Been Caught Stealing: Strategies for Engagement and Art Making

How we find ourselves in proximity to place and community, through tangible engagement and perception, defines our take on the world. The act of finding is as much about encounter as it is filtering and selection. The notion of taking, reflects a capacity to value, borrow/lend and absorb. To steal is to take; to be caught is to highlight what was worth taking. Within my research practice I explore the ties that bind us and connect us to our place, and how these ties offer multiple versions of the same world. These multiple versions reflect a capacity to take something and run with it. In developing work around these ideas, my research frequently involves working with diverse communities to explore notions of value and attachment to place. Within this presentation I will reflect on a selection of artworks that deal with these issues by engaging with a range of communities such as: a Hobart City Council road working crew; traditional Japanese rice farmers and Tasmanian experts in their field who all contributed to the fabrication of particular artworks. The paper will reflect on the adage that a good lie rings true , and how in such modes of art making the act of stealing is secondary to being caught.