David Watson

David Watson, Mining Rash [The Drip] (2013), pure pigment print on archival art paper mounted on 3 mm aluminium composite panel, 81 x 101 cm DW speaks about Mining Rash [The Drip] — David Watson, **Mining Rash [The Drip]** (2013), pure pigment print on archival art paper mounted on
3 mm aluminium composite panel, 81 x 101 cm
DW speaks about **Mining Rash [The Drip]**

David Watson, Welcome Mat (2012), pure pigment print on archival art paper with fringing, 62 x 93 cm — David Watson, **Welcome Mat** (2012), pure pigment print on archival art paper with fringing, 62 x 93 cm

David Watson, Fuse (2013), 1:100,000 maps showing proposed walk following power grid from Rozelle to Hunter valley source (see pp 18-19 of The Stuttering Frog #2, below) DW speaks about Fuse — David Watson, **Fuse** (2013), 1:100,000 maps showing proposed walk following power grid from Rozelle to Hunter valley source
(see pp 18-19 of *The Stuttering Frog #2*, below)
DW speaks about **Fuse**

Leave It in the Ground

Williams River Valley Artists’ Project (WRVAP) @ Articulate project space in Leichhardt (Sydney), November 2013.

In the face of irrefutable science which warns us daily about escalating climate change, NSW continues to draw more than 90% of its electricity from coal-and-gas-fired power stations, and Newcastle has become the world’s largest coal port. Australians are per capita the highest energy users on earth and our rapacious pursuit of ‘more’ flies in the face of good custodianship. By extracting and exporting fossil fuels on a gargantuan & unprecedented scale we are fouling not only our own nest but the entire biosphere.

Leave It in the Ground was a prescient 2013 foray by nine Australian contemporary artists perturbed by the fossil-fuel bind in which most of us (still) find ourselves. The show featured work by Neil Berecry-Brown, Sue Callanan, Noelene Lucas, Juliet Fowler Smith, Christine McMillan, Ian Milliss, Margaret Roberts, Toni Warburton and David Watson. Each artist also contributed words + images to The Stuttering Frog #2, our 20 pp newspaper/exhibition catalogue, alongside expert commentary by Sharyn Munro, Glenn Albrecht, Colin Imrie/Julia Mullins and Chris Ward. An overview of WRVAP’s first five years of environmental arts activism is on pp 4-5…

The Stuttering Frog #2 [WRVAP newspaper/catalogue]

Roomsheet

Leave It in the Ground drew upon 2012-13 research residencies in regional New South Wales (Bylong, The Drip, Bulga) which enabled WRVAP artists to observe first-hand the crippling social and environmental impacts of coal mining and CSG extraction, and to meet members of the local community + front-line activists.

Although WRVAP is a collective and most of our research trips have been collaborative affairs, each of us continues to produce distinctly individual work (albeit encouraged/critiqued/enhanced by the group). Whilst this site focusses upon my individual output, it is important that these works be seen, too, as ‘ingredients’ within WRVAP’s broader visual-arts and environmental-activist ferment… williamsrivervalley.blogspot.com.au

See also Cry Me a River, Instruments of Democracy and The Bridge under ‘Exhibitions’ on this page.

Power+Walk+With+Me-+[The+Stuttering+Frog+#2+p+18].jpg

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In November 2013 we delivered our 20 pp agit-prop newspaper The Stuttering Frog #2 (see link above right) to libraries, galleries, doctors’ waiting rooms and cafes across the Hunter region. The Frog contained commissioned articles by author/activist… — In November 2013 we delivered our 20 pp agit-prop newspaper *The Stuttering Frog #2* (see link above right) to libraries, galleries, doctors’ waiting rooms and cafes across the Hunter region. The *Frog* contained commissioned articles by author/activists (e.g. Sharyn Munro, Glenn Albrecht), pieces by WRVAP artists, a mud-map of key mining sites, book reviews, even a ‘Very Crossword’.
Pictured here with Wendy Bowman OAM at her property ‘Rosedale’ in Camberwell - which Wendy had been fighting tooth and nail to retain against Chinese mining giant Yancoal - are (l.) David Watson and (r.) Sue Callanan, who grew up in Singleton and now runs Articulate project space in Leichhardt (which hosted our exhibition).
In May 2015 Wendy won her legal battle against Yancoal.
Photo: Denise Corrigan