Visual Communication - Bachelors

Echoes

trophy Awarded

My capstone project titled ‘Echoes’ is an art-based video projection series showcasing Indigenous connections to Barrambin. ‘Echoes’ draws on the commonly shared experience for Indigenous people in Australia and focuses on my intrinsic relationship with land and Country. We take these deep connections and hold them close, sharing with others where we can and constantly caring for and passing on knowledge of place. This knowledge then echoes. Our bloodlines echo. Our teachings echo. But do these echoes stick around? Or merely come and go with our spirits? I want to use this project to explore these experiences and share the histories of the landscapes that surround us. To deeply connect with Country as it lives and thrives through yesterday, today, and far into the future, Echoes will give prominence to this significance and share the story of Barrambin.

Chantel Bates

Echoes

I acknowledge the value, diversity and integrity of aborigional art, culture and expression as an integral part of australian herratige. I hold sinscere respects for my abilities to be able to learn and reclaim this rich culture, past present and future. I would also like to acknowledge the turrbal and yugara people as the Traditional owners of the land on which I work, live and learn, and the location which my artwork is base. I recognise their continued connection with the land, water and community. Today we pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

a project for: Kinning with the unseen more-than-human: Re-sensing Barrambin’s disappeared waterways and creeks

People say that Country knows, hears, smells, takes notice, takes care, is sorry or happy. Country is not a generalised or undifferentiated type of place, such as one might indicate with terms like ‘spending a day in the country’ or ‘going up the country.’ Rather, Country is a living entity with a yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with a consciousness, and a will toward life.

Rose, D. B. (1996) Nourishing Terrains : Australian Aboriginal Views of Landscape and Wilderness. Australian Heritage Commission.

The area of what is now Kelvin Grove Urban Village was an important cultural site for the Turrbal and Yuggera First Nations People. The history of this Country is rich in fresh water and pools, with a billabong in what is now McCaskie Park, and a line of pools and small creeks leading down to wetland lagoons at the bottom of Barrambin and onwards to the river. The cultural significance of waterways for the Indigenous communities of Barrambin runs deep, where the water connects land with community. When the Village was built, the park was turned into a golf course and more aligned with the two parts of the university campus along Musk Avenue, almost literally ‘turning its back on the parklands’. Discovering a relationship –kinning–with these seemingly disappeared and concealed (unseen) waterways offers community involvement and establishes a voice for the project. As the project brief states: “This design-led project will investigate ways to unveil this relationship –to rekin and reveal the unseen and long forgotten –through a contextually situated, tangible interaction design response.”

Barrambin (Yorks Hollow now Victoria Park) is defined in Brisbane’s history as one of the most important historical sites. The site is frequently referred to in indigenous literature and historical accounts of the Brisbane area during settlement. Groups of up to 800 gathered at York’s Hollow for ceremonial and trading purposes from as far away as the Blackall Ranges, and such large gatherings were a source of disquiet for the local settlers. There are numerous accounts of raids of the Aboriginal camps by settlers and police, and by the 1850s the European settlement had begun to encroach on York’s Hollow.

Victoria Park / Barrambin is open for Brisbane residents and visitors to explore and is a natural retreat and urban park for adventure, discovery and reconnection. There is already so much to see and do with 64 hectares of open space, rolling green hills and expansive city views to enjoy.

See my express page for more information on research and process

Project Express Page

The waterways of Barrambin are not gone; they have simply been rendered invisible. Strung out along the full extent of Barrambin’s original waterbed, hidden under concrete and drain covers, are a series of subterranean stormwater drains that together carry the currents which once flowed through the wetland.

Deliverables

Project assets and deliverables

Video Series

Each video linked below is a part of my final concept piece for this project. Each video will be displayed in an exhibition context both indoors and outdoors on a variation of screens and sculptures

See My YouTube For More!

360 Videos

Branding assets

Having a range of assets and formats for this project will help with brand exposure for myself and the content that I have produced during my capstone unit. I am proposing a small range of products that are relevant to my project concept to become merchandise and spread the importance of the field of research.

Land is central to the culture, identity, and spirituality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is intertwined with family, kinship, lore, customs, stories, song and dance, language, art, ceremony, and healing.

Through my creative practice I have drawn focus on the combination of visual communication and interactive design with fine arts – innovating a hybrid design approach. This has allowed for the subject matter to be highlighted through evidence-based research that effectively shape an appealing body of work with emphasis on storytelling. I love using my platform at university to align myself with progressive projects, taking the chance to immerse myself in positive community partnerships and developments. The capstone unit has augmented my capabilities as an emerging interdisciplinary designer – allowing me to showcase my debut as an experimental artist.

The research methodologies used have uncovered a successful amount of aesthetically strong and unique ideas that highlight my personal skills and capacity as an emerging designer. The inclusion of my Aboriginal cultural connections and informed application of research from a First Nations perspective has ensured for me that Echoes has potential to be a great project, not only through my technical skills but my strong passion and connection to the topic. I have researched technologies within and surrounding my current scope of thesis and extended this research through a successful experimentation phase that has informed a direction for my final project.

The Sphere

A part of intergrating the video series into the community is publicly displaying the work. The sphere and the data wall at qut have played an important role in represending the scope and importance of the project.

Artwork on the data wall

COMMUNITY COLLABORATION

As a result of this project – future collaborations with the Kelvin Grove community, including Kelvin Grove State College are developing, which will help solidify my message as an artist in the field of design. With a strong emphasis on technological innovation and a future-focused creative approach, I am confident my project will fulfil my vision to its fullest potential. I am genuinely excited to see my final concept for this work come to fruition and establish myself as an accomplished graduate designer with a reputable body of work. The best part of creating this video series is seeing the work come to life on screens in public setting. The absolute best way to spread the message behind my work and establish Echoes as an important artistic work for the community.

FUTURE EXPANSION FOR ECHOES

This project takes a major step towards reconciliation of the new Victoria Park/Barrambin developments, currently in the development stage. The inclusion of First Nations voices is an inadmissible step in the development of Australian landscapes. Funding contributions towards this project would solidify opportunities for collaboration with researchers and development teams working towards the parks redesign. As an Indigenous visual artist and graphic designer with connections to Wakka Wakka Country, my work as a young creative in the field holds cultural connections as I take pride in reclaiming heritage through visual communication and interaction design avenues.

This capstone piece lays the foundation to the vision I have for this project moving into the future. With the combination of branding assets, sculptural installations and a video art series my work has established a voice for the Barrambin project.

I believe my research methodologies and passion for this project have helped inform my style and expression. I have proven during the creative process of this work that I hold consistency within my style and have found my place in industry.

Support this project on behance

Chantel Bates

Driven by experience, people and place my work as a designer will encompass the future of Indigenous art, culture and design in Australia. As a First Nations Queensland University of Technology, Bachelor of Design Graduate in 2022 - I am entering the professional design industry eager to learn and experience in the real world. With an embedded focus on the interconnections of interdisciplinary design, I am an aspirational young creative. I have ambitious goals for the future as I navigate industry with plans to become an influential role model for future generations of Indigenous youth.