FIELD TRIP - Geelong Botanic Gardens

FIELD TRIP places people at the centre of a dynamic and collective community activation of ancient crafts and performance. Geelong catchment boasts hives of creatives pursuing their art practice regardless of commercial attention. This project is about these hidden resources. How might their skill sets be the survival skills for millennials? COVID-19 has compounded barriers to creative skill acquisition for young people arising from screen-facing education and leisure. We position ‘creative’ as ‘clever’ through participation, intergenerational exchange, and collective creative activities, embracing ‘old ways of doing things’ as the essential ‘new way’ for today’s communities.

Geelong Botanic Gardens: Intuitive Processes with Miranda Jarvis & Helen Demetriou

‘I have decided that I don’t want to try and be an artist anymore, Helen’.
‘Miranda, sometimes I just sit and wonder why I didn’t become a botanist’.
Recently, we have found ourselves having conversations about the nature of art and where artistic practice is situated in our own lives. What does it mean to be an artist? Can we relate to that word if we’re not always making works? Perhaps our creative practice, both collaborative and individual, is a guiding light of curiosity and a means in which we navigate our worlds.

This session will be centred around a gentle re-emergence into processes of making individually, together and as a group. We will wander, picnic and talk in the Geelong Botanical Gardens and be guided by the plants that call this site home. In the second half of our session, we will use collected materials to make and respond to what we have observed around us. We will look to creative practice as a means of observation and curiosity.

Miranda Jarvis is a gardener, artist and arts worker. Her creative practice explores a sense of place, the environment and materiality. Miranda graduated from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Hons) in 2018.

Helen Demetriou is a visual artist who explores concepts through intuition, play and humour. Her practice is environmentally conscious and involves using repurposed and recycled materials. Helen graduated from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Hons) in 2018.

ITINERARY:
11.00-12.00pm: Platform Arts, 60 Little Malop Street, Wadawurrung Country
Participants will meet out the front of Platform Arts at 11.00am and walk through the city, and along the waterfront, to the Geelong Botanic Gardens. Coffee stops will be made! Alternatively participants can meet us at the entrance to the gardens.

12.00-1.30pm: Geelong Botanical Gardens, Wadawurrung Country. Participants will be given ‘directions’ that will guide them on a walk around the gardens, encouraging us all to explore and observe using intuition and intention. What can plants teach us about creative practice? Some like Kalkalla (Pigs Face) show us that strength can through our networks and relationships, others like the Xanthorrhoea Australis (Austral Grasstree) remind us that sometimes good things take time.

1.30-3pm: At this time participants will be able to snack and eat lunch; sitting together in a picnic setting. They will be provided with repurposed materials, scissors, and glue, and prompted to play and experiment to make small pieces such as poems or collages. Working together will be encouraged as collaboration is a key part of our process.

Attendees will be able to wander off from the Gardens after the session. 

Please note all participants need to be double vaccinated and will need to show proof of this to facilitators on the day. 

Accessibility requirements and specifics:
- Geelong Botanic Gardens has a ramp to the main entrance.
- People in wheelchairs or with prams can access some parts of the gardens.
- Other paths are not as accessible as they have steps.
- Some paths are asphalt and relatively easy grades.
- Some paths are gravel which you may need assistance with.
*The walk will be self directed and will not require participants to go beyond their personal comfort.

Please see map for access points and bathrooms within the gardens:
https://www.geelongaustralia.c...

Other notes:
-We want this to be a great experience for everyone and we will be encouraging people to work
together, chat and share thoughts. Please advise us if there are any ways we can make this space
more comfortable for you to share in :)

Please bring:
- Lunch - we will provide snacks. Please advise of any allergies.
- Smartphone/camera
- Picnic rug/blanket

Instagram handles:
helen.demetriou
mirandajj_

Website/other:
Miranda: hitheremiranda.squarespace.com