Video Link: https://youtu.be/3z3bR25NFTg

Without access to class discussions on the topic of ‘sensing change’, I felt both limited by the lack of dialogue around the subject, and allowed to explore it in my own way. This week, I learnt that there is potential for film to reflect changes of environmental damage without necessarily capturing the entire timeline of decay. Exploring the landscape – or ‘changescape’, of the Bondi/Tamarama sandstone, I found that two distinct narratives of transformation emerged: the crumbling of the cliffs, and the patterns of gradual wear on the stone. These each reflect timelines of the stone’s deterioration without requiring direct portrayals of the damaging acts themselves.

As Lang proposes, we may materially construct these changes, while representing the ‘more than humanness’ (Lang, 2022) of the landscape through focusing on specific locations, empathising with the land, and focusing on relationships between the non-human features of the land. In my experiment Changescapes of Bondi, I focus on two narratives and use different filmmaking techniques to convey the messages. I analysed the relationships between the ocean and the rocks, as well as human engravings for cultural purposes in comparison to recreational purposes. The first video, Revenge of the Cliff focuses on the decay of the rocks on the ocean’s edge and the striking imagery associated with such an event. I contrast the near-advertorial sights of Bondi Icebergs with the fallen rocks and wire barricades. By lessening the saturation, I also aim to achieve this concept of breaking down the superficiality of the region to shift towards an environmental focus. In the second half, I analyse the erosion of the rocks, both enforced by humans and by natural movements such as wind, particle abrasion, and abrasive waves from the ocean. 

If I were to repeat this experiment in the future, I would prefer to avoid anthropomorphising the landscape as I have. I believe that to truly engage fairly with a landscape within a work of film as Lang and Gibson have, the film must fully assume the non-human perspective. Additionally, I would like to take an angle of digitisation in the future. As the nation of Tuvalu disappears under rising sea levels and they seek to preserve its culture and geographical features with technology, it would be fascinating to recreate the withering landscape of the Bondi/Tamarama rocks in this way.

References:

Fainu, K. (2023, June 27). Facing extinction, Tuvalu considers the digital clone of a country. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/27/tuvalu-climate-crisis-rising-sea-levels-pacific-island-nation-country-digital-clone

Gibson, R. (2016, February 1). Changescapes. Meanjin. https://meanjin.com.au/blog/changescapes/

Lang, S. (2022). Brown Lake/Boumiera: Posthuman Screen Poetics for the Anthropocene. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2833588889/abstract/?pq-origsite=primo&accountid=13552