Working On: Giran

“Winds bring change, knowledge and new ideas to those prepared to listen.”

Jonathan Jones

Untitled (Giran) is latest work by artist Jonathan Jones in collaboration with esteemed Elder and Wiradjuri language expert Dr Uncle Stan Grant Snr AM. The artwork includes roughly 2,000 separate sculptures of six types of tool, each made from a different material: bagay — an emu eggshell spoon; galigal — a stone knife; bingal — an animal bone awl; bindu-gaany — a freshwater mussel scraper; dhala-ny — a hardwood spear point; and waybarra — a rush ‘start’ (the beginning of a woven item, such as a basket). Each tool embodies the knowledge passed down through generations and represents the potential for change.

Working closely with the artist, we were commissioned to produce a forty-eight-channel soundscape to accompany the visually striking installation. Language and breath are delicately woven together, pushed and pulled around the multichannel soundscape, firmly underpinning the installation’s sense of movement. Location recordings gathered on Wiradjuri land serve as the foundation for the soundscape. Natural rhythms found within these recordings then became the blueprint for additional sound design. The mimicry of nature creates a familiar foundation which we were then able to superimpose a unique sound pallet over. Using the transients of leaves and sticks stimulated by each gust of wind or the rhythmic call of an emu to trigger our recorded samples, meant we could create a chaotic, yet oddly familiar pattern to draw the listener in to a more engaging experience.