Circular Economies Residency: Linda Tegg in Carnarvon #2

May 7

Linda Tegg is currently working with the community of Gwoonwardu/Carnarvon, hosted by Shire of Carnarvon. This residency is part of SPACED’s current regional residency program, SPACED 5: Circular Economies.

Tegg shares her experiences of the area during the first part of her residency via the following reflection.

The Gascoyne River is upside down. A red sand riverbed. Banks lined with eucalypts and bridges across, but no water in sight. It’s all beneath the surface, flowing through an aquifer. I spend an evening researching what should be obvious but somehow isn’t. How do these formations work? How is this groundwater drawn up to the surface?

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The river supports fruit and vegetable plantations along both banks. They, in turn, provide most of Perth’s fresh produce. Water use is regulated, but the transfer of averaged allocations along with the sale of property incentivises growers to use their entire allocation, regardless of whether they need to. Walking around Jo Bumbak’s mango plantation you quickly see that nothing is wasted. Especially the beauty, Jo tells me how she appreciates the colours of the mangos, yellows, oranges and pinks. They hang on the trees like Christmas ornaments. I imagine this in the twilight, picking fruit till nightfall, and see how you would come to love it. There is a beauty to the wastelessness too. Jo has built a successful and very popular business, transforming the byproducts of growth into ice creams and preserves. I buy a caramelised fig cream that offers one of those rare unforgettable flavour experiences that unfolds in complexity as I exit the shop, hear about the efforts to restore Carnarvon’s one-mile jetty and look across Jo’s Mango trees toward the radio telescope on the horizon.

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I tag along with a group of horticultural students and their support workers to the research station. I learn that produce is selectively bred for characteristics specified by supermarkets, which prioritise shelf life and appearance over flavour and nutrition.

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Blowholes road runs east to west off the highway; it ends at the coast with an iconic sign stating King Waves Kill. The road cuts through shrubland and past a salt lake, the vegetation in each direction is relatively low. There is nothing too far above head height as far as you can see. A string of powerlines stands so vertical over the horizontal, I imagine that the enormous poles of wood, once whole trees, must have travelled a long way to get here. I pay them attention as I heard that crows build their nests here, and when they move out, the falcons move in, and when they move out, the kestrels move in, and when they move out, the little eagles move in, then the crows return and bring the nest back into order. This time-sharing of a public amenity so out of place in its environment was inspiring. On top of this bird co-operation, Horizon Power had occasionally installed circular forms to the poles to aid this process.

I decided to stop and document each nest I spotted. Some seemed abandoned, others surrounded by finches. As I approached, the finches would depart and occupy a nearby shrub. The birds were difficult to see, but you could hear them everywhere, alongside a buzzing of the powerlines. Back into the bubble of the car, the White Lotus soundtrack I had been listening to would start up and stop again as I spotted another nest. A slowness pervaded the journey along with an uncomfortable aural disconnect between inside and outside the car.

At my destination, an octopus stared at me for quite some time. I watched It back, wondering if this would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, a collaboration even. But no, the best I could do for us is swim away and let this complex being so far beyond me relax.

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On my last evening, I head out to Rocky pool with Naomi and Raymond, here the water beaks the surface forming a pool in the riverbed. We rub the sand into our armpits and cast it into the pool, our introduction to the spirits here. While we walk along the bank cattle enter the water. A wind comes up out of nowhere. We inspect the bark of a tree that Raymond has known his whole life. Something startles the cattle; they walk then really run away from the pool. It’s time for us all to leave.

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Birthday cards lay open alongside the security gates as I enter Woolworths. It seems like everybody is congratulating Jacob on his 50th birthday. There is a photo of him in high vis collecting shopping Tolley’s in the carpark. It’s a beautiful open gesture and invitation to share a birthday wish. I stand there reading heart-felt notes from friends and family. The security gates start to ding as I linger.

Images courtesy of the artist in order: Ice cream tubs holding plants. Two people holding a frog. Nest on a power pole. Raymond Edney and Linda Tegg observing bends in the branches on the way back from rocky pool (Photo Naomi Sepiso) Cloud at night.

More information about the Circular Economies artists, host communities and projects as they unfold can be found by subscribing to SPACED’s monthly email newsletter, and following SPACED on Facebook and Instagram.

Learn more about Linda Tegg.

Circular Economies is produced as a joint partnership by PICA - Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts and SPACED.