Kim V. Goldsmith Creative Development

Tell us about the evolution of your concept through this creative development process.

Within the cross-region conversation between Orana Arts and Arts Mid North Coast, involving four artists —myself, Allison Reynolds, Ronnie Grammatica and Kit Kelen, there were always two threads in my mind while developing ideas in response to the provocation of what the future holds in a post-carbon world. The first was looking at the impact of rapid, large-scale developments may have on the transition to a net zero world on more-than-human (non-human) species.

Secondly, I was interested in human responses to this question— what timeframes are people thinking about, the pace of change, how they feel about change, the trade-offs or compromises, and hopes and fears for that future; all underpinned by inland regions being energy suppliers of the future—of both wholesale electricity and mass-produced food.

I’ve used sound and writing to explore these two aspects, documenting my process throughout through my blog – https://kvgoldsmithart.com/current-work/vaticinor/.

What experts/community members did you connect with during your creative development?

I’ve been talking with leaders in the renewable energy sector and rural industry for some time now about the shift from the dominant fossil fuel narrative in agriculture to renewable technologies. There’s been a great deal of innovation and personal investment by influential individuals in this sector.

During my time at Wellington Caves in May and June, I spent 10 days recording at rural renewable energy and natural resource sites, conducting interviews, and talking informally with the local community about their thoughts on a future in a Renewable Energy Zone (the Central West being the first to be established in Australia).

Responses have been varied—from anger about the lack of consultation and fear of change, to resignation, and excitement about the opportunities. It’s been interesting to see differences and similarities between responses inland and on the coast. I ended up spending a total of eight days exploring the Mid North Coast and Manning Valley, talking to locals and recording sounds. In all I covered about 6,000 km during the creative development stage of the project.

“The opportunity to share my practice and process with people across different sectors, industries and regions has been an extremely positive experience.”

– Kim V. Goldsmith

Describe where your work has reached in the development process and how you can see it progressing.

Three key works have evolved from the creative development phase.

1. A 15-minute composition of field recordings, transitional tones and chords that meld sounds of the Mid North Coast, Manning Valley and Central West of NSW into one story—a story of the discordant interdependence of human and more-than-human species.

2. A series of 18 audio stories, and a montage of them, from a broad range of regional residents about their hopes and fears for the future, and what they’re doing personally to take action and feel empowered.

3. A series of free verse poems that will be distilled down into one statement piece.

The works are being refined for exhibition in 2023, including several accessibility elements to be included as part of their presentation to ensure the widest possible audience. I’m also keen to get audiences to share their thoughts and stories with me during exhibition periods.

If you were to tell someone about the impact of Regional Futures and this creative development opportunity on your practice, what would you say to them?

The opportunity to share my practice and process with people across different sectors, industries and regions has been an extremely positive experience. Having worked on environmental projects for more than a decade now, this project gave me a chance to test my processes of enquiry, community connections and creativity on broader subject matter.

Spending time at the Wellington Caves on a commissioned residency (thanks to Dubbo Regional Council) was a rare opportunity to see this important archaeological site from a new perspective, which has directly fed into my work. Sharing my first weekend at the Caves with the Mid North Coast artists also allowed me to see my home region through new eyes, as they questioned things I take for granted. This early testing of preconceived positions is important in projects like this.

The inland/coast conversation had between the four artists in our cross-region project threw up plenty of learning curves, but ultimately opened a lot of doors and generated some great material.