I have just returned from a glorious weekend in Sydney. Well, glorious for the people and things I saw … the weather was cold and wet and so unlike Summer. The main purpose of the trip was see Dead Can Dance perform at the Sydney Opera House on the Sunday night. DCD are essentially two people; Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. They have been working together for nearly 30 years with their first release coming in 1984 and their latest work Anastasis released last year. The performance was outstanding and supported by another 5 musicians. If you’re unfamiliar with their work and you have 6 minutes of guaranteed ‘alone-time’ click here. There’s no ‘clip’ with this one … just a visual of the cover art for the album The Serpents Egg. The track was also featured on the Baraka Soundtrack. They performed this last night about half way through their set and I wept … this piece always moves me and hearing it live has now somehow made my life more complete.
Anyways, I digress! I also saw the Anish Kapoor show at the Museum of Contemporary Art down on Circular Quay. This show is his first for Australia and didn’t disappoint. There are many visually challenging pieces in the show and the scale of some is quite breathtaking. Like, for example My Red Homeland (below). From the catalog;
My Red Homeland is a monumental wax sculpture that consists of 25 tons of paraffin wax mixed with a deep red pigment. In this enormous circular sculpture, a large motorised steel blade slowly traces the circumference of the structure, which measures 12 metres in diameter. Each rotation of the blade takes about one hour, as it cuts a course through the wax, dissecting and reshaping it into endless new forms.
I know … to make this work, I think we need some wax … how about 25 tons of wax! And I want it red, blood red, so when it’s cut and churned it resembles meat … yes … like that, flesh. Visceral, cut, shaped and continually reworked (once an hour) … quite brilliant really.
The scale alone is enough to grab you in.
I went up to Sydney with my good friend David and his wife Thao. David’s a huge DCD fan and he drove us all up to Sydney for our weekend of culture. Here he is in the picture below photographing Kapoor’s Memory, a 24 ton hollow steel construction that required the roof to be temporarily removed to lower it into its install space.
Now, apart from these rather colossal installations, there are a lot of pieces that sincerely mess with your visual perceptions of the space you find yourself. Kapoor uses non-reflective pigments in a number of pieces which really works to mess with you perception … I didn’t take any pictures of those … it would have been pointless really … you have stand in front of it and experience them yourself … sorry about that.
I did take a picture of When I was Pregnant (below)
Oh and there was a whole room of very shiny S-curves and C-curves all incredibly polished that served to reflect and cross-reflect the room and the people in it in a myriad different ways. I spoke to one of the assistants who explained to me that the artist has a team of specialist polishers flown over from New York specifically to polish these installations … the polishing took nine days for the MCA show. They did a bloody good job!
I really enjoyed this show by Anish Kapoor. It runs until the 13th of April 2013.
How’s about you? Been to visit any particularly fine art recently.
Ok, I’m not ashamed to say that I’m jealous, just a little bit. My Red Homeland is simply amazing, not only because of it’s dimension and shape shifting nature, it’s all red! I’d love to see that one in person for sure. The Memory piece also looks pretty good and it’s all rusty, I like that. And the room with all the curved and polished installations sounds like fun.
You know I’ve been to two photo exhibitions this weekend, one for young modern photography which was a bit strange but interesting nevertheless and the second with portraits by Bryan Adams which was incredible. Some of the pictures brought tears to my eyes, they were just so intense and beautiful in their own way, I can’t really describe it. I’ve barely done portraiture shots so far but looking at those and also the works of Rankin who just had a shown in town make me wish I could create something like this as well.
In the next couple of weeks, I have a view shows featuring urban artists on my to-see list and also hope to make it to London in time to see the Barbican Rain Room. My favourite artists, Herakut, will soon be exhibiting in Melbourne but that’s little too far for me away from me so I’ll just enjoy the pictures they are sharing.
I forgot that you love red! It is an amazing sculpture not least because of the colour but the vision that went into its creation … I was so impressed with whole show that I’m going to take the kids up to see it … I think they’ll get something out of it. Your two photo shows sound cool too. We don’t get many of them of that calibre here in Canberra.
I’d like to see you try some portraiture … I think you would capture something special 🙂
Oh you must tell me about Herakut … I’m going to Melbourne in March … will they be there then?
I think the kids will like it, it’s a very interesting mixture of pieces and the visual perceptions are likely to ensure some fun. At least that’s what the child in me thinks.
As for portraiture, I find myself thinking about it every now and then but it’s difficult to find models and I’m probably too reserved to approach strangers. So far I shot only myself and occasionally friends who were not watching 🙂 Maybe I just need a little bit more time and experience to bring up the courage to ask people straight away if they’d let me practice on them. Now, that sounds a little bit strange, doesn’t it?
When I read about the upcoming Herakut show I instantly thought about you but then saw that Melbourne is not exactly around the corner of Canberra. I checked the dates and the exhibition “Too High to heal” will open at the Metro Gallery in Melbourne on February 13 and go until March 9. Hera and Akut are already there preparing everything, I already saw some pictures of a mural they painted in the streets. They usually create most of the artwork (paintings and installations) at the exhibition place and only bring a few canvasses and possibly also sculptures with them. This is something I like about them, there are some reoccurring elements in their work but mostly it is created on the spur of the moment reflecting their thoughts and feelings and adjusting for the place and the people around them. It is also a dialogue between the two artists in which Hera is sketching the bigger picture directly on the wall/surface and Akut is adding details in his special photo-realistic style. The pictures are always strong and combined with words that are thoughtful and emotional which makes their work very touching. Recently I learned that Akut is also a passionate photographer and the pictures I’ve seen so far are really good, in my eyes. To get an idea about their work and what can be expected at the exhibition, it’s probably the best to check their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/HERAKUT/17698904954
Or do a Google (picture) search 🙂
Look, you’ll never get the experience by hanging back and waiting for it to accrue in some other way … it just doesn’t happen that way. Would that we could gain experience Matrix-style (“I know Kung-Fu!” always makes me smile) 🙂
Will check out the Harakut images and installations on Google … never signed up to Facebook … don’t intend to – it’s a matter of principle now 😉 I’m in Melbourne the first weekend of March so we may coincide. Do you know them? Can I go up and say hello to them from you? That would be funny.
Yes, that would be funny but I don’t think they know me, there are too many people in FB and I haven’t met them in person yet. Nevertheless, I’m sure they’d be happy if you say ‘Hello’ and I guess Akut wouldn’t mind to talk about photography. Here’s the link to his new blog page: http://akut-herakut.tumblr.com/
The Matrix-style would be cool but on the other hand, they way to get there is usually the most fun, isn’t it? It’s currently carnival here in Germany and I was out on the street shooting some people today. The results were not really what I’d have liked them to be but it’s a small step 🙂
They’re certainly doing interesting and arresting work 🙂
I’ll find out where the show’s on and see if I can get there when I’m in Melbourne 🙂
First of all. I’m listening to the DCD music in the background and it’s…HAUNTING. No wonder you wept.
Secondly, thanks for sharing this art. The last image reminds me of your oculus. Speaking of which, I did another image last week and thought of you: http://ginniehart.shutterchance.com/image/2013/01/30/green-thumb/
Thanks Ginnie … I did! I even tried to leave a comment with my mobile while I was in Sydney but it wouldn’t take and apply the text … most likely something at my end. I then forgot about it until you mentioned it! Sorry about that 🙂
Museums are one of the greatest of human innovations, and now coupled with cyberspace–well, it opens whole new opportunities to see what we cannot visit in person. Your travelogue of the day at the MCA pulled me into your experience. Thank you for capturing the essence of the art, which is terribly difficult to accomplish.
Thanks Sally, I’m glad I could take you along … it was a feast and they allowed photography (just no flash) which I thought was terribly civilised of them 🙂
I’ve been to the Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery today. you would have liked it. there’ve been some excellent photos! check out the website if you find a moment. xxo
Oh that sounds a lovely way to spend the afternoon … I will check out the website 🙂 xx
Photographing these installations is a feat! Thanks for bringing the museum and the work to my screen.
They were incredibly photogenic and that certainly helped Elena!
Glad you enjoyed the trip 🙂
Hello Geoffrey. Such a great post and sounds like a fantastic weekend! 🙂 An exhibition I really loved was at the Heide Museum of Modern Art last year. It was an exhibition of Albert Tuckers photography. Such an interesting, creative period of time captured on film.
Hey Judith. Oh that would have been a cool show. I didn’t realise he took photographs also. His paintings have always struck me as arresting.
MMMM, interesting stuff, I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you for the viewing!!!
It’s a good show … if it comes anywhere near your part of the world try and see it.