Spectral geology meets the arts at Darwin Festival
Artist Lee Harrop is fascinated by the scientific, social and political stories that emerge from rock cores that are extracted from earth for geological investigations. Lee has designedly inscribed these bioclastic packstones from the Daly Basin, NT to tell something of the social and political stories beyond the science as part of the ‘Still Lives — A Beautiful Science’ project. Core source: Geological Survey of NT. Image: Lee Harrop.
Recently, AuScope National Virtual Core Library (NVCL) collaborator and geologist, Belinda Smith joined artist Lee Harrop in a group arts-science project led by Lee at the Darwin Festival titled ‘Still Lives — A Beautiful Science’, to share the science of spectral geology as it relates to mineral exploration in Australia. Belinda and Lee reflect with AuScope contributor, Jo Condon on insights from each other’s worlds.
First, congratulations Lee and Belinda on your great work! Would you please give us a wrap of the project, Lee, and explain your contribution, Belinda?
LEE: Thanks Jo! Sure, The Still Lives: A Beautiful Science project is part of my PhD research at the College of Indigenous Futures, Arts & Society at Charles Darwin University.
The project culminated in Darwin Festival as a three-day multiplatform event comprised of two visual art exhibitions titled ORE CORE SCORE, accompanied by debut music performances, artist talks, scholarly debate and forest bathing. I designed the project to showcase different responses from the arts and sciences to mining, with the hope of stimulating the festival audience’s senses and further discussion.
Lee’s ‘ORE CORE SCORE’ exhibition at Charles Darwin University Art Gallery in Darwin, comprising 17 core sculptures that are engraved with words to reflect the diverse meanings of the rocks. Image: Lee Harrop.
I co-coordinated the event with Jana Norman from Adelaide University, created an artistic interpretation
of mining data and artefacts in a sculptural exhibition, and collaborated with Darwin composer Cathy Applegate who's ‘At The Core’ score was performed by Cathy and Chen Hui at the exhibition openings.
I also worked with geoscientists, Belinda Smith, Melissa Drummond and Alicia Verbeeten at the geological surveys of WA and NT who explained the rationale, science and methodology behind the drill core samples.
Although unintentional, the entire project was a collaboration with a specialised and creative all-female crew including our administration wizard, Crystal Adams!
BELINDA: I was taken aback when Lee first contacted me to enquire about HyLogging. I had never had a request for information from someone who was not in the resources industry! I was intrigued with Lee’s concept and I particularly liked the idea of reaching into each other’s world and seeing things from an artist’s perspective. And I was enthusiastic to share our AuScope project with a new audience!
What insights did you derive from each other and other contributors from petrology, philosophy, music and law?
LEE: When Belinda showed me the spectral data from the HyLogger scans of the core samples it was overwhelming — the imagery was visually spectacular. I was equally fascinated by the way Belinda could interpret the data contained in these psychedelic fields of colour.
Communicating data and sharing knowledge can happen in such enjoyable and exciting ways. I was so pleased to see collaborators interpret and communicate the science in different ways in this project. And to learn that we all share a love of rocks!
A spread from Lee’s book that was presented in ORE CORE SCORE featuring spectacular spectra artwork that was derived from the AuScope enabled HyLogger for a particular sample of core. Image: Lee Harrop.
BELINDA: Lee helped me to develop an appreciation for the colours in the dataset, and the beauty of the spectral shapes. Her work also helped me to see value in Hylogger data that goes far beyond financial.
I can now view my work from an emotional perspective — I appreciate the visual aspects of my work, and I love seeing how others work with the rock and data to produce something quite beautiful.
I was surprised by Cathy Applegate’s music contribution, hearing it made me feel unexpectedly emotional. And I was challenged to consider for the first time Jana Norman’s research and ideas about transitioning from a legal system that recognises the rights of humans, animals and even rocks, i.e ‘earth rights’.
Did you have any surprises or ‘ah-hah’ moments in the process that you can share?
LEE: A highlight was having the privilege of observing the petrologist, Alicia, skilfully create thin sections individually by hand, from the core samples in the project.
I was never quite prepared for the excitement generated by looking through the microscope for the first time and seeing what can be described as another universe.
BELINDA: I loved sitting with Lee in front of the computer, manipulating the data and finding myself saying ‘I’d never thought about that before’ ‘or oh wow, you’re right, that’s really cool, isn’t it?’
Another ‘ah hah’ moment came when Jo Condon from AuScope reviewed my draft abstract for my presentation and completely changing the tone and content! My first response was ‘what’s wrong with what I had?’ But then I realised that I had to learn a new style of communication for a new, non-scientific audience. I learnt to be more mindful of what the audience would be interested in knowing, and how they would want to learn this information, rather than what I wanted to impose on them.
What kind of feedback did you receive afterwards?
LEE: There was an overwhelming positive response to the project in general and in particular the approach to the collaborative process. The audience had a lot of science related questions and it was great to have scientists on hand to answer them. A highlight for me was observing a group of people lining up for one on one Q&A with Belinda regarding the core samples on display.
Belinda sharing her knowledge with an audience member at the ORE CORE SCORE exhibition. Images: Lee Harrop.
BELINDA: I was fortunate enough to have my Mum come along to hear me present my work for the first time. Afterwards, Mum admitted that she previously didn’t really know what I did for work. She sounded pleasantly shocked that not only did she understand what I did, but that she enjoyed the presentation!
Also, my friend who is an environmental scientist came along and we discussed the impact and value of mining in society. I think these conversations helped form more of a bond between us, as we gained an understanding of each other by learning about each other’s backgrounds.
What’s next for you in arts-science?
LEE: I am presenting a paper in December in a panel discussion titled ‘Still Lives: Mining Myopias’ at the Law, Literature and the Humanities Association of Australasia’s conference at Southern Cross University, Gold Coast Campus. The panel, organised by Jana Norman, is an interdisciplinary critical engagement with the arts, sciences and social values of mining as provoked by ‘Still Lives — A Beautiful Science’ project.
I am also delighted to report that Cathy Applegate has been invited to present ‘At the Core’ at ‘Landscapes — the music of Australian composers’ event in Darwin. And I hope to take Still Lives to other states soon!
BELINDA: More and more science communication, starting with translating my presentation into very basic German during an immersive language course in Berlin!
Any final thoughts? Thank you!
LEE: Our future has some serious challenges for humanity that requires urgent action. Collectively we have the capacity to bring knowledge from each discipline, profession and other areas of specialisation together to develop innovative and creative solutions.
BELINDA: This project generated important conversations and insights that would not normally have with people outside of my work environment. I would encourage others to share knowledge and ideas with others from different walks of life in society in a bid to tackle some of the big issues that we are facing.
A key message from Belinda for her Darwin Festival audience featuring Tesla’s battery plant in SA. Photo: Tesla.