Rural Utopias Residency: Mike Bianco in Pingelly #1, beginnings in mid-July

Mike Bianco is currently working with the community of Pingelly, in a six-month residency. This work forms part of one of Spaced’s current program, Rural Utopias.

Mike’s art practice is invested in socially engaged art, and focuses on the politics of ecology, sustainability, and the impending “century of crisis.” Bianco has conducted extensive research in the field of gastroecology, and the intersection of food, craft, and sustainability, in locations that range from Oaxaca, Mexico, to Fukushima, Japan. Bianco exhibits his work internationally, and has been featured in venues that range from the Kenpoku Art Festival in Ibaraki, Japan, to the Science Gallery in London, England.

Here, Mike shares his first update from Pingelly.

It’s great to finally arrive in Pingelly. I’ve wanted to be in this place even since before I immigrated to Australia from the U.S. back in 2015. Back then, I was doing a lot of work around community-oriented agriculture, and I knew it would be essential for me to be involved with something similar in Western Australia after I arrived. Back then, a google search revealed the UWA Future Farm, a research project designed to ask what the wheatbelt farm of 2050 might be.

While I am interested in the science behind this, as an artist and activist, I’m more focused on what the farming community of 2050 might be like. It’s taken years to try to make a connection here, and despite teaching at UWA, it has been consistently difficult to find a bridge… Enter Rural Utopias - perfect!

My hope had always been to engage the community through craft. As someone who has worked in clay since the age of 12, I have always been drawn to how craft inherently brings beauty to everyday life, and the ways in which craft can help support more robust communities. I’ve spent my life traveling the world studying craft, and now, after adventures in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, I’m very excited to be working with people in Australia.

My first week here has been extremely exciting. While I’ve always known that agricultural and rural communities tend to also be craft communities (after all, one needs to produce the things of life if they are to live an isolated life) I have been amazed at the history of crafting in Pingelly. I’ve been particularly interested to learn about the Pingelly Craft group, a social club which has been dedicated to making everyday objects which can be used to support those in need. Evidently, this history begin with a group of people who would get instructors from the Fremantle Arts Centre to drive to Pingelly to give classes. What resulted was a robust craft community that was highly active for about 30 years! Unfortunately, it seems like the connection to the FAC eventually faded away, and the main drivers of the group lost some of the energy they once had in their youth. It would seem the baton is ready to be passed and one main objective of my time is to figure out how things can carry on.

Despite some generational gaps, there are some incredible and highly active makers here. While I’ve been inspired by all of the crafters in the community, a few have really amazed me. One in particular is Jean Hall. Jean moved to Pingelly seven years ago, and in that time has taught herself how to make beads, book, and hydroponic gardening - all with salvaged materials! She’s such a power-maker! She puts such care into discarded materials that she is able to make beautiful things from what many would discard. She is quintessentially an eco-artist! It’s also incredible to be present with Jean’s spirit, and to witness a practice that she pursues with passion at the age of 83. Age is no boundary for brilliant creativity, and I am so excited by everything Jean could teach. One of the things Jean was most excited to share was her self-developed book binding technique. She used found materials to create a book binding device, and uses recycled paper for the signatures. I’m so impressed with what she has done that i’ve asked if she would lead a workshop. I’m hoping to be her teaching assistant in a bookbinding workshop in November, and if all goes well, the local men’s shed will make the new binding devices for the community! Everything Pingelly could ever need to have a sustainable and robust community is present, and part of what I see as my job is just reflecting back on the community how amazing they are.

-Mike Bianco