Ephemeral characters: ice sculptures

Anne Lord's ice sculptures 'Ephemeral Characters' (2007) were installed in an art and ephemera event titled 'In SITE Out' in Orange Botanical Gardens. 'Arts Out West' organized the event and forum where Lord presented a paper about the instability of the icon and image in art. Arguably this can lead to change of attitude about detritus and ephemera in contemporary society. Further, change in responsibility for our refuse, calls for an acceptance of beauty in the old, worn and decaying object. Study in this area provided examples of the aesthetic of decay in art and literature. These carry meaning about an ability to maintain the old, an appreciation of the worn object and various diverse cultural philosophies towards maintaining the environment as part of a broader culture. This research investigates artists' concepts integral with change in environment and ecology. My practice-based research in creative visual arts involves writing about the creation of a culture of impermanent art. This art has the ability to act as a potential metaphor in a dialogue about environmental sustainability. It also contributes to breaking tradition with a previous manner of discussion about change in local and regional contexts. The change is ongoing and crosses into multi-disciplinary fields, [Poststructural enquiry]. Art is a philosophical investigation, and it is the enquiring nature of the creative mind that can expose an appropriate practice; one that emerges from a place of non-sustainability to a culture of carefully managed ecology