New plants arise from the earth like phoenixes
THE smoking image of a grasshopper was burnt into the grassland, as alert firefighters stood by. Last month’s work of performance art was born from the idea of promoting controlled burning as beneficial for South Africa’s savannah ecosystems.
Artist Hannelie Coetzee said the 5-hectare artwork was inspired by research scientist Sally Archibald, who was looking into the importance of fire in creating productive grazing areas.
Archibald had described a controlled burn as a kind of performance, “and that really triggered it”, Coetzee says. “It gave me the idea that I could take real scientists, real firefighters and weave them into an artwork that is really largescale, speaking about very important and pressing environmental issues.”
Art curator Tammy Langtry also worked on last month’s performance, which included a 6km hike to the site for audience members.
“Hannelie’s practice is very unique, and the art objects that come out of that is then again very unique,” Langtry says.
Archibald, a scientist at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, said controlled burns clear space for new plant growth that animals find “very tasty”.
“The animals put their dung there and then they graze some more, and they create what we call a positive feedback,” she says. “The more animals you have, the nicer the environment is for animals.”
She’s now looking into the impact of controlled burns on insects – and the idea for last month’s grasshopper image was born.
“In collaborating with Hannelie, we tried to inspire people and make them interested in science,” said Felix Skhosana, a postgraduate student with the project.