Annelies Jahn & Jane Burton Taylor
Water View
Copper pipe, misting nozzles, hose, water and timer
80 x 108 x 166 cm
$4000
about
the
work
Water View is a kinetic work that emits mist at regular intervals. It is designed in the shape of a low portal, framing the view. Many travellers quarantined here in the past reported experiencing a curious sensation of feeling both a part of, and apart from, the world. This mist screen presents a window onto the far shores, suggesting this conflicting simultaneous sense of connection and disconnection.
The work invites interaction and engagement from visitors. It can either be observed, or enjoyed as a direct sensorial experience: by standing near enough to feel the mist on one’s skin, or by slowly walking through it. The mist is very fine, so gives a slightly cooling impact on contact. The work also makes a gentle whooshing sound, sympathetic to the nearby sound of waves breaking on the shore.
The installation develops the artists’ collaborative thread of exploration and appreciation of the natural world, in particular naturally occurring phenomena. It is an artwork that responds to the specific site on Gayemagal lands, changing with the time of day and weather. It tracks the presence of sunlight and the prevailing wind, in a sense framing and inviting engagement with a subtle ever-changing water view. (images: Annelies Jahn & Jane Burton Taylor)
bio
Annelies Jahn and Jane Burton Taylor have worked collaboratively, concurrent with their individual practices, for the past four years. They are both masters graduates of the National Art School, majoring respectively in painting and sculpture. Their joint work focuses on the natural world, responding to specific sites and natural phenomena, and falls broadly into the context of Land or Eco Art. In July of this year they completed a month-long Q Station residency and this work was developed in response to that research. Last year they had an exhibition titled Tethered, at Incinerator Art Space in Willoughby, a body of work exploring humans layered current and historic relationship to bush sites on Cammeraygal, Gadigal and Gundungurra Lands.
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