botanist of the sidewalk

Exploring the city.

A change of venue

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A collection of unidentified objects hover on the wall. The forms are strange but somehow familiar. They look almost like museum pieces, specimens from some lost civilisation or perhaps even from another world altogether. Yet they are recognisably the product of our commercial, industrial age. (installation detail: plaster casts made from plastic packaging)

To see more go to julieshiels.com.au

45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
November 13 – December 8, 2007
Tuesday – Friday 11 – 5pm
Saturday 12 – 4pm

During 2007, I’ve been walking the streets of the CBD, observing life as a ‘botanist of the pavement’ and collecting discarded items that can be re-purposed – like the plastic packaging used to cast the objects in this show, and flattened cardboard boxes. The boxes are stencilled and then returned to the piles of flattened cardboard stacked on the street for recycling.

Every object has a story.

The city and its strangers #10

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“I’m glad I’ve finally met you”, he said to the photographer.
“I figured it must be you leaving those cardboard boxes.
I’ve been wanting to tell you about the guy who begs here at night.
He sets up just over there, comes over, reads what you have written and if it suits his purposes, he takes it back to his spot for the evening.
I wonder what he’ll make of this one” he mused.

Recycling Stephen Cummings song, ‘It’s not me, it’s you.’ in Bourke St, Melbourne.

Mobile art

“Are going to leave that there?” he asked and when she replied he responded by saying, “Don’t do that, we can put it into an exhibition for you. You’ve heard of the Mudfest haven’t you? Well there is a street art show in Brunswick, we’re going there now and we can take it for you.”