Connecting: 21st Biennale of Sydney

Susie Anderson

Published June 2018

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement, the 21st Biennale of Sydney was presented at seven Sydney museums, galleries and non-traditional exhibition spaces: Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW), Artspace, Carriageworks, Cockatoo Island, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), Sydney Opera House and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.

connecting

A large screen in a dark room displays an overhead view of a circular, dark-colored object on a textured, earthy surface. A wooden bench is positioned in front of the screen.

Laurent Grasso, OTTO, 2018 HD video. Installation view (2018) at Carriageworks for the 21st Biennale of Sydney. Photograph: silversalt photography. Courtesy the artist; Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong and Shanghai; Sean Kelly Gallery, New York; and Galerie Perrotin, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo

(to create frequencies)

earth moves wavering uncertainty colour
undulates and shifts in opposition to all
we hold to be true the truest fact the stable
ground will outlast us touch these parts
ancient land feel the others knowing
who was here before visitors think it untouched
patterns nobody else has known the quiet
a kind nobody else has heard what could
this sound look like i am so much less
than a mountain but still we are of it

Two adjacent artworks with intricate, geometric line patterns: one in orange and the other in black and white, displayed against a black wall.

George Tjungurrayi (Left to right:) Untitled, 2015 (detail), acrylic on linen, 244 x 183 cm. Private collection. Untitled, 2017 (detail), acrylic on linen, 122 x 153 cm. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: silversalt photography. Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney.

(love that rests as potentiality emerges)

once realised and fully seen these eyes
have looked like two idiots reaching out
in space across and beyond everything
insurmountable not sure why people reach
out to me perhaps I’m the one reaching first
arms outstretched in case this time coalescence
which must be let in even knowing it will fade
away like everything does so beautifully
how else to make sense of this and the world
in a beautiful way just hanging on for
final moment of dissolve into pure beauty

An expansive, brightly colored abstract projection with swirling patterns in green, yellow, red, and white, displayed on a large, angled screen in a dark room.

Semiconductor, Earthworks, 2016. Five-channel computer generated animation with four-channel surround sound 11:20 mins. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: silversalt photography. Courtesy the artists.

A multi-tiered screen in a dark room shows a person in a blue outfit floating against a starry background, giving the impression of being in space.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila, POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography.

Biographies

Susie is a writer based in Sydney. Her practice is concerned with the distances between place, people and culture, themes she explores through poetry and non-fiction. ‘connecting: 21st Biennale of Sydney’ continues her four-part series of responses to SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement.