Preserving: item 744, conveys my frustrations and fears for the earth’s environment. Through exploring motivations and methods of preservation, I am examining our will, ability, and power, to preserve in the Anthropocene. Will it be enough?

 

‘Preserving: item 744’ shows a photograph suspended in water within a jar on a stainless steel surface. Darkness surrounds the jar, but light penetrates through the glass onto the scene of the bush. Like the environment it depicts, the photograph is isolated, fragile, damaged, and collapsing. It is already a historical artefact – a moment in time, preserved. The jar is full of water: so vital to life, so capable of destruction.

The vintage domestic jar, a universal tool used for preserving food, serves as a reminder of our ability, across time and cultural differences, to do what needs to be done.