today

The most recent drawing in progress (above), was made with a political scientist. So the knowledge I've gained through making this drawing is considerable. I now know more about what I don't know - which is the type of knowledge that I seem to be involved with in this project ... perhaps with everything that I do, workwise at least

(there are some things that I would love to be certain about in real life, but that is again the type of knowledge, or lack of knowledge, that keeps me making art. The question being "is it worth continuing to make work" both in a personal sense and a general sense ... the idea of a truthful, profound and honest work of art being another of those new yet unapproachable countries that I continue to chase)...

anyway, I learnt allot about the structure of parliament, the role of the Monarch, and the relationship between National, Provincial and "Gemeente" (municipal) government. Interestingly, the relationship between national and local government here in the Netherlands is more direct than in Australia. I'm still unsure about the role of the provincial governments ... it seems to be around coordinating larger scale public works and issues, but I am sure that it more than that.

It is (or was) an aim of the Australian Greens to work toward devolution of State Government in Australia and create stronger local government with a direct relationship with government at the national level. It's been a while since I read their policies, so they could have changed [and forgive me if I have misunderstood something] ... but it seemed like a sensible idea; and what a fabulous way to reduce government spending, rather than cutting spending on hospitals, education and the arts. It would also seem to be a strategy that would foster greater involvement at a grass roots level in the process of government. I don't know... a more direct relationship betwen national and Local government seems to work here - voter turnout has risen to about 70% in recent years in the Netherlands, which is pretty good going in a country that doesn't have compulsory voting.

I did all the drawing this time, which I didn't mind, but I wondered the whole time whether I should apply a little more pressure to the other person and get them to draw as well. Was this true to the project? I was more interested in finding out as much as I could. Every drawing is an experiment, I guess. The drawings that are made by non-artists are often my favourite drawings. … this goes back to the question about working with artists or non-artists. I can’t help feeling that if I were to work with non-artists it would be a different project – much more about what distinguishes art from ‘not-art’, expert from amateur. Which would be interesting, but maybe not what I’m interested in. It is a question to return to.

This is different from the drawing below, which was really a collaborative effort, both in terms of knowledge and in terms of making the drawing. I particularly enjoyed using Wikipedia to find out some details as we were making the work. The details in this drawing are really nice. It includes a portrait of the queen of the Netherlands in her purely symbolic role. Really nice.

I have started to think about ways to extend the project, and I am reminded that the work first grew out of an interest in the way that the Australian Parliament was designed, and how the formal qualities of the building expressed a vision of government. So the first idea I had was to make the drawings, and then collate them somehow to produce a new design for parliament house. It still sounds like a good idea. But I remember thinking that before I started to work with artists on the redesign of Parliament House, they would need to be informed about how parliament and government worked in Australia. This was followed by the realisation of how little I knew about how parliament and government actually functioned - so I thought I needed somekind of 'consciouness raising' exercise. What followed was this project, which is, as I said to start with, more about what I don't know than it is about the things that I do know.

The other way that I have thought of extending the work is to complete a series of para-drawings which show the cumulative effect of each conversation. Or perhaps, making a drawing at the end of the project that combines aspects of all of the drawings to date.

an aerial view of parliment house, Canberra, Australia. Below, a view of the approach to the entrance of Parliament House. Note the mosaic in the forecourt, Michael Nelson Jakamarra’s Possum and Wallaby Dreaming, commissioned by the Australian Government ... I remember thinking when I did the "field-trip" to visit Parliament how you actually had to walk over the top of this symbol of the First Peoples of Australia in order to enter the building. I'm not sure whether it is symbolic in a negative or a positive way. It depends how you think about a mosaic.

Labels: studies for the shape of government, the netherlands