The title for this exhibition was inspired by the blues song by John Lee Hooker entitled “This land is nobody's land”. With his moody and evocative vocals, Hooker speaks of and contemplates our continuous struggle over land. It is a sad look at human nature and how we have created barriers by taking ownership over a space we are really only visiting.
“...This land is no one’s land
God made this world
And everything within
He didn't make it for one man
He made it for everyone
I don't know why they fighting
Over their burying ground...”
Hooker seems pensive and conflicted. This body of work attempts to describe a similar train of thought. It emphasises the trajectory of man’s role from explorer to conquerer, as well as our collective amnesia towards the past. Today, living in an urban environment, more immediate concerns dominate our thoughts; it is as if we live in a dream, and thoughts like Hooker's seem disconnected and unrelated to us. Sutherland and Cronje have given this feeling a visual accomplice. These utopian, paradisical landscapes are constructed. Disparate references and memories are stitched and glitched together to create a world that primarily exists in the personal vision of each of the artists.
Resultingly and almost ironically, the work provides the viewer a chance to escape into a dreamlike world – often a lush and ripe landscape - full of exploration and opportunity.
Words by Cynthia Edwards
