Ian Milliss and Lucas Ihlein
The Yeomans Project
Ian Milliss and Lucas Ihlein New chisel plow shank 2011 (detail), 102 × 72 cm, offset lithograph based on an enlarged page from the 1970s sales pamphlet for PA Yeomans’ plows advertising one of his specialised tynes. Print produced by Big Fag Press, Sydney © the artist
AGNSW Contemporary Project
The Yeomans Project is based on the figure of Australian farmer and engineer PA Yeomans.
Although he never described himself as an artist, Yeomans consciously set out to change the cultural understanding of the Australian landscape. A notable inventor of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, he sought to increase soil fertility and water use by regenerating bushland, creatively adapting farmlands and – in perhaps his most important breakthrough – developing a new understanding of water flows and tools for soil cultivation.
For Ian Milliss and Lucas Ihlein, The Yeomans Project presents an opportunity to look at art as an entirely utilitarian enterprise – one that proposes new, creative and sustainable ways of working with the land. They have collected together writings, images, documentary films and educational videos and will host a series of conversations in the exhibition to illustrate Yeomans’ philosophy and design innovations. They have also invited other artists – Milkwood Permaculture, Taranaki Farm, Artist As Family, (f)route and Diego Bonetto – to challenge our assumptions of art by relocating us to farms, masterclasses on permaculture, and alternative market places for selling and buying food.
AGNSW Contemporary Projects are supported by Andrew Cameron
28 Nov 2013 – 27 Jan 2014
Free admission