160 HOME NEW ZEALANDFILTER
In praise of monotony
Robert Champion
Whythereisgoodcausetovalue
therepetitiveandunderstated.Thewordmonotonyis almostalwaysusednegatively,
asareitssynonyms:tedious,boring,uneventful,
featurelessandmindnumbing.Theyconjureup
thedullrepetitivenessfromwhichthemodern
mind– taughttovaluevarietyandimmediatereward- recoilsfromin disgust.Butthispejorativeusageis
onlyonesideofthecoin,sincetherecanbebeauty
inmonotonousphenomena.I doubtanyonehas
describedtheflowofa riverorwavesona beachin
sucha way,althoughit wouldbeentirelyaccurate.
Artistshavealwaysfoundwaystocreatebeauty
frommonotony.ThepaintingsofMarkRothko,Agnes
Martinandmanyothershaveexploredextreme
simplicityandexpansiveness.Overthecourseof
18 months,Monetpainted 30 worksdepictingthe
samehaystacksnearhishouse.ThepatternofMāori
tukutukupanelsis sometimeshighlyrepetitive,at
timessymbolisingsomethinginnumerableortimeless,
suchasthenightsky.
Thefirstwesternmusiciantoreallyexplore
monotonywascomposerErikSatie.Hisfurniture
music(designedtoblendwiththeroom)inspiredthe
minimalistmovement,whichcontinuedtosubvertthe
conventionsofvarietyanddevelopment.Inthe1970s
thiscrossedoverintoavant-gardepopularmusic
suchasGermanbandNEU!and,famously,inBrian
Eno’sambientmusic.Theseartistseschewedchord
changesandmelodyinfavourofextremerepetition
andsimplicity,creatingmusicdevoidofmemoryor
anticipation.Enosaidit was“musicasa placeyou
goto...nota narrative,nota sequencethathassome
sortofteleologicaldirection”.
Whenit comestothenaturalworld,thedefault
reactionis oneofamazementatthesheermultiplicity
andvariationofecosystems.Thisis laudable,but
neverthelessit’snotoftenacknowledgedjusthow
monotonousourexperienceofsomelandscapescan
be.MyfirstexperienceofthiswasintheAustralian
outback,witha 360-degreeviewcomposedentirely
ofdull-greeneucalyptsreachingpastthehorizonina
flatplane.Therewassomethingtranscendentalabout
beingabovea seeminglyinfinite,uniformlandscape.
EarlyBritishexplorersofAustraliareacted
negativelytolandscapemonotony,withwhich
Australiais particularlywellendowed.Botanist
RichardSchomburgksaidofSouthAustralian
shrublandsthat“themonstrousanddismallook
ofanextensivescrubis depressing.Theequal
heightofthevegetation,thedullglaucouscolour
ofthefoliage,lookinthedistancelikea rollingsea
reachingthehorizon.”I doubthewouldhavehadas
muchcontemptforanactualrollingsea,although
it’spossible.Andwhatdidhethinkoftheincessant
rollinggreenfieldsofBritain,perhapsequally
monotonousintheirownway,andlessbiodiverse?
Picturesquescenery,it seems,requiredintervention
inthelandbyEuropeans(oratleasta landscape
thatresembledintervention).
InNewZealand,beechforestcanoftenbe
a disorientingandendlessminimalismoftrees,
mossandbareground.Andthespartantussock-
landsthatblanketcentralOtagohigh-countryhave
a particularuniformityandimpressivevastness
withoutprogression.Likea mantraorchantrepeated
adinfinitum,travelthroughtheseecosystemscan
beinitiallyinteresting,thenboring,andthen
hypnoticallynuminous.
I shouldnotethatmonotonyusuallyoccursin
nature,notbecausethereis nodiversity,butbecause
thediversityis hiddentothelayviewer.Natural plant
communitiescanbedominatedbya fewplants in
highabundance,withtheotherspeciesbeingat the
margins:subtleanduncommon.
Landscapedesignerstalkof‘foliagecontrast’,
whichhasinspiredcoarseandgarishcombinations
ofdiametricallyopposedplantsthatwouldnever be
seentogetherinnature.Thispronouncedvariation- theoppositeofseamlessness– cancheapen each
ofthecomponentelements,asit accentuatestheir
crudestcharacteristics(forexampleredversus
green,largeleafversussmallleaf).Instead,a high
degreeofsimilaritymakesyousensitisedtothe small,
otherwiseignoredsubtleties,elevatingthesefeatures
abovetheirtypicalstatus.Repetitioncandothe same.
It canbea waytoelaboratethetruenatureofplants,
orevenmaterialsforthatmatter.
I’mcertainlynotarguingformonotonyeverywhere
allofthetime.Diversityandexcitementareessential
inallaestheticfields.Butwecanforgettheequal
importanceofrepetitionandcontinuity,andthat
diversitycanbeimpliedorrevealedslowly,rather
thanshowingone’shandatfirstblush.Monotony can
bea re-calibrator,a remedytothehedonictreadmill
ofcontemporarylife,wherecolour,toneandtexture
areoftenusedinallpossiblewaysatoncetogain
attentionandsellproducts.
Ninetyyearsago,BertrandRussellwrote“we are
lessboredthanourancestors,butwearemore afraid
ofboredom”.Perhaps,in ourtechnologicalageof
over-stimulation,weneeda littlemonotonymore
thanever.
New Zealander Robert Champion lives in Sydney,
where he runs Tarn, a landscape design practice.BE MY GUEST