Social, Political and Cultural Context

Walking On Planet Earth - 1989 - Jill Orr

It can be easily said that the image 'Southern Cross - To Bear and Behold - Burning' contains various meanings. Jill Orr stated that "The land is hot, so hot that your protection bursts into flames." which inspired her 1989 image ‘Walking on Planet Earth photographed by Virginia Fraser. She undoubtedly echoes this comment in the 2007 contemporary work, playing with the same notions of the importance of our relationship with the environment. Orr also insinuated that the environmental cautions of the 1960s, 70s and 80s were somewhat ignored and that it has taken reaching the 21st century to “reach environmental, economic and political urgency”. Though I view the fire as a worrying figure within the scene, Orr believes that the fire becomes can also become a positive quality, igniting the fire within our ‘heart, body and mind’ to aid our environmental woes, especially when compared with the 1989 image.

I believe the words “the colonial woman is seen doing symbolic battle with a huge earth-moving machine” by Anne Marsh (2003), when referring to ‘Walking on Planet Earth’, can also be applied to the concept of ‘Burning’. Orr dresses in heavy 19th century clothing imitating the post-colonial Australian era, using the archetype as a basis for her views regarding the environment and our previous inability to initiate positive change. The use of the fire being created within the perceivably infinite space acts as a catalyst for Orr’s many meanings, spurring on thoughts concerning the weighed down female figure within society and the anthropological interaction with our surroundings. Though the performance artist may resemble mother earth and other feminine figures, it can be said that the landscape was intended to be the more dominant theme.

Danielle Smelter the curator for the Horsham Regional Art Gallery, once wrote in the catalogue, ‘Jill Orr: Works from the Wimmera’ (2010), of Orr’s performance on the Mitre Lake as a photograph that speaks “loudly to local histories of missions and early Christian settlers across the region” which can also be seen in her ‘Faith in a Faithless Land’ series. This would be referring to Orr walking across the lake as a ghost-like figure within the horizon-less landscape, possibly bringing forth a spiritual and supernatural edge to the performance especially with the ominous trail of black footprints and the burst of constructed fire. Smelter also discusses the name of the Mitre Lake, referencing the Mitre Rock which she said resembles a Bishop’s mitre, traditional ceremonial headgear, overlooking the lake. The existence of the meaning behind the 'mitre' can also reflect upon the existence of social and political authority and it's inability to help change the environment's fate, for example concerning global warming debate. Therefore this reveals Orr’s attempt to convey her messages of environmental importance as more intricate than originally perceived which, of course, makes for a very compelling image and series.