HOW CAN the act of collecting anthropic [concrete] rocks test a new way of navigating public space?

PROJECT: UNSPACES: ANTHROPIC [CONCRETE] ROCKS
ARTIST: LAURIE OXENFORD
PROJECT PARTNERS: SWELL SCULPTURE FESTIVAL, PLATFORM ARTS, THIRD SPACE GALLERY AND REGIONAL ARTS DEVELOPMENT FUND GOLD COAST
DOCUMENTATION: LAURIE OXENFORD

Unspaces: Anthropic [Concrete] Rocks tests a new way of navigating public space, redirecting attention to interstitial and quietly present remnants of development, maintenance and urban degradation. Through collection, interaction and intervention, the concrete [anthropic] rock is understood as a cultural artefact of the anthropocene. Shaped by the systems and behaviours performed by the public, concrete rocks transmute from waste matter to socio-cultural objects of interest.

Through a shared activity of seeking and collecting Anthropic [Concrete] Rocks in three intimate tours, the artist invited public participants to collaborate and converse in a durational workshop format. Encouraging active engagement with typically invisible urban spaces and questions of value, the project becomes a shared act of resistance through public maintenance, care and exchange.

In 2022 the artist installed rocks from the Gold Coast tours at Swell Sculpture Festival on the Currumbin foreshore and rocks from the Geelong tours at Platform Arts, Third Space Gallery and as temporary interventions around Geelong CBD.

Both the Gold Coast and Geelong are in a period of intense urban growth marked by increasing demolition, construction and infrastructure development. Through these processes, materials like concrete have edged their way into public spaces beyond the work site and are appearing as an everyday urban geological phenomena in rock form.