“Spectacle/Obstacle”
Greta Alfaro, Justin Balmain, Rebecca Baumann, Tim Bruniges, Michaela Gleave and Pia van Gelder
28 Oct → 19 Nov 2011
The music gets faster, the lights get brighter, the image is broadcast from every angle. The spectacle demands attention – soliciting, seducing and imploring our gaze. The question, however, remains: is its very nature, its overwhelming force, an obstacle to our comprehension?
Curated by Kim Fasher and Sarah Mosca, Spectacle/Obstacle presents a belief that the spectator, like the student or scientist, is constantly observing, selecting, comparing and interpreting and, in this way, is actively confronting the obstacles generated by a spectacular society.
Through the works of Greta Alfaro, Justin Balmain, Rebecca Baumann, Tim Bruniges, Michaela Gleave and Pia van Gelder we see artists who are prepared to interrogate the world, holding up spectacle to harness its wonder and provoke a reaction in audiences that is hard to resist.
Greta Alfaro
Justin Balmain is an artist in Naarm/Melbourne.
Rebecca Baumann is a Perth based artist with a practice spanning kinetic sculpture, photography, performance, digital animation and installation. She is fascinated by the complex workings of human emotion and our pursuit of happiness through celebration and ritual.
Tim Bruniges is a Sydney based visual artist and musician. Working across a range of media, including installation, sound and video, his practice centres on exploring the reliability of perception, the fallibility of memory and our relationship with time. Often taking the form of site-specific installations, the works attempt to create immersive spaces that allow for a disruption of expected experience.
Michaela Gleave
Pia van Gelder is a Sydney-based electronic artist, teacher and curator who develops performances and interactive installations that explore different understandings of our relationship with technology and electricity.