permaculture design certificate - day three...

Day three began with a detour for me - off to moruya (60kms up the road from sams creek) to drop off 'scientia inflammatus' which has been shortlisted for the basil sellers art prize, then I quickly headed off to 'the crossing' to catch up with the gang.

Today it was all about practicalities - trees, shelterbelts, soil, and COMPOST! we all got down and dirty making a nice stack of collected material into a big compost mound - using layers of dried grass, woodchips, straw (dry carbon material); weeds, vege scraps (wet stuff!); acacia clippings (from black wattle which are a rich nitrogen source); rotted cow manure and some sprinkles of wood ash from the fires (for a little bit of potash). after stacking up the layers the pile was thoroughly watered then covered with a plastic tarp. In a couple of days the whole pile will be turned....

(this is hugh - our compost and tree man for the day - throwing more green stuff on the pile -
with a few friendly faces of other permy participants in the background)

permaculture design certificate - day two...

Day two - a bright and sunny spring morning and less stressful day (I've almost got a couple of names to faces....)

Today we rapidly moved through basics of ecology (and it WAS really basic); map reading (again - very very basic stuff - fortunately I know my time in the scouting movement has given me a bit better overview); methods of design (as applied to permaculture); and climate (in quite a bit of detail for local - meaning bega valley conditions)

view from just outside our room down toward some raised beds in construction, then onto the vege garden.....
further down the hill is stone fruit and onto the river flats and tidal river (myrtle creek) at the bottom of the hill

One of the most valuable, specifically permaculture aspects taken on board today had to do with creative thinking and zone and sector analysis.

 The idea of analysing and designing for zones is paramount in permaculture and is worth explaining  - albeit basically here - zones start with the house and move from the most intensive usage area to least intensive.... like this...

Zone 0 = the house and people living in it

Zone 1 = the vegetable garden, compost area, small livestock (eg chooks, ducks)... this is the area that will be visited everyday (or many times each day)

Zone 2 = the food forest orchard, poultry area... (the chicken shed is often sited between zone 1 & 2), ducks, geese grazing area

Zone 3 = cropping or commercial area (maybe fruit trees, corn, potatoes, etc... whatever grows well in the region), larger animals (goats, sheep, cattle, alpaca)

Zone 4 = forest cropping (woodlot, furniture trees), shelterbelt, windbreaks, fire retardant hedges, fooder crops (for animals), other useful plants (eg dye plants, fungi)

Zone 5 = natural systems = areas left untouched to protect wildlife, waterways and land

Already I'm rethinking personal garden/farm set ups (and I have been aware of permaculture zones previously).... and I'm thinking about how this same idea of zoning may apply to other systems or modes of thinking/creating.....


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permaculture design certificate - day one

 Day One of the Permaculture Design Certificate course kicked off in misty weather at The Crossing out the back of Bermagui...

 this is our 'classroom' for the next couple of weeks of intensive study

 here it is from down the bank - the whole crossing site is constantly in flux and right now the whole place is really moving through a big change - here is evidence both of a new pergola extension for this learning centre..... the folks are about to install a commercial kitchen so there's lots of bits and bobs about the place for that project as well.... oh and then there's the paving happening on the other side... and the garden work... bush regeneration... and so much more everywhere you turn!


On day one, aside from the obligatory meet and greet we covered a definition of the term 'permaculture' (although the word stems originally from a contraction of the words 'permanent' and 'agriculture'  there are multiple ways of describing, defining and undertaking permaculture); we also moved through the 3 ethics of permaculture: care for the earth, care for people, fair share; and then spent the time working through the 12 basic principles:

1. observe and interact
2. catch and store energy
3. obtain a yeild
4. apply self-regulation and accept feedback
5. use and value natural resources and services
6. produce no waste
7. design from patterns to detail
8. integrate rather than segregate
9. use small and slow solutions
10. use and value diversity
11. use edge and value the marginal
12. use and respond to change creatively

 all today we listened to the resident gander honking warnings to all interlopers -
his girls are sitting on eggs and company is NOT welcome!

I  have read quite a bit about permaculture prior to setting off to this course - and have dwelt on these 12 principles as part of my initial MFA lit review - but its quite a different thing to be approaching this in a group and as part of a certificate course. I'm looking forward to really getting into the nitty gritty over the coming days.....

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permaculture design certificate

In 2 days time I'm commencing a 72hr Permaculture Design Certificate course. This has been something I've longed to do for many years now - longer indeed than I've held many academically inclined arty aspirations....  I have previously identified permaculture as an active component in my present MFA project but I know that it is much more than something to be attached to a single project or indeed solely to arts practice. So I'm quite confident that the course will influence much more than this present project - just as I'm equally unsure in what ways my arts practice/ MFA project may be influenced by what I glean from the certificate course.

Hopefully (time allowing) I'll post a few thoughts and pics as the course unfolds....



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book models from handmade paper...

This week I completed two book models from the handmade paper created earlier from a pulped dictionary....

the first is long-stitch bound over paper-covered linen tapes with hardcovers
covered in paste paper (and hand marbled paper in the inside)

the second is a more humble version - again it's long-stitch bound over paper tapes
(not with a linen lining this time... there's no need, as this version doesn't have hard covers)


The second simple limp covered version is my preferred model..... it is nice to hold in the hand and feel the softness of the handmade paper....



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making paper (remaking the dictionary)...

This week I started experimenting with deconstructing/reconstructing books through pulping and recasting a 2 volume dictionary...... I've never attempted paper making before (although this idea has been in my mind since I first began deconstructing sets of encyclopaedias through fire or weathering)..... this was a test piece to see whether some of my ideas could take shape (and what I needed to understand about the craft process of paper making).....

ripping the dictionary in to pulpable pieces
(took longer than I thought! its quite a tedious job....so of course I found it intrinsically interesting and valuable....)

paint whiz drill attachment as pulp maker (worked quite well...)

getting to grips with the home made mold and deckle... with a little help from Boots the cat.....

couching.... like scooping the pulp this is definitely something that requires practice!

releasing the wet sheet from the mold.... I became increasing adept after about 50 sheets!

line drying the sheets

the first completed stack of reconstituted paper....

Next I plan to rebind these sheets - I haven't determined exactly the format or technique yet, but I'm presently toying with the idea of using the original covers and either coptic binding or maybe a hybrid coptic/japanese stab binding.....

more to follow soon!

the wabi-sabi connection

I've just read through the very small booklet 'Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets, & Philosophers' by Leonard Koren. It's a small book, able to be read in a single sitting, but it contains some absolute gems that resonate with my practice and my present project that its worth quoting some parts of the booklet in full here...

Wabi-Sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of what we think of as traditional Japanese beauty.....wabi-sabi can in its fullest expression be a way of life. At the very least, it is a particular type of beauty (21)

The initial inspirations for wabi-sabi's metaphysical, spiritual , and moral principles come from ideas about simplicity, naturalness, and acceptance of reality found in Taoism and Chinese Zen Buddhism. (31)

Wabi refers to:

* a way of life, a spiritual path,
* the inward, the subjective
* a philosophical construct
* spatial events

Sabi refers to:

* material objects, art and literature
* the outward, the objective
* an aesthetic ideal
* temporal events" (23)

The Wabi-Sabi Universe

Wabi-Sabi can be called a "comprehensive" aesthetic system. Its world view, or universe, is self-referential. It provides an integrated approach to the ultimate nature of existence (metaphysics) sacred knowledge (spirituality), emotional well-being (state of mind), behavior (morality), and the look and feel of things (materiality). The more systematic and clearly defined the components of an aesthetic system are - the more conceptual handles, the more ways it refers back to fundamentals - the more useful it is. (41)

Metaphysical Basis - Things are either devolving toward, or evolving from, nothingness

Spiritual Values - Truth comes from the observation of nature; "Greatness" exists in the inconspicuous and overlooked details; Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness


Moral Precepts - get rid of all that is unnecessary; Focus on the intrinsic and ignore material hierarchy

Material Qualities - The suggestion of natural process; Irregular; Intimate; Unpretentious; Earthy; Murky; Simple" (40-41)



all things are impermanent - The inclination toward nothingness is unrelenting and universal. Even things that have all the earmarks of substance = things that are hard, inert, solid - present nothing more than the illusion of permanence. We may wear blinders, use ruses to forget, ignore, or pretend otherwise - but all comes to nothing in the end. Everything wears down. The planets and stars, and even intangible things like reputation, family heritage, historical memory, scientific theorems, mathematical proofs, great art and literature (even in digital form) - all eventually fade into oblivion and nonexistence. (48-49)

all things are imperfect. Nothing that exists is without imperfections... Every craftsman knows the limits of perfection: the imperfections glare back. And as things begin to break down and approach the primordial state, they become even less perfect, more irregular. (49)

all things are incomplete. All things, including the universe itself, are in a constant, never-ending state of becoming or dissolving. Often we arbitrarily designate moments, points along the way, as "finished" or "complete". But when does something's destiny finally come to fruition? Is the plant complete when it flowers? When it goes to seed? When the seeds sprout? When everything turns into compost? (49-50)

get rid of all that is unnecessary. Wabi-sabi means treading lightly on the planet and knowing how to appreciate whatever is encountered, no matter how trifling, whenever it is encountered. (59)

the suggestion of natural process. Things wabi-sabi are expression of time frozen. They are made of material that are visibly vulnerable to the effects of weathering and human treatment. They record the sun, wind, rain, heat, and cold in a language of discoloration, rust, tarnish, stain, warping, shrinking, shriveling, and cracking... Though things wabi-sabi may be on the point of dematerialization (or materialization) - extremely faint, fragile, or dessicated - they still possess an undiminished poise and strength of character. (62)

intimate. Things wabi-sabi are usually small and compact, quiet and inward-oriented, They beckon: get close, touch, relate. They inspire a reduction of the psychic distance between one thing and another thing; between people and things. Place wabi-sabi are small, secluded, and private environments that enhance one's capacity for metaphysical musings. (67)

simple. Simplicity is at the core of things wabi-sabi. Nothingness, of course is the ultimate simplicity. But before and after nothingness, simplicity is not so simple... The simplicity of wabi-sabi is probably best described as the state of grace arrived at by a sober, modest, heart-felt intelligence. (71-72)

This is actually a good place to start to talk about what I've been reading and considering within my practice, project and exegesis research..... as all the points I've carefully quoted in full above find a ready example in my current work.

Over recent months I've been digesting a great deal of writings in and around pragmatic philosophy (primarily as espoused by John Dewey, but also recent re-interpretations of his advocacy for 'life as art', by Shusterman and Sartwell.....) As I've read, I've began to envisage how pragmatism may be used as a connector for the disparate elements in my current project, and as a counter-point to deconstructionist theory/philosophy (and post-modernism in general) that I see as the antithesis of my praxis. The more I've read of pragmatism the more I've found parallels to Zen ..... and the more I'm envisaging parallels with permaculture ...... it's in this context that I'm re-imagining my exegesis.



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