AIR: Jonathan Jones
Jonathan Jones
Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi peoples
Australia b.1978
with Dr Uncle Stan Grant Snr AM
Wiradjuri people
Australia b.1940
(untitled) giran 2018
Bindu-gaany (freshwater mussel shell), gabudha (rush), gawurra (feathers), marrung dinawan (emu egg), walung (stone), wambuwung dhabal (kangaroo bone), wayu (string), wiiny (wood), 48-channel soundscape
Sound design: Luke Mynott, Sonar Sound
Installed dimensions variable
Purchased 2018 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation
This circling murmuration evokes birds in flight and shares cultural knowledge. untitled (giran) 2018 brings the language of the Wiradjuri people of New South Wales to Kurilpa, on the Maiwar (Brisbane) River, together with the sounds of wind, bird calls and breathing. ‘Understanding wind is an important part of understanding Country’, says Jonathan Jones. ‘Winds bring change, knowledge and new ideas to those prepared to listen.’
Jonathan Jones and Dr Uncle Stan Grant Sr AM’s untitled (giran) 2018, installed for ‘Air’ / Purchased 2018 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © The artists / Photograph: N Harth, QAGOMA
Jones’s collaboration with Dr Uncle Stan Grant Snr draws on the concept of giran, which describes the winds and change, as well as feelings of fear and apprehension. Traditional tools are at the heart of the artwork. Bound to each tool with handmade string is a small composition of feathers gathered by people from across Australia. The installation is composed of six tool types. Like the winds, Wiradjuri philosophy divides them into male and female groups: bagaay — an emu eggshell spoon; bindu-gaany — a freshwater mussel scraper; waybarra — a weaving start; bingal — a bone awl; dhala-ny — a wooden spear point; and galigal — a stone knife. Each tool has limitless potential.
Jonathan Jones and Dr Uncle Stan Grant Sr AM’s untitled (giran) 2018, installed for ‘Air’ / Purchased 2018 with funds from Tim Fairfax AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / © The artists / Photograph: N Harth, QAGOMA
Jones worked with community and many different collaborators to craft the tiny ‘wings’, bringing people together to enhance connections to land, culture and language.
untitled (giran) 2018
- JONES, Jonathan - Artist
- GRANT Sr AM, Dr Uncle Stan - Cultural advisor and speaker of recorded Wiradjuri
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