genius loci
genius loci ... the spirit or sense of place.
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manildra study 1 2022 (AUD) $750
limed Monterey pine, metal, metal wire, acrylic paint
290 x 175 x 410mm 2.35kg
The Manildra factory on the Shoalhaven River, New South Wales, is a fantastic architecture of industry - of tanks, pipes, steel, steam and smells...sheds, chimneys and chemistry. Struggling to contain itself within a thin slither of land between a main road and the Shoalhaven River, it is slowly consuming everything in its path. It is what it is - derived purely from its function. Honest and well ... very assuming!
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design sketches
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Manildra - honest and assuming
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manildra study 2 "copper" 2022 (AUD) $950
limed Oregon, copper, copper wire, acrylic paint
350 x 275 x 600mm 4.75kg
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Oh Happy Day 2022 (AUD) $750
limed Monterey Pine, oxidised steel and steel wire, acrylic paint
500 x 250 x 570mm 3.3kg
I can remember two white crosses under the eucalypts in the church grounds in Huskisson, over time, disappear through indifference*. I often wondered who was buried there.
Carl Niclasson was a Swedish whaler who was only 32 years old when he died on board his ship anchored in Jervis Bay in 1912. He was buried next to an “unknown sailor” who was buried there in 1870.
Prominent local aboriginal, James Golding (“Jimmy, King of Jarvis Bay”) is also buried there. A marker tree was placed where he was buried in 1905. It is estimated that up to 50 people were buried on the grounds. It was considered “significant land” by the Jerrinja people and some local aboriginals were buried there up until the 1930’s.
The original “Union”church became part of the hall when the new church was built, and was most likely used by the Aboriginal Welfare Board to distribute food rations, clothes and blankets. The church had a missionary attitude towards Aboriginal people and welcomed them into the congregation.
When the church congregation recently relocated to another site, the church site was sold. Sadly, the original church was demolished and the marker tree cut down. The newer church was saved only by public outcry, but its fate is unknown, along with the numerous unmarked grave sites.
The original church building was most likely more important than the newer one in regards to its past richness of community and culture.
Such is our attitude to heritage... if we don’t value our past, we cheapen our present and future.
*indifference - a lack of interest or feeling towards something – Oxford English Dictionary
Carl Niclasson was a Swedish whaler who was only 32 years old when he died on board his ship anchored in Jervis Bay in 1912. He was buried next to an “unknown sailor” who was buried there in 1870.
Prominent local aboriginal, James Golding (“Jimmy, King of Jarvis Bay”) is also buried there. A marker tree was placed where he was buried in 1905. It is estimated that up to 50 people were buried on the grounds. It was considered “significant land” by the Jerrinja people and some local aboriginals were buried there up until the 1930’s.
The original “Union”church became part of the hall when the new church was built, and was most likely used by the Aboriginal Welfare Board to distribute food rations, clothes and blankets. The church had a missionary attitude towards Aboriginal people and welcomed them into the congregation.
When the church congregation recently relocated to another site, the church site was sold. Sadly, the original church was demolished and the marker tree cut down. The newer church was saved only by public outcry, but its fate is unknown, along with the numerous unmarked grave sites.
The original church building was most likely more important than the newer one in regards to its past richness of community and culture.
Such is our attitude to heritage... if we don’t value our past, we cheapen our present and future.
*indifference - a lack of interest or feeling towards something – Oxford English Dictionary
the unknown sailor and the Swedish whaler
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the original Union Church
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James Golding "Jimmy, King of Jarvis Bay" (standing) wearing his breastplate. His camp was across the road from the church grounds
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laying the foundation stone of the new church 1931
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