A BLIND DATE WITH BLIND CREEK
A guided walk, workshop and performance in one, artists of EPA facilitated an adventure that delved the mysteries and wonders of Blind Creek, Ferntree Gully, for Immerse Public Art program, 2019. Audiences were invited to walk blindfolded, share in Indigenous perspectives, witness a dance of the missing creek and play dating games with local fauna and flora.
Environmental Performance Authority's playful performance style activates and responds to the local terrain on many levels. Our approach is multi-sensory and physical: we draw audiences' attention to their surroundings in new ways, inviting participants to listen and notice things easily missed. Blind Creek’s title and its invisibility at this section of its trajectory has inspired a focus for this performance on the sense of sight and its omission, which opens up new possibilities for perception via the other senses. The idea of a ‘blind date’ was explored in terms of acquainting with this place through hilarious dating-like questions and observations.
The Creek’s current subterranean suppression was the ‘elephant in the room’; a pressing desire for return to its former flow and environmental restoration literally underpins our walk. We were thrilled to be accompanied by Wurundjeri elder Ian Hunter, who welcomed audiences with a smoking ceremony, shared cultural knowledge and performance with us and concluded the performance by leading a participatory chant. Contributions from members of 'Friends of Blind Creek Billabong' wove local experiences of past, current and future ecological conditions into the performance. Another aspect of the work was public art installation by EPA in collaboration with stencil artist Jeff Stewart, in the underpass beneath Dorset Road, where the walk commenced.
Environmental Performance Authority's playful performance style activates and responds to the local terrain on many levels. Our approach is multi-sensory and physical: we draw audiences' attention to their surroundings in new ways, inviting participants to listen and notice things easily missed. Blind Creek’s title and its invisibility at this section of its trajectory has inspired a focus for this performance on the sense of sight and its omission, which opens up new possibilities for perception via the other senses. The idea of a ‘blind date’ was explored in terms of acquainting with this place through hilarious dating-like questions and observations.
The Creek’s current subterranean suppression was the ‘elephant in the room’; a pressing desire for return to its former flow and environmental restoration literally underpins our walk. We were thrilled to be accompanied by Wurundjeri elder Ian Hunter, who welcomed audiences with a smoking ceremony, shared cultural knowledge and performance with us and concluded the performance by leading a participatory chant. Contributions from members of 'Friends of Blind Creek Billabong' wove local experiences of past, current and future ecological conditions into the performance. Another aspect of the work was public art installation by EPA in collaboration with stencil artist Jeff Stewart, in the underpass beneath Dorset Road, where the walk commenced.