Much like the previous recording of the natural footage, I went to several locations in order to capture the unnatural aspects of the environment that surround us. It was pretty much the same process as collecting footage for the natural aspects and environment around us. I went to the same location for unnatural areas too, with a bit of varieties in the location. They were the following:
- Sweet Evelyn, a brunch in Brunswick
- Brunswick West – Brunswick Skate Park
- The Shrine of Remembrance and the surrounding gardens
(A screenshot from one of my videos)
- Melbourne CBD – Swanston St, inside the tram
- RMIT University
- Derrimut – my cousin’s home
- My local park
- My own home
I underwent the same process of collecting these footages, however, with the different intention of what I was supposed to see and record. I made sure that I was actively seeing man-made and white structures, whilst also isolating these features around nature in some of my videos. I noticed that I gravitated more towards filming the unnatural, rather than unnatural – this could be my inherent characteristic as a “man”, and therefore, relating to more of the man-made objects that surround us. You can also see this from the position that I am moving in, whether it be a car or a tram, I am always surrounded by the unnatural. Also, these places are already familiar to me and did not require a prior research before I even planned to record/visit – I simply used my past experiences and even imagination in order to observe these locations. Going back to Anna Tsing’s “The Mushroom at the End of the World”, I think that it relates to the “unnatural” in a very different way in comparison to the “natural” aspects. Because I did not need to research beforehand for some of these places, the precarity and the uncontrollability took over the creative process of my work. I did not schedule or constrain myself to particular rules (except for keeping the camera steady) and let the environment and nature take its course. Despite the theme for my recording as “unnatural”, I allowed the observation to be natural and unforced – quite ironic isn’t it?
What does this tell you about noticing? What this tells me about noticing is that it is not supposed to be controlled all the time. Noticing everything is an unrealistic task to do and therefore, letting nature take over is a process of noticing. We do not necessarily have to be glued and constrained in order to notice but rather, notice what takes place in the natural and even the unnatural areas that surround us.
Lyreca.