Marree Man
The Marree Man , also known as Stuart's Giant , is an earth drawing ( geoglyph ) 2.7 kilometers in size. It was discovered on June 26, 1998 from a height of about 1,000 meters by the bush pilot Trac Smith. The work of art belonging to the genre of Land Art is located on Finnis Springs about 60 kilometers west of the Marree settlement in central South Australia in the 200,000 square kilometer Woomera Prohibited Area near Lake Eyre .
figure
The discovery of the figure near the Oodnadatta Track and the Lake Eyre salt lake led to widespread publicity in Australia and abroad due to its size, mysticism and the onset of speculation about its origin. The figure is about 2.6 kilometers from baseline to vertex, and 3.6 kilometers at its greatest; the extent and / or the development of the lines is estimated at 28 kilometers, although the dimensions in the publications differ considerably. The figure's outline, which is dug into the earth, usually consists of seven parallel lines that are 20 to 30 centimeters deep and up to 35 meters wide next to each other. They were probably made with heavy equipment like a tractor. It is estimated that it took about six weeks to make.
The Marree Man is believed to be the greatest work of art made as an earth drawing. There are speculations about the project planning of the figure, ranging from the transmission of longitudes and latitudes and the measurement of photos to the help of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The plant is exposed to soil erosion ; but since the climate in this area is extremely dry and the area is uninhabited, the image can still be recognized today. Originally, the figure could have been seen with the naked eye from a height of around 100 kilometers. The designers scattered white lime into the red earth.
Creator
The owner of the William Creek Hotel, 200 kilometers northwest of Marree, was made aware of the artwork by an anonymous fax. He ignored it at first because he thought it was fun. Since the fax contained information in the Anglo-American system of measurement and not in the usual metric system in Australia as well as other unusual designations, it was initially assumed that US-Americans are the creators. Since it is still not known for sure who created the Marree Man, there is much speculation. It is either believed to be the work of Australian artists, a group of construction workers or members of the Australian military, or that the British were the authors. In the meantime, the view has been established that it was the Australian artist Bardius Goldberg , who died in 2002, who was able to produce the large-scale work both artistically and technically - using GPS devices. He lived in Alice Springs for the last 30 years and had designed smaller geoglyphs. Furthermore, he had received a large payment in the period in question, the origin of which he always kept secret.
It was not until later that illustrations were found in the book The Red Center by the author HH Finlayson that show the hunt for wallabies with a throwing stick or boomerang by an unclothed hunter of the Pitjantjatjara , a tribe of the Aborigines living there, and which may have served as models.
Naming
The earth drawing was named Marree Man after the place of the same name in the outback . When the police were investigating the place, a bottle was found with its contents, including a piece of paper with Stuart's Giant written on it. The name refers to John McDouall Stuart , a Scottish geometer known in Australia , who was the first European to cross the continent from south to north. However, this name for the work of art did not catch on.
Aboriginal protest
The Dieri are a group of Australian Aborigines whose tribal area is home to the Marree Man. They protested against the Marree Man, as this earth drawing had caused damage to their land and exploited their dreamtime (Dreamtime).
literature
- Gerhard Bertling: The "Marree Man" . The biggest boomerang in the world? In: Wilhelm Bretfeld (Ed.): Boomerang World . No. 1/99 . Bumerang Verlag, Norderstedt 1999, p. 3 ( Boomerang and Marree Man [PDF; 1,4 MB ; accessed on January 30, 2009]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marree Man
- ↑ assumptions about the creator (English)
- ↑ English as Creator (English)
- ↑ Report on Bardius Goldberg ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ^ Hedley Herbert Finlayson: The Red Center. Man and Beast in the Heart of Australia . Libraries Board of South Australia, 1979, ISBN 0-7243-0066-X .
- ↑ Pictures of the hunters ( Memento from October 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 29 ° 31 ′ 48 ″ S , 137 ° 27 ′ 55.8 ″ E