In this work “National Life and Landscapes- Shearing Shed” I sent via email, each of the participants one of 24 digital tiles of a line image from a subject unknown to the recipients.

My fellow artists were asked to digitally render the tile in colour or texture using the paint bucket tool in the Paint application on their PC or similar.

When returned, all tiles were placed back in order and the outline restored. Participants then received a high res. digital file of the finished work to print, archive or do with whatever they saw fit. All the works in the “National Life and Landscapes" project are produced under the terms of Share Alike agreement of Creative Commons.

The conceptual rationale is to produce a work from diverse sources. This for me is exciting in itself, not the least because I cannot predict what the final work will look like. Other than as author of the process, only I know the original subject image. In this project I aim to dissolve some doubts I have about the following questions:

• Will the integrity of the original image survive?

Yes it did, it is still readable as an image of a shearing shed in the countryside.

• Or do we arrive at a whole new place?

Yes we do, the end result is a surprising interpretation that no one of us could have created

• What does the end result say about the self or group as arbiter of representation?

An integrated collaboration is equally capable of producing a representative visual statement as that of the single creative viewpoint. Providing the individual is acting freely of their own volition, with the preparedness to locate the result alongside others, then an exciting new matrix is possible equivalent to the focused energy of the solitary creative act. This is not new in theatre, but is not common in fine arts.

• And how might that speak poetically about our presence on this ancient planet and this point in time?

As the live-ers of our own lives, we carry the story of existence from our past into the future. We are each responsible for that. When called to act in good faith in community with others, we thread our story into the weave of the prayer mat of acceptance of who we are and of what we might become. This work of the larger project “National Life and Landscapes” is an image of a shearing shed, an image of country made heroic in Australian post-white settlement by song, poem and painting. The “National Life and Landscapes” version of the shearing shed is made by revealing what might be, from who this small community of 24 artists are, rather than what we thought we should be. Courageous in revealing rather than deferentially affirming.

I am highly excited by the result. A map of how our uniqueness represents the highest capacity for mutuality and connectedness with others.

As my vision adjusts to its community of voices, “National Life and Landscapes- Shearing Shed” still speaks to me well after I finished re-composing it. It’s a bit like those studio pieces that get started, are put aside, then picked up again, while over the same time several other works have started and finished in a single stream of creativity. And these slow moving works are often the most revealing, becoming the road less travelled, the one requiring more care and caution, not from danger, but because there is potentially more to miss.

The community of fellow travellers who contribute to the creation of the works in the “National Life and Landscapes” project are some of my friends who have shown faith and trust in my itinerant path as an artist, and to you all I offer my gratitude for this and other gestures of support.

I will publish for my own catalogue a Giclee limited edition of 25 on Canson Infinity Artist Canvas 390gsm, 24x36cm.

Please contact me if you are interested.

To start with I create an image in outline, break it down into a grid of small (usually square) tiles, and give each invited participant a tile to render in colour, tone or texture. My collaborators are working blind to the extent that each person knows only the pattern of lines on their portion. Participants are asked to paint, draw or digitally render (depending on the media used in each new picture), their tile in whatever fashion they choose, paying regard to the lines on the tile chosen or allocated. The subject of the whole image is revealed when all the tiles are reassembled. Parts of the outline are reinstituted to maintain a semblance of the original image in the final compilation. Collaboratively we have created a representation of place that individually we could never have produced. The final image is shared digitally under a creative commons license, where partners are able to print, share, archive or change at their discretion.

Gracias por tu participación en este proyecto " Vida y Paisajes Nacionales ". Tu fe en el proceso ha producido un extraño y encantador resultado.

Me asombra el ver y leer patrones accidentales mezclándose con el intenso y apasionante  propósito de cada una de las piezas. Todas las imágenes de este cuerpo de trabajo (Vida y Paisajes Nacionales) han tenido una revelación lenta, que es casi lo contrario de imágenes hechas por una sola mano, que a menudo las comprendo muy rápidamente. Pero la verdadera belleza es que es una impresión del Palau Nacional que ninguno de nosotros podría haber llegado en forma individual, y por eso estoy muy agradecido.

Siendo parte de los segmentos, las obras de este proyecto encajan perfectamente con lo que dice Jacques Rancière en términos generales de las prácticas artísticas, en cuanto a que: "formar parte en la partición de lo perceptible en la medida que suspenden las coordenadas ordinarias de la experiencia sensible y remarcan la red de relaciones entre espacios y tiempos, sujetos y objetos, lo común y lo y lo singular. "(Véase Jacques Rancière" la política de la estética 'en www.16beavergroup.org)

Thank you for your participation in this work "National Life and Landscapes- Palau Nacionale". Your faith in the process has produced a strange and delightful result. My eyes drift to looking and reading the accidental patterns mingling with the intense purpose of each of the parts. All of the pictures in this body of work (National Life and Landscapes) have a slow reveal, that is almost the opposite of pictures made by one hand, that I often understand very rapidly. But the true beauty is that it is an impression of Palau Nationale that none of us could have arrived at individually, and for that I am most grateful.

In being made of segments, the works in this project fit neatly with what Jacques Ranciere says broadly of artistic practices, to the extent that they "take part in the partition of the perceptible insofar as they suspend the ordinary coordinates of sensory experience and reframe the network of relationships between spaces and times, subjects and objects, the common and the singular." (see Jacques Ranciere ‘The Politics of Aesthetics’ at www.16beavergroup.org)

The "National Life and Landscapes" project are collaborative works.

Your participation is invited under the Share Alike terms of Creative Commons – "This licence lets others distribute, remix and build upon the work, even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit the original creator/s (and any other nominated parties) and license any new creations based on the work under the same terms. All new derivative works will carry the same licence, so will also allow commercial use. In other words, you agree to share your materials with others, if they will share their new works in return. This licence is often compared to the free software licences, known as 'copyleft.'"

Court House was produced by participants at a talk I gave on conceptual aesthetics at Western Plains Cultural Centre in July 2011

This work is of of friend who is a policeman. It is Carl's second career choice, his first being a tailor. The participants were his friends and family, my friends and colleagues. There are digital and hand made contributions to this portrait.

I have editioned this work as a 30 x hi-res canvas print, 42x36cm x 240dpi

This work was produced as a collaborative digital exercise with students in my Digital Graphics Tvet Class at the Lincoln Education and Training Unit at Orana Juvenile Justice. Most of these boys are aboriginal and are sentenced from courts in the Western Region of New South Wales.

I gave the team an archive of cloud photographs and asked that they cut, paste and edit to create the perfect cloud. Using skills delivered in the learning sessions I asked that they then make digitally interpretive changes to the theme of You, Me and Us as three versions of their perfect cloud. These thematic cloud images were then shared to a central accessible folder.

The final tiles used in the poster were retrieved from the pool of images by the boys and negotiated to create the final image. The work references the Cloud series work of Michael Riley, and addressed the theme of the 2011 NSW Reconciliation Schools Challenge of You, Me and Us.

Our poster won first prize in the years 9-10 category, with each of the six boys winning a gift pack of NSW Reconciliation Council and FM Triple J merchandise. The award ceremony and exhibition was held at the Australian Museum from 27 May- 5 June 2011.

"I found the work very engaging. It abstracted the concept of You, Me, Us, into a dimension that allowed the audience to engage with it according to one's own background, thus it was a very inclusive statement. To me it sang loudly the words, 'same, different' --- in that, it highlighted alikeness and at the same time difference and yet together the whole was complete. It was through the wholeness that the work held together so well".

Kerrie Murphy, Co-Chairperson (Non-Indigenous) of the NSW Reconciliation Council

You, Me, Us is an archival digital print on Hahnemuhle matt fine art smooth photo rag 308 gsm 60 x 84cm

"Nothing builds self esteem and confidence like accomplishment, and for the children and their carers from the Apollo community involved with Jack's special school holiday project at Apollo House, this was certainly was showcased. Jack was able to positively engage these participants in art by encouraging their creative flare and triggering their imagination. Watching the smiles and looks of achievement on everyone's faces as their individual artworks came together as a community masterpiece was very special" -Johanna Leader.

Laugh, Dance, Dream 2012 is part of the National Life and Landscapes project.

This work was produced during the summer holiday workshops at Apollo House Community Centre, Dubbo.

A collaborative project with community participants.

The 33 participants were: Breana, Siara, Lakkirri, Kota, Loriana, Jordan, Luke, Domonic, Declan, Hailie, Koorine, Liegh, Mareous, Googie, Tyerell, Michael, Mel, Hayden, Chris, Blake, Daniel, Maddie, Maxwell, Jamari, Alex, Emma, Tallis, Johanna, Jahnesta, Shaylia, Gabby, Max, Malakye.