Jury citation
In the combined vision of Edition Office and Kokatha and Nukunu artist Yhonnie Scarce, we see a bold, singular and contemplative space that transports us beyond its city-based context to feel, to reflect and to simply be. The cleavage between two vastly scaled, blackened, vertical, timber drum-like chambers lures us into an imperceptibly nuanced conversation around terra nullius, language and Country. The experiential approach subtly dispels the myth that Indigenous peoples did not engage in agriculture through a dripping chorus of 1,600 shining, hand-blown glass murnong (yams) by Scarce, evident as our eyes are drawn skyward in a search for meaning.
The monumentality of what could be seen as a contemporary smoking tree is profound. It provides for an intriguing dialogue with the work of Sir Roy Grounds who, more than 50 years ago, designed the National Gallery of Victoria, within the gardens of which In Absence sits. In this installation, surrounded by a field of kangaroo grass and other Indigenous species, the visitor is invited to listen to Country, to imagine the voices of Elders who provided the cultural authority in this design journey and to deliberately invest in the experience. A visit will not disappoint but, rather, open up more questions, including: What is my contribution to making the invisible visible?
For more coverage, read the project review by Louis Anderson Mokak from Architecture Australia Mar/Apr 2020.
Project credits
Architect Edition Office and Yhonnie Scarce; Project team Kim Bridgland, Aaron Roberts, Yhonnie Scarce; Structural engineer David Farrar; Builder CBD Contracting; Plant selection Zena Cumpston
In Absence is located in Melbourne, Victoria, on the land of the Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung peoples of the Kulin nation.
Source
Award
Published online: 5 Nov 2020
Words:
ArchitectureAU Editorial
Images:
Benjamin Hosking
Issue
Architecture Australia, November 2020