Bound by Gorse (Ulex europaeus)

Abstract

Bound by Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is a curved wall of over 100 bricks made entirely of gorse (an invasive woody weed) collected in the Merri Creek catchment. To produce the bricks I adapted papermaking techniques, processing and reconstituting the gorse fibres into reproducible forms. I used the materiality of the gorse to bring forward a sense of the care practices and land ownership boundaries at the creek. The labour-intensive paper making process employs repetitive labour to produce multiple bricks. In turn this articulates time and process through matter. This expression of material time can also be understood as a labour of care. These methods, manifest in the reproducibility of the bricks, carried the experience of careful labour into the gallery. Accompanying the bricks was a digital photograph of the site where the gorse was collected. This image served to reveal the extent of gorse infestation and how, in the small section we cleared, a wooden fence post and wire was revealed. The first herbarium record of Ulex europaeus (Gorse) from Australia was collected at Studley Park, Melbourne in 1884. Brought to Australia as a hedge plant and for fodder it quickly naturalised. The long viability period of its seeds and its prickly foliage contribute to its successful foothold in southern Australia. In this work I consider the flow of gorse through the Merri catchment since its introduction by Europeans in the 19th Century. I have spent numerous Sunday mornings on the creek helping clear gorse. In 2013 I walked the Merri Creek ­– from its source in Heathcote Junction to its confluence with the Yarra in Abbotsford – where at times we had to back track to find passage around gorse infestations. Responding to how gorse no longer marks boundaries and fence lines I have used the whole plant to construct a series of ‘paper’ bricks. Stamped with postcodes – starting at Studley Park and moving north through the Merri catchment – they form a wall or boundary in the gallery. The labour intensive process of papermaking ­– adapted to create the bricks ­– echo the slow and repetitive work of clearing gorse. Bound by gorse considers humans’ current relationship with Gorse conflating its historical use to contain with the contemporary task of keeping it at bay.