A wheat field has been installed on an empty office floor in the Perth CBD. No, we’re not running out of agricultural land. It’s an art installation called there is nothing you need to do in here by Wongan Hills Arts Co., also known as WHAC.
We sat down with one of the team behind it, Alex Miller of WHAC, to talk about the story and creativity behind it.
How do you come up with an idea like this?
“The site was pretty unique to activate culturally with something, and the scale of it was pretty intimidating, so we tried to lean into that a lot to come up with something to put in here. We wanted to bring a bit of the wheat belt to Perth because we’re going to be doing some projects out there, and so we thought, playing on the scale, let’s bring a giant commercial environment from the wheat belt into a very large commercial environment in the middle of the city.”
Miller grew up in Perth but has spent a lot of time in the Wheatbelt, and he’s candid that sometimes there isn’t much of a creative process behind an idea. Sometimes the idea just hits you, and your gut just says this is the idea to run with.
Things to do in Perth
“I think everyone experiences this, whether you’re a creative or not. You just have a moment of clarity when you’re thinking about something, and you’re like, that’s just it. And that’s kind of how we landed on this.”
Coming up with the idea is often the easy part, believe it or not. The real work is turning that idea into a finished product: getting financing for the project and, in this case, setting up the wheat field ready to open to the public. It took 29 days and a small team to set up this office floor and turn it into a wheat field.
What do you want people to take away from the art installation?
The title of the exhibition tells you what you should do while there — nothing. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t walk away thinking or feeling something.
The space is eerily quiet, given that right outside are the busy streets of the CBD, with traffic flowing and people hustling. That’s part of the point.
“We’ve created a really contemplative, reflective kind of space,” Miller said. “We’re just hoping people can come in and switch off before they go back out into the city. It’s so loud and hectic, and there’s so much movement out there. So we’re really hoping that people can just switch off, recalibrate for a second before they leave.”
What you make of it after that is up to you, and Miller is happy for that to be a strong opinion in either direction. He likes art that gets a reaction.
“I really enjoy art that makes people think and complain,” he said. “I think art is a great discussion starter.”
That’s been a new experience for him. This is the first time he’s presented something on this scale, and opinions have already started coming in, sparking discussion and debate on social media. He takes that as a positive sign that people will be really engaged when the exhibition officially opens this week.
Perth’s art scene, and the artists who inspire him
Miller has worked in the Perth arts world for years and calls the question of whether the city does enough for its artists highly debatable. It’s a competitive scene, and he said there could always be more support and grant funding from the government, but he also understands the reality of how competitive the grants space is for projects like this.
But many artists have inspired him over the years. Two in particular that he mentioned are Stephen Brameld and Jay Staples. They’re a Fremantle-based self-taught duo who paint and sculpt, both working on the same artwork until they reach a point where they both agree that it’s ready for the world.
They regularly host exhibitions and galleries of their work. Keep an eye on their social media to know when the next one is (@j_staples_ and @stephenbrameld).
How to see there is nothing you need to do in here.?
there is nothing you need to do in here. is at 1 Mill Street, off St Georges Terrace, from September 11th to October 11th.
