7 March 2019

Mount Taylor erupts with Art!

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The hills were alive with the sound of Yucky the Drag Queen’s music. Photos: TAC.

Hundreds of Mt Taylor’s regular walkers were in for a surprise on Wednesday evening when their usual route to the summit was interrupted, not by kangaroos or magpies, but by some much more unlikely guests.

Half way up the trail, Yucky the Drag Queen cut a startling silhouette against the backdrop of the Tuggeranong valley and Brindabella ranges. Perched on a rocky ledge with a tall blonde wig and guitar in hand, Yucky entertained passers-by with their unique style of acoustic bluegrass.

Meanwhile, down in the carpark on Sulwood Drive, visitors were greeted by sculptor Rachel Devlin’s pop-up ARTificial Flower Workshop. Offering walkers the chance to pause and create their own flower arrangements made from recycled dog food tins, Develin’s interactive activity caused many to reconsider the waste created by commercial pet food while making something beautiful in the process.

Carrying their handmade flowers with them, surprised locals could stop and enjoy Yucky’s stunning vocals as they made their way up the trail. Describing themself as a musician, singer and professional gender alien who fell from the far reaches of a distant galaxy, Yucky certainly provided audiences with the unexpected.

Walkers were given the chance to create their own flower arrangements made from recycled dog food tins.

Walkers were given the chance to create their own flower arrangements made from recycled dog food tins.

While listening to Yucky, hikers could also collect gum leaves with curious titles scrawled across them. For those who reached the summit, local poet Zoe Anderson was waiting to collect their leaves and recite accompanying poems.

Anderson is a performance poet and storyteller who is fascinated by myth, ecology and place. The poems she selected were tailored to reflect the event’s unique place in the Canberra landscape, on Ngunnawal country.

Anderson’s poems reflect Canberra’s landscape, on Ngunnawal country.

Rachel, Yucky, and Zoe will be back at Mt Taylor on Saturday 16th March. However, they are just some of the many artists who will be popping up across Canberra throughout the year!

The event was curated by Tuggeranong Arts Centre as part of their new INTERPOSE project, which will be placing a whole range of unexpected art forms in unlikely places. Designed to intersect with people’s daily routines, the project aims to make us reconsider the role of art in our lives and to make art accessible beyond the walls of the Arts Centre.

The artists will be back up the mountain on 16 March.

Who knows where you might find art next? Perhaps you’ll hop off the bus and find yourself in the middle of a textiles installation. Maybe you’ll head out to the river for a swim and be caught in the middle of a noir-pop concert. Art is coming… when you least expect it!

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