Case study Art meets geoscience
Published:6 April 2022
Lee believes that art can foster community conversations about the role of mining and resource extraction and highlight both the aesthetics and meaning of the rock and the related geoscience.
Lee Harrop is an artist and a PhD candidate in Visual Arts at the College of Indigenous Futures, Arts and Society, Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory exploring the interface between art and the resources industry, including the science that underpins resources projects.
Lee began working with mining by-products almost a decade ago, inspired by discarded core samples around Kalgoorlie. She was affected by how little the public knew about their purpose after all the effort and expense that had gone into their production.
Lee Harrop, It's Time hand engraved geological core samples (from the Goldfields, Yilgarn Craton WA) displayed at the Down under exhibition, WA (2021). Image and copyright Lee Harrop and courtesy of Art Collective, WA
Lee's work
Lee creates artworks using core samples as well as collaborating with geologists and State Geological Surveys to present the scientific data from the sample, going so far recently as to commission a full petrology report for an exhibition. The scientific data is presented as digital prints accompanying the core sample, as in this exhibition in the Northern Territory.
Most recently Lee is part of Groundswell: Recent movements within art and territory, an exhibition showcasing the works of 19 artists with a particular focus on changes to the Northern Territorys water supply.
Lee's artwork All's Well That Ends Well includes an engraved piece of core sourced from groundwater drilling in the Southern Stuart Corridor as part of the Exploring for the Future program, accompanied by a book titled WELL containing digital prints of the scientific analysis of the core.
Groundswell is a travelling exhibition since September 2020: January June 2022 (QLD), September 2022 April 2023 (NSW), and June August 2023 (WA).
Lee wishes to acknowledge the following organisations and individuals for their support in this project, Geoscience Australia Donna Cathro and Jon Clarke, SA Drill Core Reference Library David Groom, Sam Williams, Georgina Gordon, NT Geologist Belinda Smith, Artback NT and Curator Carmen Ansaldo, and Charles Darwin University.
Related information
Southern Stuart Corridor
The project provided baseline data to inform groundwater prospectivity analysis, support the development of holistic water and salinity management strategies and inform water allocations.
Water security
Improved intergenerational water security and community resilience.
National Groundwater Systems
The National Groundwater Systems project improved understanding of Australias groundwater resources to better support responsible groundwater management and secure groundwater resources into the future.