The Colonies

The Colonies is the latest instalment of a series of ongoing art projects by Ben Morieson using sunflowers as a medium to explore the delineation between the public and the private space. Seeking to define what Spanish architect Ignasi de Sola Morales labeled ‘vague terrain’, this project is seeking to engage the communities that use the common areas adjacent to the Upfield train line. It invites an exploration of the tension between the public and private spaces of railway journeys.

In setting up temporary gardens of sunflowers, Morieson anticipates people will adopt and maintain the gardens, thereby staking a claim on the areas of land that follow the railway line, and the bicycle path that mirrors it.

These casual gardens, planted in the guise of abandoned shopping trolleys, will be located in positions in full view of passing trains. Commuters will note the proliferation as they travel and realise the gardens are spread the length of the railway line: staking a gradual claim on the land.

The gardens are badged as ‘Field Trials’, giving them a measure of officialdom. Yet The Colonies are about enabling community to gain space and not have it imposed on them by a government authority. At the same time, using ‘institutional speak’ in the labels, is an acknowledgement of the power of these sponsor organisations.

The Colonies seeks to expose and define the tension between the private and the public at a time when we are questioning the ongoing corporatisation of public space.

benmorieson.com.au