Reading Place: Exploring Deterritorialised Island Matter

Place is one of the constant themes in contemporary fine art practice. The aim of this practice-led research is to investigate selected places in the island of Malta. It sets out to explore the potential contribution (re-) deterritorialised matter can make to contemporary fine art practice concerned with place. It investigates contested territory, appropriations, histories, politics, and stories inscribed on leaves and tree bark. A number of strands of inquiry have arisen from this practice-led research primarily relating to territory/textuality/temporality. Evidently Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s notions of (re-) deterritorialisation have been particularly significant to this research study, including the rhizome, and their propositions of smooth/striated space, and map-making. The context of this research study has evolved from a consideration of selected places as potential sites for art practice. The significance of an embodied practice has been examined, and also how ‘being-there’ impinges on the research study. Familiarity with place is considered as a key aspect, since it is only through direct investigation that specific nuances are discovered and heard. The thesis describes the combined methodologies of walking and collecting. I walk and I collect, making ‘maps' along the way. The study juxtaposes taxonomical systems with boundaries, enclosures with opportunities for movement, and considers the potential of found objects to communicate, and acquire value. It examines how the deep map approach contributes to place-oriented practice. It combines the real with the imaginary, and the poetic with the political, and it explores the possibilities that emerge from this intertwining. The present study proposes a map whereby reading and making intersect, and opportunities for fine art practice can emerge. It details how an investigation of Maltese places contributed to sculptural work, art installations, photographs, and film. The research construes that artworks evoke a sense of place, and new places can be revealed with every re/reading.