Velocity: acceleration of modern life through art

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.

http://dhg.anu.edu.au

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