At Manor Lakes Community Learning Centre, A Ritual for the Anthropocene by Nicholas Burridge captures the artist’s experimental act that sparks contemplation of the past and future of human intervention in the environment.
Artist Statement
These photographs document a site-specific performance and ritual enacted within the Western Volcanic Plains of Victoria. An often-overlooked fact is that Melbourne sits atop the third largest volcanic plain in the world. This geology has underpinned the formation of vast grasslands and fertile soils, which led it to become a site of intense colonial cultivation, extractive industry, and agricultural exploitation.
In this act, I melt and return locally sourced stone to the volcanic terrain from which it originated. This gesture is both a ritual and intervention: it engages with the region’s eruptive past while acknowledging the unfolding geologic future of the Anthropocene, in which human activity is transforming earth. By returning altered stone to the landscape, human and planetary forces are bound, positioning us within the grand narrative of geologic transformation.
Credits
- Film Stills: Eugene Perepletchikov
- Photography: Bella Johnson
About Nicholas Burridge
Burridge’s projects are usually site-specific, drawing on place and history to contextualize the processes and materials used in his practice. His work often explores the grey area between the natural and industrial exploring the term Terraforming and the potential of humans as a geological force. This approach has led to a variety of research residencies at locations such as Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West, Canberra Glassworks, The Quarry, and Jack’s Magazine, a heritage munitions warehouse. This research has been articulated into a range of public and exhibition-based presentations, including a recent major commission by the National Glass Gallery.
Image credit: Nicholas Burridge, A Ritual for the Anthropocene. Photographed by Christo Crocker
A Ritual for the Anthropocene (2024) by Nicholas Burridge Gallery
