The Line of Lode and Death of Charlie Day: Angelica Mesiti

This new video work was shot in Broken Hill in 2008, with the support of the Broken Hill Art Exchange and our Residency Program.  Inspired by the grandeur of its physical landscape and the unique place it occupies in our cultural consciousness, Angelica Mesiti used this outback mining town in the far West of NSW as the location for this video work.

Focusing on social groups both animal and human that inhabit an Australian outback town, The Line of Lode and Death of Charlie Day is a meditation on the connections that link them to their landscapes and therefore each other. Streams of pre nocturnal

Catalogue Essay

Images form independent scenes that interrelate without being bound by narrative; Suburban kids riding bikes in the sunset shadows, a flock of pigeons released for their evening flight,the dusty twilight interiors of an out of business hotel, a goat enjoying the cool air of dusk.

A diversity of people including a local livestock trader, hotel proprietor, competition pigeon breeder, aboriginal land council elder, mining equipment engineer, local artists and historians were involved in the process. The bike-riding scene was developed out of a workshop involving 12 kids from the Broken Hill PCYC youth Club.

An essay by Melody Willis was commissioned by d/lux/MediaArts for the exhibition catalogue, which is available for download here.

Upcoming Touring dates:
The Block, Queensland University of Technology, 20 October – 3 November 2010

Previous Tours:
The Block, Queensland University of Technology, 27 June – 20 July 2010

[Image courtesy of the artist]