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Broached Monsters by Trent Jansen at Criteria Collection. Images courtesy of Trent Jansen.
Respected Australian designer Trent Jansen has carved a niche for his ability to re-interpret urban legends, bringing us closer to our collective past. Jensen’s latest collection of limited edition pieces for Broached Commissions, is an intriguing body of work which marks the culmination of 5 years of research and design investigation centred around the mythology of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal inhabitants during the early years of Australian colonisation.
With Broached Monsters, Jensen traces the the early days of European settlement in Australia, referencing Robert Holden’s book Australia’s Folklore of Fear, and the designer’s own discussions with Western Arrernte man, Baden Williams, from Hermannsberg.
Prior to colonisation, Australia was imagined as a vast southern landmass, and little else was factually known. Fabulous creatures of incredible proportions and improbable anatomy, filed the void of knowledge. Fear of these creatures was legitimised when early British colonists started to learn of the frightful monsters in Aboriginal folklore. This fear of what lurked in the unknown fathoms of Australian bush land soon became a point of cultural confluence for indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
Over 5 years of research and design investigation, Trent Jensen has recreated two creatures that represent both indigenous and non-indigenous vernaculars – Pankalangu and the Hair Wild Man From Botany Bay – suggesting these conflating myths as central figures for a united national identity, bringing together our culturally disparate population under a single Australian mythology.
Pankalangu Wardrobe. Queensland walnut, copper, brass & moulded plywood. 2100 H x 1200 W x 570mm D
Pankalangu Wardrobe. Queensland walnut, copper, brass & moulded plywood. 2100 H x 1200 W x 570mm D
Pankalangu Wardrobe Detail. Queensland walnut, copper, brass & moulded plywood. 2100 H x 1200 W x 570mm D
Pankalangu Armchair. Tasmanian wallaby pelt, plywood, copper, stainless steel, French leather, polyurethane foam & PVC. 800 H x 770 W x 730mm D
Pankalangu Armchair. Tasmanian wallaby pelt, plywood, copper, stainless steel, French leather, polyurethane foam & PVC. 800 H x 770 W x 730mm D
Pankalangu Armchair Detail. Tasmanian wallaby pelt, plywood, copper, stainless steel, French leather, polyurethane foam & PVC. 800 H x 770 W x 730mm D
Pankalangu Armchair Detail. Tasmanian wallaby pelt, plywood, copper, stainless steel, French leather, polyurethane foam & PVC. 800 H x 770 W x 730mm D
PANKALANGU
“I was staying in Alice Springs on and off for a period when I was introduced to a Western Arrernte man by the name of Baden Williams. He took me to his hometown of Hermannsberg and on the way we got talking about Western Arrernte creatures. According to Western Arrernte story telling, pankalangu is a territorial being that lives in the scrub and is completely camouflaged in the desert and bush. Pankalangu can only move with the rain, and is made visible when the rain that falls on him is caught by the light, defining his form in a glistening silhouette.
As pankalangu is a Central Australian creature, my interpretation is formally influenced by some of the unique characteristics of other creatures from this region. Both the perente and the Central Australian locust became major influences as these animals possess an ochry, camouflaged exterior that masks an iridescent, hidden element – the perente hides is lilac tongue and the locust hides its beautiful translucent blue wings.”
Trent Jansen’s inspiration: Pankalangu by Tommy Watson.
Pankalangu Side Table. Queensland walnut, copper, brass & moulded plywood. 405 H x 435 W x 350 D
Pankalangu Side Table. Queensland walnut, copper, brass & moulded plywood. 405 H x 435 W x 350 D
Pankalangu Bowl. Tasmania wallaby pelt, aluminium & New Zealand leather. 40 H x 270mm D
The Pankalangu Wardrobe, Armchair and Side Table are designed interpretations of pankalangu – these animals are adorned with scales which camouflage as they move, but when the light catches these copper scales their form is defined by a glistening silhouette.
HAIRY WILD MAN FROM BOTANY BAY
“After Captain James Cook’s expedition to Australia in 1770, tales of dense, alien vegetation and fantastic native creatures spread quickly in England. This seemed to be evidence that Australia was an imaginary world, occupied by unimaginable creatures and these exotic tales captured the imaginations of the British people. The exotic nature of this new land was so extreme to the average Britain that the line between newly documented flora and fauna, and fantasy seemed arbitrary. Long before the First Fleet of convicts left England bound for Botany Bay, a new mythical Australian creature arose from the frenzy of stories of the new continent, this creature was known as the Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay.
Described as a savage giant of 9 feet tall, with a broad face, deathly eyes and covered in long, but sparse wiry hair, the Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay surely occupied the thoughts of some of the new British arrivals as they surveyed the bush of Botany Bay, or tried to sleep on their first night in the new colony. Fears of this creature were thought to be legitimate when British settlers learned of a creature called the yahoo or yowie from local Aboriginal people, their descriptions matching the widely circulated depictions of the Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay.”
Trent Jansen’s inspiration: Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay from Through the Apollo Gardens, In Gawsworth, Near Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Bowl. Materials include; Icelandic sheep skin, aluminium & New Zealand leather. 100 H x 450mm D
Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Chaise Lounge. Icelandic sheep skin, plywood, stainless steel, New Zealand leather and American oak. 410 H x 1450 W x 700mm D
Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Chaise Lounge, Detail. Icelandic sheep skin, plywood, stainless steel, New Zealand leather and American oak. 410 H x 1450 W x 700mm D
Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Chandelier. Hand blown glass, smoked float glass, silicone, fluorescent tube & cord assembly. 900 H x 700 D
Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Chandelier. Hand blown glass, smoked float glass, silicone, fluorescent tube & cord assembly. 900 H x 700 D
Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Chandelier, Detail. Hand blown glass, smoked float glass, silicone, fluorescent tube & cord assembly. 900 H x 700 D
As hybrid creatures, the Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay Chaise Lounge, Chandelier and Bowl take influence from native Australian and European creatures, including: The Tussock Lymantriiddae – a spikey native Australian caterpillar; and the Icelandic sheep – the European animal with the longest fur. These objects employ materials, such as leather, glass and animal pelt, that were part of the common European vernacular during the time that the Hairy Wild Man From Botany Bay was imagined.
We had a chat to Trent about this collection – read on for a little insight into this series and his process, and see the fascinating behind-the-scenes images from the workshop.
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