Parliament: an island in an island

Janet Laurence & Tega Brain
GASP (Glenorchy Art & Sculpture Park)

Parliament: An island in an island, is a proposition for a major new public artwork at GASP, by Janet Laurence & Tega Brain.

As part of the GASP Swimmable: Reading the River program (2015-17), the artists have proposed a work that takes the form of a small island, to be located just off-shore, in the shallows of the Derwent River.

The island is to be a meeting of two constructed environments, two 'houses' of Parliament. The upper house is terrestrial, taking the form of a small tiered land-form, planted with specific vegetation and designed to attract and accommodate bird populations of the area as well as indicate seasonal transitions. The lower house is submerged around its edge – a constructed reef designed to support aquatic communities and offer new habitat to these river lifeforms.

Parliament is a whimsical platform for the representation of various non-human communities at the GASP site. It is a project that asks how might we create infrastructures and architectures that cater to the interests of both human and non-human communities alike? How can we co-produce environments that are not exclusively designed to be in the service of humans, but rather that incorporate a wider ecological agenda?

For more project information please visit the GASP website: http://www.gasp.org.au


Images and work are copyright the artists and Glenorchy Art & Sculpture Park.