Grey Water Lake (shown first in Catalysts: Recasting Public Art at the Nolan Gallery 1993 and later in a different configuration in Moments of In-Attention at The National Gallery of Australia 1993) was an investigation into the sources of water for Canberra. Water samples were collected from dams and rivers that make up Canberra’s water supply. The samples were used to create a grid of stained 20 sheets of paper, overwritten with quotes from key governmental research into the ecological health of the water sources. Twenty water samples with a startling range of liquid colours and sediment were housed in a set of 20 giant glass test-tubes (fabricated by glass artist Peter Minson) suspended from the ceiling in front of the stained paper grid. An accompanying large scroll drawing of a map of Canberra showed the city imaginatively flooded with all the grey water that is profligately squandered by humans (e.g., 15% goes in flushing toilets), thus returning the water to the environment.
Materials: Glass tubes, paper, water samples, graphite, wire, pins.
