SIN VAN PLEK, INGEPLAASTHEID EN BIOREGIONALITEIT IN 'N KUNSTENAARSBOEK-INSTALLASIE, MOOIRIVIER: WEERSPIEALING EN WEERKLANK (2015)
Franci Greyling
Sense of place, emplacement and bioregionality in an artist's book installation, Mooirivier: weerspieeling en weerklank (Mooi River: reflection and echo)
This article discusses a practice-based research project: an artist's book installation, with the Mooi River in the Potchefstroom environment as a theme. The discussion is a retrospective reflection on the work Mooirivier: weerspieeling en weerklank (Mooi River: reflection and echo) from the perspective of the artist-researcher on the basis of the place concepts sense of place, emplacement and bioregionality. Literature and art are closely linked with the experience of and relationship with place. The premise of the author is that an artist's book, as a layered and multimedia art form, can embody place in a unique way, and can create an opportunity to portray and explore the layering of place experience and relationships. Furthermore, the artist's reflection on her own artist's book project on the basis of these place concepts can contribute to the understanding of people's relationship with place and with site-specific art and literature. The article consists of the following sections: 1) Introduction; 2) The research space and intermediate zone of practice; 3) Theoretical framework: place, sense of place, emplacement, bioregionality; 4) Exploration and discovery: the artist's sense of place; 5) Concretisation: the embodiment of sense of place in content and form; 6) Dynamic interaction in the intermediate zone of practice; 7) Viewer-participant's experience of sense of place; 8) Summary and conclusions; 9) Afterword.