What a Piece of Work is Man

What a Piece of Work is Man was the title of this t-shirt installation. The shot above was an installation shot from the Push In, Up and Down to Lock exhibition. The work was viewed by moving the hangers along and looking at the t-shirts like one would in a shop. There was a particular order for each of the shirts, with one t-shirt being related to the ones before and after it, often ironically. Some of the images are below. It was meant to be the journey of a life, from the pre-pubescent boy at the front, to the skulls at the end. I took photos of some of the t-shirts during the exhibition, then set up the work again with some lights, but the original shots were much better quality, so they are mixed together here. The t-shirts were included in a fashion parade a few weeks before the exhibition. They all had to be washed as they got make-up over them during the parade.

Ready to Where

The t-shirts from my What a Piece of Work is Man installation were included in a fashion show for Fashion Week in 2001.


My idea was to have the first person walk out, then have the next person come out while the first was still on the catwalk so that there was a connection between each of the t-shirts. It was intended as one complete work, with each t-shirt leading to the next. Unfortunately the organisers sent out each model one at a time, so the work became fragmented.



At the end of the show, all the models walked onto the catwalk and the t-shirts could be seen together, but unfortunately not in order. The models also rather annoyingly decided to customize the t-shirts they were wearing by rolling up the sleeves, or tying up the bottom of the t-shirt. I'm sure Karl Lagerfeld's models don't change the clothes they're supposed to be wearing!






This was some press the following week, in the UNSW Union Blitz magazine:

Push In, Up and Down to Lock

This was an exhibition of third year sculpture students at COFA, in the COFA Exhibition and Performance Space (as it was then called), May 2001. Push In, Up and Down to Lock: An exhibition of New Sculpture Works was the title, I think referring to how to use Blutac to fix something to a wall. The other artists were:
Leonie Barker, Hayden Fowler, Skye Gould, Lenka Kripac, Sam Roseman, Alex Gerec (I don't think this is how his name is spelled), Donna Page, Gabrielle Murdocca, Lisa Faddoul and Anna Jaaniste.

This was a shot from the entrance. Donna Page's untitled embroidered wedding dress is to the left; Lisa Faddoul's Sur VEIL lance is the video work; the t-shirts are my What a Piece of Work is Man; the hair plait coming from the ceiling to the paper on the floor is my Let Down Your Hair (a Rapunzel-related work); the bed-type thing is Anna Jaaniste's work Wednesday, I think; and the chopstick work is The Hanoi Hilton (more on that work here).


A view just to the left: Gabrielle Murdocca's soft sculptures are on the wall and floor, collectively called Probe.


The opposite view: The Hanoi Hilton again, Donna Page's work, I think Sam Roseman's work on the wall (Untitled), and I don't know what the things dangling from the ceiling are, or who they're by.


The Hanoi Hilton:

Study for Insecurity Blanket by Leonie Barker, and Panels by Hayden Fowler:

80s' Photo Project

I was putting photos from the 80s on my Facebook page and I came across these photos. They're an early series of work before I considered myself an artist. The idea is completely stolen from Interview magazine which I subscribed to at the time. There are 4 shots of each person, and I think the idea was to have their hands in each shot. I don't think it was possible to focus the camera, which is why half the photos are blurry! As they were taken 20+ years ago, I've forgotten the surnames of some of the people. They're presented in alphabetical order.

Andrew Creagh Carl Gopalkrishnan Claire Staniforth-Smith Darryl Felicia Bowen Frances O'Connor Guy Batten Helen Ward Jamie Jason GilkisonLeonie Michelle Burford Noelene Criddle Paul Heath Rodney Love Stephanie Dumas Steven Susan Berich

Book launch - Trunk Volume One: Hair

Here are details of the launch of a new book edited by Suzanne Boccalatte and Meredith Jones. It's being launched as an event in the Sydney Writers' Festival on May 24, 6:00-7:30pm. I'm mentioning it here because images of two of my hair weavings are in the book. This series of books starts with a volume about hair, and in future volumes will cover different parts of the body. I'm very excited to be a part of the project, and look forward to seeing the finished product. If you're in Sydney, I hope you can come and be part of this exciting event. RSVP essential.