The textural topography of my mind at the moment

These are collage works in progress. They all relate to current issues, oblique though that may seem. This little town of Waihi where I live is at present waiting to find out if the open cast gold mine will be extended in westerly and easterly directions. There are those for the proposals and those against. Some residents are employed by the mine, and some local companies receive work from the mine and of course they might be keen to see these new extensions proceed. Others are stressed and tired from living with the open cast mine (and some may receive some money towards this...see today's front page of the local newspaper above) and would like to see the open cast operation end as required by all the various legal consents etc. Tonight the Hauraki District Council is holding a public meeting in Waihi to explain the council's role in any application by the mining company (I don't believe an application has yet been made) and the process of acquiring consent and objecting to any consent. The Council stated in their "HDC News" in the Hauraki Herald of February 26 2008 that "The meeting will not be to discuss the proposal as we have no information to share but when the process has been explained, those who wish to share concerns can have their opinions noted for passing on to the mining company." ??? Does the Hauraki District Council not care about the concerns and opinions of their residents and ratepayers? Is it their job to gather such information for a company? Who is running this town?

This issue can have its effect on friendships, personal and business relationships. Even a husband and wife can have different opinions about it, and it's not something that's going to go away in a hurry. "There's gold in them there hills" you know, and companies are actively hunting for it using ever improving technology to find it and extract it. The companies are doing what they're in business for. What is the Hauraki District Council in business for?

So, back to the collages. They each express something about how I feel about this ongoing issue. Names tentative at this stage - "A drained life" is what I'll call the blue and gold piece with the eyes - representing the layers of the land, and because I think of the land as the 'earth mother" it is her eyes and white face with the life drained out of it. The next one could be called "Blue Proposal" - see, he's holding a wedding ring in his fingers. The green piece is again related to the earth mother, crying out, powerless and petrifying. She is actually an ancient statue of Eve and was described as the "Elegant Seductress"and I think I'll call it that. And she is, in some ways - hasn't the promise of finding gold been seductive over the centuries? All on heavy art card, magazine imagery with some ink and paint incorporated.

Playing around with some collage

and it doesn't take a psychologist to see what was on my mind. Currently I'm working on collages for the 10th International Collage Exchange. These may not end up in the 13 that I send but it was a thoughful and enjoyable process putting these together. 'Reduction Method' contains one of my own photographs - it's taken in the main street of Waihi. My poor son had to stand in the road holding a piece of fence netting so I could take the shot through it - we have lots of fences around mining property and I think you will get the message of my photograph. "Warning - Worry People" also contains pieces of two of my photographs. The third one I think I'll call "For more information please call". I'll probably work further on these with other media, ink, paint....

Mural

A while ago I think I posted a shot of a mural here in Waihi. I had helped a little with the drawing up of it. Well, here's a progress photo. The artist is John Mulvay. I've posted one shot that shows the Cornish Pumphouse, in the distance, that cost millions to move. The mural is in the centre of our little town, the models for the figures are local residents, the street and other details from photographs of Waihi in the early 1900's. The open cast gold mine is just behind the shops shown. A few months ago there was some kind of "accident" with the blasting and rocks fell on nearby buildings, including the Video Ezy store which is further up (the sliver of light blue in front of the dark green tree). Isn't that amazing? And now the mining company wants to extend their licence to mine the east and west walls of the open pit even further, although previous consents have declared open cast mining would not continue. Open cast mining is not permitted in residential areas, however it is my understanding that the mining company would need to, if they decide to continue with this plan, apply for a change of zoning for some of the land they would want to take. Not only that, but apparently the district council would have to change their District Plan to permit this further mining. Means moving the local primary school and the main road to the local high school. We might even lose our quick access to town and have to drive around these extensions. Open cast mining was supposed to stop some time ago. All these laws and consents seem to mean nothing when a company can simply get them changed. I thought the job of the council was to work for all ratepayers, work to improve the lives of all residents. Seems our Council is keeping it's head down - we certainly haven't heard anything at all from them in any public way such as interviews or articles in the newspaper, and I know lots of people have written and phoned the Council to protest the idea of further open cast mining.