Details of Bronze Miru

Catalog Number : 26968
Size : 75cm x 26cm x 9cm
Medium : Bronze
View full resolution image of this artwork
For Sale : Contact Short St Gallery
A miru is extracted with economy as a vertical segment from a living mulga tree, its craftsman then working with the grain to reduce the portion to the thin even leaf, its minimal form following the demands each of its multiple functions. The Miru is the essence of western desert minimalism. As the extension of a man's arm it will amplify the power and distance that a spear can be hurled. Its leaf-shaped-core doubles as a container for mixing pituri and can carry ochre. Its burnished edge, when rubbed on a softer wood makes fire. Tipped with a freshly napped blade, the same implement is used as a perfectly balanced adze to butcher fresh-cooked kangaroo or to hone an identical weapon, created on its own perfect template.
Ernest Bennett's Miru has been cast and is poised, as if on the suspension of a rolled-over-motorcar, a vehicles leafspring-suspension adapted for a new use. All is kinetic energy - waiting for the target to come within the range of this lethal propellent.