The Stony Rises Project

Seth Keen

Seth Keen is a lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. He holds a Master of Arts (by Thesis) and is currently in candidature on a project-based PhD (Communication). Seth is a media artist whose practice focuses on a form of environmental portraiture that documents the relationships people have with place. He works with video and software to explore hybrid approaches towards documentary narrative on the Internet. His practice brings together industry experience in graphic design and broadcast documentary with social media developments. In a recent project, he developed in partnership with World Vision Australia a model for documenting development aid programs using online video. Seth has written, directed and produced a number of primetime television documentaries, short drama films and experimental videos that have been exhibited in Australia and screened in international festivals.

Interview

Why did you choose to be involved in The Stony Rises Project?

I got involved in the Stony Rises project due to my doctorate research. I currently teach in the media program at RMIT University and specialise in new media production courses, mainly in relation to developments occurring around video on the Internet. I bring to this teaching position a background of industry experience in documentary production. In my doctorate research, I am exploring a framework for documentary practice on the Internet. Interested in making documentaries that focus on the relationship that people have with place, I was drawn to work of the landscape painter Eugene Von Guérard. I decided to focus on the paintings he had done in the Corangamite Shire of the Western District. Von Guérard sketched and painted in this particular region from 1858-61. Each of Von Guérard’s paintings provided focal points to begin exploring the relationship locals have with this place.

Why did you choose to be involved in The Stony Rises Project?

I got involved in the Stony Rises project due to my doctorate research. I currently teach in the media program at RMIT University and specialise in new media production courses, mainly in relation to developments occurring around video on the Internet. I bring to this teaching position a background of industry experience in documentary production. In my doctorate research, I am exploring a framework for documentary practice on the Internet.  Interested in making documentaries that focus on the relationship that people have with place, I was drawn to work of the landscape painter Eugene Von Guérard.  I decided to focus on the paintings he had done in the Corangamite Shire of the Western District. Von Guérard sketched and painted in this particular region from 1858-61. Each of Von Guérard’s paintings provided focal points to begin exploring the relationship locals have with this place.

What is your connection to the Western District area of Victoria?

Before this project I had no previous connection with the Western District area of Victoria. But, because I am originally from New Zealand, I found it easy to connect with this place, firstly through the volcanic landscape and secondly through the history of farming settlement. I felt a real familiarity with aspects of the unusual, open landscape and the pastoral runs founded through sheep farming.

Did you have any preconceived ideas or plans for your work before embarking on the artists’ camp?

I was unable to attend the artist’s camp so most of my ideas for this video work came from a couple of field trips I made to the Corangamite Shire. Designed to meet the practicalities of a travelling exhibition, this video work represents one of the locations painted by Von Guérard and the larger online documentary project. Being exposed to Von Guérard’s paintings before these field trips certainly influenced the way I looked at the landscape and documented what I saw. Von Guérard really pushed me to examine varying locations from a broad perspective. This is finding vantage points that provided an extremely wide framing of the landscape, while still keeping an eye on detail in the distance. Thinking about this in retrospective, often in many cases an extreme wide shot of the landscape in television or on a computer is unusual. Being surrounded and immersed more and more in digital  screens, I think we get really used to looking at things from a much closer viewpoint. It is not often that you take the time to look out at the horizon. A region like the Corangamite Shire and the broader Western District really provides that opportunity, due to openness of the vast landscape and the ability to access varying high points.

How would you describe your artistic practice from concept to making?

Because I have moved from a television documentary practice to a research practice that involves utilising new media technologies and exploring hybrid forms of narrative, I would describe myself as being a media artist. This means the conceptual and making process has become more complex due to experimenting with digital technologies and hybrid forms of visual representation. In regards to media production in this area, I now find that design plays a pivotal role in this process. For example, in many projects I work with computer programmers and interaction designers on the development of web systems. This is a significant change in my documentary practice, with the development of these types of projects requiring new approaches towards the making process. But, even though the platform has changed from television to the Internet, the observations that are captured still reflect the way I like to use a video camera to document people and place.

What is it about the Western Districts that inspired you?

In the Corangamite Shire, I think it is relatively easy for people to drive through this region and not realise the diversity and beauty of the landscape. I was really surprised when I took a small detour off the main road to look at Lake Bullen Merri and Lake Gnotuk. Following the footsteps of the painter Von Guérard and revisiting each of the locations he painted, introduced me not only to the uniqueness of the landscape but also some of the original farming families that settled this region. This included visiting a number of the original homesteads Von Guérard painted. I found it inspiring using history to get a sense of this place and the people that lived and live there. Going through this process certainly got me thinking about the fine details that a painter like Von Guérard noticed and the connections he made with the early settlers. I came away feeling like the place and the history had got under my skin.

What did you hope to capture in your work?

Being led and influenced by Von Guérard’s paintings, along with the feeling of the places that I visited, I became open towards capturing a romantic quality in this particular video work. I found myself slowing right down at the Purrumbete homestead location and almost trying to emulate the hours a painter would put into observing and sketching. In the end, I think this video work is a type of video sketch, as notes towards a larger project. In the edit, I aimed to slow things down and hopefully immerse the viewer in the location. At the same time, I wanted to show people engaging with this place. The rhythm of the fisherman provided the additional link I was looking for in this video work. 

Is this your usual practice or did the project bring about a new direction? 

Interestingly, the projects I usually do start with people and then move to place. In this project it was the reverse, with the project starting from landscape paintings.

This was totally new for me and certainly represented a challenge. Following up on the history connected to the paintings and each of the locations I visited, soon connected me back to working with people and recording their stories. Also, there was the new exploration of using of maps and working with these to create other forms of visual representation within the documentary form.

Before this project I had no previous connection with the Western District area of Victoria. But, because I am originally from New Zealand, I found it easy to connect with this place, firstly through the volcanic landscape and secondly through the history of farming settlement. I felt a real familiarity with aspects of the unusual, open landscape and the pastoral runs founded through sheep farming.

Did you have any preconceived ideas or plans for your work before embarking on the artists’ camp?

I was unable to attend the artist’s camp so most of my ideas for this video work came from a couple of field trips I made to the Corangamite Shire. Designed to meet the practicalities of a travelling exhibition, this video work represents one of the locations painted by Von Guérard and the larger online documentary project. Being exposed to Von Guérard’s paintings before these field trips certainly influenced the way I looked at the landscape and documented what I saw. Von Guérard really pushed me to examine varying locations from a broad perspective. This is finding vantage points that provided an extremely wide framing of the landscape, while still keeping an eye on detail in the distance. Thinking about this in retrospective, often in many cases an extreme wide shot of the landscape in television or on a computer is unusual. Being surrounded and immersed more and more in digital screens, I think we get really used to looking at things from a much closer viewpoint. It is not often that you take the time to look out at the horizon. A region like the Corangamite Shire and the broader Western District really provides that opportunity, due to openness of the vast landscape and the ability to access varying high points.

How would you describe your artistic practice from concept to making?

Because I have moved from a television documentary practice to a research practice that involves utilising new media technologies and exploring hybrid forms of narrative, I would describe myself as being a media artist. This means the conceptual and making process has become more complex due to experimenting with digital technologies and hybrid forms of visual representation. In regards to media production in this area, I now find that design plays a pivotal role in this process. For example, in many projects I work with computer programmers and interaction designers on the development of web systems. This is a significant change in my documentary practice, with the development of these types of projects requiring new approaches towards the making process. But, even though the platform has changed from television to the Internet, the observations that are captured still reflect the way I like to use a video camera to document people and place.

What is it about the Western Districts that inspired you?

In the Corangamite Shire, I think it is relatively easy for people to drive through this region and not realise the diversity and beauty of the landscape. I was really surprised when I took a small detour off the main road to look at Lake Bullen Merri and Lake Gnotuk. Following the footsteps of the painter Von Guérard and revisiting each of the locations he painted, introduced me not only to the uniqueness of the landscape but also some of the original farming families that settled this region. This included visiting a number of the original homesteads Von Guérard painted. I found it inspiring using history to get a sense of this place and the people that lived and live there. Going through this process certainly got me thinking about the fine details that a painter like Von Guérard noticed and the connections he made with the early settlers. I came away feeling like the place and the history had got under my skin.

What did you hope to capture in your work?

Being led and influenced by Von Guérard’s paintings, along with the feeling of the places that I visited, I became open towards capturing a romantic quality in this particular video work. I found myself slowing right down at the Purrumbete homestead location and almost trying to emulate the hours a painter would put into observing and sketching. In the end, I think this video work is a type of video sketch, as notes towards a larger project. In the edit, I aimed to slow things down and hopefully immerse the viewer in the location. At the same time, I wanted to show people engaging with this place. The rhythm of the fisherman provided the additional link I was looking for in this video work.

Is this your usual practice or did the project bring about a new direction?

Interestingly, the projects I usually do start with people and then move to place. In this project it was the reverse, with the project starting from landscape paintings.

This was totally new for me and certainly represented a challenge. Following up on the history connected to the paintings and each of the locations I visited, soon connected me back to working with people and recording their stories. Also, there was the new exploration of using of maps and working with these to create other forms of visual representation within the documentary form.

The Stony Rises Project

A NETS Victoria Touring Exhibition developed by the RMIT Design Research Institute. Curators: Lisa Byrne, Professor Harriet Edquist and Associate Professor Laurene Vaughan

Presented by: