27th October - 2nd December, 2023
FIRST SPACE
Invitation to milaythina kani
Jillian Mundy
Travel on country with palawa in short film 'Language of the Land - Milaythina Rrukani' (by Troy Melville and Jillian Mundy), hear about connection to language and place. Consider the resonance original place names creates, the power of speaking names on country and the connection it builds between people, land and time. This is an invitation to kani and learn about the place names of Lutruwita.
INNER SPACE
マスター/猪 (master/pig)
Indra Liusuari
master/pig is a video installation challenging the insidious intersections of privilege, power, and identity. Within the confines of Liusuari’s universe, white supremacy reigns supreme, and gay Asian men find themselves tragically relegated to objects of commodification in the gaze of white men. The work parodies the aesthetics of Euro-90s MTV culture, where a VJ introduces a seemingly innocuous surprise music video by Liusuari’s alter-ego Chin-Kee Chong. This playful façade is a deliberate and stark contrast to the underlying themes that will later emerge to unleash a visceral attestation against the arrogance and complicity of white gay men in perpetuating the oppressive forces of white supremacy. It is a defiant call to dismantle the structures of domination and an unapologetic proclamation of the agency and resistance that have too long remained obscured. Intertwining satire with rebellion, master/pig challenges gay men to confront the uncomfortable truths present within their subcultures.
BACK SPACE
Accretion
Emma Magnusson-Reid; Laura Purcell; Olly Read. Curated by Karen Hall.
Accretion presents sculptural work that speaks of and to the body, enticing and confronting audiences by unsettling the distance between viewing bodies and objects. Featuring work by Emma Magnusson-Reid, Laura Purcell and Olly Read, the exhibition explores how the body materially and metaphorically accretes meaning through materials, histories, and interactions. The works occupy an uneasy expression of being human and more-than-human, formed from the remnants and detritus of mundane acts of care for and presentation of the body. Inhabiting the gallery space, the works encase and entangle, suggesting their own corporeal animation: an/other life that will be further activated through sound and movement at points throughout the exhibition, in collaboration with musicians and dancers.
THE SPACE
Made by Water
Lex Palmer Bull & Sue Pedley
Sue’s work is characterised by her responsiveness to the contingencies of particular sites. Recurring themes include: the environmental degradation of water and its impact on communities and the natural world; and colonisation, including addressing her family history as settlers in Tasmania.
Correction Mapping was created during the winter months of 2022, while Sue was living in Launceston to care for her parents and recover from a fractured wrist. A blue and black carbon line drawing, combined with bitumen rubber and titanium white painting, was layered onto an old sounding (depth) map of the kanamaluka /Tamar Estuary dating from 1833, during the Frontier Wars
The lines were generated from several sources: tracing X-rays of her hand and wrist; mapping her riverside walks around the streets of Launceston; from a mid-C19th dual storm water and sewerage map of London. First invented to clean up the city of London during a cholera epidemic, a dual storm water and sewerage system was later built in Launceston, where it continues to create ongoing environmental problems for the Tamar Estuary.
Lex’s Trace series utilises the translucent yellow trace material, often used in architectural sketches. This chosen material redefines the river within its specific environment, serving as a visual reminder of the river’s intricate ties to the land and the built environment it engages with. This installation encourages viewers to contemplate the surroundings at this site, prompting consideration of the delicate balance and relationship between nature and the human impact on the site.