Critical Landscapes: The Polymorphic Worlds of Ross Gibson

Ross Gibson (1956–2023) was a man of many parts. Forging a significant career as an academic, curator, historian, multimedia artist, creative director and producer, poet, writer and filmmaker, Gibson is one of the key figures in the examination of Australian culture, landscape, ecology, place and history over the last 45 years. A highly influential writer and thinker, his work commonly explores the cultural and material legacies of colonialism, creatively examines the largely forgotten, somewhat accidental archives of Australian history (such as the ASIO-produced film footage lodged in the National Archives of Australia or the thousands of uncatalogued crime scene photographs held in Sydney’s Justice & Police Museum), and branches across a wide range of forms, media and outlets.

Gibson first came to prominence for his groundbreaking work on the literary imagination and representation of Australia in the book The Diminishing Paradise (1984) and for his highly influential short film Camera Natura (1986). These two works established Gibson’s essayistic, expansive, idiosyncratic, experimental and iterative approach across a range of media. They also foregrounded a concern with the legacies of colonialism and the impact that representation and habitation have on our understanding of place.

Gibson had a highly successful academic career across such institutions as UTS and the University of Sydney, and was the Centenary Professor of Creative and Cultural Research at the University of Canberra. He was the Creative Director for the establishment of ACMI and was a senior consultant producer during the early years of the Museum of Sydney.

Gibson’s output and contribution were enormous and also includes a range of audiovisual works exhibited in galleries, museums, online and in cinemas. This tribute foregrounds the work Gibson made for the cinema including his sole fiction feature, the rarely screened boxing-world drama Dead to the World (1991), and his remarkable exploration of the ancient histories and legacies of the Pilliga Forest in northern New Sound Wales, Wild (1992).