james tylor.
  • news
  • art
    • daguerreotypes (new) >
      • the darkness of enlightenment >
        • the darkness of enlightenment I
        • ​the darkness of enlightenment II
      • we call this place... kaurna yarta (new)
      • te moana nui
      • karrawirra yarta
      • territorial encounters
      • karta (the island of the dead)
      • terra botanica >
        • terra botanica I
        • terra botanica II
      • decookolisation
      • voyage of the waka
      • whalers, sealers and land stealers
      • hopes, dreams and nightmares
      • deheading state
      • act like a man
      • these are our objects
    • collodion (new) >
      • cipx (new)
      • cipx nunga
      • past the measuring stick
    • prints (new) >
      • fire country (new)
      • nguya: the australian smallpox pandemics
      • economics of australia >
        • economics of minerals
        • economics of water
      • turalayinthi yarta
      • the forgotten wars >
        • the forgotten wars I
        • the forgotten wars II
      • kangaroo island (new)
      • aotearoa my hawaiki
      • from an untouched landscape >
        • (deleted scenes) from an untouched landscape
        • (erased scenes) from an untouched landscape
        • (removed scenes) from an untouched landscape
        • (vanished scenes) from an untouched landscape
      • un-resettling >
        • un-resettling (dwellings)
        • un-resettling (happenings)
        • un-resettling (hauntings)
        • un-resettling (huntings)
        • un-resettling (videos) >
          • un-resettling (dome hut with wind break)
          • un-resettling ( a frame hut )
          • un-resettling (dome hut in field) video
    • video ( new ) >
      • karta pintingga
  • food
    • mai : kaurna contemporary food >
      • mara murdumurdu flatbread
      • mai tarni surf food
      • mai yarlu sea food
      • mai wauwa beach food
      • mai kauwa cliff food
      • mai pari river food
      • mai pangka lake food
      • mai yatala swamp food
      • mai pudna waterhole food
      • mai wama tarnta southern plains food
      • mai nantu wama northern plains food
      • mai tamba flat food
      • mai karra wirra red gum forest food)
      • mai yaki valley food
      • mai mukurta mountain food
    • rations : australian army food
  • design
    • the dwelling (new)
    • inhabiting (new)
    • warpulayinthi (new)
  • text
    • paper >
      • art collector issue 71
      • art collector issue 78
      • art collector issues 88
      • art collector melbourne art fair
      • artlink vol 34 no 2
      • artlink issue 38
      • art monthly issue 291
      • art monthly issue 311
      • art zone issue 58
      • aspire issue 8
      • griffith review issue 63
      • meanjin vol 74 no 1
      • national gallery of victoria
      • the adelaide review issue 447
    • online
    • audio
  • bio
  • cv
  • contact

Past the Measuring Stick

This series is a personal exploration that seeks to challenge racial pigeon-holing in Australian contemporary society by seamlessly combining my European, Aboriginal and Māori backgrounds together to create a hybrid cultural identity.
 
Past the Measuring Stick explores the first contact between the three cultures by revisiting and combining traditional tool-making techniques from each culture during the late 18th and early 19th century. This is represented in the contemporary revival of the unique 19th century Ambrotype photographic process and the hybridised tools contained within them, as well as the Wodli (dwelling) that features an English-style front door, the Māori method of roof thatching and the Pou Pou (totems) with my own hybrid cultural design.        
 
This series attempts to re-contextualise my ancestral history by creating a platform where European, Aboriginal and Māori cultures merge harmoniously into one, free from conflict or dispute.
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