Chapter 3

Rachel was pre-occupied with Patrick’s ‘outline’ of her dissertation:

• a biographical sketch of Max and of Fred.

• something about landscape and Australia.

• the different media.

• the influences.

• the similarities and differences

She decided to hoover the flat while thinking. She also thought about other things. She was on course to receive her doctorate before she was 30. Much of her time would be spent reading, thinking and writing. A baby! She would need to talk to Patrick. He’d be involved (and how!) in that. She completed her cleaning efforts. Where had Patrick gone? Oh, yes. To find out what he needed to do as a single practitioner. Was he a self-employed consultant or a small business for tax purposes? She had no problem there. She would be a full-time student and receive occasional payments for writing for the SMH. Where had she stowed those pamphlets from the CBD family planning clinic?

Rachel located the material and reread the one on Depo-Provera. Apparently, “If you decide that you want to get pregnant right away after you stop getting the shot, you should know the shot may delay your ability to get pregnant by up to 10 months. However, some people do get pregnant soon after stopping the shot. There’s no way to know how long it will take for you.”

She had had a shot just before Christmas, she was due for another on 16 March. That would be too soon. The one after that would be on 15 June and then 14 September. If Patrick was in agreement, June would be her last injection. The drug would wear off beginning late in September. If she was in one of the statistical tails, she might be pregnant only a month or two later ... or in July.

It was February. October would be eight months from now; July would be 17 months. Plus nine. So she might be a mother between July 2018 and April 2019. And the new Hollister would be just about a year old when she received her doctorate.

She shook her head. Her fantasy was getting a bit out of hand. But she’d have to try to supply some of the calendar/schedule to Patrick. She went back to an outline and an introduction for Dr. Garshin.

Outline

Is a landscape constructed, construed, reflected? Do we think the landscape sketches of Breughel or Duerer or Rembrandt or Claude Lorrain; of Casper David Friedrich or J.M.W. Turner; of Cole or Bierstadt in America; or of the Group of Seven in Canada are real? Landscape views in art may be entirely imaginary, or copied from reality with varying degrees of accuracy. This work is an attempt at formulating an Australian vision focussing on the works of Dupain and Williams. [Chinese landscapes? > Japanese?]

A. Introduction

B. Biographies

Max Dupain

Fred Williams

What is a landscape? [Can one ‘do’ a landscape of terra nullius?

What are media?

Influences: technological [Grierson]; aboriginal

Dupain’s vision

Williams’ vision

How has Australia been constructed?

Bibliography

Would that do? Should she cite Grierson? Should she list the Group of Seven? Or just Lawren Harris?

She began writing something else.

A Landscape may be entirely imaginary or copied from reality. If it has been copied from reality, it will never be exact nor precise. The closest we can come to reality is through photographs. But the photographic image is not ‘true’ in a logician’s sense, as the angle, focus, exposure of the film, as well as type and quality of the film, the speed of the shutter, and the possibility of filtering are all subjective manipulations on the part of the photographer and the developer/printer.

No. That wasn’t quite it either.

What was it those scratches on stone did? The evoked the frog or snake or fish. They weren’t likenesses of those beasts!

Rachel went off to have lunch.

When she returned with her bento [a Japanese-style packed lunch, consisting of such items as rice, vegetables, and sashimi (raw fish with condiments)], Patrick was there, rummaging in the fridge.

“Oh, you’re back already!”

“Obviously. But you eat your lunch, I’ll make do with this cheese and some of the fruit.”

“How did it go?”

“Quite well, I’ve a better idea of what they want. I should be getting something on paper in a few days and then we’ll know for certain. What have you been up to.”

“I hoovered the flat and then wrote an unsatisfactory outline and a paragraph or two.”

“That actually sounds like progress. Can I look at what you’ve done or is it too early?”

“You can look, but you’ve got to promise to be critical. I want what I send or give to Dr. Garshin to be really tight.”

“OK. But I have another question. Next year you’re going to be reading and writing. You’ll also need to travel to – uh – Adelaide and Canberra. I’m going to be here a lot (if this comes through) reading and writing.”

“Yes?”

“Will we cope in this space?”

“It worked fine when we were both studying. We’ve managed to both read or study or write simultaneously. And it’s not as though we’ll be together 24/7. We’ll both need to go to libraries; I’ll need to go to galleries; and I’ll still write two or three pieces a month for the SMH.”