dr a wing a nd pla ce r esponse
SAHIBAJOT KAUR
CYCOGEOGRAPHY
Charcoal (willow + compressed + pencil) and ink on paper (offwhite, textured, 300gsm) 2 800 mm x 500 mm
Based on the concepts of ‘psychogeography’ combined with Kevin Lynch’s book, The Image of the City, Cycogeography portrays a cycling journey along a shared path through the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney. Sometimes hidden from the adjacent motorway, and sometimes exposed to it, this path is punctuated by intersections, tight curves and dappled sunlight filtered through surrounding trees. Through its length, continuity and materiality, this work aims to capture the speed and momentum of the ride, with its start and end suggesting a looped path, in order to imply that the cyclist always ends where she starts. The single, bold line that runs the lenth of the work, connects each of the four gestural snapshots of the journey, tying them into one integral experience.
A Net
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as a
Messenger
Silk, net, photography and embroidery work among a gamut of other prosaic materials, to give birth to a prolific collection of works that serves as a window to real life as interpreted by French feminist, Annette Messager, writes Sahibajot Kaur upon visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia. Motion/ Emotion is much more than a retrospective exhibition - it is an embodiment of a modest realist’s messages about the world, to the world.
A
rtists are ordinary people.
Just like the rest of society, they, too, live their lives feeling, experiencing,
discovering, hearing, seeing, thinking, travelling, growing and learning, in response to their immediate environments. What, then, separates an artist from the rest of society? That is, what makes an artist, an artist? The answer is quite simple: it is their sharing of thoughts on, and interpretations of, the world through (not only creative, but also) compelling, intriguing, stimulating and gripping statements that are brought to life through a palette of carefullyselected materials and media. This realisation was caused by Messager’s treatment of profound concepts (such as the presence of absence, society’s influence on one’s self-worth, and the power of words) using the most mundane of materials (such as gloves, pencils, clothing and toys). Her down-to-earth approach to art brings to light the point, that anyone is capable of creating art; everyone has a story to tell — a statement to make — and an artist’s opinion is, by no means, of more merit than anyone else’s. What is of real importance, however, is the way in which a story is told. In the contemporary world, a good artwork is ‘good’ because of the way it engages its audience. A good artwork instigates thinking and rethinking. A good artwork provokes revaluation of readily-held ideas and norms. A good artwork unsettles and challenges. A good artwork is not there to just look pretty. A good artwork makes one consider their own interactions and their place within the world. A good artwork plays a role in reshaping the world through representing it in unique ways. And although every artist has their own intentions, this review argues that Motion/Emotion contains a number
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of intentionally good artworks.
There is a small group of elderly ladies gathered in the foyer of the MCA, eager to embark on the guided tour
of the exhibition. Prior to entry, the tour guide paints a picture of Messager’s eccentricity. “She [Messager] is very enigmatic about her art,” she says. “She likes to think of herself as a trickster.” These statements become apparent as the exhibition unfolds throughout the tour. The air is filled with the faint whirring of small floor-fans (which make frequent appearances in Messager’s works). Upon entry1, the walls are wrapped, and the viewers are rapt. Volontaires – Voluntary Tortures to the
left2,
The walls are wrapped with Les Tortures
and Désir - Desire and Chance around the corner to the right3, preceded by
Le Tutu Dansant - The Dancing Tutu4, which is the only work in the first leg of the exhibition that is not set up on a wall.
(The walls, along with the polished concrete floor, appropriately serve as a contextless, disengaged, almost
invisible, backdrop for the works. The simple, modern architectural language throughout the whole museum, paired with sensitively-lit spaces, literally puts each artwork in the spotlight, orchestrating the viewers’ attention and movement through the exhibition.) The viewers are rapt by the way this tutu, made of black tulle (a fine net), eloquently dances in the absence of the presence of a human body. Slightly uncanny, this sight highlights to people, their own reactions, when presented with something that conflicts with their expectations and ideas of reality. The title of the work, itself, animates an inanimate object and gives it a human presence of its own, raising the question raised by many of Messager’s works: “what does it mean to be human?”, as pointed out in an interview with the curator, Rachel Kent (Annette Messageer on
‘Casino in Conversation with Rachel Kent). Another such piece, The Witch’s Hat, emulates the motion of a witch flying through the air on a broomstick. There is no witch, and no broomstick. Yet, the viewer begins to create a story and scene of their own, which is in line with the tour guide’s comment that Messager “likes people to make their own interpretations of her work”.
Furthermore, the enigma of Messager’s design decisions is confirmed through her
response, “it’s a secret,” when asked about the importance of the conical form (which also features in Cones noirs / Black cones, beautifully framed by Kent in between two pillars, in the middle of a large room, that provide the perfect
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void for the hanging
installation5). TOP LEFT Le Tutu Dansant - The Dancing Tutu
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TOP RIGHT The Witch’s Hat BOTTOM Mes Proverbes “highlighted the prejudicial attitudes encountered by women historically… Invited to do a radio presentation of the work as well, she suggested substituting the word ‘woman’ for ‘Jew’ [according to the tour guide at the MCA, her husband was a Jew], and the show was promptly cancelled. Why, she asked, should women accept these terms if they were unacceptable for others?” (Grenier, 2001)
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Her artwork artwork uses satire to make a strong point, in a medium that further represents society’s expectations of women: for them to be competent in needlework.
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Viewers read the embroidered French proverbs with fascination, returning to the plaque in search of translations.
It is this obscurity and level of freedom that allows art to engage with different people in different ways. It is
this open-endedness that allows for dialogue and discussion (as experienced within the tour group, as members explained their personal opinions and views, which all differed from each other), as good art should. There are also a number of careful curatorial decision on Kent’s part, that heighten the dynamism of, and variety within, this mature body of work. In a sense, the best - the largest and kinetic — is kept until last6 — it is up to the view to discover it. Casino, a large sea of flowing red silk, is given its own room7 — much like a movie theatre. “It’s an eightminute presentation,” says the tour guide. It is hard to know what to expect, while walking through the transition space at the opening of the room, that leads from the brightness of the rest of the exhibition, to the dark, airy, silence of this room. There are people seated along the bench, already watching this soothing ‘movie’. It is not hard to believe that this installation was not originally specifically designed for this room, but for the French pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005, where it won gold for the best national pavilion; fabric, and freestanding fans, lights and inflatables, make for a corridor8
of wall art that mediates the space between the entry space
discussed previously, and the large room at the back — an essentially linear layout of space, which forces the viewer to experience the exhibition a second time, on their way back to the entry point (which is also the
exit1).
It is quite
intriguing, the way that the artworks show another layer of depth when viewed again. For example, Les Dépouilles -
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4
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3
5
3
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Room containing books on her work + material samples
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Space divided into rooms dedicated to certain artworks
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Basic layout of exhibition space, illustrating the placement of artworks in relation to each other, by the curator, Rachel Kent (Numbers refer to certain spaces mentioned in the text.)
On the way out and back at Chance3 (which appears to be charcoal-esque in quality from afar, but upon closer inspection, reveals itself to be black net and wire - very tricky, indeed) one realises that the materiality of a work — any work — plays a huge role in its meaning. In this case, the net — an object used to catch things — symbolises an attempt to capture the many meanings associated with the word, ‘chance’ — a process in which some meanings are lost, and some are captured. Motion/Emotion sees the manipulation of materials in many new ways in order to make a point - a technique
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used by all good artists, including Annette Messager. Ultimately, the net is her messenger.
Chance (Detail)
References
versatile artwork. This room is an offshoot from the long
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Skins appears less sinister the second time around, revealing its button eyes and fluffy ears.
• Annette Messager on ‘Casino in Conversation with Rachel Kent 2014, online video, Museum of Contemporary Art Limited, Sydney, 24 July. Interview with Rachel Kent. • Grenier C and Messager A. (2001) Annette Messager: Flammarion.
LAPSE
Ink (black, sepia) and tissue on tracing paper (110/115 gsm) and kraft card (150 gsm), perfect bound with PVA glue. 148mm x 140mm Architecture is the “armature on which the sensory life of the city is built”. Pertz, Stuart. “Incidental Architecture [Speaking of
Places].” no. Places, 7 (1) (1990).
LAPSE explores this notion by breaking down the incidental layers of time that accumulate on the built environment, at a micro scale. Within its layers of creased, crumpled and curled pages, lies the idea that these layers are not measured, uniform or precise; in Pertz’s words, they are: “undesigned” and “casual”. In particular, they consist of dirt, dust, plants, cobwebs, and other elements that are usually unwanted yet inevitable: suppressed yet ubiquitous. Ultimately, the city, in all its planned permanence and purposefulness, is incomplete without the temporary, transient matter that grows on its every surface.
SAHIBAJOT
KAUR
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s k a u 3 7 5 0 @ u n i . s y d n e y. e d u . a u SEMESTER ART BACHELOR
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