Wandering, observing and writing in public space (formerly citytraces.net)
A different version of Cusp will be exhibited at the Substation
SUB12
Also exhibiting in the same season: Bonnie Lane, Brendan Lee, Dead Pan, Tully Moore, Julie Shiels, Kate Daw, Luke Pithe
30 July – 22 August
Opening night – 6.00pm to 8.00pm on Friday 30 July
Substation
1 Market Street
Newport
Victoria 3015
Gallery opening hours
Thursday – Friday | 12.00pm – 7.00pm
Saturday – Sunday | 12.00pm – 5.00pm
Cusp:installation views
Photo credits: Images 1and 2 Christian Capurro
Image 3: Julie Shiels
Cusp
Project Space/Spare Room
23-27 Cardigan St, Carlton
Friday 4 – Friday 25 June
Launched by Jason Smith – CEO and Director, Heidi Museum of Modern Art
Thursday 3 June 5.30 – 7.30pm
When a person undergoes a surgical procedure the operation is booked, the risks are assessed and the date anticipated. On the day, the body is prepped and dressed in a special gown but as consciousness slips away, the actual event becomes a void. The only memories of the experience are the ones that sit either side of that empty space.
Cusp materialises this void in memory by casting the empty space in packaging that once held surgical implements and devices used in the operating theatre.
Some of the cast objects look like alien weapons or contraptions from sci-fi movies. Others resemble probes used to pierce and penetrate the body in a gothic chamber of horrors. Will future archaeologist or anthropologists sift through our ruins and exclaim at our barbarity? Or will they marvel at the extraordinary ingenuity and careful management of the suffering associated with illness and disease in our time. Click here for the PDF catalogue
The SMS read ‘Mattress – Milton n southey crn.
Beautiful fabric.’
Eddy
This time J stenciled the work immediately. The last couple of times the council collection got there before her.
Avoca – back streets
…and a few unpaid bills (Acland St).
Wii – Namchuk 225 x 120 x 3 cms – acrylic and flock
Robbie the Robot and friends 225 x 120 x 3 cms – acrylic and flock
The 12 windows in Campbell Arcade will be packed with a collection of objects that have been cast from the empty spaces in plastic packaging. Each display window will have a different pattern: patterns of use that reference products that could have been sold in the now defunct department store: computer gear, toys, confection, etc. Other arrangements, mostly crowded, suggest movement and echo the way people pass through the arcade.
Apart from being a mad critique of mass production and the era of the $2 dollar shop. Rubbish Theory asks questions about what objects will survive and become meaningful beyond their looming use by date. How do changing tastes affect the meaning and value of an object? (1) How will this stuff be viewed in twenty years time? Will we laugh about the old technologies and the crap that filled our lives or will some of these objects have a new meanings and significance?
Photos:John Brash
(1) Rubbish Theory – the creation and destruction of meaning by Michael Thompson
RUBBISH THEORY: Julie Shiels
Platform – Degraves Street Subway (Campbell Arcade) Melbourne
EXHIBITION: 1 – 25 September 2009
OPENING: Friday 4 September 6-8pm
Conversation #1
“How come there are so many mattresses?” she asked “I didn’t think this was a boarding house”.
“Nah, it’s just a block of flats ” said the owner, “the garage was full of them. It’s like everybody who ever lived here left behind a mattress. Whenever somebody didn’t need a bed any more they put it in there. They are in surprisingly good condition though. Council’s coming on Thursday to take them away.” Landlord
“Are you fixing the place up to sell?” she asked.
“No it was falling down, floor boards rotting, dodgy electrics – the kind of stuff that when you start, you keep discovering more. We’ll be lucky if we finish before Xmas”.
“The garage used to be a practice room for a band. With all those mattresses stacked against the wall you wouldn’t even know they were there.”
“They’ve probably moved to Brunswick” Builder’s assistant