hushed pupils
Fort Delta, Melbourne
September 21 - October 19, 2018

Exhibition text (Spencer Lai)
 

To entertain an idea is to allow actions, complete with processional series of events, to drift in one's mind …articulated joints on a marionette (puppet) allow the figure to become poseable - it is arguable that the marionette will become more human-seeming when equipped with the dynamism afforded by the pivoting of limbs, cartilage and flesh in a ball socket turn in symbiosis… accessibility and interest are enhanced with the new-found expression of movement as if it is an old hat to wear with humbleness…

 

The visual cadence of ornament, complete with flourishes, observe a playful relationship with one another - such and such is dated circa 1940s, or, such and such was most likely utilised as… the salesperson and customer postulate various narratives to trace the histories of its production, it’s use - these discussions skirt around outmoded material use, the likeliness of the probably harmful vapours emitted in the production of Bakelite necklaces stir things within me and so then I think of the dormant asbestos lying silently within houses, its particles ready to be cast off, released like passionate emission spores to be inhaled by soft passivity of human or non-human lungs.

 

A student is cajoled, raising … behaviours are mirrored and the dynamics in the group become jostled - much like blurring of motion when looking outside the windows of a fast-paced train. If fast enough, the world outside of the vehicle becomes a series of lines.

 

We often speak of clean design lines as a characteristic of a sleekness. Lines can inform boundaries, indicate seclusion, occlusion, emphasis… primary shapes, such as a line, can be combined with secondary objects to formulate a more sophisticated and intricate design.

 

The poverty of expression , and emptying of contents, fell commerce

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A

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Sometime during my adolescence, I am looking at antiques with my mother I feel the eyes of older men leering at me with the same treatment as if browsing for  thoughtful gift or a new addition to pre-existing home - eyes scan a patina of sorts, noting aberrations, imperfections… -, a ravenous gawk paired with an unenthused lean-in towards me, the way a flower may grow towards a light source… as if the combination of refined thirst becomes a more subdued, or elevated temperament.

 

Dioramas can be utilised as a training device and .. as if to say “look, here it is. It is all here for you to see, for you to gain knowledge. I am imparting knowledge, to you; This is how it works”.

 

Reluctance as a trained gesture, some sort of attitude that is taught and then shown off to others as if it were created solely within a vacuum. Peers display new attitudes in confluence with a new outfit, this is mostly tied or related to the appearance of a person, and through clothing — an accentuation of self-expression.

 

A child with no name: a newborn baby bears no language, it expresses, mutely, concepts of TRUTH and BEAUTY from inception. An infant has no answer or question and that is why some houses are adorned with cherubs, punctuated with ceramic cupids and knick-knacks on once-dusted shelves of deep mahogany. A statuette in cold ceramic depicts a pair of apparently infatuated infants are seated on a park bench, gazing into each others hand-painted soulless pupils - did the hand who painted these dots, these  simple pupils forget the warmth of love? The touch of intimacy? Is the repetitive nature of warehouse line assembly production worth contemplating in a world on its way out? A shivering and dying world? The solemn and lifeless breath of Mother Nature blows a darkened wind over a planet riddled with many imperfections, many fires and such..? Does this hand present to you adorned with jewellry, with fine jewels, fabulous diamonds? So such… a simple band of silver on the marriage finger, yes, I can so see.