Introduction
The ArtCloth dyptich, Man-Made Fish Kills, is based on the massive native fish death events that occurred In December 2018 and January 2019 in the Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales (Australia). The fish deaths covered a 40 kilometer stretch of the Darling River, downstream from the Menindee Lakes. Some of the fish killed in these events were already endangered species of Murray cod and silver perch.
Anne Davies reported that [1-2]: 'The crisis on the Lower Darling, which has seen up to 1 million fish die, is largely due to the decisions by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority on instructions from the New South Wales government, a report by the Australia Institute finds.
"It is clear what has caused the Darling River fish kill – mismanagement and repeated policy failure,” said Maryanne Slattery, senior water researcher with the Australia Institute. “To blame the fish kill on the drought is a cop-out, it is because water releases were made from the lakes when this simply shouldn’t have happened.”'
My ArtCloth dyptich, Man-Made Fish Kills, is my tribute to the fish of the Murray-Darling Basin whose lives were cut short by this man-made ecological disaster. One species, the Murray cod is the largest exclusively freshwater native fish in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. Many live beyond 40 years of age.
Together with many Australians, I applaud The Australia Institute report call for a full inquiry, such as a Royal Commission, and much greater transparency of the decision-making process by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Lake Hume, where a new fish kill event has occurred. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has announced it is now convening an urgent meeting after the fish kill at Menindee Lakes.
Photograph: Genevieve Vallee/Alamy.
Photo Courtesy: The Guardian.
For more details see reference [3].
Menindee Lakes: hundreds of thousands of fish dead in the Murray-Darling basin (video).
For more details see reference [4].
Materials, Techniques and Size of the ArtWorks
Based on the brilliant blue color of Lake Hume - a popular place for water skiing and fishing - and the de-oxygenated color of the Darling River - where dead fish were seen floating on its surface - I created a pallette of blue, yellow, white and black which would intermix when being printed in order to give greater control of the colors being used for each individual piece whilst keeping the visual integrity and aesthetic of the dyptich concept, Man-Made Fish Kills, consistent.
My fabric choice was heavy white cotton as it would absorb the multiple layers of transparent and opaque pigment that would be used in creating the dyptich.
The printing technique that would create the multi-faceted, rich and subtle layered imagery as well as visual depth and a sense of movement was an improvisational screen printing technique known as 'interfacing silk screen printing’. Due to the multiple layering effects, this printing technique imbued the works with barely visible background silhouettes as well as high contrast surface images - just as one views fish in water that usually appear to be at a different depth to what they actually are due to the refraction of light rays as they travel from the water into the air, making the fish appear closer to the surface.
Each panel in the dyptich was designed to be hung on a rod as a wall hanging or to be stretched on a canvas frame. The size of each panel is 70 x 74 cm.
Man-Made Fish Kills: An ArtCloth Dyptich
Title: Man-Made Fish Kills I (Full View).
Based on the above photo: ‘Lake Hume, where a new fish kill event has occurred’.
Techniques and Material: Multi-layered interfacing silk screen prints employing transparent and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 70 x 74 cm.
Title: Man-Made Fish Kills 1 (Detail View 1).
Title: Man-Made Fish Kills 1 (Detail View 2).
Title: Man-Made Fish Kills 2 (Full View).
Based on above video image - Menindee Lakes: hundreds of thousands of fish dead in the Murray-Darling basin (video).
Techniques and Material: Multi-layered interfacing silk screen prints employing transparent and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 70 x 74 cm.
Title: Man-Made Fish Kills 2 (Detail View 1).
Title: Man-Made Fish Kills 2 (Detail View 2).
References:
[1] Anne Davis,'The Guardian’ Saturday 19th January 2019.
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/19/murray-darling-basin-authority-and-nsw-largely-culpable-for-fish-kill-report-finds
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/15/lake-hume-fish-kill-thousands-of-new-deaths-on-murray-river
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/07/hundreds-of-thousands-of-native-fish-dead-in-second-murray-darling-incident
The ArtCloth dyptich, Man-Made Fish Kills, is based on the massive native fish death events that occurred In December 2018 and January 2019 in the Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales (Australia). The fish deaths covered a 40 kilometer stretch of the Darling River, downstream from the Menindee Lakes. Some of the fish killed in these events were already endangered species of Murray cod and silver perch.
Anne Davies reported that [1-2]: 'The crisis on the Lower Darling, which has seen up to 1 million fish die, is largely due to the decisions by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority on instructions from the New South Wales government, a report by the Australia Institute finds.
"It is clear what has caused the Darling River fish kill – mismanagement and repeated policy failure,” said Maryanne Slattery, senior water researcher with the Australia Institute. “To blame the fish kill on the drought is a cop-out, it is because water releases were made from the lakes when this simply shouldn’t have happened.”'
My ArtCloth dyptich, Man-Made Fish Kills, is my tribute to the fish of the Murray-Darling Basin whose lives were cut short by this man-made ecological disaster. One species, the Murray cod is the largest exclusively freshwater native fish in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. Many live beyond 40 years of age.
Together with many Australians, I applaud The Australia Institute report call for a full inquiry, such as a Royal Commission, and much greater transparency of the decision-making process by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Photograph: Genevieve Vallee/Alamy.
Photo Courtesy: The Guardian.
For more details see reference [3].
For more details see reference [4].
Materials, Techniques and Size of the ArtWorks
Based on the brilliant blue color of Lake Hume - a popular place for water skiing and fishing - and the de-oxygenated color of the Darling River - where dead fish were seen floating on its surface - I created a pallette of blue, yellow, white and black which would intermix when being printed in order to give greater control of the colors being used for each individual piece whilst keeping the visual integrity and aesthetic of the dyptich concept, Man-Made Fish Kills, consistent.
My fabric choice was heavy white cotton as it would absorb the multiple layers of transparent and opaque pigment that would be used in creating the dyptich.
The printing technique that would create the multi-faceted, rich and subtle layered imagery as well as visual depth and a sense of movement was an improvisational screen printing technique known as 'interfacing silk screen printing’. Due to the multiple layering effects, this printing technique imbued the works with barely visible background silhouettes as well as high contrast surface images - just as one views fish in water that usually appear to be at a different depth to what they actually are due to the refraction of light rays as they travel from the water into the air, making the fish appear closer to the surface.
Each panel in the dyptich was designed to be hung on a rod as a wall hanging or to be stretched on a canvas frame. The size of each panel is 70 x 74 cm.
Man-Made Fish Kills: An ArtCloth Dyptich
Based on the above photo: ‘Lake Hume, where a new fish kill event has occurred’.
Techniques and Material: Multi-layered interfacing silk screen prints employing transparent and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 70 x 74 cm.
Based on above video image - Menindee Lakes: hundreds of thousands of fish dead in the Murray-Darling basin (video).
Techniques and Material: Multi-layered interfacing silk screen prints employing transparent and opaque pigments on cotton.
Size: 70 x 74 cm.
References:
[1] Anne Davis,'The Guardian’ Saturday 19th January 2019.
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/19/murray-darling-basin-authority-and-nsw-largely-culpable-for-fish-kill-report-finds
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/15/lake-hume-fish-kill-thousands-of-new-deaths-on-murray-river
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/07/hundreds-of-thousands-of-native-fish-dead-in-second-murray-darling-incident
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