Weaving Water: Connecting to place, practice and protocol

29th International Symposium of Electronic Arts: Everywhen, 11-17 Jun

Tracey Benson, Pasha Clothier, Sarah Jane Pell and Kristine Dickerson

Abstract

This panel consists of four international experts who have collaborated and connected on a diverse range of projects for over 20 years. The discussion focuses on a recent interdisciplinary residency in Australia, Weaving Water @ Yarun, designed to support relational ways of being, share cultural practices, and provide artistic and theoretical frameworks that acknowledge a deep connection to place. The residency tied together social and cultural knowledge about water as an essential element to support human and more-than-human physical and spiritual life on the planet. This panel discussion explores individual experiences of the residency as well as framing shared contributions to the residency outcomes.

Introduction

The panellists demonstrate that the concept of weaving water extends beyond a mere theoretical framework. It serves as a practical methodology and a foundational point for inquiry. If there is a shared paradigm, it places a central emphasis on tangible acts/actions/activisms, and embodied practices while also maintaining a broader perspective that encompasses various significant unresolved issues, such as identity, kinship with nature, place and related historical oppression, governance, racism, and cultural distinctions. Weaving emerges as an effective approach for examining how small local actions like assembling, resisting, crafting, or adorning connect to conscious global water management phenomena and living aquatic body occurrences. To illustrate, the panel will first sketch changes to the role and prominence of interdisciplinarity in practice, illustrated by reference to over a decade of project activity. This will be followed by an introduction to recent shifts in theory and knowledge which acknowledges relational ways of being and deep connection to place. From this basis, collaboration with First Nations people and communities in project activities will be scoped, with particular reference to prior exhibitions and collaborations. How these changes have manifested in collaborative activities will be discussed along with a range of projects that engage with art, science, culture and technology with particular focus on water as a basis for projects. The focus of the discussion will then turn to how these activities have manifested in practice through the presentations of each of the speakers and their contributions to a 2023 ArtSci residency in Australia.

Benson, T., Clothier, P., Pell, S.J., & K. Diekman, (2024). Weaving Water: Connecting to place, practice and protocol. In Proceedings of the International Symposium of Electronic Arts (ISEA), Meanjin (Brisbane), AU 11-17 Jun 2024.

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