Agnes and Her Forrest: An Embodied Conversation
PIPS (Performance In Public Space: Catherine Magill, Vivienne Tate) March 2023
“Dear Agnes” Public Art Program -Hobson’s Bay City Council, Altona, (Melbourne, Victoria).
Vivienne Tate, Agnes and Her Forest: An Embodied Conversation Video: Heather Hesterman
This project, Agnes and her Forest: An Embodied Conversation was a performance based collaboration between Cathrine Magill and Vivienne Tate as PIPS. (Performance In Public Space.) In March 2023 this project was part of the Hobson’s Bay City Council’s “Dear Agnes” contemporary public art program. It was held at the Trugannia Explosive Reserve in Altona, (Melbourne, Victoria). The work was a response to the Agnes Denes, Forest For Australia 1998, a land art work, on the site of the Western Water Treatment Plant in Altona. The festival, was a 25th anniversary celebration of that work.
A Forest for Agnes was a performance and installation work. It was presented as a two part performance in the restricted section the Trugannia site. Magill performed an embodied dance within a spiral of pine needles that referenced the spiral design of the Forest for Australia. Tate performed a responsive improvisation on flute, with a site-specific soundscape of the birds on the site. This recording was played within the disused water tower on site. Tate used the resonance of the Tower to meld with the sound of the birds to form a dialogue with them.
The installation included 3D printed shell portraits, that referenced the ancient sea bed that linked the two Altona sites.
PIPS (Vivienne Tate and Catherine Magill) Photo; Daniel A’Vard
Pouring the salt Photo: Daniel A’Vard
(This performance action signifies the rising of the water table in Altona, due to climate change)
3D printed shells (scan of one tiny shell from the Forest for Australia Altona site).
Caroline Ellis (understudy for Catherine Magill) Photo: James Clarke