Set in the Victorian goldfields of the 1850s, New Gold Mountain breaks new ground in its dramatic rendition of the power dynamics, racism and violence of this time and place, as seen from the perspective of Chinese migrant miners. Considering the SBS series in the context of the western genre it seeks to emulate and the Australian history it attempts to do justice to, Tahney Fosdike finds the show more willing to confront some myths than others.
Holly Block’s ‘It’s Love’ (2021) pulls at perception. Its surreal composition with little aesthetic refinement carries charm and unease. The dolls never satisfy in their form, nor does the barred-back, worn setting echo the multiverse to which they belong than beckon the unrecognisable. Behind the dolls, a mirror with a vintage frame smeared with Vaseline obscures reflection. On inspection, the words ‘You are beautiful’ become apparent.
A household name but with no one watching, are the Academy Awards… over? In 1998, the Oscars drew 55 million viewers to their self-professed glamorous ceremony. In 2010, numbers hovered above 40 million. Each year since, they have plummeted: 23.6 million in 2020 to 9.8 million in 2021. So why does no one watch the Oscars anymore?
Helena Sinclair’s work exists at the edge of a boundary – or playfully sits either side. Seeing it, take note of your first feeling or instinct. Is the platter bristling with hairsoothing with its delicate beauty, or discomforting with a grossness that’s not quite gross? Does your reaction sit between the two, not at neutrality but an in-betweenness that depositions your body? Does its silly name undo you further?
How to Build a Universe, to me, almost looks archaeological: the sprawled objects spotlit in the dark to be personally discovered and interpreted like bones and fragments, rather than sold to audiences as a proud whole. The exhibition posits: it’s futile to reach for an objective collection of an intricate world and, instead, personal responses, self-aware of their subjective nature even if they draw from scientific method, can build our knowledge of the world. Creativity destabilises information.
Why did I harbour dread at something so many find lovely? I couldn’t imbue marriage with new meaning; purity culture had tarnished it. No matter how far you go, moving on from indoctrination is sticky terrain.