End of the Line? Albert Burn Saddle, New Zealand
In 2021, in response to a request from BBC2 to take part in a documentary TV series titled Nature And Us, A History Through Art we journeyed to one of our favourite mountain locations.
Albert Burn Saddle is near Mt Aspiring and we travelled up there with a film crew and a plan for an unusual sculpture - a snow circle divided by a horizontal line. This was achieved by embedding flat rocks into the sides of the circle, which when photographed against the dark rock of the Mount Aspiring beyond, reads - visually - as if there is nothing holding it up.
At sunset filming End of the Line?
The BBC2 three-part documentary TV series titled Nature and Us - A History Through Art went to air in October 2021 and included interviews with international artists, philosophers and scientists asking the question:
“Are we part of or apart from nature?”
For the 3-part series the BBC filmed sequences with artists who explore humans’ relationship to nature, and they considered our work chimed brilliantly with the theme: ”This series brings to the fore a much needed cultural perspective on mankind's relationship with nature, a relationship that is at what feels like a critical juncture”.
In the third episode of the series, art historian and presenter James Fox talks of the arrival of a new kind of art – land art. In the late 60s and 70s, a growing number of artists began working not only in nature but with it.
He concludes that on the long journey we humans have been on since our beginnings, artists have played a vital role not only in reflecting but also shaping our attitudes to nature: “They’ve helped us understand its intricacy, appreciate its beauty, and now – when the entire planet seems under threat – they can help us forge a new relationship with it.”
END OF THE LINE? The intended meaning of this sculpture is that the circle of life, now undermined by linear industrial systems, can only be maintained by transforming human systems to become circular so that waste becomes a resource as in nature.
Nature and Us: A History Through Art is available on BBC Select in UK, USA and Canada.
Two kea perch on the sculpture we made in their habitat
The kea is a native New Zealand bird also known as the New Zealand mountain parrot – the only true alpine parrot in the world and highly valued as one of the most intelligent bird species.
Kea are currently an endangered species. Because they live in an area of around four million hectares and much of this area has very rough terrain, it’s hard to access the population but the Department of Conservation estimates there are between 3,000 and 7,000 kea left in New Zealand. Early European settlers viewed them as a pest because they were seen attacking livestock and between 1860 and 1970 they were hunted. In 1971 bounty hunting was made illegal and in 1986 they became a protected species.
Licensing: Sculpture images are licensed for use worldwide
Prints: Fine art prints can be purchased internationally
Copyright: Martin Hill all rights reserved