Julie Louise Bacon | Archaeology of Time

Archaeology of Time


  • 07 Jul


  • jbacon

The focus on the theme of time in my work formed the grounds of the essay that I contributed to the monograph accompanying the launch in 2016 of the permanent public artwork Archaeology of Time by James Geurts.

From durational performance to my curation of contemporary art in historical sites, the theme of time is embodied in my interdisciplinary process of making and thinking. Thinking about the ways in which geography, cultures and patterns of thought and perception are related necessitates a reading of the different ways in which time operates, the different mediums through which it passes, and the disciplines though which it is framed. Time operates in the fabric of society, the material of our bodies, the nature of consciousness, the functions of technology and the processes of art.

This sense of the temporal was central to my reading of this remarkable public sculpture. The work recreates the space of a lost great Mountain Ash tree, part of the forests that once covered areas of Australia, transforming it into large-scale illuminated sculpture in Warragul, Gippsland.