The Spectral Field

BACKGROUND The extraction industries are a reoccurring theme across much artists' cinema. Recent works like Earth (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2019), Wild Relatives (Jumana Manna’s, 2017), Extinction (Salomé Lamas, 2018) and L. Cohen (James Benning, 2018), all focus on landscape as a way think through the process and history of resource extraction. Few of these films focus on the unseen elements of place as a way to explore the histories & processes of extraction. Inspired by the recent focus of resource extraction in contemporary moving image works, the Spectral Field engages a variety of recording technology and compositional aesthetics to interrogate the unseen history of Victoria’s remote salt farming industry. CONTRIBUTION The Spectral Field is a 25-minute moving image and sound work that traces the decaying structure of an abandoned salt harvesting farm in the remote Mallee landscape. The work uses vibrational recordings, macro videography and areal filmmaking to reveal both the scale and rarely experienced embedded histories of the abandoned salt farm. The Spectral Field moves beyond its function as a moving image artwork to present a sensory mapping of Victoria’s outback by revealing the unseen resonances and materials to illuminate the legacy of Australia’s salt harvesting industry. SIGNIFICANCE The Spectral Field was commissioned by The Cinemas Project & supported by the Mildura Arts Centre ($3000) & Creative Victoria ($11000). First exhibited at the Mildura Arts Centre, the show included a 30-page catalogue with an essay about the work written by curator Bridget Crone. The exhibition also included a series of public events in surrounding remote townships. The work has subsequently been included in the following shows – Notions of Care (The Hobiennale, 2019), Her Beauty and Her Terror (Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, 2020), Landscape Suicides (Vodmilk Films, online, 2020), Notions of Care, (Bus Projects, 2021).