4 April - 3 May 2014
Gabriel Lester "The Blank Stare" 2013 14' 43" HD-video (Arri Alexa)
Camera - Benito Strangio music - Job Chajes production - Nan Reunis concept, set design, direction, edit - Gabriel Lester.

The film consists of a sequence of five rooms in which people, creatures and spirits are all connected by their gaze. Here arises an inward look, for the characters in the film, but also for the spectator of the film. In a seamless linkage the film moves from a scene of an everyday waiting room to an observation room in a mental institution, what could be the prayer room of a religious sect, a company of creatures in the future and, finally, to a space where infinity awaits. The Blank Stare is the last film in the silent-film trilogy in which explores the inward gaze (introspection, reflection, daydreaming and magical thinking) is explored. The Blank Stare does not have any spoken dialogue, but is supported by a sound environment and a music composition by Job Chajes. The sets were designed and build by Gabriel Lester.

Gabriel Lester is the Elam International Artist in Residence, generously supported by Dame Jenny Gibbs.

 

"Wasteland" - James Boswell / Alex Laurie / Georgie Roxby Smith / Mason Vincent / Joseph Waddingham.

Curated by Tim Wagg.

Wasteland began with a proposition to explore issues surrounding masculinity and its relationship with digital technologies. From these initial concerns, works have been assembled and created which look into a fabricated and uncertain contemporary masculinity.

The works exhibited are flawed symbols of status, attempting, but purposely failing, to depict power and identity through physical structures. They detail a barren environment, pixelated and covered in a fine layer of dust, in which abstract forms of violence break out regularly in fevers of confusion and struggle.

Conflicting and contradictory actions and attitudes flow through the exhibition: violence and kindness, isolation and connectedness, confusion and arrogance, digital anonymity and the physical body. These come together to create an underlying uncertainty and struggle; one which describes a situation many feel today in relation to the limited considerations of what it is to be masculine. In a space that was dreamed of as fluid and utopic, now there is wasteland.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a .pdf designed by Dan Nash and featuring writing by Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua, NZ Misogynist of the Day, Bridget Riggir, and Max Trevor Thomas Edmond. This will be available as a digital download.

Performances by Josh Rutter and Jodie Salmond will take place at the preview. Warning: some content may offend.

04/04/2014, + Gus Fisher Gallery o Group show - "Wastelend", curated by Tim Wagg, and o Gabriel Lester - "The Blank Stare".

© 2011-13 Sait Akkirman, including all photographs.

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