Red Air

About:

Red Air is a celebration of the Australian landscape, created in collaboration with Yindjibarndi artists Sharon and Kaye Warrie. The work is about exploring the spirit of the land as part of a contemporary Australian identity.

 

Red Air began in 2017 on a trip to the Pilbara to collaborate with the Cheeditha artist group. 

 

Together, we drafted bold prints that captured the spirit of the land, and we deliberately merged them in counterpoint, in one collective work. We wanted to blur the lines between each artist in the project, because the work is about finding a new voice for Australia that is collaborative. 

 

A bold combination of Aboriginal and contemporary prints, the work is designed to be equally powerful by day as it is by night when the forms are internally illuminated. The work includes a soundtrack by Josie Alec (Ngarluma Nation) and Richard Star, a producer based in Darwin. The soundtrack features a single woman’s voice singing, and clap sticks, creating complex repeating rhythmic patterns.

 

The artwork has evolved with the most recent addition being a grand inflatable gateway. The gateway invites the visitor to the  meeting of those two worlds through art.

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Team:

Creative Leads: Matthew Aberline and 

Maurice Goldberg, and Sharon Warrie and Kaye Warrie from the Yindjibarndi Nation in the Pilbara Desert / Cheeditha Art Group.

Soundtrack: Josie Alec with Darwin based producer Richard Star 

Consulting Engineer: Beta Engineering 

Manufactured by: The Beautiful and Useful Studio

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History:

Originally premiering Canberra's Enlighten Festival, the work has been shown throughout Western Australia, the Karijini National Park, and Melbourne's Glow Festival. 

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Sustainability:

Textiles made from recycled PET polyester. Manufactured using 100% renewable electricity (Solar). Internal bases and ballast designed to be reused. All polyester waste re-recycled onshore by Sealy.

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Restaging Opportunities:

There is opportunity to restage this work.