The New Fence by Tania Spencer

Tania Spencer

The New Fence

ringlock wire, galvanised wire

70 x 172 x 3 cm

AU$1,800

Available

‘The trees died because he poisoned them. He was trying to kill the weeds, so he sprayed them with his boom spray, and the trees died. He pushed the trees all up in a heap, then burnt them and put in a new fence.’

Fence lines, the treelined borders on farms; I've lived within and around these all my life. Dad re-fenced the farm in the 70’s, realigning the fence lines to follow land contours, tracing creek lines and soil types, a more organic way of working the land.

This work reflects what is happening to the fence lines in the south-eastern wheatbelt area now; a second wave of agricultural clearing. Trees are being knocked over daily as fence lines are demolished.

The bush borders are disappearing because there are less sheep with a shift to total cropping and thus to accommodate larger broad-acre machinery. The recent live export ban will hasten this process and our landscape will suffer.