As a deep and bitter war rages over the future of wind farms in the Illawarra, a gentle new coastal exhibition shows what can be gained from shifting perspectives. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading City+Sea is the work of four University of Wollongong researchers who set out to get to know this place they call home through its relationship with the water.
In order to understand the connection, artists Dr Kim Williams and Dr Lucas Ihlein, coastal geographer Associate Professor Sarah Hamylton and human geographer Associate Professor Leah Gibbs decided they needed to look at the land from the ocean, and not just the other way around. They brought in Hayden Griffith, a cinematographer experienced with providing stabilised footage in the great outdoors, and set off on a fishing boat expedition from Otford to Shell Cove. Sketching and filming the Illawarra shoreline as they went, the crew arrived at their destination, Bass Point gravel loader, three hours and 40 minutes later.
The rarely-seen view captured during the voyage forms the centrepiece of the City+Sea exhibition and has been projected onto a wall of the UOW Gallery. It's accompanied by a 26-metre-long watercolour of the coastline , which is based on original sketches completed by the four researchers while they were on the boat. "It was a team effort, with four of us drawing at the same time," Dr Gibbs said.
"Then Kim Williams, who's the lead artist, brought that sketch together as a.
