the limit of a greater distance, part 1

Single-channel projection.

Drawing on structural film theory and overlay techniques, the limit of a greater distance presents a monochrome horror in 4 parts. Parts 2-4 in production.

Roman cypress trees are also common in the park; a classical symbol of mourning typical to cemeteries, layering the park with a narrative of loss and commemoration. It has been suggested that the cypresses were planted as tributes to Australians who did not return from World War I.

The rigid tree lines produce a particular audial experience of the surrounding urban landscape, trapezoidal views of the sky and a rhythmic relationship with the sun, a spatial-logic system that expresses the way that Haig Park, and non-native trees more generally, have been used as a functional elements within Canberra (itself a city designed by American architect Walter Burley Griffin).

These systems of design, architectural and arboreal, reflect a rational, functional approach to place. The geometric precision of Haig Park’s tree lines parallels Holford’s use of the Golden Mean, underscoring the interdependence of spatial logic and human meaning. The parks embody a elements of both the pragmatic and the poetic, where utility and memory coexist in physical structures and living systems.

Walking through Commonwealth Park and Haig Park reveals how material interventions are not merely functional but deeply narrative, bearing the imprint of the cultural, historical, perspectives, and environmental conditions.

Part 1 of The Limit of a Greater Distance examines the material and spatial narratives of Commonwealth Park and Haig Park in Canberra as an observation of how these landscapes embody the logics of design, functionality, and memory.

The film opens in Commonwealth Park, tracing a passageway oriented northeast-southwest. At one end stands the West Portal Cafeteria, designed in 1969 by William Holford according to the principles of the Golden Mean, reflecting an architectural vision according to classical proportionality. This cafeteria, shown at the conclusion of Part 1, is part of the Anzac Park East and West Buildings complex. It symbolizes Canberra’s mid-century aspirations to define itself as Australia’s federal administrative center. Its clean lines and geometry resonate with the adjacent landscapes of Sylvia Crowe, who collaborated with Holford to integrate gardens and architecture. Crowe’s design embodies a deliberate interaction between built and natural systems, extending a spatial logic that connects with the ecological.

Narrative in Haig Park centres on the fourteen rows of predominately Monterey Pines Canberra (formerly the East-West Shelter Break) were planted in 1921 as a shelterbelt. The footage focuses on walking through the perfectly aligned rows of the Haig Park pines. In the 1920s, the new city of Canberra was significantly affected by hot summer gales, dust storms and harsh winter winds owing to extensive clearing programs intended to make the land ready for development but consequently left it barren.