupperware bowl, a plastic strip of identity and credit card facsimiles and a plastic carry bag.

62

S.OI/S,I/S

1M &hlbltltJn

Figure 20. 21 IJftd 22.

The exhIbIt 1011 was structured to ,//ustrate by comparJslOn the dlffertmces IJ,,J the Sllmeness assoCIated with the OlJleC1S 011

d,splay.

A transparellt polypropylene swm opposed (1 wall surfaced wIth the Image of IJIJ mdigellous elluirollnlent.

Three ob,ects were compared aftd like the TOils of KOMI cultllre 11ft I1ltemallUe directIOn was offered for colJSlderl1tioll.

63

B.01l6111S

Ideology

Figure 23, 24 and 25.

Ob,ects were mouf1ted UpOIl pfmths supported by brallches from the river red gllm providing alt orgafllc

support and structure to the exhIbition.

64

B •

o ••

••

TIN bltlbllion

The slrmg bag compared to the COfttemporary shopping bag led to a C011Cept of the shoppil/g trolley bag imbued with the red gum sigmfier:.

Figure 27.

Co'ltemporary society's resp01tse ro the probftml of food gdthermg.

1-lgure 28.

All ecollmmcal alld ecological

direction in respome to the shoppmg

bag sees a major

dlteT1ldtwe to

d

growmg g/oblJ/

POl/utdl/t.

65

•

•

ON'

N •

T1MI WlbHlon

Figure 29.

The DIgging Stick IlS compared to the credit card was used as a tool for extraaing value leadmg to a question of the person",l value of the key punch alld sWIpe tech"ology.

Figure 30.

A collectIon of cards supposedly holdmg my Ide1ltlty. worth and belo11gmg.

Figure 31.

A,t altematwe d"echo11 ",d,cated by 10m ekctromc pen capable of holdmK personal mfom,atloll yet

used ;11 a fashwIl weU established III most societies.

66

• hgure

•

ON'

N

•

TIN E:th/bnlon

32.

A Coo/umon compared to a contemporary co'ttai1ter

prollides ,m understandl1lg of avatlab/e technologies.

Figure

33.

The Tuppenuare COIJtdmer mdlntlJltlS the form u"posed UP01t It Iry earher mealts of mafJufdcture.

Contemporary meallS of manufacture allows us alternate forms yet with the "eed has Itot as yet been realised.

67

Bel

0

N

6

,

N

6

BiblJagnpht

9.0

ALEXA

BIBLIOGRAPHY I

DEll., Christopher

otes on the Synthesis of Form

1964

Harva rd University Press, J\ltassachusetts APPLETON, Jay

The Symbolism of Hahi,a,

1990

University of \'Vashingron Press, Seattle ARENDT, Hann.lh

The

IIUI11LIIl

CondiÂŁlon

1958

University of Chicago Pres,-, Chicago

An"WOOD. Bain

The Making of the Aborigines

1989

Allen &: Unwin, Sydnev BATEMAN, Ian

Environmental Science for

1995

Envirollmental Managemenl Longman Group, IldrioW. Essex

BATESON, Gregory

Mind and Nature" A Necessary Unity

1979

E. P. Dutton, 2 Park Ave., New York BENIIAM, W. Gurney

Cassell's Book of Quotations Cassell & Co., London

BLOOMER, Carolyn M.

Principles of Visual Perception

1990

Herbert, London (2nd ed.)

BLOOMER, Kenr C.

Body, Memory, and Architecture

1977

Yale University Press, Massachusetts

BOESCH, Ernst Prof. Dr.

Cultural Identity & Design, 1989

1990

Conference" Ulm 1'52 Ernst & Sohn, Berlin BOURASSA, Steven C.

The Aesthetics of Landscape

1991

Belhaven Press, London

BOWDE ,Ros

Being Aboriginal

1990

ABC Books, Sydney BOYD, Robin

Australia's Home

1952

Penguin Books, Ringwood The Australian Ugliness

1960

Penguin Books, Melbourne Artificial Australia

1967

Australian Broadcasting Commission

68

BeLONGING

Bibliography

BROUGH-SMYTH, R.

The Aborigines of Victoria

1878

John Fefres, Gov't. Printer, Melbourne

BUBNER, Rudiger

Essays on Hermeneutics & Critical theory

1988

Columbia University Press, New York CARTER, Paul

The Road to Botany Bay

1987

Faber and Faber, London

CARUANA, W"lIy

Aboriginal An

1993

Tlu Illes and II udson, London

CIIATWIN, Bruce

The Songlines

1987

Pic.1dof, Pan Books, London

CONNOLLY, John M.

Hermeneutics versus Science?

1988

Univ. Notre Dame, USA

CORNALL, Graham

1990

Memories

Aus!. City Properties Ltd., Perth \XI.A. CORRIGAN, Peter

Feng-shui & Western Building Ceremonies

1991

G. Brash, Singapore COWAN, .lames

The Elements of the Aborigma I Trad ilion

1991

Elcmcm books, Grear Britain COWARD, Rosalind

Language and Materialism

1977

Routledge and Paul, London CRA

E, Walter

The Bases of Design

1898

George Bell & Sons, London DAWKINS, Richard

River out of Eden Weidenfeld &

CULLER, John D.

1995

icolson, London

Ferdinand de Saussure

1976

Fomana Books, London DORMER, Peter

The Meanings of Modern Design

1990

Thames and Hudson, London DOR

ER, Alexander

Bauhuas, 1919 - 1928

1959

Chas. 1'. Branford, Boston.

DREW, Phillip

Leaves of Iron

1985

La w Book Co., Sydney

69

BeLONGING Biblio!Jfllphy

DRURY, Nevill

Images in Contemporary

1992

Australian Painting Craftsman House, Sydney EAGLETO ,Terry.

The Ideology of Aesthetics

1990

Basil Blackwell, London ELDER, Bruce

Blood on the Wattle

1988

ariol1.tl Book Distributors, Sydne)

ELKIN, A. P.

The Australian Aborigines

Angus & Robertson, Australia IFullr Rev. Ed. 1974) ELLIS, John

Language and JV1areri~.dism

1977

Routledge and Paul, London FEK ETE, John

Life After Posrmodernism

1988

Macmillan, London

FOUCAULT, Michel

The Order of Things

1970

Tavistock Publications, London

FORTY, Adrian

Ohjects of Desire Design & Society 1750-1980

FRAMPTON, Kenneth

i\lodern Architecture, a critical history

1992

Tlumes ~lIld Hudson, London Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resiscallce

'Postmodern Culture' Hal Foster Ed. Pluto Press, London p 16-30 FULLER, Peter

Theoria

1988

Chatto & Windus, London FULLER, Peter

The Australian Scapegoat

1986

University of Western Australia Press

GEAR, Jane

Perception and the Evolution of Style

1989

Routledge, London GIBSON, .lames J.

The Ecological approach to

1979

Visua I Perception Houghton Mifflin, Boston

70

BeLON61NB Bibliography

GOMBRICH, E. H.

Art and Illusion

(Fifth Ed.)

1977

Phaidon Press, Oxford The Image and the Eye

1982

Phaidon Press, Oxford.

Ideals & Idols

1979

Phaidon Press, London

GOULD, Carol G.

Scientific GOULD, Jame, L.

1994

The Animal Mind All1er;C~lll

Lihr,:lry, New York

The Animal Mind

1994

SCIentific Amcric~1I1 Lihrary, New York

GREEN, Robert W.

Protestantism, Capir31i'ill1 , and

1973

Social Science D. C. Ileath & Co., M,lssachusetts GROVES, Derham

Feng - shui and

1991

Western Building Ceremonies

G. Brash, Singapore GROPIUS, Walter

Bauhaus 1919 - 1928

1959

Chas. T. Branford, Boston

G ROS, Jochen Prof.

Cultural Identity & Design, 1989

1990

Confetence- Ulm p52 Ernst & Sohn, Berlin HARRIS, Marvin

Cannibals and Kings

1977

Random House, New York

HARVEY, David

The Condition of Postmodernity

1989

Basil Blackwell, Oxford HElD EGGER, Martin

The Question Concerning Technology

1977

Harper & Row Publishers, New York HORIGAN, Stephen

Nature and Culture in Western Discourses

1988

Routledge Press, London HOSOE,Isao

Culturalldenrity & Design, 1989

1990

Conference- Ulm Ernst & Sohn, Berlin HOWITI, A. W.

Native Tribes of South East Australia

1904

MacMillan & Co., London

71

BelONSING

Bibliogr3phy

INGAMELLS, Rex

New Songs in an Old Land

1954

Longmans Green & Co. Melbourne (3rd. Ed) JACKSON, John B.

A Sense of PLACE, a Sense of TIME Yale University Press,

JANKOWSKI, Martin S.

1994

lew Haven

Islands ill the Street

1991

University of California Prc",s, California

KARP, D,lVid A.

Being Urban Pr~leger

KAPLICKY, Jan

1991

Publishers, New York

Future Systems

19S7

Archltecrura I Associarion

LEHMANN, Klaus Prof.

Cultural Identity & Design, 1989

1990

Conference - UII11

Ernst & Sohn, Berlin LYN , Elwyn

The Australian Landscape and Its Artists

1977

Bay Books, Sydney MASSOLA, Aldo

The Aborigines of South East Australia

1971

Willi.11ll Ileincmann, Melbourne McLEAN, lall

White Ahorigines

1995

University of Cambridge, Cambrige U. K. MILLER, Richard L.

ew Directions in Hospital & Healrhcare

1995

Facility Design McGaw Hill, New York MOHOLY-NAGY, Laslo

Vision in Motion

1947

P. Theobald, Chicago MORGAN, Sally

My Place

1987

Frcmande Art Centre Press, Perth

MORPHY, Howard

Ancestral Connections

1991

University of Chicago Press MORRIS, Desmond

The Naked Ape

1969

Jonathan Cape, London MUECKE, Stephen

Reading the Country

1984

Freemantle Arts Centre Press

NIETZSCHE, Friedrich

Human, all too human

1994

Penguin, London

72

BeLON61NG Bibliography

NIXON, David

Furure Systems

1987

Architectural Association NORBERG-SCHULZ, C.

Genius Loci

1979

Rizzoli International PublicatIOns, New York

The Concept of Dwelling

19S5

Rlzzoh InrCfn3tional Public<lriono;;, New York

O'RIORDAN, Timorhy

EnvirOlllnemal Science

1995

for Ellvirolllllcl1lal Management L0l1g11UJl

PAPE EK, Victor Prof.

Group Ltd., Essex

Cultural Identity & Design, 1989

1990

Confcrence- Ulm Ernst & Sohn, Betlin PAPENEK, Victor Prof.

Design for the Real World 2nd Ed.

1984

Thames .:md Hudson, London

PAWLEY, Martin

Future Systems - The Story of TOll1orrow

1993

Phaidon Press London

PRESLA

D, Gary

Abongll1al Melbourne

1994

The Losl Land of rhe Kulin People

McPhee Gribble, Melbourne PUGH, George Edwin

The Biological Origin of Human Values

1977

Routledge & Kegan, London RENEW, Robert

Making It

1993

Powerhouse Publications

RICOEUR, Paul

Oneself as Another

1992

University of Chicago Press, Chicago Hermeneutics and the human sciences

1981

University of Cambridge Press, Cambridge ROSSBACH, Sarah.

Interior Design with Feng Shui

1987

Rider, Random Century, London

ROTH, Michael

The Poetics of Resistance

1996

Heidegger's Line

Northwestern University Press, I1linios RYAN, Judith

Images of Power

1993

National Gallery of Victoria

73

BelONGING Bibliography

SCULTHORPE, Gaye

1992

Women's Work

Museum of Vicroria SCHNIEDER & MORTON

The Primordial Bond Plenum Press,

SERLE, Geoffre)

1981

ew York

From the Deserrs the Prophets Come:

1973

rhe Creative Spirit in Australia Heinemann, Melhourne SIIORT, John Renme

111l~lgllled CoullIry

1991

Routledge, London I New York SPARKE, Penny

An Introduction ro Design and Culture

1986

in the Twcnriel h Century Allen & Unwin, London SWAIN, Tony

A Place for Srrangers

1993

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

SWENNSON, Earl S.

New Directions in Hospital & Healthcare Facility Design McGaw Hill, ew York

1995

THACKARA, John

Design After Modernism

1988

Beyond rhe Oblecr Thames and Hudson, New York

TILGHMAN, B. R.

Wittgensrein, Ethics and Aesthetics

1991

The MacMillan Press, London TILLEY, Chrisropher

Reading Marerial Culrure

199\

Basil Blackwell Lrd., Oxford TUAN, Yi-Fu

Topophilia

1974

Prenrice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey TUCKER, Alberr

The Age Newspaper

1995

Good Weekend, February 18 UCKO, Perer

Forms in lndigenous Art

1977

Ausr. Insr. of Aboriginal Srudies, Canberra WEEK, David

Architecture Australia Royal Ausrralian Inst. of Archirecrs

1995

July I Augusr issue.

WILLIAMSON, David

The Age Newspaper

1995

Arts & Enrertainmenr I' 16, June 8

74

BelONGING Bjbliogr~phy

WILLIS & FRY

WILSON, Edward O.

Praxis M Issue # 20, p16 Praxis M Issue # 25, p 4 Biophilia

1988 1989

1984

Harvard University Press, New York The Diversity of Life

1992

The Penguin Press, London

Naruralist

1994

Penguin Books, London

75