The #everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition will be printed onto normal A4 paper, like an ordinary petition. It will be heavy as it equates to 2 seems of paper as one image will be printed per page. Two reems of paper is actually hard to pick up because of its size and weight. The paper moves when lifted. It will smell of woodpulp and ink. Once printed the paper will have grown as it will have soaked up the ink. It may not lay flat as it had when it was blank paper. It is inconvenient; physically but also in its message.
A handwritten signature is one thing: an actual image is another. 1000 images created by women is a powerful collective statement using images in protest and advocating for the environment.
The #everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition, is proof.
The #everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition will be a tangible thing. Each image submitted will be printed out with the photographer’s name and the image location. I see it both as a single object and a collection of 1000 separate entities, by hundreds of individuals. By tabling the petition to Parliament we hope to make our elected representatives accountable to each and every women and non-binary person who submitted, but also to those communities where the images were made. It speaks truth to power. It is incontrovertible proof that we as women exist, what we have created exists and we have an opinion about it, too. When the #everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition is ready, there will also be a digital version (with 4 images per page) available to every person who submitted, to table to their local Member Of Parliament.
I have also had interest from the National Library of Australia, to acquire a copy of the printed petition. This is very exciting news as it then increases the profile of the women and non-binary photographers who submitted but also of Australian women and non-binary photographers on public record in the national collection. This is something that is very important to me.
I am currently applying to have the printed version of the #everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition to be exhibited in Canberra. It will be an interactive and performative display, as the petition will only be shown as an object on the plinth (as in the image above). The submitted images will be projected onto sheer fabric within the space. When we launched the Petition at Photoaccess Canberra in February a curated selection of images was projected onto fabric hung between two trees, so the breeze made the fabric move, making the images and hence the petition itself, seem ephemeral in nature. The performative nature of the exhibition relies on each piece of paper succumbing to the natural ventilation of the space, over the 2-3 weeks of the exhibition.
I realise that the exhibition is a new thing and I do hope that everyone who has submitted agrees with the premise. If you do not then please let me know and I will remove your image/s from the exhibition.
If however, you love the idea of the exhibition and wish to have it come to your local area to exhibit then please let me know. I will supply the projection and the fabric, the digital file for you to print and the exhibition application documentation.
