Todd Fuller - Seven rules for raising your siren

TODD FULLER Seven rules for raising your siren 6 August to 1 September 2016

TODD FULLER Seven rules for raising your siren 6 August to 1 September 2016

A dugong is a terrible thing to waste.

If one falls from the sky, you should always do your best to catch it. If you find yourself catching one, be sure to use two hands and a light touch or even better, a jar half filled with water.

Dugongs are a type of Sirenia and are the loyalist of creatures, with their waggyslippery tails and their shiny stiff whiskers. Dugongs are generally shy, so if you manage to see a rare dugong smile, you should always smile back. A smile from a dugong is a gift in itself.

If you are a lucky person who manages to snag a dugong, here are some handy tips for looking after him: 1. Ensure he has room to swim, and frolic and grow. Dugongs like their space.

2. Make sure their tank is always clean, a tidy home is everything.

3. Tell him stories about jellyfish, seagrass and love.Especially Love as Dugongs are very into romance. 4. Scratch his back where his fins can’t reach and be sure to keep his wrinkles clean. This rule is not just applicable to dugongs, you should also be vigilant with the cleanliness of your own wrinkles.

5. Hide him from lawnmowers, they are the enemy of seagrass which is of course a dugongs favorite food in the whole wide ocean.

6. Dugongs hate curse words so be careful not to swear when they can hear you.

7. Remember to smile when the time comes for your dugong to return to the sea...

HOW TO RAISE A SIREN The word ‘siren’ carries multiple meanings. It is an alarm: a loud prolonged sound signifying danger, a warning to all within earshot that something is amiss. Greek mythology depicts sirens as hybrid bird-woman creatures whose enchanting song lured unwary sailors to their deaths. At some point the lore of sirens merged with legends of Nereids or sea nymphs, giving rise to accounts of mermaids recorded in sailor’s logs for centuries. The term siren is also applied to another seemingly mythical creature that has historically been mistaken for the fabled mermaid – the dugong. A family of marine mammals belonging to the order of Sirenia, dugongs are more closely related to elephants than aquatic mammals such as dolphins or whales. Gentle beings, vulnerable to environmental change and the loss of their habitat, they are almost comical in appearance. Despite a body the shape of a large, pale jellybean with fins and the head of a cow, the dugong improbably possess a sentient grace and familiarity of expression that carries echoes of humanity.

In How to raise a siren, 2016, multi-disciplinary artist Todd Fuller gives consideration to different interpretations of the term siren, while also using the dugong as a means to explore themes of conservation, innocence, naivety, imagination and love. The hand-drawn animation, set to a soundtrack of ocean waves, opens on a monochromatic coastal landscape tinted with a palette of blues that range from inky purple through to vibrant turquoise, occasionally balanced by warm gold tones that colour the sands of Sydney’s Bondi Beach. A vintage shark alarm indicates that there may be some kind of danger present, a notion soon compounded by the appearance of ominous shapes on the horizon

– dark, threatening ships that cast lawnmowers into the pristine water.

A sense of nostalgia is palpable, the sound of waves evoking memories of days spent by the sea, hunting for treasures in rock pools at low tide. A child stands on a rock holding a jar, a tiny dugong falls from the sky and is captured, rescued, taken home to be raised and nurtured. The ships return in different guises throughout the video – a menacing presence in a poster on the wall of the child’s room or as toys in the bathtub – infiltrating otherwise familiar scenes of security. A pervasive reminder of the effect we have on the marine environment, but also representative of the way the everyday reality of living can impact creativity and imagination.

How to raise a siren isn’t just a narrative about environmental conservation, though the preservation of the natural world is an undeniably important theme. It is also a chronicle about the importance of safeguarding imagination in a world where reality often imposes limitations on our hopes and our dreams.

When the dugong falls from the sky, it is as a manifestation of inspiration and creativity, and a personification of the vulnerability of our aspirations.

Despite the ever-present hazards and dangers of the world, the dugong is cared for and protected, swimming happily in fish bowls and bath tubs, growing and flourishing even as the child matures and becomes an adult. Eventually, outgrowing every vessel and receptacle, too large and exuberant to be limited or contained, the dugong is transported back to the ocean, and set free.

Written by Tai Spruyt, August 2016

Todd Fuller, ‘lifeguard #1 (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 57 x 75cm

Todd Fuller, ‘on dry land’ 2016 iron and bronze on white earthenware, 34 x 22 x 12cm

Todd Fuller, ‘lifeguard (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 77 x 112cm

Todd Fuller, ‘self portrait with dugong in bathtub and shame (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 57 x 75cm

Todd Fuller, ‘back to the sea’ 2016 oil and pigment on white earthenware, 41 x 18 x 30cm

Todd Fuller, ‘tomorrow I may still bathe with the fish (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 77 x 112cm

Todd Fuller, ‘The Pav (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 57 x 75cm

Todd Fuller, ‘boats on the horizon (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 57 x 75cm

Todd Fuller, ‘not without my dugong’ 2016 oil and pigment on white earthenware, 32 x 15 x 26cm

Todd Fuller, ‘dugong study #1’ 2016, acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 35 x 49cm

Todd Fuller, ‘boy with fish out of water (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 57 x 75cm

Todd Fuller, ‘midnight viewing’ 2016 iron on white earthenware, iPod playing ‘how to raise a siren’, 14 x 35 x 35cm and 14 x 14 x 9cm

Todd Fuller, ‘self portrait rowing with dugong (how to raise a siren)’ 2016 acrylic, chalk and charcoal on paper, 57 x 75cm

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