Bubbles on the surface : a methodology of water

Abstract

This paper is about a methodology for researching place that evolved in an ARC project Bubbles on the Surface: a place pedagogy of the Narran Lake. The methodology was collaboratively designed by U'Alayi researcher Chrissiejoy Marshall and Monash researcher Author. It was developed from conversations linking Marshall's methodology of 'thinking through country' (Marshall, 2004) and Author's 'postmodern emergence' (Author, 2007; 2008). The project developed a life of its own when other Indigenous artist/researchers were employed to work on the research. The artist/researchers have generated artworks and stories about water in their different locations in the MurrayDarling Basin which have been expressed in a series of iterative exhibitions of artworks and text. In this paper I will examine the evolving methodologies and the resulting artworks and stories to explore how the methodology has been enacted and developed throughout this project