Merchant Cities — Michael Bullock

Michael Bullock, Untitled, patinated bronze objects, 2014, dimensions variable.

Michael Bullock, Merchant Cities, installation view, patinated bronze objects, 2014, dimensions variable.

Michael Bullock, Merchant Cities, installation view, 2014, dimensions variable.

Michael Bullock, Assorted Censers, installation view, patinated bronze objects on table, incense, 2014, dimensions variable.

Michael Bullock, Untitled, installation view, patinated bronze objects on plinth, sandalwood powder, 2014, dimensions variable.

Recent artwork has focused on the trade of sandalwood from Western Australia to the ports of Asia, for the manufacture of incense sticks (also known as joss sticks and agarbathi) trinkets and beads. The wood is highly valued for its smell. The wood is found in the farming wheat belt area and gold fields of Western Australia. The wholesale clearing of land for agricultural purposes, for the farming of sheep and wheat in Western Australia provided an abundance of raw material for this trade.

The industry came about in part to redress the need to balance trade between Asia and Australia with the Australian colonies thirst for tea from China the main cause of the imbalance. The desire for sandalwood in Asian society is equally strong, a material that has strong value in Buddhist and Hindu ritual (known as Puja).

I have just returned from India, working in Bangalore and Mysore, the centre for sandalwood oil and incense production in that country. The simple symmetrical shapes and forms of articles used in Hindu Puja bear resemblance to the familiar tea-cup and saucer, increasingly a relic. These artworks, casts of sheep bones and saucers are simple devices designed for the burning of agarbathi, a holder to catch the ash as the stick burns down over time.