PRECARITY

Precarity was filmed at Bababi Marning (Cooper St) grasslands, near the Merri Creek in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

This three-in-one garment explores autonomy, control and co-operation. Printed with dye from mistletoe and eucalypt, the garment is a metaphor for the relationship between host and parasite. Traditionally perceived as destructive, the mistletoe attached to the host increases biodiversity (in the right conditions). In this work the dancers explore the potential productiveness imposed by interconnections and constraint.

Precarity
2011
Dancers: Zoe Phillips, Bronwyn Ritchie and Priscilla Manthey
Film expertise: Georgina Harper
Editing: Libby Chow

A live performance of this work was presented at the Monash Faculty Gallery during Impact7, Intersections and Counterpoints, (international multi-disciplinary printmaking conference).

In the background is Jan Hogan’s large woodblock, Becoming.

Extracting dye from mistletoe and its host (eucalypt and casuarina) in order to screenprint and dye fabric formed the starting point of this work. From here a three-in-one garment (silk chiffon and silk jersey) was constructed, each wearer connected to the next via the sleeves.

Precarity (at the Monash Faculty Gallery during Impact7, Intersections and Counterpoints)
2011
Dancers: Zoe Phillips, Bronwyn Ritchie and Priscilla Manthey
Viola: Caroline Henbest
Music: Hindu Song – Rimsky-Korsakov