Rumour (2013) is an artwork based on a story in Indian folklore. Mutiny was a constant threat for the colonizer. As India’s independence drew nearer, The British army became more anxious, rumour abound. The British seemed baffled as to how the indians were communicating and organising themselves in preparation for a mutiny which was inevitable. As homi Bhabba outlines in his seminal text, Location of Culture, one such story suggests that secret messages were being passed from village to village inside ‘chapattis’ (an Indian flatbread).
The artwork Rumour 2013) is a temporal, kinetic sculpture. It consists of a motor encased by a wooden frame, which is placed directly on the floor. Atta, the flour used to make chapatis, is builtup around the frame as a mound covering and concealing the motorised framework. Protruding from the top of the atta mound is a stick, which slowly rotates in a slow, double, circulatory movement, mimicking a contemporary dough hook used in kitchen mixers to make dough. The stick is from a piece of mistletoe I found during frequent walks in the Box-Ironbark Forests in the Central Goldfields in Victoria. The landscape, predominantly Grey and Yellow Box and Red Ironbark Eucalyptus, has a specific mistletoe that parasitically attaches itself to its host, mimicking its appearance in both foliage and flower. I was interested in this ideaof the mistletoe because of its mimicry quality. I covered the stick in individual Swarovski crystals to create a homogenising layer between the mistletoe and the eucalyptus. The crystals shimmer as the light catches the stick while it rotates in the atta mound. It is mesmerising, watching the stick in its circulatory route around the flour. It moves in an almost serpentine way, because of the form of the stick and the double circular motion. It is a dazzling and seductive work. Nothing happens as it perpetually orbits in its defined path. When contextualised through the historical lens of the Indian mutiny, the artwork feels treacherous in its beauty waiting for the right time to strike and claim back India from British Imperialism.
Rumour (2013) , eucalyptus branch, mistletoe, Swarovski crystals, flour, motor, wood, 90cm diameter x 130cm height.
images 1 - 2 Building the form
images 3 - 7 Video stills from an exhibition at the Stockroom, Kyneton
images 8 - 9 CaD drawings for motorized unit Rumour. Drawings & construction courtesy of Laura Woodward
image 10 - Sketch for motorizing the stick – Rumour. Drawings & construction courtesy of Laura Woodward
