Visit to Tarrawarra Museum of Art
On Saturday my friends and I visited the Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Healesville, to see the exhibition 'Animate/Inanimate.' The exhibition consisted of six contemporary artists exploring connections between the animate and inanimate worlds. The six art works were of varying scale and mediums, each artist filling a room of the museum. In the first space, Lin Tianmiao (China) adorned the walls with synthetic human bones that had been meticulously wrapped with brightly coloured silk thread. Looking closely at these objects reminded me of the traditional skull caps that children wear during Chinese New Year festival, which are crafted in a similar way. Later through the exhibition space, Amar Kanwar (India) produced a 45 minute film documenting the demise of an area in India to the mining industry. He constructed the documentary around a love poem, and together with the considered long takes and very wide shots, created more of a meditative landscape than a documentary. The six artworks were both beautiful and thought provoking, and as a collection resulted in an inspiring experience.
The most confronting artwork, I thought, was by the Australian Artist Janet Lawrence. Her installation was a series of large 'cells' arranged in a semi-dark room. Each 'cell' was dimly lit and dedicated to an extinct or near extinct animal. To view the artwork in each cell, we had to pass through a transparent curtain - within the boundaries of the curtain we were presented with an almost scientific arrangement of pictures, artefacts and videos of the animal. The collected items within the cell were placed on mirrored surfaces, images were printed on perspex, and videos projected on loose-knit woven fabric. The combination of dim light reflecting off the mirrors, and the intimacy of being within the small space of the cells, created an eerie dream like feeling. It was a slightly uncomfortable experience, and I am not sure if I felt closer or further away from these 'lost animals.' A very successful and interesting installation.
Image courtesy of www.twma.com.au