It was a bit casual, because I was going to the Film Festival, but then wasted time over a pear and almond tarte at a French restaurant and missed the film I wanted to see. No other films appealed to me, while art rarely bores me.
This was a new discovery as I didn't know the artist at all. She's Australian and uses all kinds of materials: alluminium tins, glass beads, wire, paper money, films (the actual film tapes), glass cases, plastic bottles, photographs, videos, wooden marionettes, plexiglass, etc. And she produces work that is both intelligent and beautiful.
As Sally Blundell phrases it in her Listener review: "The beauty is undeniable – these strange life forms glow and sparkle. But so, too, is their sting."
Medicine Bundle for the Non-Born Baby (1993-94)
Here's a link to the artist's profile and to some of her works from this exhibition.
It's difficult to pick what I liked best, because the artworks are very varied and all equally challenging. Perhaps what impressed and moved me most were the installations Tender, a glass case of empty bird nests - of birds running the risk of extinction - made with shredded American dollars, and Mourning Chorus, another glass case, this time in the shape of a casket and decorated with New Zealand vegetation frosting, containing 11 now-extinct species of NZ birds made of plastic containers and perfectly realistic resin beaks.
No comments:
Post a Comment