TWIG 11

In this round of TWIGs, The ACRE Project teamed up with the Victorian College of the Arts to select two graduate artists for 10-day on-farm residencies. Both artists were selected from a strong field.

Melbourne-based visual artist Fred Fowler stayed with the Chalmers’ at Noorong (NSW) and Ultima (Victoria), giving him an insight into two very different farming landscapes.

An old shearing shed at the New South Wales property provided the backdrop for the TWIG event at the end of his residency, with family and neighbours coming on a cool spring night to enjoy dinner around the fire and to see Fred’s work.

Fred created videos from the air and the road that were projected onto an old caravan and a truck cab.

He had also painted skulls on rocks and old farming equipment found around the farm (and they remain on-farm), part of Fred’s vision to create 20,000 skulls to create a memorial to Aboriginal lives lost in the little-known Frontier Wars.

Partners – Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Regional Training and Engagement Fund, Arts Victoria, Regional Arts Victoria, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, Swan Hill Rural City Council

Photos by Greg Cruickshank