11, 5 x 7.5cm C-Type prints of cross sections of Arkose Sandstone specimens from Beech Forest, Otways.
a general method
A General Method was a collaborative project between Ren Gregorčič and Tarryn Handcock that explores the intersection of deep geological time and human ecological intervention. Centered on cross-sections of Arkose Sandstone from Beech Forest in Victoria’s Otways, the project reveals the layered narratives embedded within the stone: stories of natural formation, human disruption, and environmental transformation. With technical support from geologist Derek Walters, the work transforms the sandstone samples into visual representations that articulate both the systematic processes of geology and the complex legacy of deforestation in the Otways.
Arkose Sandstone, with its distinct pink and red hues derived from high feldspar content, embodies millions of years of erosion, deposition, and compression. These geological processes, systematic yet shaped by contingent forces, mirror the “general method” of natural creation suggested by the project’s title. Yet the sandstone’s narrative is not solely one of natural formation; it also reflects the profound impact of human activity. The Otways Forest has a rich and complex history, dating back over 5000 years when the indigenous people of the region, the Gadubanud (Katubanut), also known as the Pallidurgbarran, Yarro waetch or Cape Otway tribe (Tindale), lived within and surrounding the forests.
However, with the arrival of European settlers in the 1800s, the Otways forests were subject to significant deforestation and logging and the indigenous peoples were forceably displaced. The resulting impact on the region's ecology and biodiversity has been profound, with many species now endangered, threatened or decimated.
The sandstone cross-sections depicted in the prints serve as both physical and conceptual artifacts. They reveal a stratified history where natural and human processes intersect. Each layer of the stone becomes a marker of time, a testament to the slow accumulation of material that coexists with the rapid, extractive impact of colonial deforestation. By framing the sandstone within a ecological and cultural context, the work underscores the long-term legacy of human intervention on landscapes that, at first glance, seem immutable.
The title A General Method encapsulates the dual nature of the project: it references the systematic processes inherent in geological formation while gesturing toward the universal patterns of creation and destruction that define both natural and human histories. The cross-sections of Arkose Sandstone are not merely representations of a physical object; they are abstractions of the processes that created them. As such, the work functions as a meditation on time, resilience, and the interconnectedness of human and geological systems
