CACSA Monograph | James Tylor: Territorial Encounters

Territorial Encounters jAmes tylor / territorial encounters

james tylor

CONTEMPORARY ART CENTRE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

james tylor

Territorial Encounters 23 July – 28 August 2016 Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia

Seeing country

Whether or not he did so intentionally, James Tylor has just created his first piece of performance art. Revealing itself through daguerreotypes, found objects and a sound work, Territorial Encounters is, at its core, a performative reimagining, reconstruction and reinterpretation of the colonisation of South Australia. Specifically, Kangaroo Island and the adjacent 72 kilometre stretch of coastline, between what is now commonly known as Cape Jervis and Encounter Bay. It was here that Matthew Flinders, widely acknowledged as the first European to circumnavigate Australia, closed in on his map of the Australian continent. It was also on April 8 in 1802, where he crossed paths with Nicolas Baudin – a French naturalist and cartographer who had been appointed by his government to undertake the same expedition.

The two men met, exchanged their findings, and parted ways. Narrowly pre-empting Baudin, Flinders officially lay claim to the land, which he named Encounter Bay in honour of this historic meeting. A symbolic site in relation to the colonisation of Australia, this stretch of country had also, for tens of thousands of years, been a significant cultural place for the Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri and Ramindjeri people.

COVER IMAGE Hidden in the shadows 2016 (detail) scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm PRECEDING PAGE 1853 Goolwa #1 Ngarrindjeri Nation 2016 (detail) scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm

During the winter of 2015, Tylor made multiple trips to Kangaroo Island and Cape Jervis, now the main port that connects the island to the mainland. On one particular visit, Tylor walked from Encounter Bay all the way to Cape Jervis, tracing the steps of his Kaurna ancestors over the course of a journey that lasted three days. It is in this sense that Territorial Encounters is a performative work – an endurance piece of sorts. By retracing these routes and documenting his findings, the artist reframes this contested and contentious landscape. Tylor is an artist who identifies equally with his Kaurna, European and Maori heritage. The significance of his tri-cultural heritage is paramount, since Tylor and his work embody multiple perspectives. Territorial Encounters converges simultaneously on all three experiences – that of coloniser, the colonised and the onlooker.

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In the series Karta, the artist has violently scratched into the surface of ten small daguerreotypes, erasing important stories, cultural sites and objects found on Kangaroo Island. The island, known as Karta (‘The Island of the Dead’) to the Kaurna people, is thought to have become detached from the mainland some 10,000 years ago; however, until approximately 2,500 years ago (when seafaring became too dangerous) it was regularly accessed by Nunga people.1 During the 1800s the island was used by European whalers and sealers as a commercial hunting base. It was also where these same men enslaved Aboriginal women, including those from Tasmania. Tylor’s daguerreotypes draw attention to this dark and largely ignored history, presenting competing perspectives in the one image. While each laceration suggests a kind of covering up or obliteration of history, their very presence also draws our attention to that which has been overlooked. In quite a literal sense, the scratches carved into these photographs speak to the removal and decimation of Aboriginal culture by European colonisers.

For example, in Hidden in the shadows (2016), Tylor has gouged out a cluster of trees, highlighting the way in which farmers would literally cover up massacres by planting shrubs on top of the site. Furthermore, the scratches in these photographs not only emphasise the violence perpetrated by colonisers but also reinstate these histories into contemporary discourse.

That is the power of Tylor’s work: through his process of erasure we learn to look, to probe and to question our interpretation of landscape and culture, both in a contemporary and historical context. It is as though each scratch stresses the lasting, painful legacy of dispossession, violence and colonisation. We cannot help but wonder: what is behind these marks; what was there first?

In Territorial Encounters, the second series of daguerreotypes included in this exhibition, Tylor has superimposed city plans over a stretch of coastal country. These grids, similarly gouged into the surface of each photograph, are facsimiles of regional centres across South Australia, including Port

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Pirie, Ceduna, Port Lincoln and Port Wakefield. Although the townships replicated are far-reaching and state-wide, the coastal imagery beneath each grid is taken from Encounter Bay, creating a collision between history and geography. Tylor has deliberately layered Western architectural plans over the landscape to emphasise the region’s role in the colonisation of Australia. It was Flinders’ maps of this coastline that informed British forces on where best to establish settlements. Subsequently, Karta became a vantage point to ‘discover’ potential sites. In Territorial Encounters we see clearly that these cities, town centres and architectural structures were imposed, not only on the landscape, but also on Indigenous people.

Tylor’s work implies that underneath the bricks and mortar is a country brimming with cultural and historical value.

These histories are also documented in the form of an immersive soundscape, created in close collaboration with Brad Harkin and Sue Kneebone. As though reviving ghosts from the past, Kneebone recites colonial accounts and histories, drawn from across Australia, including Encounter Bay and Karta. Interestingly, Kneebone’s own artistic practice is primarily concerned with interrogating ‘pioneer’ narratives from the perspective of the coloniser – her own pastoralist family history having informed this approach. By employing Kneebone’s voice and pairing her with Harkin, an emerging Aboriginal artist in the role of audio technician, Tylor again presents the audience with an alternative perspective of colonial history, one which co-exists alongside Indigenous discourse.

Tylor’s work reminds us that it is not necessary to replenish the Australian landscape with Indigenous objects, signs and signifiers. That in fact by doing so, we continue to reinforce imperialist structures and epistemological systems. Rather, recognising what already exists and what has been removed is a far more powerful acknowledgment of history. In some respects, this approach aligns with Tylor’s interest in decolonial thinking (decoloniality), which underpins much of his practice. For this exhibition Tylor has scrubbed the floors with native eucalypt oil and placed traditional Indigenous objects alongside his photographs. These subtle actions seek to normalise Indigenous cultural objects, materials

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and practices and crucially, are presented and contextualised by the artist himself, a sovereign person. Asserting his right to occupy space is also evident in the gold wall markings throughout the exhibition, a gestural and seemingly random pattern developed by the artist as a tool to further decolonise the white cube. In some respects, these wall paintings could be interpreted as an inversion of the daguerreotypes: rather than scratching away at the surface, Tylor colonises the gallery space in a similar manner to that of a graffiti artist. By layering paint over the existing walls, each stroke not only marks out territory but is also an act of reclamation.

When considering the systematic invasion and colonisation of Australia, the relevance of Encounter Bay and Karta should not be underestimated.

That this place and its history have gone largely unrecognised in contemporary, mainstream discourse is sadly, unsurprising. Tylor overturns this omission, restoring territorial narratives to their rightful place in history through the process of erasure. In doing so, Tylor not only spotlights Nunga people in South Australia, but also echoes and reinforces the universality of their experience. Ultimately, Territorial Encounters teaches us to see. To see history and to see country, be it suburban, regional or rural, as contested ground; as sites of loss, resilience and conquest. Tylor’s work invites us to scrutinise closely and to acknowledge that even though some things no longer appear as they once did, the scar – the memory – nevertheless persists.

– Liz Nowell, Executive Director, CACSA

Endnotes 1. Copland, G., 2002, ‘The Mysteries of Karta (Alias Kangaroo Island): Creation, Colonisers and Crusoes’ in Counterpoints: Flinders University journal of interdisciplinary conference papers, p.74, URL <http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/projects/ counterpoints/Proc_2002/Pdf/A9.pdf>, accessed 20 June 2016.

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Karta (The Island of the Dead)

This series explores the dark human history of Karta/ Kangaroo Island from a Nunga1 and a European-Australian perspective.

Ramindjeri people settled the island about 60,000 years ago when it was attached to the continent of Australia. Karta2 remained attached to the mainland until approximately 10,000 years ago, when the sea levels began to rise creating the island. Karta became completely isolated from the mainland nearly 2000-5000 years ago. Ngarrindjeri people tell a story about when the sea levels rose causing the separation of the island from the mainland.

Matthew Flinders, who mapped the island in 1803 for the British land claim, was responsible for its English name. He called the island Kangaroo Island after the tame kangaroos he slaughtered for fresh meat for the crew of his ship The Investigator. American whalers and sealers later colonised the island for a short period before abandoning it. Karta became an outpost for whalers and sealers to base themselves for their commercial hunting. Often during this period Indigenous women from the mainland and Tasmania were kidnapped and taken to Karta as sexual and domestic slaves for the male European whalers and sealers. A story from this time tells of three Ngarrindjeri

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women and a baby, who tried to escape from their captors by crossing the strait of sea that separates Karta from the mainland. Two of the women crossed in a small rowing boat, but there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough room for the woman and baby, so the mother was forced to tie her baby to her back and swim across the fourteen kilometre stretch of water, but they failed to make it back to the mainland.

In August 1836 the British officially colonised Kangaroo lsland and set up the town of Kingscote, choosing to colonise Karta first rather than the mainland of South Australia, because British settlers would not be threatened by attacks from Nunga people. Kingscote became a key vantage point from where the British were able colonise the mainland of South Australia. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; James Tylor, 2016

Endnotes 1. Nunga refers to South Australian Aboriginal people or person (Nunga Kriol) 2. Karta is the Ramindjeri and Kaurna name for Kangaroo Island

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KArta (THE island of the dead)

Baudin and Flinders 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm

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From the ashes 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 9

KArta (THE island of the dead)

Ghost of the past 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 10

Hidden in the shadows 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 11

KArta (THE island of the dead)

In the stone 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 12

Possum Trees 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 13

KArta (THE island of the dead)

The Island 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 14

The trap 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 15

KArta (THE island of the dead)

The village 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 16

The landing 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 17

Territorial EncountersÂ

Territorial Encounters explores the European nineteenth-century colonisation of South Australia and the resulting dispossession of land from the Nunga people. In 1801-â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;02, Matthew Flinders circumnavigated the Australian continent to not only lay claim to the area as British territory, but to prevent the French from colonising Australia. In the course of the expedition, Flinders mapped the South Australian coastline in search of suitable water supplies and harbours for the British to develop settlements on the southern coast of Australia. In 1836, the British officially colonised Karta/Kangaroo Island under the control of the South Australian Company setting up the township of Kingscote. However, the South Australian Company found when it arrived on the island that it had already been inhabited by American commercial whalers and sealers. After less than a year on Karta, the British colonists discovered there was insufficient water to sustain a large population on the island and from the vantage point of Kingscote, the Surveyor-General Colonel William Light selected Adelaide on the River Torrens on the South Australian mainland as the preferred site. Following the formal proclamation on December 28, 1836 of the colony of South Australia, the British colonised the rest of South Australia.

During this process of British colonisation, Nunga people were killed or removed from their homeland and segregated from

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European colonists on isolated Christian missions like Raukkan (Point McLeay), Point Pearce, Poonindie etc. On the missions, Nunga were prevented from speaking their traditional languages and practicing culture. They were forced to assimilate into western culture by speaking only English and adopting Christian values.

Fair-skinned, mixed-race Nunga with European ancestry were removed from the missions and assimilated within the European population of South Australia. During the Stolen Generation (1880s to 1967), mixed race children were taken from their families and brought up by families of European heritage. Mixedrace adults, who worked under slave-like conditions as domestic servants or cheap labourers were paid only in food and shelter.

Much of the poor treatment of Aboriginal people didn’t end until the 1967 referendum, which provided for two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Indigenous Australians.

Territorial Encounters attempts to explain how South Australia was colonised by the British Empire and the way in which Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their traditional homeland that they had owned for 60,000 years.

– James Tylor, 2016

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Territorial encounters

1836 Adelaide #1 Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 20

1836 Adelaide #2 Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 21

Territorial encounters

1836 North Adelaide Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 22

1836 Port Adelaide Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 23

Territorial encounters

1836 Rapid Bay Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 24

1839 Port Lincoln #1 Barngarla Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 25

Territorial encounters

1839 Port Lincoln #2 Barngarla Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 26

1845 Port Pirie #1 Nukunu Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 27

Territorial encounters

1845 Port Pirie #2 Nukunu Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 28

1849 Port Wakefield #1 Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 29

Territorial encounters

1849 Port Wakefield #2 Kaurna Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 30

1852 Port Augusta Nukunu Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 31

Territorial encounters

1853 Goolwa #1 Ngarrindjeri Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 32

1853 Goolwa #2 Ngarrindjeri 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 33

Territorial encounters

1898 Ceduna #1 Wirangu Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 34

1898 Ceduna #2 Wirangu Nation 2016 scratched daguerreotype, 10 x 12.5 cm 35

ABOUT JAMES TYLOR James Tylor (Possum) was born in Mildura, Victoria. He spent his childhood in Menindee in far west New South Wales, and then moved to Kununurra and Derby in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in his adolescent years. From 2003 to 2008 James trained and worked as a carpenter in Derby, Darwin Australia and Helsingør, Denmark. In 2011 he completed a bachelor of Visual Arts (Photography) at the South Australian school of Art in Adelaide and in 2012 he completed honours in Fine Arts (Photography) at the Tasmanian School of Art in Hobart. He returned to Adelaide in 2013 and completed a Masters in Visual Art (Photography) at the South Australian school of Art. He currently lives and works in Adelaide.

James’ artistic practice examines the concept of racial and cultural identity in Australian contemporary society and social history. He explores Australian cultural representations through his multi-cultural heritage comprising Nunga (Kaurna), Maori (Te Arawa) and European (English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch and Norwegian) Australian ancestry. His work focuses largely on 19th century history of Australia and its continual affect on present day issues surround racial and cultural identity in Australia.

James’ artistic practice specialises in experimental and historical photographic processes. He uses a hybrid of analogue and digital photographic techniques to create contemporary artworks that reference Australian society and history. The processes he employs are the physical manipulate of digital photographic printing, such as manually hand colouring of digital prints or applying physical interventions to the surfaces of digital prints. Also he uses the historical 19th century photographic process, Becquerel daguerreotype with the aid of modern technology to create new and contemporary daguerreotypes. His interests in this unique photographic processes is linked to his fascination with Australian history and the use of this medium to document Indigenous Australian and Maori culture in the 19th century.

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ARTIST’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the help and support that I have received during the creation of this exhibition and catalogue.

To Bradley Harkin and Sue Kneebone for their contribution to the audio artwork in the exhibition. Thank you to Lilly Walter and Christopher Cribben for your assistance in the production of the daguerreotype photographs. I would also like to acknowledge Coby Edgar, Alice Clanachan Thomas Buchanan, Caitlin Eyre, Christine Tylor, Sue Kneebone, Bradley Harkin, Julie Gough and Marvyn McKenzie for your support, feedback and contribution to the conceptual development of this project.

Finally, I would like to thank Logan Macdonald and Liz Nowell at CACSA.

James Tylor is represented by GAGPROJECTS, Adelaide; Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne; Stills Gallery, Sydney.

This publication is published by the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (CACSA), Adelaide to coincide with Territorial Encounters: James Tylor, an exhibition held at the CACSA from 23 July – 28 August 2016. © 2016 The Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, the writers and artists. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Nowell, Liz, author.

Title: Territorial encounters : James Tylor / Liz Nowell, James Tylor; Wendy Walker, copy editor.

ISBN: 9780975023969 (paperback) Subjects: Tylor, James Art, Aboriginal Australian.

Artists--South Australia Art, Modern--21st century.

South Australia--History--19th century.

Other Creators/Contributors: Tylor, James, author.

Walker, Wendy, 1946- editor.

Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, issuing body.

Dewey Number: 704.039915

Executive Director: Liz Nowell General Manager: Sarita Chadwick Author: Liz Nowell Copy editor: Wendy Walker Designer: David Corbet Printing: Newstyle Printing Publisher: Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia Inc. Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia 14 Porter Street Parkside SA 5063 T +61 (08) 8272 2682 W www.cacsa.org.au E admin@cacsa.org.au

The CACSA is assisted by the Government of South Australia through Arts South Australia and the Australian Government through the Australia Council and supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory governments.