October 31, 2023
Fill wins first prize at Eden Unearthed 2023
November 2023- April 2024
Curated by Meredith Kirton
Eden Gardens, Macquarie Park, NSW
Melissa is delighted to announce that her artwork, Fill, has been selected as the first prize winner at the 2023/24 edition of Eden Unearthed at Eden Gardens (IG: #edenunearthed @eden_macquariepark)!! It was a lovely surprise for Fill to be selected from a field of 35 diverse, evocative, beautiful, and often playful artworks by established and emerging artists. If you are in Sydney, please come by Eden Gardens to engage with their site-specific work, as well as to contribute to (re)making FILL. You can find my artist statement, the exhibition catalogue, and explanatory videos by all the artists at the Eden Unearthed website. And please follow Fill on Instagram at @fill_edenunearthed to see what happens over the next six months!
Above: Some images from the project Instagram page; Below: Installation concept and ideas for getting involved!
FILL
v.tr. To put into (a container, e.g.) as much as can be held.
n. An amount needed to make full, complete, or satisfied.
Fill consists of a pile of gravel whose volume is equal to the capacity of the surrounding built edge. Drawing inspiration from Japanese dry garden (karesansui) practices, visitors are invited to collaboratively fill and shape a gravel garden through action such as shifting, raking, documenting, and (re)moving, making a place from what was once only a space. The intent of Fill is to engage visitors in a meditative process of destruction / construction – each visitor witnesses a unique moment in the history of the installation and contribute to its evolution through their participation.
Here’s four ways you can get involved in Fill!
1) Move some stones!
Rakes, shovels, and buckets are available for you to contribute to making the next iteration of the Fill-scape – see the topo design plan and markers for where we are going – every stone raked and shifted helps.
2) Take photos and videos!
We are excited to see how the installation changes over the course of the exhibition through your involvement. You can post on IG (tag #fill_edenunearthed) or send to melissa@transverstudio.com.
3) Take stones home!
Our aim is to have no stones left by the end of April, and to raise money for Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off the Streets, so please fill a Fill bag for a $10 donation and take a part of Fill home with you to use in your garden.
4) Co-design Fill 2.0 and 3.0!
Share your thoughts about Fill, how we could improve it, and what the 2nd and 3rd iteration should look like by coming to one of our workshops (Dec 10 & Mar TBD – we will also learn Japanese dry garden raking techniques), or share to IG or melissa@transverstudio.com.
August 10, 2023
Fill selected to be part of 2023/24 Eden Unearthed exhibition
Forthcoming November 2023- April 2024
Curated by Meredith Kirton
Eden Gardens, Macquarie Park, NSW
Melissa’s interactive and collaborative installation Fill has been selected as one of over 30 artworks to be installed as part of the 2023/24 iteration of Eden Unearthed, a six month long exhibition located in the award winning Eden Gardens Display Gardens and in and amongst the Eden Garden retail centre and cafe. More details to follow! Please find more information on the call for submissions and on earlier editions of the exhibition here.
fill
eme3 festival
selected participant
2005
Action = time. Through firsthand experience we construct out understanding of time, its passing marked by memorable moments of engagement in the world around us. FILL offers an opportunity for engagement, becoming an evolving marker of change. The installation consists of a pile of gravel centered within a built edge. The volume of the pile is equal to the capacity of the surrounding edge so that over time, the gravel will be distributed to fill the box. This distribution will be enacted though incidental forces, such as climbing or settling and also through intentional action, encouraged by the provision of a shovel on site. The changing form of the pile will be documented by a series of photographs spaced at equal intervals throughout the duration of the installation. FILL functions as evidence of action: both by engaging a succession of visitors in the process of construction / destruction; and by referencing the industrial history and continuing development of Poble Nou. Each visitor witnesses a unique moment in the history of the installation and contributes to its evolution. FILL is fully scalable, from an edge diameter of 8m to 48m and up. The locally sourced gravel will be reused at the end of the festival, in nearby construction sites if possible.