Black Hole (Lake Mungo)
(2021)
Black Hole (Lake Mungo) was created on the traditional lands of the Barkandji, Mutthi Mutthi and Ngyiampaa people. This site represents an important, yet often overlooked, natural landmark in Australia. Since the discovery of ancient human remains in the 1960s, the site has been the location of an onging, often tense, dialogue between Aboriginal people and settlers.
“The black hole recalls the Aboriginal flag, which has been pitched against the national flag, comprising of stars and a Union Jack - although doing so is suggestive of nations fighting over territory. And the black hole does other things too - conceptually and stylistically. A black hole, after all, in the world of physics, is something we do not understand, although it seems central to our universe. In addition, the black holes in Duncan’s images are trompe l’oeil tricks; just as our conceptions of the world are subjective and incomplete, these images mislead as much as they explain and pose more questions than answers.”
- Diane Smyth, Aesthetica Magazine, 2021.
Black 3.0 (Vanta Black), MDF board, c-type, medium format prints.
This work was made in consultation with the Willandra Lakes Advisory Group, Lake Mungo. This series was exhibited at the Climarte: Art and Action Exhibition and was supported through the City of Yarra and Yarra City Arts. Black Hole (Lake Mungo) was a finalist for the Aesthica Art Prize, York (UK), the 66th Black Prize, Sydney (AUS), the Nillubik Award, Eltham (AUS), the Wyndham Art Prize, Weribee (AUS).
