The
speed of life – the acceleration of modern life – is explored through art. Generations
of artists present their responses to the effects of speed in an exhibition
called Velocity. The exhibition, curated by Terence Maloon, is a collection of
paintings, photographs, and videos at the Drill Hall Gallery, Australian
National University in Canberra. It coincides with the Australian Institute of
Physics Congress held at the university.
Velocity
includes paintings by Robert Boynes, Jon Cattapan, and Derek O’Connor. Video
presentations are by Merilyn Fairskye and a British duo called Semiconductor. Gilbert
Bel-Bachir presents photographs.
Gilbert
Bel-Bachir displays a series of 25 photographs, Looking through Glass
2008-2011, taken while he was travelling on Sydney’s buses looking through the
window. He depicts images such as blurred backgrounds, scratched window panes,
foggy windows, rain of the windows, and graffiti as he journeys along the
streets. The speed of the buses informs the content and the clarity or blurring
of the images.
Derek
O’Connor’s oils on canvas include Precipitation 1 2014, showing swirls of
yellow in the foreground, while Precipitation 2 2014 is a pink, red and black
piece showing vertical movements. Robert Boynes presents movement in paintings
of figures in unspecified urban settings, while Jon Cattapan’s colourful
paintings have given him the moniker of “poet of the floating metropolis” for
his large panoramic vistas.
Merilyn
Fairskye’s video called Stati d’Animo 2006-11 is a 25 minute screening of an
international airport – a zone in transit. There are five sequences, each with
a distinct mood: Arrival, Crossing, Waiting, Departure, and Farewell. Overlaid
is a sound track of ground staff and flight crew talking during preparations
for flight, and airport announcements of flights.
Semiconductor
is the duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt who produce computer animations to
explore science, time, scale, and natural forces.
The
exhibition is on display for a month, from 14 November to 14 December 2014.
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