Ben Ennis-Butler

About the work

Our domestic landscapes bear witness to the scars of European settlement, land-clearing practices, development, localised gardening movements and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. A viewer approaches a plinth containing a keypad and a receipt printer. They enter a postcode on the keypad and receive a printed receipt depicting plant species from the specified location and predictions for future plant growth in an increasingly warmer climate. The receipt represents the throw-away nature of current societal trends, but its contents represent a step towards the regeneration of the urban environment.

Photos – Heeseon Jung

Artist headshot credit – Nick Burrows

About the artist

Ben is a Senior Lecturer in Design at the University of Canberra. His ongoing practice-led research focuses on the creation of novel exploratory interfaces for cultural heritage collections. He is currently investigating the future of localised robotic fabrication and working on the ARC funded Heritage of the Air project. He has recently been awarded the 2022 mPavilion chair commission, alongside two of his colleagues at UC.