| CLAn - the
set
Commentary by Peter England,
Set Designer
Unaipon
"The guy on the 50 dollar note" - that was how
I was first introduced to David Unaipon, and it seems to be the
common point of reference when introducing the inspiration for
this show to most people. The formally dressed, snowy haired man,
with gentle face and wise penetrating eyes, smiling out confidently
and knowingly from a plastic piece of currency. Closer inspection
of the design of this bill starts to reveal something of the man
- a scientific looking drawing, a small Christian church and a
hand-written quote; "As a full-blooded member of my race I think
I may claim to be the first - but I hope, not the last - to produce
an enduring record of our customs, beliefs and imaginings".
The Show's first image is a painted abstraction
of this $50 note* - I have taken particular elements of its design
and enlarged, distorted or exaggerated them. I want the painting
to begin to deconstruct the recognisable graphics of a piece of
money so we might begin to reconstruct an essence of the man himself.
His right eye stares out at us in massive isolation from the centre
of the painting. A spiral swirls from its centre. His immaculate
neck tie is off to the right under a scratched out number "50".
The word Australia vibrates and stammers down the left margin.
As light comes up behind the painted cloth we
begin to see through to a man floating across the stage. I want
to leave behind the first knowledge of David Unaipon as "the guy
on the 50 dollar note" and go on a journey with the dancers, the
music, and the stories Frances Rings has told me. Stories of weaving
seem to resonate with David Unaipon's life. Women cocooned in red
woven mats claim the space, men draw out string lines and create
'webs' that cut across it - these are the beginnings, the threads
of a life.
Reading and researching David Unaipon exposes
a truly extraordinary and inspirational renaissance man with a
rich traditional and western education; a spiritual man who was
able to open his heart to both Indigenous and Christian beliefs,
a musician, a scientist, a philosopher and a dreamer. A man who
crossed racial, religious, and intellectual boundaries - and yet
who was bound by the prevailing ignorance of a society obsessed
with discrimination - of "drawing the line" and dividing. But in
spite of this David Unaipon maintained all dignity and integrity
in every one of his many pursuits - in essence he maintained his
dreams and crossed all divisions.
Like a giant laboratory light, a beam of illumination
rises to reveal a glowing white strip which divides our stage in
half. A boundary of light is created. Dancers cross the "boundary",
some move up and down it, others ignore it altogether. A sense
of scientific measure, ideological division, and questions of order
and chaos are posed.
The final image seeks to send our imagination
into the realms of the eternal and of dreams. This is a place where
David Unaipon seemed very at home. A life-long fascination with
perpetual motion, combined with a searching passion for the spiritual,
inspires ideas about the great poetry of his life. A field of "stars" inhabited
by a myriad of symbols and abstractions, all interwoven with lines
of measure and proportion, floating illuminated in a sea of black...
A universe of possibilities.
Thanks to Brian Sadgrove for kind permission to
reproduce parts of his design for the Australian 50 dollar note.
Rations
"In Rations Fran is looking at a
period in Australian history where western culture set out, quite
aggressively, to usurp traditional culture. This was done by providing
little tidbits of processed shelter, food, and even religion in
exchange for a denial of 'old ways'. The piece looks at how, despite
the apparent dependence on those rations, there was always a constant
connection to, and survival of, a much more ancient spirit.
The set is very simple. It's in an empty black
space which allows the audience to imagine locations and predicaments
in quite a surreal way. We start off with a ring suspended in the
space - the ring represents a meeting place, a centre, a sense
of a heart, a spiritual contact, an idea that hovers above their
day to day existence. The ring is made of raw and natural materials,
it has a hand made feel. Then in contrast to this metaphorical
piece, we introduce literal ration elements - flour bags, blankets
and galvanised iron sheets. There is a fine balance between these
objects supplying instruction vs the dancers instructing the objects.
I think the latter is more interesting from a design point of view.
All of these elements are there for a story telling and dance purpose
rather than any old fashioned notion of scenery or decoration."
Photo Danielle Lyonne
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