SIEV - X: life, death and loss

This M.A. Research Project estblishes an installation artwork addressing the SIEV X tragedy. The project is based on the incident in October of 2001 when 353 illegal refugees were drowned off the coast of Australia. The term SIEV -X stands for supected illegal entry vessel - unknown.<br><br>The artwork takes the form of a transient monument metaphorically representing the experiences of the refugees within the context of Australi'a official and pblic response to refugee immigration.<br><br>The artwork has been situated in several different sites - the School of Art Gallery at RMIT University, Moreland Municipal Offices and in front of the Immigration Museum in Flinders Street, Melbourne. The installation included 353 translucent bottles of seawater each containing the calligraphic name of an individual lost at sea.<br><br>The bottles were presented as in an industrial warehouse or container ship. After the last public presentation the majoe components of the work were taken out by boat into Port Philip Bay and each of the 353 containers has been emptied and dispersed at sea. This comprises the final phase of the project.<br><br>The project has involved research into accounts by survivors, contemporary press articles (relatively few) and engagement with refugee support groups. Allied with this research the candidate has conducted a survey of contemporary art practices that address displaced and disenfranchised persons - sepecially the work of Christian Boltanski - and cultural and contemporary art practices that disperse the artefact at the conclusion of the ritual.