Georgie Mattingley is currently working with the community of Karlkula / Kalgoorlie-Boulder. This residency forms part of one of Spaced’s current programs, Rural Utopias.

Georgie Mattingley is a visual artist based in Mparntwe-Alice Springs, Australia, making photographs, paintings, videos and public installations. Her work uses colour and beauty and to make society’s hidden spaces more visible.

Here, Georgie shares update #5, ‘Main Reef, Hammond Park and the Quarry’

The third photo shoot was held at a place which is very close to my heart - The Main Reef Pub.

The Main Reef is a local classic. It's one of the smaller, grungier pubs in Kalgoorlie - Boulder and it's the closest pub to the Super Pit. Perfect for the after work knock-off. People come to drink in their dirt-covered hi-viz and drink away an arvo over conversations with familiar faces, home-cooked Chinese food, pool and darts championships and an old- school coin-operated jukebox. I set up my mural on the back stage, where pub goers could pose to have their portraits taken.

One Friday night, the Main Reef was without a Skimpy, which is a major drawcard for attracting customers and holding the high-energy good vibes. Having already done some Skimpy shifts during my first research residency in Kal, I was happy to offer my services to the Main Reef with fluoro pink lingerie, as a thank-you for hosting my mural. I installed a pole for extra kicks.

Pose for your portrait.
Enjoy a lap dance.
You choose the soundtrack.
Tip me.

The best art exhibition one bloke said he'd ever seen.

The highlight of my residency so far.

A big thank you to my Margaret Ellen-Burns, who assisted with this photo shoot.

The fourth photo shoot was held at Hammond Park, a family-fun hot spot for week end picnics. The park free range peacocks, rare birds in cages, bridges over a lake and fountains, with a miniature Bavarian castle built using precious gemstones. It’s a child’s dreamland. It felt necessary that I represent this aspect of Kalgoorlie, especially seeing the City loves to advertise the locals parks as a reference to it being ‘family-friendly’.

The models here were the families and the peacocks.

A big thank you to my Margaret Ellen-Burns and Tim Neeson who assisted with this photo shoot.

My fifth and final photoshoot was held at the local Quarry, where large rocks are crushed into smaller rocks, at the edge of the Super Pit just out of town.

We set up the curtain on the side of the road leading to the Quarry, so we can wave the cars and trucks down as they drive past. This photo shoot was about representing the workers in uniform. But also the beautiful industrial landscape backdrop. And also about bringing an element of ‘High Art’ to a space of grungy manual labour.

A big thank you to Margaret Ellen-Burns and Tim Neeson who assisted with this photo shoot. This was logistically the most challenging one.

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