Superposition - Sydney Biennale Pt1
I'm still digesting my thoughts around this years Sydney Biennale; three days of solid art is so exciting but it can make you go a bit strange! The variety and scope of work is overwhelming and I find it impossible to fully engage with all of it, so there are always interesting ideas that I miss. I thought I'd share some of the works that stood out to me personally in a two-part post.Curated by Mami Kataoka, Superposition has a suitably all-encompassing theme that borrows it's name from the theory that any multiple of quantum states can be added together or 'overlaid' to produce another valid quantum state. In the context of the Biennale we are looking at antagonistic, conflicting, collision states, many of which reflect on our current socio-political and physical world climate. The programme states "...the participating artists in the 21st Biennale of Sydney have not been chosen in order to represent or symbolise a particular theme. Rather, many of the artists reflect multiple and sometimes opposing perspectives within their work..." so that leaves it pretty open. The programme also stated that the works were chosen to be shown in the various venues due to the loose links they hold with the history and characteristics of the buildings. I'm not sure I really saw that (although too be fair I don't know too much about the venues), but the theming of works within the venues was successfully symbiotic much of the time.CARRIAGEWORKSI like Carriageworks as a venue. It's spacious, airy and has historic industrial features that make for an interesting building without impinging upon the experience of the works on display.
The first work that greets you when entering Carriageworks is Chen Shaoxiong's "The Views" (2016) 4 channel video installation. There was so much about this work to enjoy! The painterly scenes with the subtly sporadic animation, the curved screens that can be viewed from both inside and out, the melancholy soundtrack, the monochromatic scenes that felt lit from within. The work evoked feelings of time and place without being tritely nostalgic, and somehow the images were more alive and real because of how understated the movement was. The scenes would appear still and then suddenly, out of the corner of the eye a tiny movement would be captured; a dog in the distance, a cyclist cross the tracks, the lights switching on or off in a building.This work was one of the last Chen Shaoxiong completed before his death and captures the everyday views from his hospital window. There is a poignancy and resolution in the work that is difficult to describe.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IJ1b5B4t_o?ecver=2]
The first work that greets you when entering Carriageworks is Chen Shaoxiong's "The Views" (2016) 4 channel video installation. There was so much about this work to enjoy! The painterly scenes with the subtly sporadic animation, the curved screens that can be viewed from both inside and out, the melancholy soundtrack, the monochromatic scenes that felt lit from within. The work evoked feelings of time and place without being tritely nostalgic, and somehow the images were more alive and real because of how understated the movement was. The scenes would appear still and then suddenly, out of the corner of the eye a tiny movement would be captured; a dog in the distance, a cyclist cross the tracks, the lights switching on or off in a building.This work was one of the last Chen Shaoxiong completed before his death and captures the everyday views from his hospital window. There is a poignancy and resolution in the work that is difficult to describe.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IJ1b5B4t_o?ecver=2]
"Landscape with an Eye" is installed in a different part of the island and also examines humanity's relationship with the harnessing of power through archival audio visual footage from nuclear explosions. A giant globe hangs suspended in the room with spherical projections giving the illusion that a disembodied eyeball is floating in space. The eye moves spasmodically, it's iris expanding and contracting, blood vessels visible around it's circumference. I found this work at once compelling and disturbing. I didn't at any time feel that the eye was an observer of us, the viewers, but that we in fact were witness to the visions of the eye.