Contemplating Gold

contemplating gold is an outdoor site-responsive screening which provokes a dialogue between contemporary relationships to money and images of the remains of gold-digging sites.

From the 1850’s, the Dja Dja Wurrung land around Castlemaine was upturned, turned over and denuded as a result of the goldrush. contemplating gold focuses not upon the gold mining that was, but rather upon the present environment, the earth emptied of gold. Juxtaposing footage showing the consequences of a past relationship to gold and money with audio of contemporary locals reflecting on our present financial concerns, this work acts as a provocation, setting up echoes, oscillations, reverberations on the (dis)connections between money and country. In this context, the work may perform a role somewhere between an oracle and that of an elderly neighbour who has seen a lot of change, a lot of repetition.

contemplating gold incorporates the following:
the site: a footpath and the wall of the local bank
the video: footage of heritage gold-mining sites (addits, vertical mining shafts, slag heaps, etc.)
the audio: voices of local people from all strata of life reflecting on their current financial predicament.

contemplating gold was created as part of a Puctum Seedpod.

Image Gallery

Performance History and Awards

Castlemaine: Punctum Seedpod Residency 2009

Partners and Support