Climate of Change: Creative Counter Mapping Methods for sensing place: Master Class 2022: CAST Research group RMIT

With major contributions from Linda Knight and the CAST RMIT researchers, the masterclass comprised realtime workshop ideations, presentations and collaborative, online interactions followed by creative mapping experiments. For this workshop I wandered around the Dandenong wetlands area using wet clay. A redefinition of our categorisations of marginalised ecologies and therefore a re-imagination of such topographies is crucial to a discourse on climate change. What is a wetland when it loses all its moisture? What is a wetland when it loses all its wildlife and its people? The iPhone images record wet porcelain clay impressions, used to seal the parched earth cracking open in the searing heat, serve as permanent reminders, setting the tone for my continuing counter mapping experiments. The material culture of porcelain often considered precious and used to make fine dinnerware was particularly relevant for this enquiry, alluding to the precious nature of nature itself.