Ripairian Zone

Keywords

socially engaged art, immersive exhibition, environmental art, ecological art, urban waterways, Mandoon Bilya, new materialism, phenomenology of place, multispecies relations, more-than-human worlds, environmental humanities, community arts, collaborative art, installation art, site-responsive art, sensory experience, embodied practice, place-based research, found objects, materiality, ecological aesthetics, sustainability, public engagement, creative practice research, environmental stewardship, contemporary art, soundscape, participatory arts, Indigenous partnership, relational care

Document Type

Non-Traditional Research Output

Date of Publication

2025

Research Statement

Research Background

This socially engaged artwork in conversation with a vulnerable urban waterway was presented as an immersive exhibition featuring wallpaper by Gemma Ben-Ary and soundscape by Michael Terren as well as 2 collaborative community installations and 9 additional solo works. Developed by 28 artists and Mandoon Bilya river system over two years, we responded to ecological and social complexities to investigate material entanglements and lively multi-species relations in a previously neglected site.

Research Contribution

New materialist perspectives and phenomenology of place offer an embodied encounter with the site, particularly the more-than-human agency of usually unwanted and unruly urban waterway phenomena of rubbish, weeds and graffiti. The exhibition itself enacts new materialist entanglements and phenomenological ideas through the combination of sound, found materials and spatial encounter, designed to be experienced together in a sensory and embodied methodological expression of the theoretical perspectives, and supported by livestreamed performance. Stephen Bevis’s review noted the striking impact of the ‘assemblage of spray cans, tins, bottles and other detritus gathered on site and transformed by the gallery context’ (SeeSaw).

Research Significance

Excellence in arts industry and scholarly recognition:

• Awarded $63000 cash & in kind (DCITS, MJAC, WAAPA)

• 4 published reviews (SeeSaw, Garland, Dispatch); 5 additional articles

• Partnership with Craft Connections program at Erica Women’s Centre, St John of God Public Hospital Midland

• Ongoing partnership with Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association

• Invitations to present: University of Sydney Environment Institute Symposium; International Federation of Theatre Research conference

• Invitation to contribute to Routledge book on Philosophies of Socially Engaged Art

Medium

Art installation including sound, 2D and 3D works

Technical Information

13 works including wallpaper installation, sound installation, 2 x collaborative community installations, 9 sole-authored 2D and 3D works

Publisher

Vahri McKenzie

School

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts / Centre for People, Place and Planet

RAS ID

88751

Event Dates

7 September - 9 November 2025

Event Venue

Midland Junction Arts Centre

Documentation Statement

This record presents a documented representation of the research output, including the research statement and associated contextual metadata. The creative work itself is not included. Where available, external links are provided to representations of the work.

Content Type

Documentation only

Recommended Citation

McKenzie, V., Ben-Ary, G., Terren, M. (2025). Ripairian Zone. [Art installation including sound, 2D and 3D works]. Midland Junction Arts Centre.

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