MARY-JO GILLIGAN

Alchemy

Working directly on a raised, windswept tip face I became fascinated by the olfactory experience of the landfill as an active, sensuous monument of modern culture and as a working environment for its caretakers. Another potent sensory aspect of the landfill was inherently linked to the smell: the warmth of the mound. Over half of the rubbish dumped here at the time was biodegradable and the intense aerobic and anaerobic energy of stinky decomposition produced heat palpable to one’s touch. The work culminated in the immersive artwork, Alchemy, which harnessed this heat by creating an architectural container on the tip face. By re-appropriating metal litter catching frames and reusing building materials pulled from city skips, a greenhouse was constructed to house zesty citrus fruit trees, aromatic herbs and scented flowers from October through to a chilly November. The greenhouse functioned as a live interrogation of materiality, a point of inquiry, a wind shelter and as a scented social refuge from the everyday stench for the builders, engineers and garbage truck drivers who worked at the site.  As heavy machinery rumbled past the structure the flowers and herbs shook their scent loose, creating a perfumed atmosphere in the warm, calm space.