The exhibition I never curated

Cape Huay

Louise Rollman — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:22:08 +0000

Cape Huay, originally uploaded by cubamxc.

We went to Fortescue the last time we were here, so Pippa organised a walk to Cape Hauy. The walk passes up and down through heath and woodland before coming to the dolerite columns and cliffs that plunge into the sea at Cape Hauy. And a picnic at the top provided Damian another opportunity to try and grill Pippa about what she put in the quinoa salad.

TMAG update

Louise Rollman — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:18:29 +0000

Raymond Arnold Unique States: Seriality & the Panoramic 2013, William Charles Piguenit Sketchbook of England and Wales 1900, Benjamin Law Woureddy 1835, originally uploaded by cubamxc.

The recently refurbished Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) has been a resounding flop. Its former dagginess was a kind of museum within a museum, and admittedly humourous. Now, slightly less daggy than before, it’s just shinier.

The upstairs gallery exhibiting Benjamin Duterrau’s The Conciliation 1840 has been repainted grey and rehung. In this instance, I’d prefer the red. In front of Duterrau’s The Conciliation now sits Benjamin Law’s busts of Woureddy 1835 and Truganini 1836. I was really taken with Woureddy’s direct gaze. As Mary Mackay has noted, it portrays Woureddy ‘as hunter, warrior and man-in-command, a Greek hero in kangaroo skin’.

Considered the earliest major Australian sculptures, they’re historically and culturally significant. Reportedly acquainted with the sitters, Law’s busts represent potent figures. Eight pairs and four individual busts are known to exist in public collections worldwide, including the British Museum.

By contrast, Piguenit’s watercolours and Raymond Arnold’s Unique States: Seriality & the Panoramic were captivating highlights.

In Death Gallery, MONA

Louise Rollman — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:00:17 +0000

Death Gallery | MONA, originally uploaded by cubamxc.

MONA + Hosting

Louise Rollman — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:21:30 +0000

Graffiti by Jamin, Tom O’Hern and Rob O’Connor Vip’s eh? Well done. Well. Fucking. Done. 2013 (detail) P: D. Eckersley, originally uploaded by cubamxc.

Vip’s eh? Well done. Well. Fucking. Done.

Back to MONA, this time approached by MONA Roma 1 or MR-1, along the Derwent. MONA would have to be one of the few places open Good Friday. Luckily Walsh is an atheist. In the Posh Pit we’re served drinks, canapés and the question “So, have we all been to Easter service this morning?” and we all burst out laughing.

We’ve started to debrief about what we like and not so much: like the dimmed lighting, arguably overly theatrical, it’s a fine line, but it’s a relief not to be attacked by bright sunlight; the O, not so much, it’s spatially distracting; we really like the hospitality, this attention to detail, it’s welcoming. And we learn that all the front of house services are worked by hospitality staff.

It reminds us of a documentary about the Eames, which not only emphasised Ray Eames’ contribution to the partnership, but also their attention to the importance of being a good host. The care invested in a guest-host relationship, versus consumer, is a critical distinction.

We arrive, this time to see whatever we’ve missed. Namely, Death Galley with the mummy and coffin of Pausiris, and Christian Boltanski’s The Life of C.B. 2010-. What Boltanski’s has reportedly described as a Faustian deal with the devil. Boltanski has agreed for his studio to be live streamed and recorded in exchange for a monthly stipend. It’s a gamble, should Boltanski live longer than eight years, Walsh will lose the bet by paying more than the work is worth. “Walsh has assured me I will die before the eight years is up because he never loses. He’s probably right. I don’t look after myself very well.”

MONA + Theatre of the World

Louise Rollman — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:21:26 +0000

Julius Popp bit.fall 2006-7, Dinos Chapman Great Deeds Against the Dead 1994, Robert Gober Hanging Man / Sleeping Man 1989 (details), originally uploaded by cubamxc.

We’ve finally rocked up to see MONA and Theatre of the World in its final week.

Everyone must know about MONA. Opened January 2011, it’s a cavernous art bunker cut into a sandstone outcrop, clinging to the Berriedale peninsula in Hobart. Drawing on professional gambler David Walsh’s collection, it is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. Rex Butler has attributed it as one of only three significant galleries in Australia; and it’s worth noting that of the three, none are in Melbourne and GOMA is the only publicly funded institution.

It’s approached through the Moorilla winery or by ferry coasting the Derwent River. Designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects (FKA), with the heritage setting of the Roy Grounds houses preserved, descending into the subterranean sandstone is like entering some kind of tomb. It’s just very, very cool.

Theatre of the World, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, presents a cacophony of objects freed from the habitual restrictions of historical and cultural categorisation. Martin is best remembered for his 1989 exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Centre George Pompidou, a response to the highly criticised Primitivism exhibition at MOMA. A 1989 New York Times review of Magiciens is available online.

Reminiscent of the Renaissance view that art and knowledge are inextricably linked, Martin rejects the notion that ancient and contemporary works of art are inherently different. Rather than present art in a way that dictates to the viewer how it should be viewed, he told Radio National’s Sarah Kanowski “You don’t go to a concert to learn about the history of music, and this is where museums went wrong, because they went too much in this direction, and they think visitors can only appreciate art if they know the history of art.”

The thing is, sometimes you want to know the history of an object, or at least something about it. We’d grabbed an O, a modified iPod, but it’s spatially distracting. Compared with GOMA’s consistently pristine and clinical presentations of Ah Xian, it’s refreshing to see an Ah Xian bust in a different context, buried amongst a multitude of somewhat random objects. But I wanted to know what some of those objects were. Instead of having a quick reference, I was pulled between being in the space, in the moment, and the O. Rather than a reading device, a super brief video, a more visual device would probably be better.

One of the most impressive, soaring spaces within Theatre of the World exhibits dozens of tapa or bark cloths collected by missionaries and stashed away by TMAG, reportedly since 1850. Here, they’re abstract, extricated from their original function to wrap protectively around the bodies of newborn babies, young men and women as they came of age and finally the deceased.

A likely nod to Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, the most focused space within the exhibition surrounds the viewer in an abject spectacle of brutalities. Works include Jake and Dinos Chapman Great Deeds Against the Dead 1994, after Goya’s etching A heroic feat! With dead men! Wim Delvoye Osama tattooed pig skin 2008, Roman Signer Aktion Mit Fassern 1992 and a wallpaper by Robert Gober Hanging Man / Sleeping Man 1989. Its unnerving motif depicts a lynched black man, an image taken from a late 1920s political cartoon in Texas, alongside a sleeping white man, from a Sunday newspaper advertisement for sheets at Bloomingdales.

Elizabeth Willing Dessert 2013

Louise Rollman — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 18:10:15 +0000

Elizabeth Willing Dessert 2013, originally uploaded by cubamxc.

We’ve had a wonderful Saturday evening sipping sake from the pouting lips of a ceramic globe and splitting up to eat wedding cake.

We were at this APT artist party, telling Elizabeth about our friends engagement party on the rooftop. Actually, it was so much fun we’d been telling everyone about it and had become somewhat determined to do more. Elizabeth was so energised by her recent research associated with the Experimental Food Society in the UK, we offered the rooftop as a potential venue for her to experiment.

We’ve been meaning to have a Valentines dinner with friends ever since we saw the film Julie and Julia, so this helped set a date. After returning from Thailand, we met to discuss and develop. Someone, probably Elizabeth, said something that reminded me of ChikaLicious, a Lower East Side dessert bar, and in an instant the idea was crystallised.

Elizabeth Willing Dessert 2013 presented a five course dessert. As the pictorial menu hinted: we consumed round vanilla and triangular cocoa crackers made by Elizabeth, with soft and sharp handmade cheeses paired with, applying our lessons from a desert wine tasting at Mondo, a sticky Sauterne; sipped sake from the pouting lips of a ceramic globe; indulged in a citrus themed series of tarts and amazing brownies with chilli, balanced on a fulcrum that tipped from one side of the table to the other; after eating with scented porus spoons, Ellie reintroduced us to Limoncello; and for the finale, we popped a celebratory demi sec and split up to eat marzipan topped with wedding cake (pictured). I don’t like fruitcakes, but Elizabeth loves wedding cakes and this one was spectacular.

Given the weather forecast, we’d prepared to decamp to the downstairs terrace, like Banyan Tree in Bangkok. However, the humorous conversation mostly held back the rain. Recalling Epicurus and the pursuit of happiness, happiness is sharing a meal with great company, with friends. And the best accompaniment was great company, with interesting conversation and a lot of laughing.

We’re still loving Sunnybank

Louise Rollman — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:32:59 +0000

We’re still loving Sunnybank, originally uploaded by cubamxc, courtesy Pecha Kucha.

Well over a year later we’re still talking about my own private neon oasis. The first really public forum was Pecha Kucha (or Pecha Kucha), just days before the launch. Most recently, Lisa Smith of Sunnybank Plaza and I have been guest blogging for Arts Queensland. My post, We Love Sunnybank was published late last week and Smith’s, The day the museum came to us… earlier this week. Prompted by the AbaF QLD Community Award, it’s been another wonderful opportunity to debrief, share and revisit our experiences of the project. Comments, broad and strategic, would be most welcome.