Endless Sunbeams in Another Time

Endless Sunbeams in Another Time is a multimedia artwork by Julia Flanagan and Miguel Felipe Valenzuela that explores the evolving relationships between humans, nature, and industrialisation over time. The work examines the transformation of the Lake Macquarie Region from an ecologically balanced environment to a mechanised urban landscape.

The immersive artwork is a speculative work that uses drawing, painting, animation and interactive sculpture to examine the relationship between humans, geography, machines and the built environment. Made on location in the Awabakal, Lake Macquarie region, the interactive multichannel work explores how these complex relationships morph, change and transform from real and concrete things to imaginary machine-like structures. Through abstraction and experimentation, the work attempts to fuse these multiple temporalities into a continuous representation and reconceptualisation of time.

During their two-week residency at the Lake House, the artists spent time observing the urban and natural landscape, looking for remnants and traces of the past. Evidence of the area’s once industrial life became a strong influence behind the original pencil studies made by Flanagan, as well as drawings responding to new knowledge researched on Munibung Hill, once home to a great source of Yellow Ochre, an important material for first nations people. Marine and bird life were the main source of inspiration for Valenzuela’s research, documenting multiple site visits with drawings, as well as video and audio recordings of Jellyfish, Pelicans and Corellas.

In synthesising their research, the artists developed a series of animations through discussions and contemplation on how regions have been transformed from ecologically balanced and maintained environments to the busy mechanised industrial and post-industrial urban landscapes of the present. It is this sense of change over time that the artists sought to investigate through the work, referencing the precarious threat of over-mechanisation of the environment, the need for a revitalisation of custodianship, restoration and remediation.

About the artists

Julia Flanagan works across painting, sculpture, textiles and drawing. Born in Newcastle, Julia moved to Sydney to study Painting and completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School in 2004 and her Painting Honours in 2005. Julia has recently completed a series of large-scale sculptures as part of an exhibition in the gardens of The Hazelhurst Gallery in Gymea, NSW. She recently collaborated with iconic fashion label Gorman for a range of textiles and clothing. She has exhibited extensively in galleries in Sydney, Wollongong, Melbourne and Newcastle, and has works in local and international collections.

Miguel Felipe Valenzuela works across various disciplines including media art, photography, drawing, digital and analogue video and experimental sculpture. He has recently exhibited at the Sheffer Gallery, Damien Minton Gallery and 107Projects in Redfern, Australia. His video artwork has been exhibited at Mekanarky Studios, UTS, UNSW Black Box, Kudos Gallery, ACMI Federation Square in Melbourne, and Pehrspace, Los Angeles.

Main image: Julia Flanagan and Miguel Felipe Valenzuela Endless Sunbeams in Another Time 2024. Courtesy MAP mima.