Still lives: Introduction

Still lives

Introduction

Still lives: An exhibition and series of films which explore the role of objects in shaping and revealing identity.

Consider the significance of the following two objects: Snoozles was the soft stuffed toy dog of Holly Wells, her constant night-time companion. Holly loved this toy - she slept with it, she drew pictures of it and treasured it. Then Holly was murdered. For her parents Snoozles became synonymous with Holly herself. The toy held the smell of Holly and her parents could be close to her just by breathing in the fragrance of that toy dog. When it came time to bury Holly, the inclusion of Snoozles symbolically marked an intimate gesture from the parents to their daughter. A comfort for Holly in her death (it is with her), and a release for and by her parents, a letting go of the one object that was the closest connection they had left to their daughter (her surrogate identity).

In the film Dogville, Lars Von Trier reduces the props and objects to a bare minimum, a strategy that intensifies the significance of the objects used. The human vices of exploitation, deceit and abuse of power culminate in the scene when the character Grace is shackled. A crudely designed and constructed choker and necklace of iron and chain attached to an old cart wheel is manacled to Grace, branding her status in the small town. This 'jewellery' binds and holds Grace to her one time liberators, ultimately defining and exposing their true role as her captors.

These two objects - Snoozles and Grace's 'jewellery' - are imbued and burdened with meaning. The owners' relationships to them are complex and compelling. Other people's relationship to them is also complex and compelling.

Craft ACT presented Still Lives, an exhibition and a series of screened films, which delved into the carefully constructed narratives and identities of objects. Each film was selected because of the way the filmmaker had used objects, causing them to be: emotionally charged; corrupted; excessive; representative of status; humorous or alienated. Each artist responded to one of these themes. Their works sat in a gallery, a highly ordered interior space. Alison Munro in her essay Of lives and objects still muses on the role of objects in our lives. She observes the objects in the gallery environment - selected and elevated, distilling the ideas of the artist and ponders their intent, their still life. Objects in a film play a different role as Christopher Chapman suggests. In his essay The object of our affection he makes us aware of how objects in film are similar to grammar in language. They infuse each moment so utterly that at times we are hardly aware of them. Simultaneously they can become characters in and of themselves.

In both environments of gallery and film, the selected objects become paramount - they are both narrators and entities. They are the necessary props defining and describing our stories: displayed, used or hidden they punctuate our desires, our needs and our secrets.

Barbara McConchie,
Exhibition Curator and Director Craft ACT
March 2004

Still lives, the exhibition

Artists

Diana Shores	The alienated object
Hermie Cornelisse	The emotionally-charged object
Liza Hallam	The object as excess
Oliver Smith	The object as gadget
Pearl Gillies	The object as status
Ainsley Hillard	The corrupted object

Still lives, the films

The alienated object: Fight Club (Directed by David Fincher): Friday 5 March 2004; Introduced by Megan Spencer; Triple J film critic
The emotionally-charged object: The Safety of Objects (Directed by Rose Troche): Friday 12 March 2004; Introduced by Patsy Hely, artist and lecturer; The Australian National; University School of Art
The object as excess: William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (Directed by Baz Luhrmann): Friday 19 March 2004; Introduced by Christopher Chapman; Artist and writer
The object as gadget: Mon Oncle (Directed by Jacques Tati): Friday 26 March 2004,; Introduced by Dr Gino Moliterno; Senior lecturer in film studies; Department of Humanities; The Australian National University
The object as status: Age of Innocence(Directed by Martin Scorsese): Friday 2 April 2004; Introduced by Merryn Gates; Curator and writer
The corrupted object: Rope(Directed by Alfred Hitchcock): Saturday 3 April 2004,; Introduced by Bronwyn Coupe; Artist, film maker and writer
Curator: Barbara McConchie: 4 March to 11 April 2004; Gallery 1, Craft ACT Craft and Design Centre; Canberra, Australia

The above introduction and images are from the 24 page Still Lives catalogue which can be ordered form Craft ACT for $12 (inc. GST)

Phone 02 6262 9333 or email craftact@craftact.org.au

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre

Still lives

Introduction

Still lives, the exhibition

Artists

Still lives, the films

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