intro to project

The Zero Project Blogspot


The Zero Project is part of the Junction 2010 Arts Festival being held in Launceston in late August in conjunction with the biannual National Regional Arts Conference.

The project is a collaboration between Indonesian installation artist and architect Eko Prowoto, Tasmanian installation artist and local coordinator Ralf Haertel, students from Launceston College and other interested volunteers.

The idea behind the project is to create a site-specific installation in Kings Park, with a zero material budget, using industrial waste / recycled objects and natural found materials to respond to the site.

The Junction 2010 website blurb on the project goes -

Junction Arts Festival is proud to host two projects with Eko Prawoto, one of Indonesia's leading architects, and a celebrated installation artist. The Zero Project interprets our energy equations with new parameters and addresses issues of waste and over-consumption. Created with a zero material budget, the project uses industrial waste and recycled objects and contrasts them with natural found materials: sand, wood, stones, water, grass, etc.

Venue: Kings Park

Dates/ times: Wednesday 25 August- Sunday 29 August. Open all hours


This blog is intended as a way for all of us who are involved in the project to keep in touch, share ideas and generally workshop the project over the next six weeks or so.

Action to date - as at July 11 2010 Posted by Ralf Haertel

Eko arrived in Tasmania for his first visit about two weeks ago, and we met for the first time, on site at Kings Park with Festival director Ian Pidd on a cold Tasmanian winters day. We had previously only corresponded by email, exchanging some information and images of recent work after having been 'introduced' by Ian online.

Even though I have worked quite a lot in collaboration with other artists and groups I was still a bit interested to see how this will work. We went for a walk around the park - including along the rivers edge where some reeds, quite like bamboo in shape but considerably smaller, grow. Eko has utilised bamboo extensively in his installations and Ian and I had thought on a previous visit to the site that they might be useful. Eko also obviously thought they looked ok, however on closer observation it appears that they die back in winter - those on the ground were soggy while the ones still standing are quite brittle - not at all like the last time I had used the park for installation work, and not really suitable for any structural kind of application.

Over the following week Eko and I met again on several occasions (he was in town primarily to work with Utas architecture students on his other project for the festival), visiting the park, walked up the gorge, and also met with students from LC to introduce ourselves, and the project. It was a fairly short introduction, but we have identified three key areas 'of interest', which will inform the work and how it comes together. These are

1. 'Memories and stories of place' - this includes the history of the site, significant aspects of its use over time, etc. In introducing Eko to the park I mentioned three things in relation to this - firstly that geographically Launceston is the place where three rivers meet, and Kings Park is at the confluence of the three rivers; that part of the park was originally a part of the river system, with wharves along Margaret street; and that Kings Park is also the site of the first landing by British colonists in Launceston.


2. Materials - given that we no materials budget as such this is quite critical to the project, but also very important in terms of how the work will 'read' At this stage I'm pretty sure that river driftwood will feature strongly, and have just got a lead on some interesting industrial pipes that may come in handy…..


3. Processes - in any collaboration this is ultimately a key element, as processes ensure that things happen….hopefully! This blog is one of the processes we agreed to, as it is a way for Eko to stay involved with the project from Indonesia. Another process was spending time together on site - looking at the spaces, special features, getting to know the place and its dynamics.


Which leads me to another collaborative process Eko and I agreed to - ie to invite active participation in the project by the students from LC and other community volunteers. If you can provide information or old photos etc on Kings Park, its history and uses over time this will be useful in informing the work. Alternatively if you have ideas for materials which might work in the project, and which are free, also please let us know.

This blog will be developed over the next while to allow input from all participants, in the meantime if you would like to input any info please contact Ralf via email at ralfwhynot@hotmail.com

Eko and I talked about some of our ideas for the project in general terms - just a few that have stuck with me are
• in Indonesia the place where two rivers meet is considered sacred - our work will reflect this
• the part of the park that was once river has a memory of being a river
• it would be good to create a space for contemplation within the work