The River (2012) by Monika Grzymala
I’ve discovered that I adore contemporary art.
Traditional art forms have never really held my interest – don’t get me wrong, they’re wonderful to look at and I always marvel at the skill of the artist – but contemporary art moves me emotionally.
I would never have discovered this if Roz and John hadn’t come to Sydney earlier this year and taken Pete and I to the small Biennale exhibit at Carriageworks. Roz encouraged us to visit the other Biennale spaces, and we have – we spent an afternoon at the Museum of Contemporary Art last month and, just this week, a full day meandering through the large installations on Cockatoo Island.
The island is an amazing place, and I’ll be writing a post about it shortly, but I wanted to share with you the photos that we took of the artworks there, in the hope that it will encourage any of you who are thinking about visiting to do so. The Biennale ends this Sunday, and there won’t be an opportunity like this again for another two years.
Many of the art installations are enormous, and it just wasn’t possible to capture them fully in a photo. In addition, there are many multi-faceted works, which incorporate sight, sound and space.
This beautifully crafted piece was Pete’s favourite. Rehearsing Catastrophe: The Ark in Sydney by Australian artist Lyndal Jones is an ark under construction, complete with building sound effects, workshop and audiovisual presentation…
I loved this huge installation of polystyrene chains wrapped around the old machinery of the island (a former shipyard). Snow Ball Blind Time by New Zealand artist Peter Robinson…
Just a tiny section of Jonathan Jones’ untitled piece incorporating a small hill of oyster shells and broken china cups, which the artist says is “his monument to discursive engagement… a comment on the mixing and crashing together of Asian, European and Aboriginal cultures”…
Philip Beesley’s Hylozoic Series responds to human presence. It was magical…and crowded!
Chinese artist Li Hongbo’s Ocean of Flowers filled an entire floor with hand glued papercrafts…
Canadian artist Nadia Myre’s The Scar Project is a moving, often sad and insightful work of art, created collaboratively. People were invited to stitch representations of their scars, and then write the stories of how they got them, and the impact they had on their lives…
Canadian artist Cal Lane’s Domesticated Turf is absolutely wonderful – from a distance it looked like a paper cut out rather than a corrugated metal shipping container, carved into delicate and decorative lacework…
The installation includes a red sand stenciled surround…
Tiffany Singh’s Knock on the Sky Listen to the Sound is an interactive piece that invited visitors to take a wooden chime home, decorate it, and bring it back. The results are brightly coloured and rang cheerfully in the open air…
Jon Pylypchuk’s Spend the rest of your life mining this death and it will only bring you despair is situated in a cave within the Dog Leg tunnel…
Stitching Time – A Collective Fashioning by Erin Manning was created with the help of a large project team, which included three Australian universities…
Junling Yang’s Class in the Class is set up as an old fashioned classroom, with desks, chairs, pencil cases and exercise books. Over three of the tables were projectors, telling stories…
The 18th Biennale of Sydney has been an extraordinary experience! Please visit their website for more information. There’s still time to catch it before it ends!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I think the scar project is very interesting Celia, but the shipping container is just amazing! Looks like you had a great day out indeed :) xox
Becca, the Cal Lane piece was truly amazing – from some angles, it looked like the design had been painted on the wall of the container, from others, they appeared to be cut paper. Loved it!
Great images & virtual tour. I’m very impressed by the collection you’ve shared with us. Contemporary art of all forms is necessary to provide a snapshot of these times, in the future, an ongoing, living impression of now.
Thanks ED. It’s only a small selection of what was there too!
I agree, the work on Cockatoo Island is amazing, and your photos are great!
I feel though, that it’s important to remember that contemporary art would mean nothing without the entire history of art before it.
Bring on Anish Kapoor this summer! Think you’ll love it Celia!
Thanks Claire. You’re right, of course, all art is important! Looking forward to Anish Kapoor, thanks for the headsup!
Personally, I feel to fully appreciate each piece one has to visit the exhibit.
Definitely worth being there, Norma. I was just trying to share a little of it with you all. :)
I always wonder how they manage to get these massive works of art into the exhibits and hang them ready for display. It’s not as easy as hanging a painting. You certainly are getting out and about Celia. I love to go to exhibitions too xx
Charlie, they are soooo huge – some of them fill an entire floor. I love that we have a space in Sydney where that can happen! I think a lot of the installations are created in situ – they certainly have a very permanent feel about them…
The shipping container is amazing. I love to listen to the wind chimes. They look lovely. I wonder how long it took to glue all that paper by hand? It looks like a big project! Some interesting pieces of art!
Manuela, do have a look at the artist’s profiles for the various projects – they really help to explain the thinking behind their works!
WOw! thank you. i didn’t think i was ‘into’ contemporary art – until i went to MONA! i realised it is very engaging, emotionally and intellectually. i’ll always love ‘trad’ paintings but MONA opened my eyes and mind. and i love that you can be interactive – more a physical part of the art’s space. some of these photos look amazing.
E, that’s a great way to put it! Especially with many of the large pieces at Cockatoo Island, one becomes immersed in the artist’s work and an intrinsic part of it.
Thanks for your tour Celia – that shipping container is simply wonderful! What happens to the installations after the exhibition though? Where do they all go next and where do they ultimately end up?
Amanda, I believe (from reading the Biennale website) that a lot of the pieces have more permanent homes, but I have no idea what will become of the site specific works…
Wow, this is amazing Celia! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks Jane! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! :)
I certainly have become intrigued just seeing these photos, I can just imagine what it must have been like to have been there in person.. those installations are huge! The “Scars” Canadian pieces moved me.. what a touching representation of hurt.. and I love that Hylozoic Series.. sooo pretty!!
Smidge, the Scars installation moved me to tears – so much sadness encapsulated in it. There were folders with the stories written by people about their individual pieces – I could have spent all day at that one. Hopefully you can get a chance to see it when it gets back to Canada – here are the artist’s details: http://bos18.com/artist?id=24
Love the lacework piece. What a wonderful event. Art Dubai is not on this scale but will have to send you some pics of the work.
Sally, it’s a great treat, and I’m feeling very lucky that it’s here in Sydney. Would love to see what Art Dubai has to offer!
The lace work is amazing!
Tandy, all done in corrugated metal! The amount of work involved was just astonishing!
I’m with you Celia contemporary art to me is a lot more engaging than the traditional styles.
It really challenges your thinking doesn’t it?
Claire, I think E above put it really well – contemporary art, at least on this scale, immerses the spectator. That was especially true with all the sound, light and fog elements at Cockatoo Island!
Absolutely awesome. I don’t even have words to describe these photos! I could not stop staring at them. It must’ve been amazing in person. Thanks for taking me on the tour :)
Emilie, thank you so much! It took me nearly three hours to write this post – I wanted to properly credit the artists with the works I’d photographed, and to make sure that the photos did them justice (in as far as I could manage with my iPhone camera!). Comments like yours make it all worthwhile! :)
i appreciate all art but i find art that makes social and political commentary the most inspiring..for that reason, like you, i am very interested in contemporary art..but i’m particularly interested in graffiti and street art because it takes art off the wall and makes it available to everyone..
Jane, you need to come to Sydney! Much of our graffiti is becoming mainstream and a lot of it is very beautiful these days, particularly in areas like Newtown and Redfern.
SQUEE! I want to go there. Now!
Maz.
Oh, you would have been soooo happy, love! Do have a look at the Biennale website!
It’s amazing what you can miss in your own city isn’t it! I had no idea that all of this was going on until I saw it on Roz’s blog!
Roz is a treasure, I told her she could come and live in Sydney and we’d bake bread together and she could “culture” me. :D
How utterly absorbing Celia. I could spend hours gazing at these works. Your photos are great. Jonathan Jones’ work ‘speaks’ doesn’t it.
Thanks Jan! It was a truly wonderful day out, and it really needed an entire day to see it all!
Forgot to tell you – your next assignment is to go to White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney. Roz
Yes mum. :D It’s on the list, I hear it’s amazing!
By the way I see someone mentioned Anish Kapoor, I did a piece on his installation in Paris some time back. I had better go and look for it and send through again.
Yes please, Roz! I’ll go have a look on your blog, thanks!
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Such a great place to spend a day, Celia! The enormity of some of the pieces must have been breath-taking and I would love to see The Ark. Wow!
John, the Ark was simply gorgeous – as I said, Pete’s favourite. It wasn’t just the wood piece in the photo, there was a workshop set up inside, with video footage as well – all part of the installation.