21st Biennale of Sydney Catalogue by Biennale Sydney

SUPERPOSITION Equilibrium & Engagement

The Biennale of Sydney is located on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay respect to Elders, both past and present.

SUPERPOSITION Equilibrium & Engagement

Contents

Message from the Chairman

Message from the Director and CEO

A panoramic view of the world from Sydney in an age of uncertainty: post-Biennale curatorial statement by Mami Kataoka

Artists 22 Art Gallery of New South Wales

Artspace 74 Carriageworks 92 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

120

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

128

Sydney Opera House

192

Cockatoo Island

198

Biennale of Sydney Archive

276

Small steps, larger journey: Sydney Biennales in the 1970s and 1980s by Terry Smith

284

Lenders 290 List of works

290

Founding Patrons

301

Partners 302 Patrons 304 Acknowledgments 306 Image credits

308

Biennale of Sydney Board and Staff

320

Message from the Chairman I wish to thank the Biennale’s Exhibition Partners – Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Artspace, Carriageworks and Cockatoo Island – and our Venue Partners – Sydney Opera House and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. The collaboration of our dedicated partners makes the Biennale possible.

In 2018, we celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Biennale of Sydney. Founded in 1973 by Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE, it began with the aim of establishing a global platform for contemporary art and providing a unique opportunity for Australian artists to engage with and exhibit alongside international artists.

21st Biennale of Sydney

The curatorial vision of Artistic Director Mami Kataoka for the 21st Biennale of Sydney explored key issues of our day through the eyes of 69 exceptional artists and artist collectives from 35 countries. It also reflected on the Biennale’s rich history through an examination of the Biennale Archive, which was gifted to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2015 to form part of the National Art Archive.

I would also like to acknowledge the Biennale of Sydney Board of Directors, Director and CEO, Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker and the Biennale team for their sustained enthusiasm and hard work in realising the 21st Biennale. Finally, it has been a privilege to welcome Mami Kataoka to Sydney. I would like to thank her for sharing her vision with us through the eyes and practice of so many remarkable artists.

As Kataoka has remarked, the artists of the 21st Biennale were chosen to offer a widereaching and inclusive view of how opposing interpretations can come together in a state of equilibrium. The artists’ projects she selected, many of which were new commissions, reflect on concerns specific to this moment in time. They prompt us to consider our similarities, differences and whether it might be possible to live together in equilibrium as a global community.

Kate Mills Chairman

In 2018, the 21st Biennale attracted visitation of more than 850,000, the highest level in the Biennale’s 45-year history. We welcomed people from near and far, a testament to the Biennale’s global presence. We are proud that access to the Biennale remains free, open to all. This is made possible by the very generous support of the Biennale’s major government partners, international funding agencies, corporate partners, philanthropic supporters and individuals. We are grateful for the contributions of all of our partners to support exceptional artists and curatorial practice from around the globe. In particular, I would like to express our deep gratitude to our Principal Patron, The Neilson Foundation for their generous support and commitment to access for all. As well, I would like to acknowledge our Principal Partner, TWT Property Group. We are privileged to work with an organisation that shares our values and our aspiration to serve community through art.

Message from the Director and CEO The panoramic view of the world which Mami Kataoka offered us at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was, as she notes in this volume, deeply embedded in the cultural, historical and political contexts of Sydney, and of the Biennale itself. The rich history of the Biennale of Sydney, and the cultural and political debates it embraced and ‘rehearsed’ over nearly a half century of exhibitions, became both context and starting point for her curatorial vision.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Kataoka reminded us that the inaugural Biennale of Sydney – held in conjunction with the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973 – showcased the work of artists from Brazil, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. The stated intent was to ‘create a cultural focus in the Pacific Basin’. Forty-five years later, in 2018, as the first artistic director of the Biennale of Sydney to be based in Asia, Mami Kataoka brought her deep experience and field research in East, Southeast, Central and South Asia to the 21st Biennale of Sydney. Her curatorial focus and worldview, however, was global. The resulting exhibition was, in Kataoka’s words, an ‘aggregation of the worlds recognised by each participating artist’ by means of new commissions and existing artworks of ‘formidable presence’. The response of the highly diverse national and global audiences to SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement was extraordinarily positive, both in terms of attendance and the degree of pleasure that visitors expressed to independent researchers. We are deeply grateful to Mami Kataoka, and to the 69 participating artists and artist collectives for the rich worlds and multiple possibilities they shared with us at the 21st Biennale of Sydney. In a time of deep global uncertainty, they revealed ways to embrace our differences in a complementary manner to find not only a point of equilibrium but a means to engage with one another. Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker Director and CEO

A panoramic view of the world from Sydney in an age of uncertainty Post-Biennale curatorial statement judgment. During the last few years, art itself has been striving to find an identity and it has become increasingly difficult to establish a common ground for judging works. Transfield, as conceivers and sponsors of the Biennale, feel that in this way they can best support and encourage artists in Australia and overseas, a theme which has been part of our thinking since the beginning … In 1970 it seemed that art prizes themselves were no longer the ideal way to support the arts and created more controversies than good.’3

The act of publishing a catalogue at the conclusion of a biennale allows us to document a site-specific exhibition that encompasses a large number of new works. The significance of a biennale does not merely consist of gathering existing artworks in one place. At a time when the emphasis of periodic exhibitions has shifted, and greater importance is attached to the production of new works that reflect the diverse cultural, historical and political contexts of its host city, it is vital to document its process and results. For the artistic director, moreover, it is a valuable experience to be granted the opportunity to sum up 20 months of investigation and labour. What follows is an account that represents my post-Biennale curatorial statement.1

While art prizes, along with biennales, have been established all around the world, it is worth noting that Belgiorno-Nettis was already aware of this particular perspective almost half a century ago. As an Italian immigrant, Belgiorno-Nettis was familiar with the Venice Biennale, an event that created a sense of festivity and celebration by gathering art from all over the world in one place. Sydney Harbour and the islands on Parramatta River might perhaps be seen as a tribute to the Venetian landscape. The psychology underlying the desire to create, or restore, a sense of international relations through art is manifested more directly in biennales such as Documenta, which began a decade after the Nazi Germany era, and the Gwangju Biennale, established in 1995 after the Gwangju Uprising of May 1980 and South Korea’s turn towards democratisation. In the case of Sydney, taking into consideration Australia’s geographical position, one might imagine that there was a stronger desire to build a connection with the world at large. The inaugural edition of the Biennale of Sydney, which was held in conjunction with the opening celebrations of the Sydney Opera House, consisted of some 30 participating artists, around half of whom were Australian and half international. The Australian artists were selected by James Gleeson, critic and chairman of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, James Mollison, director of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and sculptor Ron RobertsonSwann, who comprised the special committee of the Visual Arts Board of the Australian Council for the Arts, while the selection of international artists was carried out by requesting recommendations from government agencies primarily in the Asia– Pacific region, via the Department of Foreign Affairs. As a result, there were participating artists from Malaysia, India, Thailand, New Zealand, the Philippines, Germany, Mexico, Italy, South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil and Japan.4

21st Biennale of Sydney

The raison d’etre for the Biennale of Sydney What is the continued significance of the Biennale of Sydney, 45 years after it was first established in 1973? The framework of the biennale exhibition has now expanded to countries all over the world – what, then, is its raison d’etre? In taking up the post of artistic director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney, it was necessary to first examine its historical and geographical position and conduct my own interrogation into the necessity of the Biennale. The large-scale display of the Biennale archives from the last 20 editions (1973–2016) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales was, in fact, one way of responding to this question.2 The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895, the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1951, and Documenta in 1955. In the twentieth century, these international exhibitions were not only motivated by a spirit of festivity, but rather a myriad of intentions that included the desire to reconstruct a process of international exchange through culture that had been interrupted by war and other conflicts. Franco Belgiorno-Nettis (1915–2006), founder of the Biennale of Sydney, was born in Italy, and experienced his country’s defeat in World War II as a young man. In 1951, he emigrated to Australia in search of new horizons, and founded the Transfield Group in 1956. In 1961, Belgiorno-Nettis established the Transfield Art Prize, a competition that was held annually until 1971; the winning artworks were acquired and exhibited at the Transfield head office. After 11 editions, however, it was felt that the format of a ‘prize’ to assess the merit of an artwork was rather limited, and so the Biennale of Sydney was founded. The rationale was that: ‘… art prizes, by definition, require the selection of a winner by 8

The Biennale’s stated objectives were: 1. To draw Australian artists into the world’s cultural stream so that they may benefit from seeing and talking to prominent artists of international stranding whom we hope will visit future Biennales. 2. To create a cultural focus in the Pacific Basin and to attempt by leadership to coordinate the progressive trends of the various cultures in the area. Considering Australia’s geographical position, one can easily imagine how important it was to have links with the rest of the world. At a time when the history of contemporary art was being led by Europe and America, the vision to shift one’s awareness towards the Asia–Pacific was a prescient one.5 The second edition of the Biennale of Sydney in 1976 was held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The selection of artists was entirely at

Franco Belgiorno-Nettis announces the establishment of the Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Opera House, 1973. Courtesy of Transfield

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

the discretion of a single artistic director, and exemption from the system of inviting artists by country has subsequently been maintained as an important tradition of later Biennale editions. From 1979 to 1982, the Biennale was held only once, and it is not hard to imagine that holding the event every other year must have been extremely difficult for the newly established organisation.6 Although Terry Smith’s essay in this catalogue examines the subject of the Biennale’s early years in greater detail, I would like to explore a little further the debate over the Biennale of Sydney’s raison d’etre during the period between 1976 and 1979. Materials from the archive show how Sydney’s art community became a focus of attention, and important debates were repeatedly rehearsed. For instance, in May 1977, a letter jointly signed by five artists was sent to Belgiorno-Nettis. On 21 July, a discussion was held in a meeting room at the Paddington Town Hall, organised by the Sculpture Centre.7

The following questions were posed:

artists being shown in a contemporary art context, and the dialogue that began here has tremendous historical significance as well. On 19 April 1979, while the exhibition was still on display, the Biennale of Sydney organised an ‘Aboriginal Art Seminar’, while a discussion was held on 28 May at the Sculpture Centre, with Waterlow in attendance. These archival materials show how the historical context of the 1970s, during which women’s rights and Aboriginal rights were widely debated across society, was also strongly reflected in discussions about the Biennale.

21st Biennale of Sydney

1. Form (the same, more encompassing, any other innovative form?). 2. C ontent (who, how much, formal and/or socially orientated?). 3. A theme? No theme? Other? 4. V enue (Art Gallery? Hyde Park? Show Ground? Flemington Markets? Anywhere else?). 5. The Biennale Committee (who should represent and be represented on the Committee – for example, should it include artists?). 6. The director or co-ordinator? (Should this be a single person or a group?). 7. Other ideas that you wish to offer?

The development of the Biennale closely mirrored the growth of contemporary art in Sydney and its institutions – a trajectory that is evident from the history of the inauguration of institutions such as Artspace (1983), the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA, 1991), 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (1997) and Carriageworks (2010). Compared with the early editions of the Biennale, which represented a rare opportunity for contact with international contemporary art, these institutions provided citizens with the chance to attend international contemporary art exhibitions at various levels on a daily basis, thereby calling into question the objective of the Biennale to create a dialogue between Australia and the world. Within the domestic context alone, there are now biennials and triennials new and old in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne; in the Asia–Pacific region, since the 1990s, exhibitions have been established in Gwangju, Seoul, Busan, Taipei, Taichung, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Yokohama, Echigo-Tsumari, Aichi, Singapore, Jakarta and Yogyakarta. With so many periodic exhibitions established across the region, do any truly occupy a unique space?

Calling the format of biennales into question is fundamental to the raison d’etre of periodic exhibitions and continues until the present day. It should be noted that the Australian art community in the 1970s was actively involved in these discussions. On 26 November 1978, another letter jointly signed by seven artists from Melbourne was sent to Belgiorno-Nettis, expressing their hope that 50 per cent of the participating artists would be Australian, and furthermore that 50 per cent of that number would be female. The discussion continued with the participation of Nick Waterlow, artistic director of the third edition of the Biennale, and members of the Biennale committee. It is clear that a lively debate was had with regard to how the event should be organised and presented. The participation of female artists continued to be a point of contention: during the sixth Biennale of Sydney in 1986, the Artworkers Union Affirmative Action for Women in the Visual Arts committee sent a letter regarding this issue to Waterlow.

The particular significance of the Biennale of Sydney in this landscape is that it is not a largescale exhibition organised and hosted by a single museum but by an organisation which presents the exhibition across Sydney’s leading art institutions, each with their individual histories and raison d’etre, as well as at UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Cockatoo Island and Sydney Opera House. In my view, what was required of the 21st Biennale of Sydney was to extract the fullest potential from the Biennale’s position as a festive, celebratory contemporary art event unfolding throughout the entire city, backed by art of the highest international standards, while reflecting on the accumulated 45-year history of the Biennale itself.

With respect to the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, a letter from Sydney’s Aboriginal Arts Agency, dated 20 May 1976, in advance of the opening of the second Biennale of Sydney in November the same year, was sent to artistic director Tom McCollough, outlining an exhibition by artists from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. The third edition of the Biennale saw the participation of Arnhem Land artists for the first time: John Bunguwuy, David Malangi, and George Milpurrurru visited Sydney from Ramingining.8 Peter Yates, a craft adviser from Ramingining, wrote that ‘the painters’ only wish is that the Europeans who view their work will look far enough into the dreaming to find a starting point for real dialogue.’ 9 This was an extremely early example of Aboriginal

How does one reflect the world? Exhibition theme and curatorial approach

whom seven were Aboriginal [44 per cent]), seven from North America (10 per cent), followed by New Zealand, Latin America and Africa. As for regions such as Africa and Latin America, where I was unable to visit, I considered artists who had ties to their respective regions. Taking into account my previous experience, I visited a total of 25 countries, from where the selected artists hail. These numbers are also a reflection of the trajectory that my own research has followed, and my worldview. Meanwhile, the ratio of female artists, an issue that was widely debated during the 1970s, stood at 46 per cent of the total, or 39 out of 85 individuals, when one counts the number of members within the participating art collectives. From the very beginning, I had been considering a total of around 70 artists. Previous editions of the Biennale had featured 100 to more than 200 artists, so 69 artists and collectives was not a particularly high number. In order to interrogate where the Biennale of Sydney stands at the present moment, however, I thought it absolutely necessary to hold the ‘quality’ of the event to exacting standards. To ensure the artistic integrity of the works, including new commissions, all of the pieces had to have a formidable presence that would be more than sufficient to express their essence, so that they would engage audiences emotionally and intellectually, with a power to make them positively tremble. In addition, there had to be connections at both a visual and conceptual level, not just to the theme of the Biennale but also to the historical and spatial conditions of the sites that served as exhibition spaces. This demanded the backing of multi-layered research and a conceptual structure that would impart a strength and intensity to the works. Although the reciprocal spatial and conceptual relationships between artworks were also extremely important to my curatorial intention, these ultimately belonged to the realm of a highlevel chemical reaction that occurs when the individual works have artistic strength.

Accordingly, as artistic director, in order to facilitate a deeper understanding of each artist’s world and to comprehend their artistic practice, I paid a visit to the cities and towns where they grew up or were now based, and to their studios, experiencing the diverse contexts represented by the local climate, vernacular culture, history and society. Among the 69 participating artists and collectives, I met 29 for the first time over the course of my research for the Biennale. Overall, I worked with 54 of the 69 artists and collectives for the first time. Ultimately, the fact that I met and had discussions with almost 90 per cent of the artists, either through previous experience, new research or during the curatorial investigative process was reflected positively in the exhibition. In addition, as the first Asian artistic director of the Biennale of Sydney, I was often posed the question of whether this was going to be an ‘Asian biennale’ – an overly simplistic response to my appointment.10 Over the past ten years at least, my own world has expanded as the result of field research conducted in East, Southeast, Central and South Asia. Naturally, this would be reflected in my curation, but this was not to deny the practices of artists from Europe or America in any way. In the end, the geographical ratio of artists was as follows: 23 based in Asia (33 per cent), 20 in Europe (29 per cent), 16 from Australia (23 per cent, of

One of the major challenges was to convey a clear sense of the essence of each participating artist to the viewer, while also imbuing these mutually dependent relationships with a certain meaning. How does one draw attention to the relationships between the part and the whole, individual artworks and the overall theme, as well as the subtle, reciprocal resonances between works? For me, the ideal curatorial approach is almost akin to the role played by dashi in Japanese

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

At a time when contemporary art has expanded its global reach, it has become impossible for a single exhibition to demonstrate all the latest trends or reflect or project a picture of the entire world. It is also neither feasible nor meaningful to put the entire world on display in an equal manner. There have been attempts to project the ‘world’ onto a single biennale by forming an international curatorial team. While the tradition of the Biennale of Sydney has been to understand ‘the world’ through the limited scope that can be grasped by a single artistic director, it was not uncommon to support this endeavour with a team composed of advisers, agents or assistant curators. I wished to see how a single perspective might still project a certain ‘world’. The 21st Biennale of Sydney thereby became an aggregation of the worlds recognised by each participating artist. Through their perspectives and experiences, ‘the world’ naturally expanded in a multitude of directions.

21st Biennale of Sydney

all things, from the seasons, colours and cardinal directions to bodily organs and emotions: there is no single element that controls or dominates the whole, and no hierarchy among them. Everything is in pursuit of an equilibrium of the whole, which is constantly variable and in flux. For me, such a worldview expressed the possibility that different ideologies and faiths, people around the world living within different cultural and historical contexts, and even forms of non-human life, would not seek to criticise these disparities, but recognise and acknowledge each other while existing together in equilibrium. Subsequently, I learned that the Danish physicist Niels Bohr (1885–1962), who laid the foundations for quantum theory and described the unique properties of materials and the view of nature demonstrated by the theory of ‘complementarity’, had used the taiji diagram found in the philosophy of yin and yang as his preferred symbol for this phenomenon. Being able to visit Bohr’s grave in Copenhagen, Denmark, quite by chance was the most exciting moment over the course of my research for the Biennale. Physics is widely considered to be a branch of learning that offers scientific, rational explanations for the state of the world. In the microscopic world, however, it was truly fascinating to learn that there is an ambiguity and uncertainty there as well, particularly the fact that microscopic matters such as electrons have a dual, paradoxical structure: they could hold both granular and wave-like status at the same time. The coexistence of contradictory states would seem to pose a major challenge to the universalization of these laws. In this age of division that we are living through today, when divergent value systems and religious worldviews continue to find themselves in conflict with each other, Walter Heisenberg’s ‘uncertainty principle’ functions as an exemplary metaphor for the possibility of uniting the world as seen from a diversity of positions.

cuisine. Dashi is a liquid broth that is extracted umami (known as the savoury fifth taste), obtained by rehydrating various dried ingredients such as bonito flakes, kelp, dried sardines, and dried shiitake mushrooms. Although umami can also be found in meat and vegetables, its best examples can be found in the glutamine of dried kelp, and the inosine of bonito flakes, where it occurs in far greater concentrations. Thanks to the effect of umami, dashi has the function of binding and integrating various ingredients into a single dish. However, dashi does not assert itself in a way that seeks to outdo the flavours of the ingredients themselves. Although the presence of dashi is not visually apparent in the finished dish, it is a magical liquid: at the moment when you consume dishes in which high-quality dashi is used appropriately, the difference is abundantly clear. For me, the ideal curation is an invisible, secret art: one where the essence of individual works is extracted, connections are made between them and a highlevel context and presentation, and meaning is created across these mutual relationships. For the 21st Biennale of Sydney, I tried to approach this ideal. Accordingly, I believe that curation does not prescribe a particular mode of viewing the works with respect to a strong, overbearing theme. Rather, multilayered meanings embedded within the works themselves lead the viewer towards an artistic experience of consummate depth, thanks to the relationships between the theme and the artworks being displayed at the same time. This curatorial approach is also the basis for the title of the 21st Biennale of Sydney, SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement. It recalls the ancient natural Asian philosophy of yin and yang, and Wu Xing, the five elements. The relationship between yin and yang as symbolised by the taiji diagram is not a binary one, but rather a mutually interdependent one between contrasting elements. By maintaining a variable power relationship depending on what is required, an equilibrium between all things is upheld. This principle applies to all binary relationships that seem at first glance to be oppositional: sun and moon, man and woman, spring and autumn, and so on.

For the title of the 21st Biennale of Sydney, ‘superposition’, is borrowed from the term in quantum theory that is used to refer to a state of uncertainty and complementarity, which embodies multiple possibilities. By utilising differences in a complementary way, instead of simplifying and unifying complex or incompatible phenomena, can we move towards a moment in which the entire world can find a point of equilibrium?

The theory of Wu Xing, which is intimately connected to the philosophy of yin and yang, holds that five major elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water) make up the universe and are by turns generative and destructive, thereby maintaining an overall equilibrium [fig 1]. This condition applies to

Going further, how can we create a deeper and more emotional involvement with individual events and happenings, even as we take a panoramic

view of this world at a cosmic distance? Although these too are contradictory experiments, the complementarity between ‘equilibrium’ and ‘engagement’ is linked by ‘superposition’.

Fig 1. Wu Xing diagram.

Perspectives on nature from different cultures are also derived from ‘responding to the land’. In this respect, the position of Australia is particularly fascinating. As a modern country, Australia is divided into six federated states and two territories. For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, this continent is made up of several hundred nations and language groups. Each place name, mountain and river has an original name different to the one given to it after British colonisation. Songs, sand paintings and body paintings are some of the traditional forms of artistic expression among the Aboriginal people. In fact, these paintings are maps that depict sacred sites, water sources and underground streams, and countries where the souls of ancestors reside, for those who follow a hunter-gatherer way of life – a form of knowledge of the land that has been handed down without written language. For Indigenous peoples, these ‘footprints of the ancestors’ or ‘Way of the Law’ are known as ‘Songlines’ or ‘Dream-tracks’.11

Although the philosophy of Wu Xing describes ‘cosmic orders’, there are subtle differences between various interpretations of how the universe is structured and the basic elements that comprise it, depending on the particular era, civilisation and religious viewpoint. Today, while fields such as astronomy and physics undertake a scientific search for a cosmic order, there are indigenous cultures and religious systems around the world that have simultaneously inherited a unique set of traditional interpretations. ‘Cosmic orders’ are also applicable to ‘perception of nature’. Eastern cultures view human beings as part of that nature – a statement that is often heard, but no less true. Much of the nature of this relationship depends on the climate and vernacular culture of each region, I believe. The Japanese philosopher Tetsuro Watsuji, in his book Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study, addresses the relationship between climate and perspectives on nature and the formation of identity. In a sense, this book was Watsuji’s attempt to explore the notion of climate and culture not just as a natural environment, but as a mode of self-understanding engraved onto the psychological makeup of human beings.

Due to historical and political circumstances, differing interpretations of the earth have led to multiple assertions of ownership that come into conflict with each other. While there are countless instances around the world of overlapping claims of ownership over a single space, the association here is of ‘human histories and conditions’. Over the

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

In fact, where different interpretations of ideology, thought and cultural and religious values, to historical exegesis and territorial and land rights overlap, society is caught in an uncertain, unstable state of contradiction, in which no solution leading to widespread agreement can be obtained. We see these complexities and difficulties on a daily basis, at all levels. Often the problem is left as it is, and the solution adopted is to not make any effort to resolve it. In order to reflect this state of worldly affairs within the Biennale, I organised ‘superpositions’ to be found in different hierarchies, fields and social structures according to six perspectives, with the diagram illustrating the theory of the five elements: cosmic orders; perception of nature; responding to the land; human histories and conditions; engaging communities; and meanings of abstractions [fig 2]. In fact, Sydney proved to be a particularly appropriate and extremely fertile location for understanding these categories as a microcosm of the world, from the perspective of its historical, geographical and social position.

21st Biennale of Sydney

artist a simple representation of the five major elements found in the theory of Wu Xing, nor a straightforward illustration of the theme. Rather, I looked forward to how they would take the theme of SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement and deploy it like dashi. By allowing it to infiltrate the entire Biennale, the essence of each artwork would be extracted, and its strength and presence would be further enhanced as a result of its relationship with the surrounding works of art and the history of the site.

course of modernisation, people have been forced to move or relocate from their homelands due to political and religious conflicts and shifts in national boundaries and territorial rights; this process is also an important part of the historical formation of Australia.12 It is abundantly clear that this has given rise to a refugee problem that is one of the most complicated issues of our contemporary world. The act of shedding light on these alternative histories may in fact constitute a means of clarifying and resolving overlapping interpretations. The history of mankind’s endless desire, and the logic of colonial desire for power in each territorial expansion, and for resource security, are responsible for creating hierarchical structures between diverse races and peoples. In contrast, ‘engaging communities’, which is seeing a renewal of interest of late, shifts the focus from these large narratives to individual stories. Community is not just about the area in which one lives: it is produced through connections to one’s beliefs, language, culture and gender. The engagement of art and artists with community also gives verbal and visual form to its defining issues through artistic intervention, releasing them into the space outside that community, and providing a platform for sharing them.

Resonating with the magnetism of the exhibition space For the 21st Biennale of Sydney, a total of seven exhibition spaces were used: our five Exhibition Partners, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Carriageworks, Cockatoo Island and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, as well as two Venue Partners, the Sydney Opera House and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Each location had a particular magnetism produced by its unique history, or the specific spatial characteristics of the facility. The actual, physical placement of each artwork was decided in consideration of its necessity to that particular place, and how it resonated with the magnetism of the site. Efforts were made not to stipulate specific themes for each venue, but rather to leverage the uniqueness of the site by interweaving the six perspectives described previously while varying their relative importance according to the space.

In addition, turning from history and political circumstances to art itself allows us to see multiple layers of interpretations. One of these, to which I paid special attention in the 21st Biennale of Sydney, was ‘meanings of abstraction’. Narrowly defined, ‘abstraction’, as represented by Abstract Expressionism, has given non-figurative forms of artistic expression a firm genealogy within the history of modern and contemporary art. Originally, the term ‘abstraction’ referred to the act of extracting the essential character of objects or phenomena. At a time when multiple art histories are being reassessed, there is no doubt great significance will be attached to the act of questioning the abstraction and symbols seen in various civilisations and cultures, and their meaning.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, for example, has been an Exhibition Partner of the Biennale since 1976. During the period when the Biennale did not have an independent office, the Gallery was a central location and its curators played a key role in helping to realise the event. As noted above, the Biennale of Sydney archives, which were donated in 2015 to the National Art Archive, are housed at the Gallery, making it a site that has truly existed in tandem with the Biennale’s history. As the Gallery’s collection includes works that have been acquired from past Biennale editions, I decided to also exhibit works from the collection that would resonate with the nature of the archive display in a bid to reconsider the meaning of abstraction in art history. Emphasis was also given to the nature of the documentation held in the archives, and revisiting the history of the human condition. The Museum of Contemporary Art

Ultimately, the artists invited to participate in the 21st Biennale of Sydney were chosen in consideration of the contradictions and multiple opposing viewpoints that dwell within their worldview, the way in which these resonate with the multiple viewpoints described above, the way in which multidimensional and exhaustive research forms the basis of their artistic production, and the way in which they maintain very high aesthetic standards. I did not expect from each

Cosmic Orders Meanings of Abstractions

Perceptions of Nature Biennale of Sydney Archive

Engaging Communities

Human Histories and Conditions

Fig 2. Curatorial diagram of the 21st Biennale of Sydney by Mami Kataoka.

Australia, on the other hand, which opened in 1991 and is the largest contemporary art museum in the country, has served as an Exhibition Partner of the Biennale since 1998. By making the Museum free of charge in 2000, it has dramatically expanded access to contemporary art for a wider, more diverse audience. The resonance with the white cube space that we attempted to achieve here came from a group of contrasting artworks â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a confrontation between pieces that took their cue from a minimalist aesthetic or stoicism, and pieces that radiated an overwhelming sense of energy as a result of their painstaking manual labour. Ultimately, artworks that related to the labour of women played a large role. In order to construct a relationship with the Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history, three pieces were chosen from the MCA Collection.13

of exhibitions with a profound international perspective and criticality. In order to establish a rapport with this innovative curatorial approach, a dense, heavy exhibition that condensed the overarching theme of the Biennale was conceived, even though Artspace is one of the smaller venues of the seven. Above all, a sense of uncertainty and ambiguity was projected onto the entire exhibition as a whole, to demonstrate the idea that the part is also a whole. 4A Centre for Contemporary Art, another small venue, is an important space that has played an active role in introducing audiences to Asian contemporary art. It became an indispensable venue, the use of which expressed my respect for its activities, while also serving to extend the reach of the diverse communities and networks that have already made considerable inroads.14

Artspace was founded in 1983 as an artist-run space partly with the support of Franco BelgiornoNettis. Today, it is known for its energetic program

Carriageworks, which opened its doors in 2010 as the largest multi-arts centre of its kind in

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Responding to the Land

21st Biennale of Sydney

the country, has served as one of the Biennale’s Exhibition Partners since 2012. Spanning a massive area of some 5000 square metres, this former railyard conveys something of its history as an industrial remnant to the present. Inspiration from this space resonated with my visit to Uluru and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory in April 2017 together with four artists (Anya Gallaccio, Laurent Grasso, Rika Noguchi and Haegue Yang), where we experienced the vastness of the earth.15 The overwhelming dimensions of this territory, space , which far surpasses the scale of human beings or our cities, put one in mind of invisible energies, geology and issues of land ownership. In order to maintain this sense of scale in the open, overwhelming space of Carriageworks, I exhibited a limited number of large-scale artworks without the use of temporary walls as partitions. By controlling lighting across the space, we were able to give each artwork the possibility of remaining autonomous while resonating with the other works.

The final venue was the Sydney Opera House, which also served as the venue for the inaugural edition of the Biennale of Sydney in 1973. The Exhibition Hall that was used at the time is no longer in existence, and there is currently no location that is suited to the long-term exhibition of artworks. Accordingly, instead of seeking to create a physical exhibition here, I decided to give priority to non-material, ephemeral experiences, using it as a venue for two intimate performance pieces that responded to the incomparable architectural space of the Opera House, as well as the now infamous fate of its architect, Jørn Utzon. Chemical reactions that arise from mutually interdependent artworks Although descriptions of each exhibited artwork can be found on the individual pages of this catalogue, I would like to use this space to outline a few examples of the mutual relationships between works, and the all-encompassing relationships evident in a panoramic view of the Biennale.

Cockatoo Island, the largest of the seven venues and the largest island in Sydney Harbour, is accessible via a 30-minute ferry ride along the Parramatta River from Circular Quay. Cockatoo Island is a veritable condensation of Australia’s history. It was known as Waremah among the people of the Eora Nation. Following British colonisation, the construction of a convict prison by the prisoners themselves began in 1839, before the island became a shipbuilding facility for the Royal Navy. After the convicts were transferred to another location in 1870, the island was deployed for multiple purposes: until World War II, it functioned as a facility for shipbuilding and repairs, and a navy base. In 2010, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with ten other historic convict sites in Australia. Although Cockatoo Island only became a venue for the Biennale in 2008,16 it has been an indispensable ‘magnetic field’ for the event, serving as a vestigial space that conveys to the present something of the history of Australia’s colonisation and industrialisation, while also facilitating an artistic experience that is quite different to that of a museum setting. For Cockatoo Island, I intentionally chose artworks concerned with issues of displacement and forced migration, globalisation, industrial ruin and the energy industry, in consideration of the history of the site, as well as works that demonstrated the process of their creation, in light of the fact that the island was previously used as a site of production.

The uncertainty that permeates SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement is a metaphor for the current state of the world, something that is also symbolised by the fortune teller’s crystal ball alluded to by Ai Weiwei’s Crystal Ball, 2017, for instance. At a time when there are a reported 68.5 million displaced people worldwide,17 such a work evokes an awareness of this reality, perhaps even reminding the viewer that the future is uncertain for us all. The sphere is a form onto which the entire world can be projected. These forms are found in Su-Mei Tse’s Gewisse Rahmenbedingungen 3 (A Certain Frame Work 3), Altes Museum _ Villa Farnesina _ Villa Adriana, 2015–17, Yukinori Yanagi’s Landscape with an Eye, 2018, Ryan Gander’s ‘Other Places’, 2018, or Koji Ryui’s installation of glass containers, Jamais vu, 2018, surrounded by numerous ‘superballs’, all of which contain projections or reflections of our world. This was not intentional at the time the artworks were selected, however, it was an interesting coincidence or reflection of our shared thoughts. Issues related to the treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and migration were inevitable, given both the contemporary climate and the recent history of the Biennale.18 Ai Weiwei’s 60-metre lifeboat crowded with hundreds of anonymous refugee figures, entitled Law of the Journey, 2017, shown in the former shipbuilding facility on Cockatoo Island, and quotations that outlined the history 16

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

This map attempts to represent the language, social or nation groups of Aboriginal Australia. It shows only the general locations of larger groupings of people which may include clans, dialects or individual languages in a group. It used published resources from 1988-1994 and is not intended to be exact, nor the boundaries fixed. It is not suitable for native title or other land claims. David R Horton (creator) © Aboriginal Studies Press, AIATSIS, 1996. No reproduction without permission. To purchase a print version visit: www.aiatsis.ashop.com.au/

of the human condition written on its platform, brought the monumental scale of the present humanitarian crisis sharply into focus. Elsewhere, other artists reflected on their own refugee and migrant histories as a means to examine the current global climate. Tiffany Chung addressed the history of Vietnamese refugees, particularly pertinent in an Australian context given the mass migration of Vietnamese refugees to Australia, the first reportedly arriving in Darling Harbour by boat in 1976. Miriam Cahn’s paintings are emotive reflections on the history of forced Jewish migration, while Jun Yang’s video installation, Becoming European or How I Grew Up with Wiener

Schnitzel, 2015–ongoing, looked at China after World War II. Wathaurong Elder Marlene Gilson’s paintings reclaim and recontextualise historic events, including the landing of the First Fleet and the Eureka Stockade. Akira Takayama captured a moment in time, inspired by Australia’s cultural complexity and migrant history, by deploying an urban space as his theatre and inviting local community members to be the participants. The project, staged in Sydney Town Hall, invited citizens of Greater Sydney to sing songs and recite poetry in their native language as a tribute to the souls of their ancestors. More than 40 languages were heard from around 70 participants, brilliantly

21st Biennale of Sydney

highlighting the diversity of the history and culture of this region. Community engagement is an objective that is rather difficult to accomplish within the framework of a biennale. For Ciara Phillips’ Workshop, 2010– ongoing, which transformed the first floor of the MCA into a printing workshop, the artist spent six weeks in Sydney holding continuous workshops that fostered a deep involvement with five communities and groups, including Liverpool Girls’ High School, Jessie Street National Women’s Library and a group of Afghan women who came together specifically for this project under the name ‘You + Me + Women’s Screen Printing Collective’. Sydneybased artist Yasmin Smith also conducted a series of workshops where visitors were invited to create a ceramic vessel, which could be used to harvest salt from Parramatta River as part of a developing ceramic installation, while Jun Yang’s video installation space at 4A hosted regular gatherings of local residents, ensuring that the Biennale received a continuous infusion of energy. Works that took a long-term involvement with various communities were also highlighted. Renzo Martens, who is partly based in Africa’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, produced a new video work together with the Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), which seeks to contribute to the local economy while making strategic use of the global art market, together with the Congoleseborn rap musician Baloji. The beauty and power of Martens’ MTV-style imagery and sound, as well as the self-confidence and dignity that underlie it, stirred viewers at a deeply emotional level. Suzanne Lacy’s The Circle and the Square, 2017, produced over a period of two years, is also a work that was completed in collaboration with migrant labourers from the northeast of England. The chorus of powerful voices comprising Sufi chants and Christian hymns impressed on the viewer the complex history of the region’s industry, society and economy and the tortuous nature of human emotion. Works focused on elements of human labour and manual work, especially by women, and the process of creation were displayed primarily at the MCA and on Cockatoo Island. For Aboriginal artists like Esme Timbery, Yvonne Koolmatrie and the members of the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, artistic practices overlap with the very lives of these women, imbuing their work with an overwhelming power. Marc Bauer’s mural drawings and ceramic installations

speak to themes of manual work and labour, as well as the labour conditions of women working in ceramic factories in the south of France, while Lisa Lou’s beautifully intricate bead works are infused and stained with the natural oils of the hands of women who worked with the artist in her studio in South Africa. Measurements, numbers and sketches left visible on Tawatchai Puntusawasdi’s metal sculptures, made entirely by hand, convey something of his working process to the viewer. Anya Gallaccio’s innovative sculptures made using a giant 3D printer suspended from a gantry crane, at once driven by a precise code but simultaneously at the mercy of the variability of the clay material and the environment of an historical site, is a public process of trial and error, and the time and passion expended on it are also an important part of the final work. A spectrum of changing natural light projected onto Mit Jai Inn’s sculptural paintings, created a display that seemed as if his Chiang Mai studio had been wholly relocated to Cockatoo Island. The order in which these works were to be displayed was most carefully considered, so that viewers would feel as if one artwork was leading to the next experience, in an endless sequence, as they moved from one venue to the next. Efforts were also made to allocate works so that similar experiences and contrasting perspectives were offered to the viewer in a way that transcended each venue. Although there is not enough space here to address every single work, unfortunately, I hope that readers will be able to sense the diversity of connections between them from the installation photographs in the pages of this catalogue, which have been arranged according to the order in which the works were displayed. After the Biennale of Sydney Reflecting on the 21st Biennale of Sydney two months after it has closed, it is an unexpected joy that its invisible, dashi-like curatorial approach, which typically goes unnoticed, managed to resonate with so many people and be so warmly received. Total visitation exceeded 850,000, the highest level in the Biennale’s 45-year history. I imagine that this was also due to the sensibilities of local audiences that have been finely honed by generations of Biennale exhibitions. It also goes without saying that this approach was enhanced by the stellar artworks presented by each of the participating artists.

1 This essay is dedicated to my mother, who travelled to Sydney to visit the Biennale and passed away in late June, and my father-in-law, who passed away after the Biennale opened.

At the conclusion of every edition of the Biennale of Sydney, indeed of every periodic exhibition, it is important for the citizenry it serves and the wider art community to debate its raison d’etre and what its continued significance might be. The environment surrounding the Biennale of Sydney has changed dramatically from what it was 45 years ago, and Sydney’s position in the global contemporary art ecosystem has shifted with the growing Asian economy and fundamental social changes. It is a tribute to the strong will and involvement of its founder, Franco Belgiorno-Nettis, and his family, that the Biennale of Sydney has been sustained for more than four decades as it transitioned from a private initiative to a public institution.

The Biennale of Sydney Archive is one of the largest collections in the National Art Archive at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The process of digitising the collection has begun thanks to the talented archivists at the Gallery. This invaluable resource, a tribute to the passion of those who were involved in each edition of the Biennale of Sydney, consists of a massive amount of material, including official proceedings of the Biennale office, press releases, artists’ letters, plan drawings, and newspaper and magazine articles. For me, the display of important materials from the Biennale of Sydney Archive as an integral part of the 21st Biennale of Sydney demonstrated the possibilities of exhibiting the contents of an archive.

Biennale of Sydney press release, March 1973.

Biennale of Sydney press release, 27 June 1973.

5 Gough Whitlam, then prime minister of Australia, made an address during the opening ceremony. Footage of the ceremony can be viewed on the Transfield website. 6

Between 1973 and 1989, the Biennale took place every three years.

Formed in Sydney in 1951, the Society of Sculptors and Associates was based at the Sculpture Centre, The Rocks, from 1972. Today, the group is known as the Sculptors Society. 7

Biographical details: John Bunguwuy (c1922–82), Gupapuyngu language group, Arnhem Land; Dr David Malangi (1927–99), born Glyde River, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, died Yathalamarra, Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Manyarrngu language group, Arnhem Land; George Milpurrurru (1934–98), Gurrumba Gurrumba clan, Ganalbiŋu language, Yirritja moiety. Both Malangi and Milpurrurru also collaborated on The Aboriginal Memorial, a group of 200 log coffins to commemorate all the Aboriginal people who, since 1788, have lost their lives defending their land. It was first exhibited at the 7th Biennale of Sydney in 1988 and is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, where it remains on permanent display.

Peter Yates, craft adviser, Ramingining Clive Society, Penny Tweedie, Creative Arts Fellows, ANU, Canberra, European Dialogue, 3rd Biennale of Sydney 1979, A Commentary, 1979.

10 Many Asian artists were previously selected by Australian or European artistic directors. An early example is the second Biennale, where attention was already given to artists from the Pacific Rim including Japan, South Korea, the West Coast of the US, and New Zealand. 11

I will remember the 21st Biennale of Sydney all my days and hope that those who were a part of its whole will similarly recall with pleasure its dashi taste and deep, rich, slightly savoury flavour.

Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, 1987.

With respect to this, I initially wanted to raise the consciousness of the viewer by using the Hyde Park Barracks Museum as a venue. The museum contains maps tracking the movements of prisoners, one of which notes: ‘… the British sent 166,000 convict men, women and children to Australia between 1788 and 1868. The 24,500-kilometre journey from the United Kingdom to Australia took four to eight months. More than 960 ships conveyed convicts to Australia. Most landed their human cargo in Sydney or Hobart.’ 12

I am thankful for the advice of the Museum’s Chief Curator Rachel Kent in selecting works from the MCA Collection.

Mami Kataoka Artistic Director of the 21st Biennale of Sydney

14 Thanks to the director of 4A, Mikala Tai, I was fortunate to receive much support from participating artist Khaled Sabsabi for my research on the Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lebanese and Chinese communities in Western Sydney. 15 I am grateful for the substantial and spiritual advice I received from Brook Andrew, Wesley Enoch, Christopher Hodges, Djon Mundine, Michelle Newton and Hetti Perkins with regard to my research on the Central Desert and understanding of Aboriginal culture and history.

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, artistic director of the 16th Biennale of Sydney, visited the island while crossing the Parramatta River, even though it was closed to the public at the time. After a long process, she was allowed to use the island as one of the exhibition venues.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, www.unhcr.org.

In 2014, the later stages of preparations of the 19th Biennale of Sydney were marked by controversy and an artist boycott when nine artists initially withdrew from the exhibition in protest of the relationship of Transfield Services (a subsidiary company of the Biennale’s Founding Patrons, Transfield Holdings) to the Australian Government’s off-shore detention centres. Seven of those artists would later agree to present their work.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

I believe that the Biennale of Sydney is a rich platform for demonstrating the criticality of contemporary art towards politics, society, history and humanity, one on which the diversity of the contemporary world is projected, where various value systems embodied by myriad nationalities, ethnicities, genders, religions and cultures may coexist. It is my sincere wish that the Biennale of Sydney will continue to play a vital role in the future, while embracing its history.

21st Biennale of Sydney

Art Gallery of New South Wales Artspace Carriageworks Cockatoo Island Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Sydney Opera House

21st Biennale of Sydney

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

21st Biennale of Sydney

Artists

Julian Abraham ‘Togar’

206

Marjolijn Dijkman

150

Eija-Liisa Ahtila

Lili Dujourie

Ai Weiwei

76, 230

Luciano Fabro

Brook Andrew

134

Sam Falls

110

Sydney Ball

Marco Fusinato

Marc Bauer

166

Anya Gallaccio

216

Oliver Beer

72, 196

Ryan Gander

256

Michaël Borremans

Geng Xue

Miriam Cahn

Simryn Gill

156, 182

Francisco Camacho Herrera

Marlene Gilson

Tanya Goel

Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens

Laurent Grasso

114

Chen Shaoxiong

N.S. Harsha

Tiffany Chung

Chia-Wei Hsu

138

Abraham Cruzvillegas

200

Ami Inoue

244

Roy de Maistre

Mit Jai Inn

212

Sosa Joseph

144

Jacob Kirkegaard

176

Yvonne Koolmatrie

Dimitar Solakov

272

Michael Stevenson

100

Svay Sareth

164

Rayyane Tabet

194

Akira Takayama

124

Maria Taniguchi

190

Esme Timbery

146

George Tjungurrayi

118

Su-Mei Tse

248

Martin Walde

210

Roy Wiggan

Riet Wijnen

Nicole Wong

178

Wong Hoy Cheong

260

Yukinori Yanagi

204, 234

Haegue Yang

172

Jun Yang

122

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists

160

Samson Young

158 268

Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen

152

Liza Lou

186

Nicholas Mangan

254

Prabhavathi Meppayil

Kate Newby

32, 250

Nguyen Trinh Thi

108

Tom Nicholson

140

Noguchi Rika

Ciara Phillips

130

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi

220

Koji Ryui

224

Sa Sa Art Projects

Khaled Sabsabi

266

Semiconductor

68, 106

Yasmin Smith

238

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Suzanne Lacy

Art Gallery of New South Wales Established in 1871, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is the leading museum of art in New South Wales and one of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost cultural institutions. It presents nearly 30 exhibitions annually, drawing on significant collections of Australian, European and Asian art. The Art Gallery of New South Wales has been a traditional and primary Exhibition Partner of the Biennale of Sydney since 1976.

Roy Wiggan Born 1930 on Sunday Island, Western Australia Died 2015 in Broome, Western Australia Bardi

21st Biennale of Sydney

Bardi elder Roy Wiggan was a senior custodian of the traditional stories and songs of his people and a maker of ilma. Bardi people are saltwater people whose country is located to the north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula. Navigating the hundreds of rocky islands that litter the blue waters of the Buccaneer Archipelago on rafts constructed from mangrove branches, Bardi people have a deep connection to the ocean and its diverse marine life. The term â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ilmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; refers both to ceremonies performed by Bardi people and hand-held objects used to teach stories, songs and law. The designs for ilma often refer to physical entities such as animals or plants, as well as meteorological occurrences and oceanic phenomena, though they also embody more complex metaphysical concepts. Traditionally made from bark, ochre, native cotton and feathers, contemporary ilma also incorporate plywood, acrylic paint and cotton wool. The appearance and purpose for ilma, including the stories, songs and choreography associated with each object, are delivered to their makers in dreams or visions by the spirits of both the unborn and the deceased, known as rai. The designs for Wigganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ilma were often brought to him by the spirit of his father, Henry Wiggan. Many reference an incident in which Henry was swept out to sea when his mangrove-branch raft was destroyed. Alone and adrift in the Indian Ocean, he miraculously survived for three days before being delivered to the safety of Sunday Island by the tides. Though ilma are not made for the purpose of exhibition, Wiggan chose to allow his ilma to be shown in the interest of preserving the cultural heritage of his people. A strong community leader, Wiggan was an advocate for passing on knowledge and encouraging younger generations to learn traditional practices, creating a bridge between the past and the future.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Roy Wiggan, Ilma, 1994 Roy Wiggan. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Prabhavathi Meppayil Born 1965 in Bangalore, India Lives and works in Bangalore

21st Biennale of Sydney

Prabhavathi Meppayil’s practice is inspired by an appreciation of the simplicity and purity of objects and materials. Drawing on her family’s long history working as goldsmiths in Bangalore, Meppayil often reinterprets and repurposes traditional techniques, tools and resources in her work. Displacing the intended use of materials or objects, Meppayil realigns them with postwar minimalist art to examine modernist notions of abstraction, juxtaposed with artistry, craft and tradition. Using repetition, a reduced colour palette, and simple forms, shapes and materials, Meppayil creates deceptively austere works that belie the painstaking, labour-intensive processes involved in their production. Working predominantly on wooden panels, the artist employs gesso – a preparatory medium comprising a binder mixed with gypsum or chalk used to ready canvases for painting – as a primary material. Meppayil covers the surface with up to fifteen layers of gesso, allowing each coat several hours to dry between applications. Once the desired thickness is achieved, Meppayil interrupts the surface in different ways, in some instances using a thinnam, a delicate tool used in goldsmithing to mark or stamp a metal surface, to create a series of repetitious marks. The use of traditional tools which are essentially geometric in form is the focal point of sb/eighteen, 2018. The wall-based installation consists of a gessocovered object and 875 found iron, copper and brass tools, conventionally used by goldsmiths in the application of their craft. The individual objects are carefully assembled on the pristine white wall, arranged in a pattern suggesting a low-relief grid that alludes to postwar abstraction and minimalist art where geometric structures were often used to facilitate non-hierarchical methods of organisation. By taking objects that are commonly used in the process of artisanal manufacture and presenting them as aesthetic, sculptural forms, Meppayil liberates the implements from their intended use, while also retaining vestiges of their individual histories.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Prabhavathi Meppayil, sb/eighteen, 2018

Lili Dujourie Born 1941 in Roeselare, Belgium Lives and works in Lovendegem, Belgium

21st Biennale of Sydney

Throughout an artistic career spanning more than 50 years, Flemish artist Lili Dujourie has worked across a broad range of mediums, but is perhaps best known for works that balance in the space between sculpture and painting. Many of Dujourie’s early works critiqued the social and political climate of the 1960s and 1970s, while her later works reference cultural and art historical influences. Her practice has engaged with an extensive catalogue of materials, including textiles, marble, plaster, papier-mâché, ceramics and metal, creating artworks that test the nature of each substance in both a literal and allegorical sense. Dujourie’s experimentation with the use of nontraditional materials is evident in American Imperialism, 1972/2018, prominently presented in the Grand Court at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Appearing in a number of incarnations since its inception, American Imperialism consists of a onecentimetre-thick sheet of steel that appears to lean nonchalantly against a wall painted vibrant red. Directly behind the expanse of metal, and visible only from a certain angle, the wall remains bare and unpainted, suggesting that which is hidden or absent. The title, American Imperialism, voices the artist’s critical opinion of both the American dominance of the minimalist sculpture movement and American foreign policy in the 1970s, targeting the nation’s ulterior motives and deliberate obfuscation of dealings with South America and Vietnam. Dujourie was a participant in the 1988 Biennale of Sydney, presenting Untitled, 1987, a water sculpture/ fountain installation, and L’Aurore, 1987, a sculpture made from marble and plaster.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Lili Dujourie, American Imperialism, 1972/2018

Kate Newby Born 1979 in Auckland, New Zealand Lives and works in New York, USA and Auckland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Kate Newby’s works are intrinsically tied to place, responding attentively to their immediate surroundings. The artist is neither concerned with permanence nor the enclosed work of art, presenting works that are often in indistinguishable from their context. Though firmly grounded in sculpture, Newby’s practice rejects the medium’s traditional reliance on the autonomous object, instead emphasising the spatial relations between things. Newby creates intimate encounters that call us to engage with the present moment and focus in on affect and sensation. In the past, the artist has placed hand-held objects in the pockets of gallery attendants, created a pothole at the end of a track on a remote island, and invited audiences to skip handmade ceramic stones across the surface of a body of water. At the Art Gallery of New South Wales the artist presents a sculptural wind chime, I’m actually weirdly exciting, 2018. A series of sticklike objects strung closely together and suspended from the ceiling over an empty void, the individual components resemble stalactites or geological formations shaped over thousands of years. Visible from the Entrance Court, the work is activated by surrounding conditions in the space – a gust of wind or the movement of bodies through the gallery might cause the components to sway or even collide, producing a gentle tinkling sound. In this way, the work is both a response to and result of its site. Descending from the Entrance Court to the Lower Galleries via the escalator, the viewer experiences a moving colour spectrum moving through chalky whites, subdued blues, soft yellows and red ochres. I’m actually weirdly exciting transforms a seemingly impenetrable institutional context to a set of elemental conditions susceptible to manipulation.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Kate Newby, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m actually weirdly exciting, 2018

Francisco Camacho Herrera Born 1979 in Bogotá, Colombia Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

21st Biennale of Sydney

Francisco Camacho Herrera’s practice takes a deliberately political stance, operating at the nexus between social activism and participatory art. Using art as a platform for social change, Camacho’s works achieve real-world outcomes that impact communities in original and inventive ways. Camacho Herrera presents his video project, Parallel Narratives, 2015–17. Initially presented in two chapters at Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, 2014, and in ‘Towards Mysterious Realities’ at TKG+ in Taipei, 2016–17, Parallel Narratives hypothesises that Chinese sailors crossed the Pacific Ocean and had contact with American societies before the arrival of the Spanish. Observing the similarities between artefacts from pre-Hispanic America and Chinese antiquities and comparable technologies adopted by the different cultures, Camacho Herrera challenges accepted notions of history, reimagining it as non-linear; a fluid and changeable region of our memory and collective unconscious. In August 2017 Camacho Herrera travelled to Bogotá, Colombia, to conduct further research and capture new footage that has been incorporated into the existing film, creating a new, extended version of the video for the 21st Biennale of Sydney. Situated in the Lower Asian gallery at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the work creates a dialogue with the existing collection display. Camacho Herrera has also created a ceramic piece representing a shaman in lotus position, referencing similar figurines which the artist viewed during his research in Bogotá. Camacho Herrera displays this piece alongside a ceramic work that he has selected from the Asian collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, identifying cross-cultural resonances between representations of spiritual beings, and challenging the ways in which we access memory. Alongside the video, Camacho Herrera conducted workshops where participants were invited to revisit the ancient art of memory or mnemotechnics, asking participants to consider how memory is entwined in the production and imagination of ideas.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Francisco Camacho Herrera, left to right: Untitled, 2017; Parallel Narratives, 2015â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17; Guanyin, bodhisattva of compassion, seated on a lotus, late 17thâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;early 18th century

Luciano Fabro Born 1936 in Turin, Italy Died 2007 in Milan, Italy

21st Biennale of Sydney

Conceptual artist and writer Luciano Fabro was dedicated to redefining the expressive potential of sculpture through the use of a variety of materials, both traditional and non-traditional, challenging the creative possibilities of the medium. Alongside his determined reinterpretation of the sculptural form, Fabro was interested in the architecture of space; creating works that investigated the relationship between an artwork and its surrounding spatial field. Fabro was regarded as one of the key proponents of Arte Povera, a radical Italian movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Coined by Italian art critic and curator Germano Celant in 1967, Arte Povera, translating literally to ‘poor art’, refers to the broad range of everyday objects and simple materials used to make artworks, moving beyond the boundaries and constraints of traditional mediums. Fabro never completely accepted his association with Arte Povera, although his use of commonplace resources and some of the ideas explored in his work, such as the amalgamation of natural and manufactured materials and the use of space as a component of communication, aligned with precepts of the movement. Fabro’s Every Order is Contemporaneous of Every Other Order: Four Ways of Examining the Façade of the SS. Redentore in Venice, 1972, was created in the year preceding the inaugural Biennale of Sydney. Comprising a screen-printed line drawing in four parts, the work was inspired by Convivio (The Banquet), c. 1304, an unfinished text in which author Dante Alighieri explores ideas relating to ethics, politics and philosophy. Within the four trattati or books, Dante provides distinct frameworks for interpreting an artwork: the literal, the allegorical, the moral and the anagogical. In alignment with Dante’s instructions, Fabro presents four possible readings of the architectural elements of the façade of the Non Basilica del Santissimo Redentore, a sixteenth-century Roman Catholic church located in the sestiere of Dorsoduro, Venice.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Luciano Fabro, Every Order is Contemporaneous of Every Other Order: Four Ways of Examining the Faรงade of the SS. Redentore in Venice, 1972

Sa Sa Art Projects

21st Biennale of Sydney

Not-for-profit artist-run space founded in 2010 by the Stiev Selapak collective Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Sa Sa Art Projects was established in 2010 by Cambodian art collective Stiev Selapak in response to the absence of a not-for-profit, artist-run space embracing diverse and experimental art practices. The current active co-founders include Khvay Samnang, Lim Sokchanlina and Vuth Lyno, supported by former students and local residents. Sa Sa Art Projects occupied a space in the White Building (originally the Municipal Apartments), a post-independence, social housing complex built in 1963, part of the visionary public and cultural district Bassac Riverfront, a larger project overseen by Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann. The White Building was re-occupied by artists after the Khmer Rouge regime, and the neighbourhood grew into a vibrant community of more than 500 households, before the building was demolished in 2017. Sa Sa Art Projects maintains the White Building Art Archive and online database, which collects visual and audio materials produced by art and media students and former residents, as well as selected works created in collaboration with local and international artists. Selected videos created for the Archive are displayed alongside photographs from Samnang’s series ‘Human Nature’ in which masked figures, all residents of the White Building, are pictured inhabiting intimate domestic spaces. Lyno’s Light Voice, 2015, re-creates the White Building’s chaotic atmosphere, comprising a LED light and speaker broadcasting Bayon Radio, 95.0 FM, a local station that can be frequently heard in the building. The installation is activated by visitors’ movement throughout the space. Playing Archive, 2015–ongoing, includes contributions from collaborators, artists, students and residents of the White Building, who have selected materials from the Archive in combination with other online content to compose individual narratives. Pen Sereypagna’s architectural project, Genealogy of Bassac, 2015–ongoing, focuses on the changing physical form of the White Building over time through a mapping process that registers the historical shifts affecting the Bassac Riverfront area. The human impacts of these transitional moments are explored in interviews with three former residents of the Building. 40

Participating artists: Khvay Samnang Lim Sokchanlina Vuth Lyno Pen Sereypagna Additional contributions from collaborators, artists, students and residents of the White Building

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 38–39) Sa Sa Art Projects. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (p. 41, clockwise from top left) Khvay Samnang, Human Nature, 2010–11 Khvay Samnang, Human Nature, 2010–11 Sa Sa Art Projects. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Sa Sa Art Projects. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Eija-Liisa Ahtila Born 1959 in Hämeenlinna, Finland Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a visual artist and filmmaker noted for her experimental approach to narrative storytelling. Since 2005, Ahtila has been working with eco-cinematic themes. Her concerns have shifted towards rethinking the nature of drama and narrating beyond the anthropocentric perspective. Ahtila’s installation, POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018, deals with the potential for empathy and love towards other living beings. It turns attention to those human emotions that could serve as a foundation for dismantling the hierarchical structures between living things, thereby engendering a turn towards non-humans and the recognition of others. The work explores the origins of these emotions, how we define them and conceive of their function as part of a larger continuum of living beings. The first element of the installation combines sculpture with moving image to focus attention on the point where love is born. Using a fragmented image of LED modules, it recreates an image of a distant memory – of mother and the primal unity. It touches upon the memory of loss and distance, the moment when the possibility for love that rests as potentiality first emerges. The second element asks whether our love and empathy is reserved only for our own kind, or whether we are capable of extending these feelings towards other living beings as well. This question is approached by creating a situation that asks what it is to be a human and how the other is constructed in our culture. In the space, there is a modified situation featuring a setup similar to that used in mirror-box treatments. In Ahtila’s piece, however, the mirror is replaced by a thin LED monitor showing the arm of another primate. The third element approaches the theme by a vertical projection of a primate. The chimpanzee’s back is turned as she looks towards a space beyond that is only partially visible to the viewer. Intermittently, the chimpanzee turns her body to face and meet eyes with the onlooker.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 42–43 & 45) Eija-Liisa Ahtila, POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018

N.S. Harsha Born 1969 in Mysore, India Lives and works in Mysore

21st Biennale of Sydney

N.S. Harsha’s attention to locally specific events provides a way in to examining issues relating to globalisation, cultural transformation, socioeconomic disparity and labour relations. Reclaiming the inner space, 2018, is a wall-mounted installation constructed from a series of handcarved wooden elephants sandwiched between a layer of unfolded cardboard packaging and acrylic mirror. The unprinted side of the packaging facing the viewer is covered in a metaphorical representation of the cosmos and its aggregation of planets, stars, dust and gas. Exploring the way in which global phenomena can be traced to a local moment, Harsha’s installation alternates between macro- and microcosmic situations to address rapid modernisation, mass production and consumerism or ‘consumeraj’ – a term conceived by the artist to refer to the British Raj’s social and institutional impact on Indian society – as well as our changing relationship to nature. Having regularly visited the same market in Mysore since his childhood, Harsha witnessed first-hand the rise of supermarkets in the city, resulting in drastic changes in food habits and cultural practices. The artist now spends time wandering through grocery store aisles, observing the brightly coloured packaging on display. Harsha treats these spaces as sources of inspiration; occupying the position of a detached onlooker, he is a consumer of a different kind. Harsha’s inclusion of packaging materials draws attention to globalisation that threatens to dilute regional diversity. The carved wooden elephants refer to the ornamental objects one can find in Indian souvenir stores, but also allude to the wider significance of elephants in Indian culture. Recalling elephant processions involved in Mysore Dasara festivities, a major annual Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navratri every year, the elephants also represent the natural world, carrying the ‘weight’ of human interventions into the environment. Harsha reveals an inward-looking world, caught between an increasingly self-referential globalised culture and the greater cosmos beyond.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 46â&#x20AC;&#x201C;47 & 49) N.S. Harsha, Reclaiming the inner space, 2018

Samson Young Born 1979 in Hong Kong Lives and works in Hong Kong

21st Biennale of Sydney

Samson Young’s practice centres upon an attempt to re-present and re-interpret lost or overlooked events of socio-political and personal significance. Young has produced a new video and 12-channel sound installation, as part of his ongoing series ‘Muted Situations’, 2014–ongoing. The series foregrounds the masked or unobserved moments that take place in our everyday experience. By consciously ‘muting’ the sonic foreground, the less-commonly noticed layers are revealed. Young has written a series of short instructional texts describing hypothetical situations, a few of which he has already staged, to draw attention to unnoticed sounds. Numbered from one to twenty-two, this expanding set of scenarios range from ‘Muted Dance Party’, ‘Muted Non-Violent Protest’ to ‘Muted Taoist Funeral Ritual of Hell-breaking’. In the latest iteration of the ongoing project, Muted Situation #22: Muted Tchaikovsky’s 5th, 2018, Young invites the Flora Sinfonie Orchester in Cologne to perform Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony in its entirety. The orchestra, however, has been asked to ‘mute’ the musical notes, suppressing the pitched foreground layer of the composition, and bringing forth the sounds produced by physical actions in a performance – the musicians’ focused breath, the turning of pages, or the clicking noises of the instruments’ keys. On the process of muting, Young writes: ‘[...] muting is not the same as doing nothing. Rather, the act of muting is an intensely focused re-imagination and re-construction of the auditory. It involves the conscious suppression of dominant voices, as a way to uncover the unheard and the marginalised, or to make apparent certain assumptions about hearing and sounding.’ The process has the effect of disrupting the viewer’s expectations; when the piercing shriek of a violin fails to come forth, it feels anticlimactic, ridiculous even. Young’s situational experiments reveal what is suppressed, enabling us to become aware of another layer of reality underneath the noise.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Samson Young, Muted Situations #22: Muted Tchaikovskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 5th, 2018

Miriam Cahn Born 1949 in Basel, Switzerland Lives and works in Stampa, Switzerland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Shaped by the emergence of second-wave feminism, Miriam Cahn’s artistic practice contends with the materiality of the body, asserting the basic substance of the physical form. Cahn treats figurative subjects with an abstract sensibility, using basic objects and motifs to talk about complex socio-political concerns. Despite living and working in a remote alpine region in Switzerland, Cahn’s work is very much tied to socio-political affairs. The development of Cahn’s practice has relied heavily on her physical self, driving the artist’s methods and use of media. Cahn’s large-scale charcoal drawings of the late 1970s and 1980s were produced by working directly on the floor, often without artistic implements, evading any mediative distance between technique and subject matter. Traces of this process, including fingerprints and other marks, are often visible in her works, linking the resultant image with the performative gesture. Cahn’s series of four charcoal drawings, Reading in dust, the wild love (Lesen in staub, das wilde lieben), 1984, were created in this way. Depicting scenes teeming with energy and movement, the female figures in the drawings revel in bodily experience, carrying out base actions removed from shameful or indecent associations. Motivated by impulse, Cahn’s drawings rejoice in the actuality of the human body. In the 1990s, Cahn moved towards oil painting, introducing colour into her visual vocabulary when observing the efficacy of mass-media images and advertising. Cahn’s implementation of colour is highly considered, as demonstrated in the presentation of her more recent paintings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In MARE NOSTRUM, 2015–16, Cahn applies a fleshly red to highlight the figures’ enlarged genitals, indicating fecundity and sexual potency. Links to sexuality and fertility in Cahn’s paintings are frequently denoted by the colour red, as in gezeichnet (drawn), 14.08.2016, and o.t., 07.02.2016.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Miriam Cahn. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Miriam Cahn, das shรถne blau (the beautiful blue), 13.05.17

Marlene Gilson Born 1944 in Warrnambool, Victoria Lives and works in Gordon, Victoria Wathaurung/Wadawurrung

21st Biennale of Sydney

Marlene Gilson’s multi-figure paintings work to overturn the colonial grasp on the past by reclaiming and re-contextualising the representation of historical events. Learning her Wathaurung history from her grandmother, Gilson began painting while recovering from an illness. The artist’s meticulously rendered works display a narrative richness and theatrical quality akin to the traditional genre of history painting. Gilson, however, privileges those stories relating to her ancestral land, which covers Ballarat, Werribee, Geelong, Skipton and the Otway Ranges in Victoria. Gilson shows a series of paintings depicting historical Australian events including Captain Cook’s landing at Botany Bay, 1770, and the Eureka Stockade, 3 December 1854 – a rebellion led by goldfield workers who contested the expense and administration of miners’ licences. Shifting the traditional focus of many familiar stories firmly established in the annals of Australian history, Gilson brings forth the involvement of Indigenous people in significant historical events. Jones Circus at Eureka, 2015, for instance, demonstrates Gilson’s unique merging of traditional history painting with narratives exploring the perspective of the colonised. Situated in the Ballarat diggings, the painting depicts Jones & Noble’s Circus tent, outside of which the ringmaster and several performers are shown practising their routines. Referencing a painting by Eugene von Guerard (Old Ballarat as it was in the Summer of 1853-54, 1884) from the collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Gilson places emphasis on the young Wathaurung men who were recruited for their skill as acrobats and riders. Bunjil’s Final Resting Place, Race Meeting at Lal Lal Falls, 2015, also relates to a story linked to Gilson’s personal history, depicting the daily life of her ancestors and the early European settlers in the early 1900s in the small township of Lal Lal (meaning ‘dashing of waters’), near Ballarat. Once a popular tourist destination, Lal Lal was known for its spectacular waterfall and country racing program. For Wathaurung people, Lal Lal Falls is a place of great spiritual significance; it is the terrestrial home of the creator Bunjil. 54

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Marlene Gilson. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 56) Marlene Gilson, Eureka Stockade, 2017 Marlene Gilson, Life on the Goldfields, 2014 (p. 57) Marlene Gilson, Life on the Goldfields, 2014 Marlene Gilson, What If, 2017

Noguchi Rika Born 1971 in Saitama, Japan Lives and works in Okinawa, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Noguchi Rika communicates with the universe in her own way, creating images of the world that are often described as painterly and poetic. Known for photographs that closely observe and document her experience of the world, Noguchi seeks to capture the small truths and moments of beauty that often pass by unnoticed in the course of daily life; ordinary occasions that hold universal resonance. ‘Small Miracles’, 2014, is a collection of images that study the science of the everyday, revealing some of the invisible forces that surround us. In one image a drop of viscous liquid hangs suspended from a utensil, articulating the inescapable pull of gravity. Another photograph captures a metal ring miraculously attached to a spoon, disclosing the often overlooked wonder of magnetic attraction. Noguchi notes that ‘our daily lives are filled with small miracles that we don’t notice. Being invisible, they are difficult to capture in a photo. Things we can’t see, but they are there: those are the things I want, somehow, to photograph. I wish to make an artwork that one could feel the richness of the world where we live right now, by looking at that photograph.’ Conducting a series of simple experiments and capturing quiet moments in time, Noguchi makes visible the unseen phenomena that affect our daily lives and our experience of the world. Until recently Noguchi was based in Berlin, Germany, where she lived for more than a decade. Having recently returned to Japan, Noguchi has settled on the island of Okinawa where she engages in a daily practice of exploration, documenting her everyday experiences with an analogue film camera. In ‘Untitled (Oujima)’, 2017; Cucumber 21 August, 2017; and Cucumber 22 August, 2017, Noguchi brings together a series of images that capture the simplicity and beauty of everyday life in Okinawa.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Noguchi Rika. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Roy de Maistre Born 1894 in Bowral, Australia Died 1968 in London, England

An early exponent of abstraction in Australia, Roy de Maistre is recognised for his preliminary experiments in colour and the application of modernist ideas in his practice.

21st Biennale of Sydney

After a brief period in home service during the First World War, de Maistre became fascinated with the unusual colour therapy administered to shell-shocked soldiers. In collaboration with Adrien Verbrugghen, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music director’s son, de Maistre developed a speculative theory of ‘colour-music’, posing the intrinsic connections between colours of the spectrum and the musical scale. Jointly with Roland Wakelin, de Maistre exhibited his theoretical colour investigations in the 1919 exhibition ‘Colour in Art’, held at Gayfield Shaw’s Art Salon, Sydney. Considered a landmark event in the history of Australian Modernism, ‘Colour in Art’ boldly announced the vitality of the avantgarde movement in Australia. Presenting studies alongside completed works, de Maistre and Wakelin demonstrated how their ideas could be applied in practice. De Maistre’s schematic models even entered the realm of interior design and utilitarian usage. In a section of the exhibition titled ‘Colour Organisation in Interior Decoration’, de Maistre exhibited a sequence of colour wheels and scales intended to be used to help with the selection of colour in interior spaces. This system developed into a commercial product, ‘The de Mestre Colour Harmonising Chart’, which was patented in 1924 and sold from 1926. De Maistre’s presentation includes a selection of notional colour experiments including Colour chart, c. 1919, Colour keyboard, c. 1919, A set of colour discs, scales and wheels, produced between 1917 and 1919, and (Colour music), c. 1934, a painted piano roll, from the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Demonstrating the artist’s ideas surrounding colour, these working diagrams illustrate the rigid and highly considered systems underpinning de Maistre’s compositions.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Roy de Maistre, A set of colour discs, scales, wheels, 1917–19 Roy de Maistre, from top: A set of colour discs, scales, wheels, 1917–19; Colour Keyboard, c. 1919

Riet Wijnen Born 1988 in Venray, The Netherlands Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

21st Biennale of Sydney

Riet Wijnen’s practice is often concerned with revisiting, reworking or expanding upon historical events and ideas, using textual forms to present research. Wijnen frequently returns to abstraction as an artistic movement and as a broader concept, testing the scope and breadth of certain versions and uses of the term. In this way, Wijnen’s works can be read as thought experiments, exploring the potential of imagined scenarios as a way to open up and question historical and socio-political constructs. The artist’s series titled ‘Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction’, 2015–ongoing, exemplifies her interest in setting up impossible conditions to enable the meeting of disparate ideas. The main organising principle of the project is a series of fictional conversations, subsequent works and a sculpture, accompanied by materials including photograms and documentation. The work facilitates the meeting of different perspectives on abstraction and follows each conversation and its concomitant nuances, detours and digressions. In their dialectical formation, these constructed dialogues are reminiscent of the Socratic method; drawing out unexpected links between seemingly incongruent ideas. Wijnen’s newly commissioned installation is formed around Conversation Six, the most recent iteration of the series. The project is centred around a fictional dialogue between British Constructivist Marlow Moss, 1889–1958, and Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting, Grace Crowley, 1890– 1979, featuring a third ‘character’, Pauline Oliveros, 1932–2016, an American experimental composer and pioneer of electronic music. The dialogue compares the lives of these two female abstract artists through the lens of the different personal, professional, political and social relationships they embodied. The text is accordingly divided into subsections with titles including ‘Lovers’, ‘Close Friend’, ‘Mentor’ and ‘Sibling’. The presentation is accompanied by a diagrammatic sculpture that maps the conversations in the series, while the photograms chart the development of the sculpture. Wijnen conducted performative readings of Conversation Six at the Gallery in the 20th- and 21st-century Australian art galleries.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Riet Wijnen. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Sydney Ball Born 1933 in Adelaide, Australia Died 2017 in Sydney, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

The late Sydney Ball was a pioneer in the field of painting and the development of abstraction in Australia. An influential and prolific artist, Ball’s extensive oeuvre can be divided into distinct series, some focused on figuration and others dedicated to abstraction. Each stylistic evolution represents a significant shift in direction, yet Ball’s captivation with form, colour and light remains evident throughout his practice. Initially working as an architectural draughtsman before attending the South Australian School of Art in the late 1950s, Ball travelled to New York in 1963 to study lithography and painting at the Art Students’ League. Under the tutelage of Theodoros Stamos, Ball encountered the Irascibles (otherwise known as the Irascible Eighteen), a group of Abstract Expressionists that included Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell and Mark Rothko. Ball returned to Australia in 1965, a confirmed devotee of colour painting and hardedge abstraction. In 1967 Ball began a series of drawings for a collection of paintings consonant with the tenets of Minimalist art, an abstract movement that developed in America in the 1960s characterised by the use of simple geometric shapes. Ball’s ‘Modular’ series, of which Black reveal, 1968–69, is a prime example, explored the sculptural potential of colour and the way negative space could be included as a part of a painting. Producing custom-made canvases that incorporated the use of industrial materials and techniques, Ball’s modular paintings fuse the mediums of sculpture and painting. Though the works are most often displayed in a conventional manner, hung on the gallery walls, Ball’s exploratory sketches indicate that some were conceived of as floor-based pieces, a further indication of their hybrid nature. Black reveal is exhibited alongside Ball’s ‘Modular sketches’, a series of fourteen preparatory studies on paper, and three of his sketchbooks; the detailed pages providing further insight into the artist’s captivation with form, colour and light.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Sydney Ball, ‘Modular sketches’, 1967–69

Semiconductor Founded in 1997 Based in Brighton, England

21st Biennale of Sydney

Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt began working as a collaborative duo under the name Semiconductor in 1997. Navigating the genres of documentary and animation, the artists work with moving image, sculpture and installation, using technology and scientific research as a lens through which to examine natural phenomena and the materiality of the world around us. Inspired in part by the development of computers and the creative potential offered by digital media, Semiconductor has developed their practice alongside the evolution of technology, exploring the virtual world and the physical universe simultaneously. Semiconductorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artworks are often developed through intensive research into scientific disciplines such as volcanology, physics and geology. Through close examination of the techniques and processes scientists use to gain a deeper understanding of nature and the physical universe, Semiconductor also highlights the limitations of scientific endeavour, exposing the flaws in data and inevitable presence of human error. At the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Semiconductorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two-channel video work titled Where Shapes Come From, 2016, incorporates film, animation and sound to investigate the way scientific theories are used to approach and interpret the natural world. Filmed in the mineral sciences laboratory at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., the footage shows a scientist preparing mineral samples for study. Computer-generated animations that represent atomic structures overlay the film, their movements controlled by a soundtrack made by converting raw seismic data collected from the Mariana Trench into noise. The moving images are accompanied by a narration in which mineralogist Jeff Post communicates ideas about the formation of matter. Where Shapes Come From combines the language of science with playful visualisations of atomic structures and scientific data. As a result, the video work illustrates the connections between theory and nature, and encourages the viewer to rethink their experience of the physical world.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 66–67 & 68–69) Semiconductor, Where Shapes Come From, 2016

Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens

21st Biennale of Sydney

Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) is a cooperative that develops new economic initiatives through participating in the global art market, profitably producing and selling critically engaged art. Founded near Lusanga in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2014, CATPC is well known for their remarkable sculptures, characterful figures first produced in clay before being cast in chocolate. Manufactured in Amsterdam, the world’s largest port for cocoa, the sculptures are a physical manifestation of the dominant trade relations. CATPC uses profits from sales of these artworks to generate income and buy back land, where experimental, community-owned cocoa and palm oil gardens are established, based on the most advanced agroforestry techniques. By engaging in the capitalist economy in this way, CATPC reclaims the cycles of the production and consumption of goods. More recently, the cooperative has started to make films, drawings and performative works. Dutch artist and filmmaker Renzo Martens founded the Institute for Human Activities (IHA) in 2014, a research project that seeks to use art to materially redress inequality. The organisation often works collaboratively with CATPC, who together established the Lusanga International Research Centre for Art and Economic Inequality (LIRCAEI), a place for critical thought and dialogue surrounding economic disparity and labour relations. Baloji, a Belgian-Congolese poet, musician and filmmaker, participated in a residency at LIRCAEI, and created CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji, 2018. Charting an allegorical story representative of the fraught relationship between art institutions and the plantation system, the video portrays CATPC members within this complex and mutually dependant exchange. Incorporating sculptures originally made in clay and reproduced in chocolate sourced from African plantations and works donated to CATPC’s collection by artists Luc Tuymans and Carsten Holler, CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji reimagines the future of Lusanga as a new, ecological and worker-owned post-plantation.

CATPC Founded 2014 Based in Lusanga, Democratic Republic of Congo Baloji Born 1978 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium Renzo Martens Born 1973 in Sluiskil, The Netherlands Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium; and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens, CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji, 2018

Oliver Beer Born 1985 in England Lives and works in Paris, France and London, England

21st Biennale of Sydney

Oliver Beer’s artistic practice reveals the complex connections between sound and space, examining cultural and phenomenological relationships that link music, the human voice and architecture. Alongside his work with sound and performance, Beer creates sculptural, installation and film projects whose provenance sometimes seems biographical, but in which his attention to universal – often intimate – concerns draws on shared emotion and perceptions. Participating in a month-long residency at the Sydney Opera House in 2017, Beer worked closely with four classically trained singers to create two single-channel video works featuring powerful vocal performances, Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) I & II, 2018. Each film explores ideas of cultural memory and the way music can be inherited when songs are preserved and passed on from one generation to another through storytelling and oral traditions. Beer asked each vocalist to think back to their childhood, recalling their earliest memory of music. He then wrote a score incorporating the remembered melodies into new compositional forms. In pairs, the singers engaged in a physical vocalisation technique, joining their lips in a tight seal to create a single mouth cavity. Breathing and reverberating together, the performers explored the resonant frequencies of each other’s faces and bodies. Blending their voices and combining the adapted forms of their remembered music, the singers created rhythmic microtonal harmonic interactions known as ‘beats’, caused by the friction of two adjacent frequencies. In one film, two sopranos merge an Indian classical raga and a melody by eleventh-century composer Hildegard of Bingen; in the other, the voice of a tenor singing an Indigenous songline learned from his aunts as a child is juxtaposed with that of a bass singer drawing on his earliest musical memory, the children’s hymn, ‘Two Little Eyes to Look to God’.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Oliver Beer, Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) I, 2018 Oliver Beer, Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) II, 2018

Artspace Artspace is the leading interdisciplinary space for the production and presentation of contemporary art in Australia. Committed to experimentation, collaboration and advocacy, Artspaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to enhance culture through a deeper engagement with contemporary art. Housed in the historic Gunnery building in Woolloomooloo and incorporating presentation spaces along with artist studios, Artspace has been a Biennale Exhibition Partner since 1992.

Ai Weiwei Born 1957 in Beijing, China Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

21st Biennale of Sydney

Arguably the most famous Chinese artist living today, much of Ai Weiwei’s work exists in the space between art and activism, deliberately blurring the perceived boundaries between the two. Politically outspoken and an avid user of social media, Ai creates works rich with symbolism and metaphor that traverse language, culture and geographies, drawing attention to inequity and social injustice. In recent years Ai has focused his artistic practice on advocating for refugees’ human rights, revealing and documenting the experiences and conditions faced by millions of people around the world who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Speaking about the situation, Ai states: ‘There’s no refugee crisis, only a human crisis… In dealing with refugees we’ve lost our very basic values [...] In this time of uncertainty, we need more tolerance, compassion and trust for each other, since we are all one, otherwise humanity will face an even bigger crisis.’ Crystal Ball, 2017, is a sculpture that consists of a large glass sphere cradled by a nest of life jackets. At first glance, the life jackets appear to be genuine, each embroidered with a Yamaha logo – a wellknown and trusted brand. They were collected from Lesbos, an island in Greece that has become a gateway to Europe for thousands of asylum seekers fleeing conflict. In fact, the jackets are imitation products with counterfeit labels. After more than ten minutes in the ocean the fake floatation devices become waterlogged death jackets. A crystal ball or orbuculum is often associated with fortune-telling and clairvoyance, thought to show images that predict the future. Ai’s Crystal Ball reveals a world inverted; a chaotic reality in which millions of people have been forced to leave their homes to escape war and conflict, their lives and their futures now uncertain.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Ai Weiwei, Crystal Ball, 2017

Tiffany Chung Born 1969 in Da Nang, Vietnam Lives and works in Houston, USA and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

21st Biennale of Sydney

Tiffany Chung explores global issues of forced migration and displacement arising from conflict, the processes of modernisation and industrialisation, and natural disasters. Known for her cartographic practice, Chung analyses carefully researched data from archival records, academic studies, ethnographic fieldwork and first-hand testimonies. Layering individual stories and statistics over charts identifying countries and nations, Chung delineates the growth and decline of populations in different locations, examining geographical and socio-political shifts that occur in places that have been subject to the trauma of conflict or environmental and human destruction. Chung’s ongoing study of forced migration has its foundation in her personal history – she migrated to the United States with her family during the mass exodus of refugees fleeing Vietnam after the war. At Artspace Chung presents a selection of works from her ‘Vietnam Exodus Project’. A large-scale embroidered textile, reconstructing an exodus history: boat trajectories, ports of first asylum and resettlement countries, 2017, features a map of the world that uses different colours to track the escape routes and migration trajectories of refugees from Vietnam between 1975–96. Alongside the textile a series of seven-segment watercolour paintings, water dreamscape – the gangster named Jacky, the sleepers, and the exodus, 2017, feature scenes of layered archival photographs from this time of upheaval with those from her fieldwork, examining the current state of former Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong and sites of the erased detention centres that housed them. The paintings were created in collaboration with young Vietnamese artists in an effort to raise historical awareness among the younger generation, many of whom were unaware of the extent of turmoil due to the official erasure of this history in Vietnam. The artworks are accompanied by found videos and reproduced archival documents as ‘material witness’ of the postwar Vietnamese refugee crisis. This project is a representation of the continuing political censorship and obliteration of history that has resulted in what Chung terms ‘politically driven historical amnesia’ in Vietnam.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Tiffany Chung. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Tiffany Chung, reconstructing an exodus history: boat trajectories, ports of first asylum and resettlement countries, 2017

Michaël Borremans Born 1963 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium Lives and works in Ghent and Ronse, Belgium

21st Biennale of Sydney

Formally trained across a variety of fields including printmaking and photography, Michaël Borremans came to painting at the comparatively late age of 33 years. He has become known for meticulous paintings rendered with an almost uncanny realism, the subdued tones reflecting a certain quality of light particular to his studios in Belgium. His works encourage active speculation on the part of the viewer, imparting an impression of venturing through the looking glass and encountering an entirely different state of being on the other side. Borremans describes the medium of painting as a window into another reality; an imaginary world inspired by dreams and memories. Visibly influenced by the work of artists such as Manet, Goya and Velázquez, Borremans employs a classical style and references art historical genres that are familiar to the viewer, such as portraiture, the nude, and still life. At Artspace, Borremans presents a series of drawings, paintings and sculptural maquettes alongside a film piece titled The Storm, 2006. Articulating the artist’s working process and the various media he uses, the selected works also illustrate thematic overlaps that reveal connections between the drawings, sculptures and paintings. Imbued with a sense of melancholy, Borremans’ artworks rarely present an obvious storyline or narrative. Rather, they feature unsettling still lifes and ambiguous figures, comprising theatrically surreal vignettes that bring to mind strange rituals or half-remembered dreams. This disconcerting equivocation can be observed in The Storm, which features three men dressed in matching creamcoloured suits seated on chairs in an empty room. The looped footage, just over a minute in length, contains no obvious action; the light flickers and the men wait. Regardless of the medium he chooses to employ, Borremans’ artworks are suggestive constructions instilled with mystery and uncertainty – reflections of a world that exists on another plane of reality in parallel to our own.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 82–83) Michaël Borremans. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace (p. 85, clockwise from top left) Michaël Borremans. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace Michaël Borremans, Space Vessel I, 2017 Michaël Borremans, Central Park, undated Michaël Borremans. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace

Geng Xue Born 1983 in Baishan, China Lives and works in Beijing, China

21st Biennale of Sydney

Geng Xue’s artistic practice is centred around establishing a balance between traditional techniques and contemporary sensibilities. The artist is also interested in the process of making more broadly, often delving into the role of the artist and the relationship that exists between the creator and their work. Geng’s single-channel video work, Poetry of Michelangelo, 2015, symbolically explores this sometimes fraught exchange. The video depicts the artist shaping a male figure from clay, her body in direct contact with her medium. Once the figure is fully formed, Geng breathes air into its mouth, awakening the body and giving it life. Accompanied by subtitles taken from the sonnets of Michelangelo and punctuated by instructional steps describing the process of ceramic production, the creative act is likened to an act of divinity motivated by love. The title, Poetry of Michelangelo, is of particular significance to the artist. Geng explains: ‘There are a lot of reasons why I borrowed his name to express myself, and one of the reasons is because of the word “Renaissance” itself. [...] In Chinese society, we also talk about cultural renaissance and revitalisation. Renaissance refers to the peak of an existing culture. I think every nation has a glorious peak of its culture and art.’ The romanticism associated with the Renaissance period is echoed in the video work, as Geng seeks to revive the traditional values connected to this historical climax in the visual arts. There are additional connotations brought about by Geng’s referencing of Michelangelo. Michelangelo is often referred to as Il Divino (‘the divine one’), and so Geng places herself within the Renaissance cult of the consecrated artist. Like God, the artist also possesses the power of destruction, as evidenced when Geng uses clay cutting wire to dismember her creation towards the end of the video, in preparation for moulding.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Geng Xue, The Poetry of Michelangelo, 2015

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Tanya Goel Born 1985 in New Delhi, India Lives and works in New Delhi

21st Biennale of Sydney

Inspired by architecture and the urban landscape, Tanya Goel’s paintings are informed by her interest in the relationship between light, colour and material. Her large, abstract canvases index and map an archive of material collected from deconstructed modernist-style houses prevalent in Delhi from the 1950s to 1970s. Goel makes her own pigments from a diverse array of materials sourced from sites of architectural demolition including charcoal, aluminium, concrete, glass, soil, mica, graphite and foils. Often employing a grid as the basic format of her paintings, Goel is influenced in part by the changing architectural environment of India. After living for several years in Vadodara in Western India, Goel moved to the more regimented city of Chicago in the United States. Observing how the structured layout of the urban landscape affected her perception of space, Goel began to include sharper lines and more defined boundaries in her paintings. Returning to India to live in Delhi, it became apparent to Goel that Western ideals of organisation and space were gradually being superimposed on the city in a continual process of modernisation. Recording this transition, Goel combined pigments drawn from samples collected from the urban landscape with a grid structure, creating ‘site-sensitive paintings’. An example of Goel’s meticulously rendered, abstract cityscapes can be seen in Carbon, (extension lines), 2018, and Carbon, (frequencies on x, y axis), 2018, which incorporate pigments made from coal, aluminium, concrete and mica in combination with oil paint. Notations visible on the paintings record information about the origin of her pigments, contributing to the richness of the works, each an abstract archive of a vanishing landscape. Continuing her investigation into deconstructed architecture, Goel’s series of frescoes use found debris from modernist buildings as surfaces for minimalist drawings. The artist also exhibits Index: pages (builders drawing), 2018, an ultramarine blue wall drawing set against a finely drawn grid, resonating with the repeated permutation, convergence and rigour central to her practice.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 88-89) Tanya Goel, Index: pages (builders drawing), 2018 (pp. 90â&#x20AC;&#x201C;91) Tanya Goel, Fresco on cement and stone, 2017

Carriageworks Carriageworks, located at Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic Eveleigh Railway Workshops, is the largest contemporary multi-arts centre of its kind in Australia. The distinctive nineteenth-century industrial characteristics of the former railway carriage and blacksmith workshops have been retained, with many heritage iron and brick details featured in the regeneration of the building. Carriageworks joined the Biennale of Sydney as an Exhibition Partner for the first time in 2014.

Marco Fusinato Born 1964 in Melbourne, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne

21st Biennale of Sydney

Marco Fusinato is an artist and musician whose work has taken the form of installation, photographic reproduction, performance and recording. His overall aesthetic project combines allegorical appropriation with an interest in the intensity of a gesture or event. His projects often investigate opposing tensions such as the ones between high and underground culture, noise and silence, Minimalism and Maximalism. As a musician Fusinato explores the idea of noise as music, using the electric guitar and mass amplification to improvise intricate, wide-ranging and physically affecting frequencies. Alongside his interest in the physicality of sound, Fusinatoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projects regularly incorporate audience participation with a focus on human behaviour as subject. This is demonstrated in artworks that are designed as situations where the viewer becomes an active participant; their experience and conduct becoming both an integral part of creating the work and its eventual outcome. Constellations, 2018, exemplifies the duality of Fusinatoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artistic practice, combining noise with an examination of human action and decision-making. A purpose-built, freestanding wall divides the gallery space into two equal sections. The entrance half of the room is completely empty. Venturing to the other side of the wall, visitors encounter a baseball bat attached to the structure with a long steel chain. At this point, the work becomes participatory. If they choose to, visitors may pick up the bat and strike the wall once. Unbeknownst to the audience, a concert-size public address system, including multiple subwoofers, microphones and related sound equipment, is concealed within the structure. The sound of impact as bat hits wall is amplified by 120 decibels, reverberating throughout the building. Constellations is both an exploration of the physicality of sound and a means to observe the behaviour of those who choose to participate. The title of the installation refers to the residual dents and marks generated with each strike of the bat; the damage providing a tangible record of the expulsion of energy.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Marco Fusinato, Constellations, 2015/2018

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 96 & 97) Marco Fusinato, Constellations, 2015/2018

Chen Shaoxiong Born 1962 in Shantou, China Died 2016 in Beijing, China

21st Biennale of Sydney

Chen Shaoxiong’s practice addresses the way information and images are controlled, manipulated and suppressed in order to maintain hegemonic structures and perpetuate ignorance. Originally trained in Chinese ink painting, Chen expanded his practice to include performance, video and participatory art. Co-founder of the artists’ collective Big Tail Elephant, active from 1991–98, Chen was a pioneer of contemporary art in his native Guangdong province in South China. Growing up in a society where access to information was highly regulated, Chen developed a heightened awareness of history as narrative and its capacity to be misinterpreted or misused. These conditions meant that Chen needed to devise an alternative language through which he could critique and discuss political issues, resulting in his use of humour and irony. As Chen noted, ‘History is difficult, even impossible, to reproduce. In reality, history merely provides material for interpretation, and different interpretations are produced to fit different political needs.’ These concerns were closely linked to the artist’s preoccupation with globalisation and the rapidly changing socio-political environment in China, and how this affected the nation’s relationship with information. The Views, 2016, a four-channel video installation, is one of the final works Chen created prior to his death in 2016. Featuring his recognisable animation style, the ink paintings document everyday occurrences – specifically the ‘views’ witnessed from the artist’s hospital window. Projected onto curved screens suspended from the ceiling, the work offers fragmented glimpses of ordinary scenes imbued with solemn overtones: trees bereft of leaves in the cold of winter, people pushing bicycles along railway tracks, magpies balancing on branches. After a career deeply committed to political and social change, Chen seemed to have found a resolution, choosing to focus on the ordinary in The Views. The fleeting images and flickering moments in time elicit a subjective nostalgia, evoking personal associations and intimate memories.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Chen Shaoxiong, The Views, 2016

Michael Stevenson Born 1964 in Inglewood, New Zealand Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

21st Biennale of Sydney

Michael Stevenson’s large-scale installations often include historical artefacts, documents and articles; some real, others fabricated. Since much of the content is inscribed and imbedded, the material itself becomes the host or narrator and, as such, it asks to be experienced directly. Stevenson presents Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017, a representation of a learning extension facility based on two previously unrelated academic courses: MC510 and CS183. As the codes indicate, these were actual courses taught in Californian higher-learning institutions and both espoused a distinctly Californian way of thinking. Mission Class 510, or MC510, was taught in the winter semester of 1982 at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. John Wimber, of the Vineyard Ministries, founded and ran this program for four years, using it as a testing ground for his radical ideas in the experiential realm of miraculous healing and exorcism. Thirty years later, in the spring semester of 2012, Stanford University’s Computer Science faculty employed Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel to teach Startup, or CS183. CS183 provided a forum for Thiel’s new intellectual framework; he diagnosed case histories of failure from the tech industry’s recent past to selfconsciously rehabilitate a future of exponential progress where miracles happen in the realm of technology. One classroom is constructed from airline comfort blankets and elevated on large commercial aircraft tyres; the other built entirely from a radiating black anodised aluminium heat sink. A covered walkway unites the two rooms. For teachers Thiel and Wimber, the repetition of received knowledge inhibits real change, or what Thiel calls ‘vertical progress’ and Wimber terms ‘paradigmatic shifts’. Both MC510 and CS183 are fixated on growth; they taught the abandonment of past (failed) models along with their incumbent knowledge institutions in favour of full participation in the mission for a radical future. Adapted from texts supplied by Natasha Conland, Curator, Contemporary Art, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and Michael Stevenson.

100

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Michael Stevenson, Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017

101

102

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Michael Stevenson, Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017

103

104

105

Semiconductor Founded in 1997 Based in Brighton, England

21st Biennale of Sydney

Semiconductorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt situate their artistic practice at the confluence of science, nature and technology. The artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; installations and visually engaging moving image works frame our experience of nature through the languages of science and technology, exploring how these systems mediate our relationship with the natural world and precipitate questions relating to our place in the universe. At Carriageworks the duo present Earthworks, 2016, a five-channel computer-generated animation that interprets some of the geological phenomena associated with the formation of landscapes and topographies. The installation takes the form of a continuous wall that zig-zags across the exhibition space, upon which projected layers of colour undulate and shift accompanied by a rumbling soundtrack. The animation is based on a scientific technique known as analogue modelling, where a precisely scaled replica of the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crust is created by layering materials such as sand, wax, clay and silicone in a container. Pressure and motion are applied to the receptacle to simulate seismic and tectonic forces. The resulting movement of the layers provides a relatively accurate replication of geological processes on a vastly accelerated timeline. To create Earthworks Semiconductor combined a computer-generated animation featuring layers of colour with a recording created by converting seismic data into sound. The piece is made up of four distinct parts, each relating to different sets of data sourced from the formation of glacial landscapes, earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as human-made seismic activities captured at La Planta quarry in Spain. The terraqueous sound piece also acts as a method of directing and controlling the movement of the animation. By using technology to give data and sound visual form, Semiconductor invites the viewer to experience a wholly different perspective of the world. Earthworks enables the audience to bear witness to geological phenomena that normally take place over thousands of years.

106

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 104–105 & 106–107) Semiconductor, Earthworks, 2016

107

Nguyen Trinh Thi Born 1973 in Hanoi, Vietnam Lives and works in Hanoi

21st Biennale of Sydney

Nguyen Trinh Thi’s work is deeply informed by an engagement with socio-cultural concerns and a commitment to confronting contentious and often polarising local issues, despite restrictions surrounding censorship and limited artistic freedoms in her native Vietnam. Her practice encompasses both original footage obtained through extensive investigative field work and found material, complicating the distinctions between documentary filmmaking, video art and performance. Nguyen presents Letters from Panduranga, 2015, a meditative filmic essay set against the backdrop of plans to build the country’s first two nuclear power plants in Ninh Thuan province. Formerly known as Panduranga, Ninh Thuan is the homeland of the Cham people, the indigenous group descended from the medieval Hindu kingdom of Champa. The Cham people and their centrality to Vietnam’s history, particularly the final annexation of Champa by Vietnamese Emperor Minh Mang in 1832, has been omitted from official historical accounts. This new construction resurrects the government’s refusal to acknowledge the presence of the Cham people, with the nuclear power plants threatening to devastate their native land. The issue has failed to receive media attention, and consultation has not been sought. Nguyen aims to bring light to this overlooked part of Vietnamese history and the Cham people’s continued marginalisation. The film takes the form of a letter exchange between a man and a woman: the woman describes her experiences as she walks through Champa land and the man describes his as he follows the Ho Chi Minh trail. The film presents intimate glimpses into the lives of members of the community and their daily labours and activities coupled with spectacular images of the landscape, providing a sympathetic and poetically driven account of daily life and the subjective concerns of the inhabitants. Melding ethnographic, anthropological and documentary elements, Nguyen incorporates intimacy and nuance into her films, reconfiguring notions of what constitutes an accurate or comprehensive conception of history.

108

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Nguyen Trinh Thi, Letters from Panduranga, 2015

109

Sam Falls Born 1984 in San Diego, USA Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA

21st Biennale of Sydney

Sam Falls came to art through the study of physics, linguistics and philosophy. Inspired by the natural world, his artworks explore the materiality of colour and light. Using photographic techniques and a combination of objects and textiles such as organic material, garden hoses, tyres, wooden pallets, bed sheets and moving blankets, Falls exploits the aesthetic potential of weather patterns and environmental conditions to create works that investigate opposing ideas of abstraction and representation. Often created outdoors in the urban or natural landscape, the scale of Falls’ artworks are influenced by the places they are made. At Carriageworks Falls presents three ‘rain paintings’, each created at a location near his childhood home in Hartland, Vermont. Hospice, 2017; Winter Trees, 2017; and The River, 2017 are essentially large-format photograms; negative shadow images transferred to the surface of the canvas without the use of a camera. Falls makes the paintings by covering an expanse of canvas with organic matter – branches, leaves and flowers endemic to the local area – before scattering the assemblage with pigment and leaving it exposed to the elements. After the intervention of mist or rain and the removal of the organic material, the residual silhouettes and patterns imprinted on the canvas retain subtle echoes of the natural environment. While the artworks exemplify Falls’ fascination with colour and light, and advance his investigations into figuration and abstraction, the canvases also display an intimate connection with location and landscape. Each painting is produced at a site of personal significance to the artist. The selection of plant matter and organic materials used in the creation of the rain paintings also articulates the meteorological and environmental conditions inherent to the region. Thus, each of Falls’ canvases serves as a location and time-specific record of the natural world, as well as a personal archive of place.

110

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Sam Falls. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks Sam Falls, The River, 2017

111

Laurent Grasso

112

113

Laurent Grasso

21st Biennale of Sydney

Born 1972 in Mulhouse, France Lives and works in Paris, France and New York, USA

Laurent Grasso’s practice is characterised by an enquiry into the origin, nature and validity of human knowledge. By engaging with a diversity of worldviews to generate fictions as a means to access the real, spanning the scientific, historical, religious and spiritual, Grasso endeavours to examine the formal structures of different knowledge systems and their relation to power, presenting reality as a coexistence between several layers of fictions.. The artist views his practice as operating at the boundaries of these individual disciplines, stating, ‘My work has always been positioned at the limits – of reality, of belief, of science. I have explored many different areas of practical application of study, but always with a view to moving, technically, physically or conceptually, towards a kind of limit.’ Grasso’s well-known series of paintings, ‘Studies into the Past’, 2010–12, deals with unexplainable phenomena. Rendered in exquisite detail to mimic Flemish or Italian techniques, these paintings appear just as they are described, as studies of the past. However, the bizarre situations and strange combinations of motifs contained within the paintings suggest otherwise. This strategy additionally points to Grasso’s interest in merging multiple temporalities to form a third, indeterminate reality. Continuing his metaphysical explorations, Grasso’s latest film, OTTO, 2018, contemplates the notion of the immaterial. The video was produced in the area surrounding the Aboriginal community of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory in consultation with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation. An attempt to extricate the latent narratives held within the land, the film embodies the felt presences that exist in the natural world, giving form to intangible energies. This is suggested through the floating entities overlaying footage, which present the Dreaming places as vital and conscious forces. Despite the use of advanced technologies, such as hyperspectral cameras and drones, Grasso takes a decidedly subjective approach, privileging intuition over rational systems. The work reflects on an animistic worldview, illustrating the interconnectedness of the visible and invisible.

114

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 112–113 & 114–115) Laurent Grasso, OTTO, 2018

115

George Tjungurrayi Born c. 1943 in Kiwirrkura, Australia Lives and works in Kintore, Australia Pintupi

21st Biennale of Sydney

George Tjungurrayi has been creating paintings using linear patterns since the 1990s. His abstract canvases, demonstrating the distinctive painting style of Papunya Tula Artists of the Western Desert, are often interpreted as reflections of the desert landscape. The shapes and lines can be read as representations of waterholes and the ripple marks on the sand caused by the wind. When considered in a Western art-historical context, the optical effects created by colliding colours are reminiscent of Minimalism and Op Art. For Tjungurrayi, the characteristic patterns are also a reference to the invisible energy fields of his ancestral country and traditional stories deeply rooted in sacred law. Born near Kiwirrkura in a remote part of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia, Tjungurrayi came in from the desert by way of Mount Doreen and Yuendumu in the early 1970s and started painting at West Camp at Papunya with Papunya Tula Artists in 1976. Adapting traditional Tingari style, Tjungurrayi began exploring the abstract use of optical stripes for which he is now recognised. At Carriageworks the artist exhibits a series of recent paintings, some canvases presented on a purpose-built wall, while others are displayed horizontally on a platform, referencing both the manner in which they were created and the topographical landscapes they represent. Tjungurrayiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evocative use of colour and line means that his paintings often appear to Western eyes as abstract colour fields, yet they also reveal multiple layers of meaning. The concise pattern of lines depict motifs associated with stories of the journeys of Tingari people across country and the plants found at certain sites that provided travellers with sustenance. Now in his seventies, Tjungurrayi lives in the community of Kintore in the Northern Territory where he maintains an active painting practice, continuing to develop and refine his distinctive style.

118

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 116â&#x20AC;&#x201C;117) George Tjungurrayi. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks (p. 119) George Tjungurrayi, Untitled, 2018

119

4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (4A) fosters excellence and innovation in contemporary culture through the commissioning, presentation, documentation and research of contemporary art. 4Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s program is presented throughout Australia and Asia, ensuring that contemporary art plays a central role in understanding and developing the dynamic relationship between Australia and the wider Asian region. In 2018, 4A was a Venue Partner of the Biennale of Sydney for the second time.

Jun Yang Born 1975 in Qingtian, China Lives and works in Vienna, Austria; Taipei, Taiwan; 0and Yokohama, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Jun Yang’s practice exists at the intersection of film, installation, performance and public engagement, and investigates themes of migration and questions of navigating cultural difference in the 21st century. As a Chinese-born immigrant to Austria who divides his time between Vienna, Taipei and Yokohama, Yang’s work is deeply connected to his personal history and experiences as a global citizen. Becoming European or How I Grew Up with Wiener Schnitzel, charts the artist’s migration to Europe as a child. The work was produced as a video in 2015, at the height of the ‘European migrant crisis’, when thousands of refugees (from mostly Syrian and other Muslim-majority countries) arrived in Europe – many of them passing through or stopping in Vienna. Responding to this significant global crisis, Yang’s work engenders empathy by focussing on intimate memories of his own daily negotiations and interactions encountered while adapting to a new home and culture. Yang’s latest version of Becoming European is part of a larger installation created for 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Xīní/Xuělí Blue Room, 2018, a wallpapered space with motifs representing wellknown sites in Sydney including the iconic Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. These motifs have been painted by a Chinese landscape ink painter who has never visited Sydney, thus depicting an imagined reality. In 2017, Yang spent six weeks undertaking intensive research in Sydney, particularly in the city’s western suburbs, an area where many newly arrived migrants and refugees settle. Yang met with a number of migrant and other community groups to develop an in-depth understanding of the cultural diversity and makeup of the city. The installation at 4A was conceived as a meeting place, including a casual exchange to be used for dialogue and exchange, hosting several social and community events throughout the exhibition period.

122

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Jun Yang, Xīní / Xuělí Blue Room, 2018

123

Akira Takayama Born 1969 in Saitama, Japan Lives and works in Saitama

21st Biennale of Sydney

Theatre director Akira Takayama creates projects that challenge the conventions of traditional theatre, expanding and enriching the audience’s experience through participation in performative events that treat entire cities as stages. In 2002 Takayama founded Port B, a project-specific theatre collective that fosters collaborative relationships with artists and a diverse range of artistic interventions, including installations in urban spaces, experimental social projects, and performative tours and lectures. Movement and migration are common themes throughout Takayama’s artistic practice. Our Songs – Sydney Kabuki Project, 2018, is a single-channel video installation that documents a performative event that occurred at Sydney Town Hall’s Centennial Hall on Sunday, 28 January 2018. Inspired by Kabuki Theatre, a 400-year-old form of Japanese theatre, Takayama invited residents of Sydney, people who have come from across Australia and around the world, to share their family stories and cultural traditions through song. Congregating at Sydney Town Hall, participants were welcomed one-by-one to walk along a specially constructed hanamichi, a raised path that is a traditional element of Kabuki Theatre. Meaning ‘the road of the flower’, the hanamichi is both a means of entering and exiting the stage and an integral part of the performance. Upon reaching the stage, each person performed a song, poem or story passed down from their ancestors through generations and across geographies. Participants performed to a seemingly empty theatre, the red velvet seats left vacant for the ancestors of the participant or future generations yet to come. Takayama developed the concept for the performance from the etymological connection between the Japanese word for song, uta, and the word uttae, which implies an appeal or a call to action. Created in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Hikaru Fujii, Our Songs – Sydney Kabuki Project is both a documentary archive of oral and intangible histories and an artwork that brings together the individual voices that make up the social and cultural fabric of Sydney.

124

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Akira Takayama, Our Songs - Sydney Kabuki Project, 2018

125

126

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 126 & 127) Akira Takayama, Our Songs - Sydney Kabuki Project, 2018

127

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Located at Sydney’s iconic Circular Quay, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is Australia’s pre-eminent art museum devoted to collecting and exhibiting the work of contemporary artists. In 2018, the MCA continued its role as a Exhibition Partner of the Biennale of Sydney, hosting significant components of the Biennale’s exhibition across two floors of the Museum.

Ciara Phillips Born 1976 in Ottawa, Canada Lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Influenced by the historical uses of the print and printmaking in political and social activism, as well as the often collaborative physical process of production, Ciara Phillips examines the capacity of printmaking to unite people in the pursuit of a purpose or idea. Referencing the work of artists’ collectives such as See Red Women’s Workshop and Chicago Women’s Graphics Collective, Phillips’ practice is also informed by the pedagogical methods of Corita Kent (1918–86), an American artist and educator. Nominated in 2014 for the Turner Prize for her project Workshop, 2010–ongoing, Phillips presents a new iteration of the collaborative work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Creating a print studio within the walls of the gallery, Ciara interrupts the conventional space of the public art institution, where the audience expects to see a work of art in a state of completion rather than production. The convergence of the studio and gallery creates an indeterminate space in which the artwork remains in flux. In this context-specific project, Phillips invited local Sydney community groups including Big Fag Press, a class from Liverpool Girls High School, women from the Jessie Street National Women’s Library and a group of Afghan and Bahraini women from the New South Wales Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) to work alongside her to produce new artworks. Phillips’ solo-made prints demarcate the area occupied by Workshop. Using printmaking as a mediating tool, Phillips develops relationships through dialogue and making, not simply public engagement: ‘[...] it’s about sharing ideas through the process of working together on joint outcomes. This happens best when the group has a sense of a shared identity, when they have a position and share a common goal. It’s also important that they want to connect with me, and that we have enough time to develop ideas together.’ A continuing investigation of collective practice, Workshop raises questions of authorship, solidarity and productive exchange through shared making.

130

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Ciara Phillips, Workshop, 2010â&#x20AC;&#x201C;ongoing

131

132

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 132 & 133) Ciara Phillips, Workshop, 2010â&#x20AC;&#x201C;ongoing

133

Brook Andrew Born 1970 in Sydney, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia; Berlin, Germany; and Oxford, England Wiradjuri

21st Biennale of Sydney

Brook Andrew creates multi-layered artworks that scrutinise the dominance of Western colonial narratives, deliberately locating Australia at the centre of a global inquisition. Inspired by archival and vernacular objects, Andrew works with different communities, as well as public and private collections around the world, to highlight alternative histories that are often hidden beneath the legacies of colonialism. Andrew provides viewers with new ways to understand the world through intervention and expansion; reinterpreting history and re-framing inherited experience. Motivated by research and enquiry, Andrew’s works often focus on memory, both individual and collective, and the way objects can be infused with their own stories. Working closely with museum collections and archives, Andrew investigates the often controversial and contradictory histories of objects, laying them bare for the world to see and asking us to rethink accepted ideas and learned inaccuracies. An avid collector, Andrew has amassed a personal compendium of cultural objects, print articles, photographs, postcards and other items, drawing on this archive of material to create installations and assemblages that aim to throw light on the darkest, most obscure aspects of history. ‘What’s Left Behind’, 2018, comprises five sculptural vitrines or ‘tombs of thought’ that represent the elements of water, air, fire, earth and metal. Andrew has invited four artists to contribute to the installation, asking them to reflect on the idea of memory and that which is present yet also absent, and the way objects can have transferable and alternate realities and meanings, imbued with their own or substitute histories and stories. The contributing artists, Rushdi Anwar, Shiraz Bayjoo, Mayun Kiki and Vered Snear, have placed a combination of artworks and objects selected from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney, within each of Andrew’s sculptural vitrines. Each sculpture represents an individual archive that contributes to a collective installation addressing the complex relationship between objects and the meanings that are attributed to them.

134

Contributing artists: Rushdi Anwar Born in Halabja, Kurdistan Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia Rushdi Anwar’s mixed-media works reflect the sociopolitical issues of Kurdistan, Iraq and the Middle East and are informed by personal experiences of genocide, dispossession and political exile. He examines the impact of living through conflict and unrest through an investigation of form, materials and processes. His works navigate concepts of change and transformation, as well as generating dialogue around the status of social equity. Shiraz Bayjoo Born 1979 in Mauritius Lives and works in London, England and Indian Ocean region Shiraz Bayjoo’s work considers collective identity, nationhood, migration and the legacy of European colonialism through historical photographs and artefacts drawn from personal and public collections. He uses painting, photography, sculpture and film to investigate the unique social, political and historical landscape central to Mauritian cultural identity and the wider Indian Ocean region. Mayun Kiki Born in Asahikawa, Japan Lives and works in Sapporo, Japan Mayun Kiki is an Ainu artist, linguist, musician and cultural worker interested in cultural continuity and revitalisation. She works in the revival of women’s traditional tattooing practices, vital to maintaining indigenous traditions and spiritual connections. Vered Snear Born 1982 in Israel Lives and works in New York, USA and Tel Aviv, Israel Vered Snear investigates the role of visual and textual language in exploring intricate relationships between media and ideology. Working with video, installation, photography and sculpture, the artist uses a combination of text and imagery from archives, television, video-sharing and social media that she reworks into fictional scenarios.

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Brook Andrew, ‘What’s Left Behind’, 2018

135

136

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 136 & 137) Brook Andrew, ‘What’s Left Behind’, 2018

137

Chia-Wei Hsu

21st Biennale of Sydney

Born 1983 in Taichung, Taiwan Lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan

Through his practice, Chia-Wei Hsu applies narrative convention to re-present history, myth and legend in a Southeast Asian context. Hsu’s video work Ruins of the Intelligence Bureau, 2015, deals closely with regional histories. Situated in the small village of Huai Mo in North Thailand, the video reflects on the impact of the Cold War and its lingering effects. Synthesising elements of fact and fiction, the work presents two scenarios in parallel: a priest, who during the Cold War served as a confidential informant for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), recalling personal memories and recounting the legend of Hanuman, and a performance of traditional Thai puppet theatre. The priest, who describes his own involvement with the CIA working against the communists, is shown standing before a microphone, recording voice-over narration to the puppet performance that is projected on a wall in the darkened space. The merging of performance with the production process dissolves the boundaries between reality and representation. Complicating this relationship further, the priest’s recollections soon meld with ‘Hanuman’s Journey to the Medicine Mountain’ from the epic Hindu tale of Ramayana, written and collated by the poet Valmiki in 400 AD. The story in which a monkey general travels to the Himalayas to bring back a healing herb from the Medicine Mountain to save the life of Lakshmana, the brother of Rama, the seventh avatar of the deity Vishnu. The priest’s account differs slightly, claiming that Hanuman obtains the herb to save his troops. The video moves between this self-referential depiction of video-making and the footage of the performance, which takes place on the remaining foundations of the demolished Intelligence Bureau. Masked veterans of the former Intelligence Bureau invited by Hsu form the audience, their presence functioning as a reclamation of this contentious space. Ruins of the Intelligence Bureau is part of a larger body of work focusing on the Cold War legacy in Huai Mo village.

138

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Chia-Wei Hsu, Ruins of the Intelligence Bureau, 2015

139

Tom Nicholson Born 1973 in Melbourne, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne

21st Biennale of Sydney

Tom Nicholson’s work is informed by his background in drawing, a medium which he has used to think about the relationships between public actions and their traces, between propositions and monuments, and between writing and images. He has made a number of works that engage with aspects of Australia’s colonial history, using combinations of drawings, monumental forms, and posters, often articulating these histories in relation to the histories of other places. Belonging to the MCA Collection, Untitled wall drawing, 2009–18, is a chronological list, handwritten in pencil on the gallery wall, documenting instances of the creation of national boundaries since Australian Federation in 1901. Untitled wall drawing attends to some of the many trajectories of twentieth-century history, with a recurring focus on the narratives of colonisation that often govern boundary-making and continue to shape the contemporary world. Influenced by the work of artists such as Ian Burn, Mel Ramsden and Jenny Holzer, and the films of Claude Lanzmann, Nicholson’s work also takes inspiration from art history, politics and theology. The text of Untitled wall drawing has been the basis of several collaborative performance works with the Australian composer Andrew Byrne. Nicholson has described Untitled wall drawing as ‘an attempt to address how words bear memory: the slowness of words (as they accumulate in us as we accumulate their meanings), their economy (the capacity of words to describe across vast stretches of time and space), and a kind of withdrawal (where words would describe a dispassionate even bureaucratic relation to the world they name). Mostly, though, the words in this Untitled wall drawing were conceived through drawing, and more specifically through their shared constituent element, the line. The work evolved through drawing, the way drawings mark duration, and in the attempt to give a form to something that cannot be shown.’

140

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Tom Nicholson, Untitled wall drawing, 2009â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18

141

142

143

Sosa Joseph Born 1971 in Parumala, India Lives and works in Kochi, India

21st Biennale of Sydney

Sosa Joseph’s paintings exist in the indeterminate space between reality and fantasy, drawing on everyday activities and reproducing them in evocative ways. While referring directly to the social and cultural context of her native Kerala, the allegorical quality of Joseph’s works render them universally relevant through an appeal to shared human experience. This tension between specificity and ‘everywhereness’ means that Joseph’s painting never quite fit within the categories of abstract or figurative art. Through using her own positionality as subject matter, Joseph is able to translate the local to the global and reveal the commonalities of life. Joseph exhibits a selection of paintings at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, continuing her interest in the broad spectrum of human activity. What Must Be Said, 2015, presents a series of figures forming a long, snaking queue set against an imprecise streetscape, while in Irul (the Dark), 2015, the figures create a circular shape, with a winged, seraphic couple in the centre of the composition. The titles for Anywhere But Nowhere, 2018, and Your Earth, My World, 2018 both reference the universal sensibility present in Joseph’s paintings, while Performers, 2018 implies that the people depicted in her paintings are not merely entangled in the everyday, but actors in the theatre of life. Joseph’s paintings portray individuals from all walks of life, people fully immersed in the action of an ordinary tableau vivant or ‘living picture’. Though firmly grounded in daily life, these rich and animated scenes evoke a dreamlike ambience, a quality that is reflected in all of Joseph’s paintings. The events and people depicted have a strange and illogical relation in space; some forms appear only to function as a symbolic presence, far removed from reality. Not least, Joseph’s application of broad brushstrokes and an atmospheric colour palette of blues, purples and washed-out pinks, lends a sensuality reminiscent of the otherworldly. At the centre of Joseph’s practice, ultimately, is a desire to communicate the hum and throb of everyday life.

144

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 142–143) Sosa Joseph, left to right: Leftover, 2018; Irul (the Dark), 2015 (pp. 144–145) Sosa Joseph, left to right: Take Off, 2018; Your Earth, My World, 2018; What Must Be Said, 2015

145

Esme Timbery Born 1931 in Port Kembla, Australia Lives and works in La Perouse, Australia Bidjigal

21st Biennale of Sydney

Bidjigal elder and senior artist Esme Timbery is recognised for her decorative shelled models and objects that range from depictions of Sydney attractions to small slippers, frames and boxes. Continuing the shellwork tradition associated with the Aboriginal community of the south-eastern Sydney suburb of La Perouse, Timbery’s works embody an enduring connection to Country, linking a long-established craft to the changing geography and cultural reality of contemporary Sydney. Coastal Aboriginal communities have crafted objects, including fish hooks and jewellery, from locally sourced shells for thousands of years. Continuing this tradition, the making of shellworked objects by Aboriginal women in La Perouse has been traced back to the late nineteenth century – shell baskets were sold at Circular Quay and Botany Bay as early as the 1880s. Alongside her sister, Rose Timbery, Esme learnt the requisite skills for shellwork as a young girl, first collecting and organising shells sourced from local beaches on the New South Wales south coast according to size and colour, before creating her first brooches at the age of seven. Timbery and her sister began selling their work in the 1950s, and Timbery’s pieces were first exhibited in a contemporary art context in 2000 as part of the exhibition ‘Djalarinji – Something that Belongs to Us’ at the Manly Regional Gallery and Museum. Timbery’s wall-mounted installation, Shellworked slippers, originally commissioned by curator Djon Mundine for the 2008 exhibition ‘Ngadhu, Ngulili, Ngeaninyagu – A Personal History of Aboriginal Art in the Premier State’, consists of 200 delicate children’s slippers ornamented with intricate shell designs and glitter. The mass aggregation of empty shoes is a poignant reminder of the suffering experienced by Aboriginal people due to the violent process of colonisation and subsequent government policies that have led to dispossession and disadvantage. Shellworked slippers, nevertheless, attests to the enduring strength and selfdetermination of the Bidjigal women of La Perouse.

146

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Esme Timbery, Shellworked slippers, 2008

147

Marjolijn Dijkman

Marjolijn Dijkman Born 1978 in Groningen, Netherlands Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium

21st Biennale of Sydney

Marjolijn Dijkman is concerned with human systems and structures that aim to intervene, control, and ultimately master our surrounding environment. Interested in integrating concepts and methodologies specific to a broad range of disciplines, Dijkman’s work has engaged with topics including urbanism, ecology, anthropology, museology and futurology. The artist’s expansive approach attests to her ability to see the linkages between seemingly unrelated subjects: ‘In general I think I’m more interested and inspired by culture and its relation to different fields (e.g. scientific, social or political), often outside the art world.’ At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Dijkman presents an immersive film installation titled Navigating Polarities, 2018, investigating the history of navigation and the natural forces of polarity and magnetism present in the physical world. The work takes Earth’s geomagnetic field as a starting point, considering the ways in which micro- and macrocosmic elements are contingent on these properties to operate. Interested in the correlations between systems at different scales – from the quantum to the cosmic – Dijkman explores how humans and animals alike synchronise and coordinate their behaviour and activities within Earth’s inherent laws. Dijkman’s film is projected upon a dome-shaped screen that mimics the circular form of the globe. On the concave screen, a combination of scientific and historical materials – images of space, animal navigation, cardinal directions and compasses from different cultures and periods in history, maps and scientific diagrams – bleed and merge into one another. The range of reference material is overwhelming in scope, presenting the universe and its systems as intrinsically unified. The accompanying soundtrack and narrative explore these phenomena from a human-centred perspective, identifying the philosophical, psychological and moral consequences of these various natural states through critical thought and interpretation.

150

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 148–149 & 150–151) Marjolijn Dijkman, Navigating Polarities, 2018

151

Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen Born 1976 in Riihimäki, Finland Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen’s practice seeks to deconstruct binary logic, adopting structures of thought that rely on a system of connections rather than oppositions. Describing how his art attempts to refute such value systems, Laitinen has said: ‘In my recent works, I’ve been using the concept of porosity as a kind of counter-argument against binary thinking, where things are typically put into clearly defined categories […] I’m interested in how things and their relationships can be treated so that they freely flow and filter into each other, thus building entanglements between different topics and substances.’ Laitinen’s new commission, Dossier of Osmosis, 2018, fits within this line of reasoning. The installation borrows from the language of an archaeological display, consisting of a series of tiered table-like structures displayed on the gallery floor. Containing objects and traces of chemical reactions/biological processes, the assembled fragments are described through nonsensical diagrams and graphs set within the layers. An accompanying narrative, partly generated by an algorithm, speculates on the potential of non-human agencies, complicating definitions of authorship. In biology, osmosis refers to the movement of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane. Dossier of Osmosis reveals the incoherence between natural processes and the regulatory structures imposed upon them, prohibiting ‘osmosis’, or the integration of ideas from occurring. The installation is periodically activated by a performer operating an ultrasonic speaker emitting a sound work composed of guide texts by Nora Khan, involuntary noises and utterances that become audible when silent signals hit a solid object. When a performer is not present, the speakers remain in the space, pivoting and responding to the sculptural forms independently. Despite sound being produced, the objects are not altered or affected. The biological transformations represented in the space, therefore, assert their own agency and are not subject to the various documents, graphs and other methods which attempt to describe them.

152

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen, Dossier of Osmosis, 2018

153

154

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 154 & 155) Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen, Dossier of Osmosis, 2018

155

Simryn Gill Born 1959 in Singapore Lives and works in Port Dickson, Malaysia and Sydney, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Simryn Gill’s works often make their processes openly visible, which might involve, in various combinations: collecting, the categorisation and synthesis of found materials, an attentiveness to place, and working with various people. The artist’s sculptures, installations, photographs and drawings come together as compendiums of cast-off objects and unremarkable methods, which in their assembly reveal associations which are both intended and unexpected. ‘Untitled (Interiors)’, 2008, is a series of five bronze casts of fissures that opened in the land during the 2001–09 drought in south-eastern Australia. The drought has been described as the worst on record in the region, which experienced its lowest 13year rainfall since 1865, with devastating effects on ecosystems and agriculture. The sculptures can be read as quite literally materialising processes and weather patterns that are ultimately ephemeral in nature. In a formal sense, the works give substance to negative space, transforming a void into a positive object. The negative space was created by the drying up of dams and lakes in locations near Nyngan in central New South Wales and Lake George, just north of Canberra. The positive forms were made first by filling these hollows with a silicone rubber casting material, which were then laboriously dug out of the ground, with the help of Gill’s friend, Sydney artist Tim Silver. They were then soaked and washed in the artist’s Sydney backyard before being carried to Bangkok to be re-made into their final state. For that transformation, these pieces of droughtcreated negative space from inside Australia were cast in bronze by Apisit Nongbuo, a Thai sculptor who works with traditional techniques. Nongbuo is from a family who makes, among other things, ritual objects for temples.

156

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Simryn Gill, ‘Untitled (Interiors)’, 2008

157

Yvonne Koolmatrie Born 1944 in Wudinna, Australia Lives and works in Berri, Australia Ngarrindjeri

21st Biennale of Sydney

Renowned master weaver Yvonne Koolmatrie has devoted her artistic practice to reviving traditional Ngarrindjeri fibre-weaving techniques. Perfecting the coiled bundle method of weaving sedge grass and rushes, Koolmatrie has developed her own distinctive style and stitch, creating intricate sculptural forms that are infused with stories from her culture in a blend of tradition and innovation. Passing on knowledge through workshops and classes, Koolmatrie has played a pivotal role in revitalising the art form and working to sustain Ngarrindjeri language and culture. Ngarrindjeri country ranges from the Coorong and the Lower Lakes to the Lower Murray River region in South Australia. For more than 30 years Koolmatrie has sustainably harvested spiny-headed sedge rushes that grow throughout the area, weaving them into eel traps, cockle baskets and other traditional objects, as well as animal forms and more contemporary structures including biplanes and hot air balloons. At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Koolmatrie exhibits five traditional burial baskets. The objects are similar to those used in traditional Ngarrindjeri funerary rites, where the body of the deceased was treated to allow the spirit to return to the land before the remains were wrapped in a burial basket and placed high in the branches of trees. While these traditional practices are no longer observed, funeral rites and burial grounds hold undeniable significance in Ngarrindjeri culture. A print by John Skinner Prout, Mode of disposing of the dead, c. 1874–76, was presented alongside the works, demonstrating how burial baskets were used in traditional funereal practices. When speaking about her artistic practice, Koolmatrie often returns to where her life as a weaver began: ‘At a workshop in the early 1980s with Aunty Dorothy Kartinyeri, I was introduced to the traditional methods of weaving sedge rushes (Lepidosperma canescens). This type of sedge grows along the Coorong and Murray River in Ngarrindjeri country and so weaving is linked to the river and its health – when the river suffers, the sedge grass is harder to find; when it flourishes, so do the rushes. The river, the Coorong, the sea and the lake are the four waters of the Ngarrindjeri and are all connected. Weaving is vital to Ngarrindjeri culture, it sustains us.’ 158

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 158) John Skinner Prout, Mode of disposing of the dead, c. 1874â&#x20AC;&#x201C;76 (p. 159) Yvonne Koolmatrie. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

159

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists Founded 2000 in Alice Springs, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists is a not-for-profit Aboriginal owned and run art centre located in the Larapinta Valley Town Camp, Alice Springs; one of the oldest Town Camp communities on Arrernte country. The art centre is open to all members of the community and focuses on providing a safe, positive space that celebrates the innovation and imagination of the artists. Yarrenyty Arltere Artists works to build the confidence, skills and strength of the community through creativity and self-determination, as well as creating economic opportunities and employment pathways. Initiated in 2000 as an arts training project that aimed to combat persistent social issues faced by people living in the Town Camp, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists was established as an enterprise in 2008 and has since become a hub of social inclusiveness and activity that has a positive impact on the entire community. Dulcie Sharpe, one of the centre’s bestknown artists, notes that ‘the art makes us think of our culture in another way and what we want people to know. It’s good for everyone to have a place like this, it helps us be part of both worlds.’ At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists present In Our Hands, 2018, a series of whimsical soft sculptures demonstrating the unique style for which they are famous. Representing the past, present and future, the pieces reflect traditional stories as well as exploring contemporary issues and challenges faced by the community. Embodying local flora and fauna, stories of family and country, or scenes from everyday life in the Town Camp, the sculptures are made from recycled woollen blankets which are dyed using local plants, tea and corroded metal. Embroidered with brightly coloured wool thread and embellished with feathers, the soft sculptures are filled with character and humour. They are emblematic of the vitality of the Town Camp and its people, and the ingenuity of the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists who, through creativity and perseverance, have reignited the confidence and spirit of their community.

160

Participating artists: Cornelius Ebatarinja (Western Arrernte/Arrernte) Trudy Inkamala (Western Arrernte/Luritja) Roxanne Petrick (Alyawarre) Sonya Petrick (Eastern Arrernte/Alyawarre) Dulcie Raggett (Luritja) Marlene Rubuntja (Arrernte) Katherine Ryder (Eastern Arrernte) Rosabella Ryder (Arrernte) Dulcie Sharpe (Luritja/Arrernte) Rhonda Sharpe (Luritja)

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, In Our Hands, 2018

161

162

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 162 & 163) Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, In Our Hands, 2018

163

Svay Sareth Born 1972 in Battambang, Cambodia Lives and works in Siem Reap, Cambodia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Born in Cambodia during a time of hostility and political upheaval, Svay Sareth began making art as a teenager while living in a refugee camp located near the Thai-Cambodian border. Drawing on personal experience, Sareth works across sculpture, installation and performance, creating artworks that examine some of the many facets of war: violence, power, fear, resistance, futility, loss and survival. As a teenager living through civil war and the aftermath of conflict, making art became a way for Sareth to document the violence of everyday life, and a means to dream of a better world. Sareth’s artworks often repurpose everyday objects, using them to investigate and confront contemporary issues within and beyond Cambodia’s borders. At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sareth presents Prendre les Mesures, 2015, a single-channel video work that features documentary footage of a durational performance the artist conducted at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Using a large needle, a tool traditionally used to mend damaged rice sacks after they weaken from overuse or are gnawed and damaged by vermin, Sareth measured the length of the causeway at the entrance to the temple complex, which is regarded as the largest religious monument in the world. Alongside the video work, Sareth also exhibits the needle he used as a measuring device in the performance. The title of the work, which means ‘to take measures’ in French, is a double entendre. The literal interpretation is ‘to measure something’, but it can also be understood as ‘to take necessary measures to address a situation’. Sareth’s performance, some 7315 needle lengths and eight hours’ duration, speaks to both meanings. While Angkor Wat is a spiritual location of great significance, Sareth calls attention to the expropriation of the temple by varying powers over time, from the colonialera establishment of an archaeological park, to more recent concessions of ticket sales to private companies, and the ever-present masses of tourists.

164

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Svay Sareth, Prendre les Mesures, 2015

165

Marc Bauer Born 1975 in Geneva, Switzerland Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Zürich, Switzerland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Working primarily with graphite and pencil and almost exclusively in black and white, Marc Bauer’s drawings explore history and memory, both personal and collective. Speaking about his practice, Bauer notes that ‘painting and drawing is a way for me, and by extension the viewer, to comprehend reality, in all its complexity – subjectively, politically, symbolically. It also allows me to show how history, memory and shifting power structures shade the present moment.’ Using found images as a starting point, Bauer’s installations combine works on paper with illustrations rendered directly onto the gallery walls. While inspired by a photograph of a historical event, a film still, or an image found online, his drawings are not an exact replication or facsimile. Instead, Bauer draws from his memory of the image, creating a world complete with fictional characters and narratives and embedding them in a familiar representation; inviting the viewer to witness an alternative existence through the subjective lens of his own experience. At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Bauer exhibits a wall drawing titled Arsenal, Shipyard, Brest, Brittany, France, 2018, alongside ‘A Brief History of Emancipation’, 2018, a series of works on paper, and Diary, Madam F.C., 2017, sixty pieces of hand-made faience pottery. The installation is inspired by interviews the artist conducted in Quimper and Brest, two towns located in Brittany, France. Bauer spoke to women who, between 1960 and 1990, worked at a naval shipyard, a fish processing plant, and a ceramics factory and painting atelier; places of employment where the workforce was largely dominated by men. The handpainted ceramics that comprise Diary, Madam F.C. feature monochromatic images and text, revealing intimate vignettes of everyday domesticity relating to a fictional narrative about a woman who worked in the naval shipyard. The accompanying wall drawing and works on paper provide context based on the lives of the women Bauer interviewed, articulating their struggle for emancipation and better working conditions.

166

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Marc Bauer. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

167

168

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 168) Marc Bauer, Diary, Madam F.C., 2017 Marc Bauer, A Brief History of Emancipation, 2018 (p. 169) Marc Bauer. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Marc Bauer, Diary, Madam F.C., 2017

169

Haegue Yang Born 1971 in Seoul, South Korea Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Seoul

21st Biennale of Sydney

Haegue Yang’s works are often recognised by their eclectic arrangement of utilitarian products – electric cables, artificial plants, synthetic straws, metal plated bells, turbine vents, light bulbs – and, perhaps most notably, venetian blinds, which entered her vocabulary in 2006. Treating these functional objects as Duchampian ready-mades, Yang arranges and reconfigures them into immersive installations with olfactory experiences that oscillate between abstraction and narration, freeing them from their conventional status. In Sydney, Yang presents a multi-part installation combining three bodies of work from different periods of her versatile oeuvre. Three formative video essays called Video Trilogy (Unfolding Places, Restrained Courage, and Squandering Negative Spaces), 2004–06, are embedded in a venetian blind installation with scent emitters and moving lights called Lethal Love, 2008/2018. The installation is also accompanied by a group of anthropomorphic, partially suspended ebonyblack sculptures, entitled Umbra Creatures by Rockhole, 2017-18, that resemble subaquatic or giant arthropods, creating a multisensory and perceptually challenging environment. Based on the life of German politician and activist Petra Kelly and her companion and comrade Gert Bastian, who shot Kelly in her sleep in 1992 and killed himself thereafter, Lethal Love informs a critical reading of their historical lives. The domestic fitting of the suspended venetian blinds serves an allegorical function by evoking a separation as well as penetration between the private and public, while also creating a self-contained environment with expanding branches emerging from a mirror wall. Moving lights navigate, rotate and bleed through the blinds’ slats and cast shadows, while the evocatively named scent products of ‘Wildflower’ and ‘Gunpowder’ fill the air. Yang’s series The Intermediates, 2015–ongoing, takes its name from the ubiquity of straw weaving across cultures and the mediating role of straw. Despite the use of industrially manufactured materials, such as synthetic straws, bells, metal rings and turbine vents, the sculptures recall folk handicrafts or ritualistic effigies of ancient civilisations and appear to be part of a remote, yet intimate community. 172

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 170–171 & 172–173) Haegue Yang. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

173

174

175

Jacob Kirkegaard Born 1975 in Esbjerg, Denmark Lives and works in Jyderup, Denmark

21st Biennale of Sydney

Artist and composer Jacob Kirkegaard explores the sonic potential of a diverse range of environments including subterranean geysers, empty rooms within the exclusion zone at Chernobyl, glacial formations in the Arctic, and tones emitted by the human ear. Approaching the world through rigorous scientific research, Kirkegaard investigates the unique phonic qualities of specific locations, generating field recordings which he then transforms into aural compositions. Combining sound pieces with video imagery or other media, Kirkegaardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works often take the form of immersive installations that encourage the audience to engage with their surroundings on multiple sensory levels. At the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Kirkegaardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Through the Wall, 2013, is an installation that comprises a monolithic replica of the Israeli West Bank Barrier, also known as the Apartheid Wall, and a thirty-minute sound piece composed from field recordings. Travelling to Palestine and Israel in 2013, Kirkegaard intended to record the sounds of the barrier using vibration sensors. Discovering that the 8 metre high slabs of concrete held little resonance with its surroundings, he held acoustic microphones close to the surface of the wall, recording the ambient sounds of daily life taking place on either side of the structure. He had hoped to record at exactly the same location on either side of the barrier, but the logistical difficulties presented by armed checkpoints made it impossible, further accentuating the segregation and disaffection engendered by the concrete structure. However, despite the division, the sounds from each side moved freely through and above the wall. Within the gallery space, Kirkegaardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reproduction of the wall looms ominously in the centre of the room. Speakers concealed within the structure radiate an atmospheric composition created from the field recordings. A deep rumbling hum, punctuated by car horns, voices and the cries of birds, merges with the sounds of vehicles and a sonorous call to prayer.

176

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 174–175 & 176–177) Jacob Kirkegaard, Through the Wall, 2013

177

Nicole Wong Born 1990 in Hong Kong Lives and works in Hong Kong

21st Biennale of Sydney

Working beyond the bounds of any single medium, Nicole Wong adopts a process-driven approach to investigating philosophical questions associated with time, the tenuous connections between words and objects, and the limits of communication. Deftly weaving together wordplay and double entendre throughout her practice, Wong explores the connections between literal and connotative meanings. Embodying the artist’s preoccupation with language, Wong presents a series of marble works engraved with the top-ten Google search results for specific phrases including ‘I can’t’, ‘Maybe you’ and ‘Feelings are’. The emergent results reveal deeply private sentiments that are shared by countless others. These automated lists betray the simultaneous distance and closeness between individuals in the virtual sphere, and point to the absurdity of using a programmed tool for an emotional problem. The Stars: A New Way to See Them, 2015, plays with the visual implications of language. To produce the work, Wong selected 84 pages from a book on astronomy, covering each page with black ink and leaving only the repeated word ‘star’ visible. When viewed at a distance, the accumulated ‘stars’ form a constellation in themselves. This visual play between the micro and macrocosmic resembles the techniques used in concrete or shape poetry, where the typographic effect is just as significant as the linguistic meaning. Wong often generates an artwork through a series of purposeful actions, the finished result acting as record of the activity undertaken by the artist. In Time Piece, 2015, Wong created a permanent representation of time, using a fine-tip pen to draw a circle at the speed of the hour hand of a clock over a 12-hour period. Similarly, in Waiting Game, 2015, Wong used a predetermined system whereby she rolled a 20-sided die, each face of the object determining the diameter of a dot that Wong would transcribe on paper, resulting in the creation of a braille-like patterned effect.

178

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Nicole Wong. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

179

180

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 180) Nicole Wong, Feelings are, 2015 (p. 181) Nicole Wong, Waiting Game, 2015

181

Simryn Gill Born 1959 in Singapore Lives and works in Port Dickson, Malaysia and Sydney, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Simryn Gill’s works are drawn from her immediate surroundings and are firmly grounded in place, focusing intimately on the detritus of everyday life. Carbon Copy, 1998, comprises 53 typed works on paper and their carbon copies. They are produced by placing a sheet of blue carbon paper between two sheets of typing paper; the first sheet takes the impression of ink from the typewriter ribbon, the second takes the impression of the blue carbon, producing an identical pair in different inks. The words and phrases on each sheet of paper are from press statements made more than 20 years ago by Australian politician Pauline Hanson and Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, recently re-elected. The words and phrases – including ‘assimilate’, ‘do we want or need any of these people here’, ‘point fingers’, ‘wake up’ ‘succumb’, ‘sincere’, ‘trust me’, and ‘swamped’ – are plucked from their original context and treated as isolated utterances. They are typed repeatedly without spacing and arranged in a variety of geometric blocks, creating a kind of abstraction in both meaning and form. The repetition of the typed words creates warp and weft patterns, such as diagonal lines of the same letters: text as texture, or textile. It is as if these inflammatory phrases have become woven into the fabric of everyday life, and are now almost invisible and impossible to unpick. The selections become generalised representations of political rhetoric; it is not always clear who said what, but collectively the words generate a sense of panic that knows no borders. Adapted from: Russell Storer, ‘Simryn Gill’, in Natasha Bullock (ed.), MCA Collection Handbook, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2016

182

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Simryn Gill, Carbon Copy, 1998 Simryn Gill, Carbon Copy (it’s not easy to get rid of money politics but we’ll try), 1998

183

Liza Lou Born 1969 in New York, USA Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

21st Biennale of Sydney

Working between studios in the United States and South Africa, Liza Lou uses glass beads as her primary art material. Her process, by necessity slow and meticulous, examines themes of confinement, endurance, labour and repetition. Lou describes the world by enshrining ordinary objects and mundane environments, elevating the commonplace to the extraordinary. Sometimes taking years to complete, Lou’s sculptural works often correspond to the form of objects or environments from everyday life. For Kitchen, 1991– 96, the artist created a life-sized domestic kitchen using hundreds of thousands of multi-coloured glass beads. Lou has also explored more violent forms of confinement, as with Security Fence, 2005, a chain-link enclosure topped with razor wire with no entrance or exit, covered in a frost of crystalline silver beads. Awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2002, Lou travelled to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and in 2005 founded a studio working with previously unemployed women. Deeply versed in traditions of beadwork, the women assist Lou in realising larger scale works. The studio is an example of how art can help to generate real social change. Lou created a place of safety, education and empowerment; an environment where the labour of making art engendered real economic benefits for the practitioners and the wider community. The Clouds, 2015–18, is an installation comprising a panoramic grid of 600 individual cloths, each hand-woven from glass beads, offering the viewer a simultaneously macroscopic and microscopic view of the world. From afar, The Clouds appears predominantly white in colour, taking on the appearance of the natural phenomena for which it is named. Closer inspection reveals the surface of each cloth is infused with streaks and stains; natural oils unconsciously left by human hands. Subtle shifts of tone celebrate the beauty of errors made in the struggle for perfection. Lou has introduced oil paint to some beaded cloths and intentionally crushed others, the destruction revealing the delicate underlying structure within each hand-woven piece.

186

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 184–185 & 187) Liza Lou, The Clouds, 2015–18

187

Maria Taniguchi Born 1981 in Dumaguete City, Philippines Lives and works in Manila, Philippines

21st Biennale of Sydney

Maria Taniguchi’s diverse practice encompasses sculpture, painting, drawing, silkscreen, video and photography. Interested in exploring concepts of space and time, in 2008 Taniguchi initiated an ongoing series of works that take the form of large-format canvases covered in a meticulous arrangement of hand-painted bricks. The artist has referred to these labour-intensive works as being the fundamental root of her artistic practice, which, at its core, explores the systems and structures of making art and the materiality and architecture of painting. The methodical process of creating the brick paintings is an important objective of the work for Taniguchi; the production of each artwork requiring discipline and a singular focus. When commencing a new painting, Taniguchi stretches canvas onto a wooden board on the floor before priming it with a layer of grey paint. Drawing a brick pattern onto the monotone surface by hand, she painstakingly fills each rectangle with black acrylic paint. Taniguchi has related the works to an external mechanisation of the body as well as an allusion to the cells that make up biological organisms. Intimately connected to Taniguchi’s other works and to each other, the brick paintings represent a small part of the larger, more complete matrix of her practice. Untitled and unnumbered, the finished canvases are hybrid objects that the artist views as both paintings and sculptural forms. Taniguchi exhibits a large-scale brick painting at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, leaning the canvas against the wall of the gallery space rather than hanging it in a conventional manner. A series of sculptural circles and rods made from Java Plum, a hardwood native to India and Southeast Asia, accompany the painting. The ‘I’ and ‘O’ shapes are placed throughout the gallery space, creating a physical intervention that interrupts the predictable trajectory of the viewer, subtly proposing an alternative experience.

190

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 188â&#x20AC;&#x201C;189) Maria Taniguchi, back to front: Runaways, 2018; Untitled, 2018 (p. 191) Maria Taniguchi, Untitled, 2018 Maria Taniguchi, Runaways, 2018

191

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is Australia’s most significant building and busiest performing arts centre. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it was the venue of the inaugural Biennale of Sydney, which took place to coincide with the building’s opening in 1973. The Opera House has been used as a venue several times in the Biennale’s history.

Rayyane Tabet

21st Biennale of Sydney

Born 1983 in Achkout, Lebanon Lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon

Rayyane Tabet’s practice focuses on the use of objects, often of a personal nature, as a starting point for the exploration of memory and individual narratives. In Dear Mr. Utzon, 2018, Tabet uses a series of found objects as a means of accessing latent histories. Focusing on the connection between two disparate locations, Beirut and Sydney, Tabet presents a performance that looks at renowned architect Jørn Utzon’s design for the Sydney Opera House alongside his unrealised plan to construct a subterranean theatre at Jeita Grotto, the limestone caves in Lebanon. Following the form of an open letter addressed to the architect on the eve of his 100th birthday, Dear Mr. Utzon provides the artist with a way to position himself in relation to the city, by way of Utzon’s ties to Sydney and Beirut. Inspired by an archival image of Utzon at home with his family, Tabet transforms the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House into a domestic interior. The artist has included a lounge suite from Utzon’s ‘A New Angle’ furniture system, designed during the construction of the Opera House and acquired in 2006. Above the suite an original ‘U336 Lamp’ released by Artek in 1957 is suspended, alongside an ‘Opera’ pendant, launched in 2005. Other Utzondesigned objects, models and archival material relating to both the Opera House and the Jeita Grotto project have been carefully placed in the room, a site significant as its interior design is the only one completed by Utzon in the building. Tabet discloses a more informal portrait of the architect, focusing both on minor and major stories connected to both projects. Starting from the welcoming space of a domestic setting, Tabet’s narrative gradually recovers lesser-known, obscured stories, either tenuously or directly associated with the Sydney Opera House or the Jeita Grotto. The only physical remnant of the performance are reproduced leaflets, distributed at each venue of the 21st Biennale of Sydney, which read ‘BRING UTZON BACK’. Designed and printed by a group of young architects during the controversy surrounding Utzon’s dismissal from the Opera House project in 1966, the leaflet can be read as a metaphor for, and concise summation of, Tabet’s project.

194

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Rayyane Tabet, Dear Mr. Utzon, 2018

195

Oliver Beer Born 1985 in Pembury, England Lives and works in Paris, France and London, England

21st Biennale of Sydney

Oliver Beer works across the auditory, visual and performative, creating artworks that engage with the unique relationship between the human voice and architecture. Beer translates his research into experiential performances, transforming sites such as the glass tunnels of the Pompidou Centre in Paris or the Victorian sewers of Brighton into resounding ‘architectural instruments’. During a month-long artist residency at the Sydney Opera House in 2017, Beer explored the depth and breadth of Jørn Utzon’s iconic building, examining the acoustic qualities of concrete stairwells and corridors, as well as the structural interior of the lofty sails. For the 21st Biennale of Sydney, Beer presented Composition for Tuning an Architectural Space, 2012/2018, a performance piece adapted from his ongoing ‘Resonance Project’, a series of films and performances that have been a focus of his practice for more than ten years. The ‘Resonance Project’ is based on an acoustic phenomenon that Beer started exploring at an early age: that every architectural space has its own unchanging resonant notes, determined by its dimensions, which can be stimulated using the unamplified human voice. At the Sydney Opera House Beer took singers to the building’s farthest extremities; from the confined concrete spaces inside the tips of the roof sails, to a corridor located four stories below sea level, which he describes as having the acoustics of a cathedral. ‘Tuning’ the building as he went, while recording and filming, Beer built up a body of work around the unique acoustic fingerprint of the architecture. Composition for Tuning an Architectural Space transforms an unremarkable space within the Opera House through a live vocal performance. Revealing the resonant frequencies of the space, the work is an immersive sound composition that exists ‘at the meeting point between the singers and the architecture’. In intimate groups, audiences were invited to experience a fleeting revelation of architecture through sound.

196

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Oliver Beer, Composition for Tuning an Architectural Space, 2012/2018

197

Cockatoo Island Inscribed on the UNSECO World-Heritage List as one of the best surviving examples of convict transportation and colonial expansion through convict labour, Cockatoo Island was off-limits to the public for more than 100 years. It is Sydney Harbourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest island, and as a result of its pivotal role in Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convict and defence history, it retains an incredible legacy of over 80 colonial and industrial assets including buildings, cranes, docks and slipways. The Biennale first used Cockatoo Island as a venue in 2008.

Abraham Cruzvillegas Born 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico Lives and works in Mexico City

21st Biennale of Sydney

Abraham Cruzvillegas creates artworks that draw on disparate influences ranging from the socio-political climate of Latin America, music genres including punk rock and hip-hop, and the neighbourhood of Colonia Ajusco, where he grew up in Mexico City. Located in the southern part of the city on land thought to be uninhabitable, in the 1960s Ajusco became a locus for immigrants from the countryside seeking a better life. The new inhabitants built homes from found and recycled materials, and this aesthetic, along with the principles of the strongly politicised, tenacious community, are reflected in Cruzvillegas’ artworks. The use of found objects and repurposed materials is the foundation of Cruzvillegas’ practice. The artist is perhaps best known for a body of work created over the last decade titled ‘autoconstrucción’, meaning ‘self-construction’. Cruzvillegas’ interpretation of the word refers to methods of building slowly over time that arise out of poverty, necessitating creativity, adaptation and assistance from relatives, neighbours and friends. Cruzvillegas states that ‘“autoconstrucción” is about scarcity, solutions and ingenuity […] and how you can conceive a philosophy of life that you can make something out of nothing. That is also a metaphor for identity […] we are constantly transforming ourselves.’ Following this method, Cruzvillegas has created a series of site-specific sculptures in the Industrial Precinct at Cockatoo Island, Reconstruction I: The Five Enemies, 2018, and Reconstruction II: The Five Enemies, 2018. Suspended from the rafters of buildings once used to engineer and manufacture ships, Cruzvillegas’ pendulant structures have been improvised from discarded objects and building materials left over from events and restoration projects. Inspired by the writings of Chinese philosopher and Taoist sage Chuang Tzu (399–295 BC), Cruzvillegas pays close attention to the nature of the discarded objects and materials he collects. Recognising the life and history inherent in each article, Cruzvillegas, through a process of alchemical transmutation, converts them into artworks that retain traces of a genealogy of migration and labour.

200

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Abraham Cruzvillegas, Reconstruction: The Five Enemies I, 2018

201

Yukinori Yanagi Born 1959 in Fukuoka, Japan Lives and works in Hiroshima, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Yukinori Yanagi explores fundamental questions of human existence through site-specific installations that negotiate a diverse range of media. Interested in questions of identity, both on a social and national scale, many of Yanagi’s earlier works have examined individuality and the ways we are defined by constructs such as class, gender and ethnicity. More recently, his increasingly ambitious, largescale installations pose questions that relate to the consequences of technological advancement and globalisation. At Cockatoo Island, Yanagi exhibits a series of three interconnected artworks investigating industrialisation and progress in a time of global capitalism. In the Turbine Hall, Icarus Container, 2018, takes the form of a labyrinth of shipping containers repurposed by the artist to represent global networks of distribution. Inside the linked containers, a series of mirrors reflect the sky and a video projection of a burning sun; a reference to the development of nuclear technology. Each mirror features text drawn from Yukio Mishima’s poem, ICARUS, which concludes F-104, the epilogue of his 1969 collection of essays titled ‘Sun and Steel: Art, Action and Ritual Death’. In F-104 Mishima describes the experience of ascending high into the sky in an F-104 Starfighter, a single-engine supersonic aircraft. Icarus Container also takes inspiration from Ancient Greek mythology, referencing the tale of Icarus, the son of master craftsman Daedalus. After creating a labyrinth to confine the Minotaur at the request of King Minos of Crete, Daedalus and Icarus were themselves imprisoned within it. Fashioning wings from wax and feathers to facilitate their escape, Daedalus cautioned his son not to fly too close to the sun for fear that the heat would melt his wings. Revelling in the joy of flight, Icarus did not heed the warning and soared high into the sky before falling into the sea, his wings destroyed. Yanagi’s interpretation presents an analogous warning of the consequences of human obsession with technology and advancement.

204

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 202–203 & 204–205) Yukinori Yanagi, Icarus Container, 2018

205

Julian Abraham ‘Togar’ Born 1987 in Medan, Indonesia Lives and works in Medan and Yogyakarta, Indonesia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Julian Abraham ‘Togar’ engages in extensive research resulting in analytically focused artworks that combine installation, sound, music, programming and science, fostering social engagement through workshops and instructional programs. Concerned with the relationships and connections between art, the environment, science and technology, key outcomes of Togar’s projects are education and the dissemination of specialist scientific knowledge to the broader community. Diabethanol, 2018, is inspired by global issues relating to the health of both humans and the environment. Togar has created a fictional company named for the product it creates: Diabethanol. The word is an etymological construct that combines ‘diabetes’, where the body’s inability to produce insulin causes elevated levels of glucose in the blood, with ‘ethanol’, a colourless, volatile liquid that is the intoxicating agent in alcoholic beverages, as well as a solvent and a fuel. Togar addresses the impact of urbanisation and overpopulation on the environment, dwindling energy resources, and Asia’s difficulty balancing the desire for economic growth and prosperity with the reduction of carbon emissions. The artist also speaks to the rise in the incidence of diabetes due to nutrition transition and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the number of diabetic people around the world is expected to reach 592 million in 2035. Meanwhile, by 2040, oil production may be down to 15 million barrels per day – less than 20 per cent of our current consumption. In Diabethanol, Togar suggests a solution that transforms a negative health condition into a positive environmental development. Togar hypothesises the conversion of diabetic urine into a renewable energy source – bioethanol – by recycling human waste and transforming it into environmentally friendly biofuel. By suggesting a scheme in which human waste is collected, repurposed, marketed and sold back to the population in various forms, Togar illustrates some of the many ironies of contemporary reality.

206

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Julian Abraham ‘Togar’, Diabethanol, 2018

207

208

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 208 & 209) Julian Abraham ‘Togar’, Diabethanol, 2018

209

Martin Walde Born 1957 in Innsbruck, Austria Lives and works in Vienna, Austria

21st Biennale of Sydney

Martin Walde’s artistic practice exists at the nexus of art, nature and science, working across a range of mediums to create works that are both experimental and analytical in nature. Exploring concepts of time and the way objects occupy space, Walde’s projects are often realised through active participation from the audience. Since the 1980s Walde has developed artworks that consciously exclude explanatory texts on the basis that the provision of instruction manipulates the viewer’s experience. By deliberately creating ambiguous situations, Walde introduces an alternate reality where control and authority must be renegotiated. In the Industrial Precinct at Cockatoo Island, Walde presents Timeline, 2018, an exploration of temporality that articulates a fictional future. Every six minutes a sheet of paper is ejected from a printer mounted high up in the rafters of the building, each page floating through the air and settling on the ground in an arbitrary manner. The pages comprise a calendar that commences from the opening date of the exhibition and finishes in the year 2071. In Timeline Walde restructures the way we measure and experience the passing of time; a day passes in six minutes, a year disappears in 24 hours, and in two months we are already living in the future. Some of the pages feature an intervention by the artist; a text, drawing or diagram referencing the geography and environment of Cockatoo Island. These meditations, in meaningful and continuous order, communicate information about the world in the days, months and years yet to come. In Walde’s utopian future, the island appears as it did more than 250 years ago before colonisation. The artist manipulates the idea of time as a linear construct, travelling simultaneously forward and backward, merging a possible future and the distant past with the contemporary moment. Positing the idea that time has dissolved completely into a gaseous state, Walde hypothesises a new way of calibrating its duration: measuring time and history by temperature.

210

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 210 & 211) Martin Walde, Timeline, 2006â&#x20AC;&#x201C;18

211

Mit Jai Inn Born 1960 in Chiang Mai, Thailand Lives and works in Chiang Mai

21st Biennale of Sydney

Defying conventional boundaries, both physically and conceptually, Mit Jai Inn’s artworks often appear as hybrid objects; paintings that could be sculptures, or sculptures that incorporate painterly methods. Varying in size and format, his paintings recurrently defy traditional methods of display; rolls of canvas are unfurled across the floor or suspended from the ceiling in draped loops and folds. Mit’s artistic practice is a meditation on light and time, each painting relating closely to the site at which it was created. Working at Cockatoo Island in the months leading up to the 21st Biennale of Sydney, Mit developed a large-scale installation encompassing multiple elevations. Titled Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018, the immersive presentation invokes his open-air Chiang Mai studio, while also referencing the history of Cockatoo Island as a site of industrial manufacture. Hover presents a series of double-sided, densely layered suspended works that welcome circumnavigation, playing on manifestations of power in the form of the scroll and at the scale of the monument. Displayed horizontally on a long table, Erupt reads as a landscape that performs colour interactions, movements and coups. Erode comprises a field of scraped impasto and pigment signposts immersed in a sea of water and alcohol. As the ‘spirits’ are absorbed and consumed over time, the painting gradually emerges. Investigating the materiality of painting and its relationship to the body, Mit engages in a physically rigorous cycle of labour in which he augments, overlays and erases pigment. Working with palette knives and decades-old blocks of dried oil paint which he revives with linseed oil, Mit pulls and disperses the paint across vast sheets of canvas in varying treatments. This method of slowly building each painting, layer by layer, brings a highly textural, tactile quality to his work. The title, Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), alludes to the simultaneity of the measurable and the imperceptible. Vertical and horizontal planes bisect and animate the space, inviting observation from both close and distant perspectives.

212

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Mit Jai Inn, Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018

213

214

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 214 & 215) Mit Jai Inn, Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018

215

Anya Gallaccio Born 1963 in Paisley, Scotland Lives and works in London, England and San Diego, USA

21st Biennale of Sydney

Anya Gallaccio is well known for her ephemeral, sitespecific installations; temporary works that often comprise materials informed by local industries and economies such as flowers, dirt, chocolate and ice. Providing vivid, sensorial experiences of processes of transformation and decay, Gallaccio allows materials to dictate the ultimate form of an artwork. From this arises questions of authorship and material agency, undercutting the supremacy of the artist’s hand. Situated in the Industrial Precinct at Cockatoo Island, Beautiful Minds, 2015–18, involved a giant 3D printer suspended from the pre-existing gantry remaining from the Island’s ship-building past. The printer was loaded with clay that was discharged to print a scale-model of an existing mountainscape – Devil’s Tower, also known as Bear Lodge Butte, in Wyoming. Named the first United States National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt, there is much uncertainty surrounding the formation of the geological site, with speculation suggesting that the Tower was a volcanic plug or the neck of an extinct volcano. The eventual clay form is dictated by the programmed printer; as an insentient machine, it is unconcerned with the outcome. In this way, Gallaccio removes the influence of subjective judgement – the only variables at play result from the materiality of the clay and conditions of the printing environment. Building up the sedimentary ‘rock’ layer by layer, the machine accelerates a geological process that usually takes millions of years. On the ephemerality of the work, Gallaccio notes, ‘[at] the end of the day the mountain gets smashed up which is quite heart-breaking in a way, because I think it’s a really beautiful, fantastical object. It is set up to fail, which is something I feel is consistent with all of my work. I set out with an expectation of what it might do, but I cannot ever totally guarantee it.’ Seeing the mechanised process as a form of drawing rather than sculpture-making, Gallaccio rethinks our understanding of natural processes in light of technological advancements.

216

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Anya Gallaccio, Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018

217

218

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 218 & 219) Anya Gallaccio, Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018

219

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi Born 1971 in Bangkok, Thailand Lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand

21st Biennale of Sydney

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi’s monumental forms skew and contort visual reality, challenging conventional notions of perception and objective understandings of the physical world. His sculptures promote a heightened awareness of space, encouraging the viewer to acknowledge the surrounding spatial field as an intrinsic part of the work itself. Puntusawasdi uses complex mathematical calculations to generate forms, which are designed and constructed without the aid of modern technology. Puntusawasdi’s works often cite his interest in navigation, cartography, astronomy and historical understandings of the universe. Continuing this preoccupation, Puntusawasdi presents two new sculptures, Super Moon 2:1, 2018, and A Dim Night 1:1, 2018. Super Moon refers to the phenomena that occurs when a new or full moon reaches its closest possible distance from Earth in its elliptic orbit (perigee), appearing unusually large when viewed from Earth. The presence of a supermoon has been linked to the occurrence of natural disasters, including storms, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Composed of hundreds of numbered brass panels bolted together, Super Moon 2:1 re-creates the mystery and intrigue surrounding the curious lunar event. Resembling a visionary invention from a thinker of another age, Super Moon 2:1 attests to the enduring human fascination with the cosmos and the greater unknown. Balanced precariously on its axis, the sculpture appears to defy the laws of gravity. Puntusawasdi’s extra-terrestrial creation reflects ideals contained in Renaissance humanism – a captivation with the cosmos and the desire for human progress and fulfillment that still reverberate in today’s consciousness. A Dim Night 1:1, a smaller companion piece made from brass and nickel alloy, is similarly alluring. Its intimate scale allows the viewer to examine the sculpture in its entirety, manifesting the human striving towards knowledge. Resonating with the industrial past of Cockatoo Island, the sculptures are displayed alongside a new series of engravings on copper sheet documenting Puntusawasdi’s process. These give incredible insight into the laborious techniques used by the artist to produce his designs, further likening him to a master inventor. 220

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Tawatchai Puntusawasdi, left to right: A Dim Night 1:1, 2018; Super Moon 2:1, 2018

221

222

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 222) Tawatchai Puntusawasdi, Earth Shadow at 3.00 pm, 2016; Plan View, 2017 (p. 223) Tawatchai Puntusawasdi, Super Moon 2:1, 2018

223

Koji Ryui Born 1976 in Kyoto, Japan Lives and works in Sydney, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Koji Ryui creates artworks that recontextualise everyday materials and found objects. A collector of the commonplace, the shelves of Ryui’s studio are filled with objects and materials that remain static until they are given a new life; repurposed and transformed into sculptural installations that blur the border between animate and inanimate. Exploring the space between material and perception, Ryui draws parallels between objects and ideas, noting that ‘by collecting these things I’m also collecting something of my mind. Some people might take a notebook and collect ideas in the notebook, but I seem to do that with objects and materials.’ Ryui’s Jamais vu, 2018, is a site-specific installation that explores the cosmic potential of ordinary objects and the way we perceive them. Translated from French, the title of the work means ‘never seen’, and infers something like the opposite of déjà vu. Instead of a sensation of familiarity, Ryui’s intention is to make recognisable objects strange and unfamiliar, taking them out of their usual context and repurposing them in ways that emphasise their divergent associations. Poly-coated wire from garment drying racks and found spherical objects are deployed in a spatial drawing that engages with the structural features and negative space of the Industrial Precinct at Cockatoo Island. Resembling a three-dimensional chart of the cosmos, or perhaps the complex molecular structure of some unknown substance, the installation is suspended in the air above a collection of found crystal and glass receptacles. When struck and agitated, the resonance of the vessels creates an ethereal soundscape that floats through the structure. The ordinariness of Koji’s materials and his engagement with their inner potential asks the viewer to enter into a state of open-minded, imaginative contemplation.

224

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Koji Ryui, Jamais vu, 2018

225

226

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 226 & 227) Koji Ryui, Jamais vu, 2018

227

Ai Weiwei Born 1957 in Beijing, China Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

21st Biennale of Sydney

For the 21st Biennale of Sydney, Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei presents a series of interconnected works across multiple locations, focusing on themes of forced migration and displacement. In 2015 and 2016 Ai travelled to more than 23 countries including Greece, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sweden and Italy. He visited 40 refugee camps and interviewed hundreds of people, ultimately creating the documentary film Human Flow, which premiered in Sydney as part of the Biennale of Sydney program. His experiences gave rise to a series of artworks that attempt to articulate the everyday reality faced by more than 65 million displaced people around the world. In the Industrial Precinct at Cockatoo Island, Ai’s Law of the Journey, 2017, creates an imposing statement. A 60-metre-long boat crowded with hundreds of faceless figures, the work brings the monumental scale of the humanitarian crisis sharply into focus. The inflatable boat and figures are made from black rubber and were fabricated in a Chinese factory that also manufactures the vessels boarded by thousands of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The boat is supported by a plinth featuring excerpts and quotations from texts relating to migration written by artists, poets and activists. Four video works are also displayed as part of the installation, presented against the backdrop of 4,992 photographs relating to refugees, 01.12.2015– 10.02.2016, a wallpaper featuring photographs Ai captured on an iPhone during visits to refugee camps. Filmed over several days, At Sea, 2016, shows overcrowded rafts delivering a constant flow of people to the shores of the Greek Island of Lesbos. In On the Boat, 2016, Ai stands alone on a partially submerged, deflating vessel discovered floating in the Mediterranean Sea, the fates of its passengers unknown. Floating, 2016, features footage of the same raft, abandoned to the seemingly limitless expanse of the ocean. Finally, Ai Weiwei Drifting, 2017, presents a film documenting Ai’s life over the course of one year while he began his investigation of the refugee situation.

230

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 228–229 & 230–231) Ai Weiwei, Law of the Journey, 2017

231

232

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 232) Ai Weiwei, 4992 Photos Relating to Refugees, 01.12.2015–10.02.2016 Ai Weiwei, back to front: 4,992 Photos Relating to Refugees, 01.12.2015–10.02.2016; Floating, 2016 (p. 233) Ai Weiwei. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island

233

Yukinori Yanagi Born 1959 in Fukuoka, Japan Lives and works in Hiroshima, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Continuing his investigation into the development of nuclear technology and its consequences, Yukinori Yanagi presents a video installation titled Landscape with an Eye, 2018, in the former Powerhouse at Cockatoo Island. Constructed in 1918, the coal fired Powerhouse was necessary to the operation of what was a major naval dockyard during both world wars, once supplying all of the electricity to Cockatoo Island and housing the pump used to empty the Fitzroy Dock where ships were built, maintained and repaired. Resonating with the history of the site, Yanagiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landscape with an Eye features a sphere 2.5 metres in diameter upon which video of an enormous eye is projected, appearing to float suspended in space. Gazing into the iris, the viewer is presented with archival film footage that depicts the violence of nuclear tests conducted from 1946 to 1996 at different sites in the Pacific Ocean including Bikini Atoll, Enewetak Atoll and Mururoa Atoll. Accompanied by an ominous soundtrack of rumbling explosions, Landscape with an Eye bears witness to the way humans have exploited energy and the environment throughout history in the pursuit of power and progress. The images of nuclear destruction flickering across the surface of the eye have multiple connections to the history of Cockatoo Island and the industrial surroundings of the former Powerhouse, a space once used to produce energy in support of war, advancement and modernity.

234

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Yukinori Yanagi, Landscape with an Eye, 2018

235

Yukinori Yanagi Born 1959 in Fukuoka, Japan Lives and works in Hiroshima, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Yukinori Yanagi’s third work at Cockatoo Island is exhibited in the former Rectifier Room, a building connected to the Powerhouse where AC electricity supplied from the mainland via an underwater cable in 1937 was converted to low-voltage DC power. The equipment and machinery housed in the buildings are relics from a time when Cockatoo Island was one of the largest shipbuilding sites in the southern hemisphere, playing a significant role in the manufacture and maintenance of instruments of war. Suspended from the ceiling, Absolute Dud, 2007, is a lifesize replica of ‘Little Boy’, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. The iron reproduction hovers in the air, as if frozen in time moments before detonation. At 8.15 am on 6 August 1945, Little Boy was released from the B-29 aircraft Enola Gray high above the city of Hiroshima, falling for 44.4 seconds before detonating 580 metres above the ground. Everything within a radius of 1.6 kilometres was totally destroyed, with further devastation from fires spreading throughout the city. Three days later a second bomb nicknamed ‘Fat Man’ was exploded over Nagasaki. It is estimated that 140,000 people died at Hiroshima and 70,000 at Nagasaki, with roughly half of the fatalities in each city occurring on the days of impact and many more people, the majority of whom were civilians, dying from injury and radiation sickness in the months following. More than 300 nuclear explosions were detonated in the Pacific Ocean region between 1945 and 1996, commencing with Little Boy and concluding with Xouthos, a nuclear test at Fangataufa Atoll at 11.29 am on 27 January 1996. Yanagi’s Absolute Dud imparts an ominous, physical reminder of the legacy of war and ultimate consequences of the misuse of power in the name of progress.

236

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Yukinori Yanagi, Absolute Dud, 2007

237

Yasmin Smith Born 1984 in Sydney, Australia Lives and works in Sydney and itinerant

21st Biennale of Sydney

Working with ceramics, Yasmin Smith creates sitespecific installations driven by extensive research. In 2016, Smith became interested in the history of salt production in New South Wales and salt-glazing techniques. A chemical compound essential to the existence of life, salt is a valuable resource, integral to science, economics, anthropology, archaeology, geology, hydrology, spirituality and politics throughout history and across cultures. Drowned River Valley, 2018, focuses on Cockatoo Island’s location, where the salty waters of Sydney Harbour and the less saline waters of the Parramatta River system converge. The work examines the local presence of salt harvested from harbour/river tidal exchange water around the Island as well as in the ash of Avicennia marina (grey mangrove), a plant adapted to the saline conditions of intertidal zones along the Parramatta River. Smith collected salt water from the slipway on Cockatoo Island and mangrove wood, with permission from local councils, from endangered salt marsh areas undergoing regeneration. At the south end of Cockatoo Island, Smith created a functioning studio with an outdoor kiln and salt farm where visitors contributed their labour to the production of clay vessels for salt harvesting. These vessels were made with clay Smith developed in 2016 containing 30 per cent Sydney sandstone dust from the renovations of the Barangaroo foreshore on Sydney Harbour. Smith’s multilayered project employed a variety of elements and interconnected production processes. Mangrove wood and wharf timbers from Cockatoo Island’s industrial history were burned in a furnace to create heat, evaporating water and producing salt. Ash from the incinerated material was used to produce wood ash glazes applied to ceramic casts of the corresponding timber forms. The salt from the furnace was used to glaze the harvesting vessels. The visual outcomes of the glazes connect Smith’s research with the ceramic objects, culminating in an installation displayed in the former Timber Drying Store.

238

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Yasmin Smith, Drowned River Valley, 2018

239

240

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Yasmin Smith, Drowned River Valley, 2018

241

242

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Yasmin Smith, Drowned River Valley, 2018

243

Ami Inoue Born 1991 in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Lives and works in Kyoto, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Ami Inoue combines personal stories with an ethnographic approach, producing works that reveal the gulf between modern life and a more ‘primitive’ means of survival. When her grandfather abandoned hunting after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Inoue inherited the practice and now documents her methods as a hunter living in the city. A Common Field Between Grandpa and Me, 2016, unravels the origins of Inoue’s hunting practice. The video both parallels and contrasts the two generations, showing alternate footage of both Inoue and her grandfather preparing deer legs for cooking. Inoue’s grandfather, seated outdoors on a humble crate, signifies the long-established way of hunting, while Inoue, situated in an urban interior, represents the contemporary application of the practice. Accompanying the footage is audio of a conversation between the artist and her grandfather, with Inoue probing and questioning her grandfather on the places he used to go hunting, his favourite meat to eat and, most significantly, his reasons for ceasing the practice. The video ends with the artist successfully capturing a deer, demonstrating the inheritance of her grandfather’s knowledge. The video works are accompanied by a series of photographs documenting Inoue’s grandfather’s hunting excursions. Inoue’s video work The Life of the Hunter, 2016, evidences this estrangement between nature and culture. Documenting the steps involved in the process of tanning animal skins, the artist is shown washing, salting and draping a deer skin over a rope to dry. Set against a cold, nondescript metropolitan setting, the viewer later witnesses Inoue preparing the deer meat for cooking. These images are interposed with picturesque footage from the mountains in Kyoto, night vision of the deer being pursued by its hunter, and finally the deer’s motionless carcass. Age-old hunting practices seem especially strange when located in a modern context; the artist’s closeness to the lifeless animal appears crude and primal in a world where our exposure to death and the cycles of life is repressed and controlled.

244

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Ami Inoue, The Life of the Hunter, 2016

245

246

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 246) Ami Inoue, History of grandfather’s hunting, undated Ami Inoue, History of my hunting, 2016–17 (p. 247) Ami Inoue, The Life of the Hunter, 2016

247

Su-Mei Tse Born 1973 in Luxembourg Lives and works in Luxembourg

21st Biennale of Sydney

Su Mei Tse’s practice combines photography, video, installation and sculpture, often centring on music and the sonic potential of our surrounding environment. Considering sound as an expansive medium, Tse investigates the way visual acuity and auditory sensitivity can influence our perception of the world around us. Tse’s video triptych Gewisse Rahmenbedingungen 3 (A Certain Frame Work 3), Altes Museum _ Villa Farnesina _ Villa Adriana, 2015–17, addresses altered perceptions and ways of dealing with history in a contemporary context. The three-channel video installation depicts a juggler’s hand as it playfully traverses the surface of a transparent sphere. Contact juggling, the technique used in the videos, involves the movement of balls across the body while maintaining a continued physical connection with the object. In the orb, we see an inverted image of the surrounding environment created by the interaction of light with the transparent surface. This optical effect combined with the hypnotic movement of the hand is visually enchanting, while also reflecting the continually progressive yet cyclical nature of time. Each video was recorded at different historical sites in Europe: the neoclassical Altes Museum in Berlin, the city’s oldest museum housing an impressive collection of classical antiquities; Villa Farnesina, a Renaissance suburban villa in Rome; and Villa Adriana, built by the Emperor Hadrian in the second century in Tivoli. These sites are skewed and transposed on to the spheres, re-situating them in a world of play and lightness. The distorted images reflected in the orbs present history as malleable, treating historical legacies with a sense of dynamism. Tse’s chosen format also hints at this reimagining of history; the triptych, a three-panelled image traditionally used as an altarpiece, is re-adopted by the artist and applied to a present-day setting. Contending with the weight of history, Tse asks us to discard our solemn attempts at preservation, encouraging a poetic rather than rigid relationship to the past.

248

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Su-Mei Tse, Gewisse Rahmenbedingungen 3 (A Certain Frame Work 3), Altes Museum _ Villa Farnesina _ Villa Adriana, 2015â&#x20AC;&#x201C;17

249

Kate Newby Born 1979 in Auckland, New Zealand Lives and works in New York, USA and Auckland

21st Biennale of Sydney

Kate Newby’s practice asks us to awaken to our environment, her artworks manifesting as shrewd yet restrained gestures towards the world outside the white cube. Moving beyond institutional critique, Newby’s works promote a heightened perceptual awareness, encouraging detailed consideration of the relationship between people and things. Working with installation, textile, ceramic, casting, metal and glass, Newby’s choice of material is dependent on the chosen site, often a peripheral space, and its individual particularities. On the dependence of her work on its context, Newby has said: ‘As an artist, I have never been interested in making work that doesn’t have a type of necessary reliance on the place where it is exhibited. I’m always interested in work that works in conjunction with features of the space; be it indoors or outdoors [...] So my work is never this standalone thing; it’s always this site-responsiveness and connection to architecture.’ Continuing this investigation, the artist presents a new site-specific installation, A rock in this pocket., 2018. Replacing a section of the enclosed courtyard of Cockatoo Island’s Convict Precinct, Newby has created a large pavement-like work across which viewers are invited to walk. Constructed from a sequence of bricks embedded with ceramic and metal objects and found pieces of broken glass sourced from the Island, the bricks are also inscribed with markings, functioning as slight but sensitive responses to the immediate context. These recall the stone markings left by convicts on the sandstone blocks that make up the Precinct. Working on site at a brickworks in Bowral, New South Wales, the artist intervened into the surface of the bricks before they were fired and subsequently transported to the Island. A rock in this pocket. encourages active engagement, asking the viewer to tread upon its surface and observe its details. Newby unites the acts of walking and looking to disrupt the traditional divide between artwork and viewer. The viewer becomes a participant in the work that unfolds through careful examination; the individual experience shaped by their movement through space.

250

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Kate Newby, A rock in this pocket., 2018

251

252

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Kate Newby, A rock in this pocket., 2018

253

Nicholas Mangan Born 1979 in Geelong, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Nicholas Mangan dismantles accepted histories, often relating to geopolitics and the environment, reformulating them to reveal alternative narratives. Frequently starting from a single object or event, Mangan unlocks the complex dynamic between human action and the state of nature through a process of disassembly and reformation. A World Undone, 2012, presents a meditation on the conflicting interests of capitalism, climate change and the global economy, referring to a particular instance where this interplay of forces is especially pronounced. The video depicts fragments of the mineral zircon, sourced from Jack Hills in Western Australia, dispersing in slow motion. Captured at a speed of 2500 frames per second, the geological material is some of the oldest on Earth. The range is well known as the site where zircons from the Hadean eon, which formed around 4.4 billion years ago, have been sourced. Also home to an iron ore mine, the Jack Hills figure symbolically as a locus of clashing ideologies. Describing his interest in geology, Mangan has noted, ‘[my] practice addresses how the extraction and refinement of raw material affects the social domain. The geological has been at the mercy of the so called “great acceleration” and late capitalist extraction. It has also been at the core of ongoing issues around the changing climate.’ Mangan’s disinterested manner of drawing attention to the material qualities of the mineral offers a straightforward ‘way in’ to a complex issue. From this standpoint, the viewer is able to comprehend the material in commercial and scientific-historical terms, while also seeing the mineral independent of its political meanings. More abstractly, the lengthened time frame, in combination with the visual metaphor of the fine particles scattering against a nondescript background, hints at the broader cosmos and its celestial movements; linking the micro- and macrocosmic through a single material.

254

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Nicholas Mangan, A World Undone, 2012

255

Ryan Gander Born 1976 in Chester, England Lives and works in London, England

21st Biennale of Sydney

Ryan Gander’s practice is guided by a keen curiosity about storytelling and narrative construction; a consideration of the way objects can be used to implicate meaning and therefore transcend their material reality. Often seeming opaque or impervious, Gander intentionally omits critical details in order to urge the viewer to conceptualise a fitting narrative. The artist understands his role as providing subtle clues and prompts that are ripe with interpretative potential. One such example is Gander’s series ‘Alchemy Boxes’, 2007–ongoing, a succession of variously designed receptacles containing objects from the collection of the artist. Sealed and impenetrable, the enclosed objects are inaccessible save for an accompanying wall label describing each article. Gander similarly withholds information in his newly commissioned Some Other Places, 2018. Divided into two rooms, the larger space contains a snowcovered streetscape, a scene recollected from the artist’s childhood spent at a suburban housing estate in Chester in the Northwest of England and replicated at 1:1 scale. Fresh and unspoilt, the layer of snow is dotted with smaller artworks, each curious extensions of the notion of the unknowable. This vast landscape, however, is separated from the viewer by a wall dissecting the space. The only means of entry into this seemingly mythical space is via a small window and screen showing a live feed from a number of cameras located within the adjacent room. Fragments of the installation intrude into the audience’s designated space – a snow-clad upturned chair, a glowing doorway with three winding steps and a small-scale model of Cockatoo Island’s Dog Leg Tunnel with a sculptural intervention – hinting at the dreamlike landscape beyond the wall. The screen functions as a ‘cinematic frontier’; a barrier preserving the memory in the artist’s mind and provoking the viewer’s curiosity. The work continues its presence in other locations on the island, acting as a series of witty clues that lead to the larger installation. Here, Gander plays with the human desire for knowledge, while purposely thwarting entry into this imagined/ remembered world. 256

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Ryan Gander, ‘Other Places’, 2018

257

258

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 258) Ryan Gander, Forces outside of you (Because you cede your life decisions and consequences to forces outside of you), 2017 (p. 259, clockwise from top left) Ryan Gander, Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time, 2018; Some Other Places, 2018 Ryan Gander, A man in khaki pants, a blue shirt and a baseball cap, with an American accent and a raised voice, 2018 Ryan Gander, Up ended Breuer chair after several inches of snowfall, 2016 Ryan Gander, Unproductive labour, 2018 Ryan Gander, Unproductive labour, 2018 Ryan Gander, Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time, 2018; Interested in everything committed to nothing, 2018; Some Other Places, 2018

259

Wong Hoy Cheong Born 1960 in George Town, Malaysia Lives and works in George Town and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Visual artist, educator and political activist Wong Hoy Cheong reimagines and reconstructs histories in an effort to transfer power and authority to the marginalised ‘Other’. Wong broaches concerns in relation to colonialism, migration, identity and globalisation to produce multi-layered works that are speculative rather than definitive. The artist presents ‘UNcover’, 2015, a series of photographs and wax rubbings of manholes situated in politically significant locations around Yekaterinburg, Russia. First exhibited as part of the 3rd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Wong selected sites representing the intrinsic relationship between public space and power structures including the President’s Residence, The Church on the Blood, the Headquarters of the Volga-Urals Military District and the Suvorov Military School. A deliberately physical medium, the wax rubbings function as material imprints of the geographical locations. The photographs display views of the manholes from above, looking into the complex underground network supporting the city, and, from below, peering up to the sky. Found in most cities, manholes exist as passive bystanders to the currents of history. Symbolically, manholes represent a gateway to a city’s underbelly; another world concealing unseen historical realities. The fourth-largest city in Russia, Yekaterinburg occupies a precarious position, situated on then the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains on the border between Europe and Asia. Significant not only for its physical position, the city has also witnessed considerable political upheaval and social change over the years. It was the ground on which the execution of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family took place in July 1918. In the Soviet era, Yekaterinburg was named Sverdlovsk after the Bolshevik leader Yakov M. Sverdlov, but reverted to its original name in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As a foreigner observing the socio-political circumstances of another nation, Wong is able to present an alternative view of sites of historical significance. Free from the potential impairment of personal or political involvement, Wong’s version of the city’s history is measured and non-hierarchical.

260

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Wong Hoy Cheong. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island

261

262

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Wong Hoy Cheong, UNcover: Central Post Bank (56°50’21.4”N 60°36’30.9”E), 2015 Wong Hoy Cheong, UNcover: Suvorov Military School (56°50’42.8”N 60°38’52.7”E), 2015

263

Khaled Sabsabi Born 1965 in Tripoli, Lebanon Lives and works in Sydney, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Khaled Sabsabi works across mediums and geographical borders to create artworks and experiences promoting cultural awareness and respect. Engaging with Sufi teachings, Sabsabi presents Bring the Silence, 2018, a five-channel audio visual installation offering intimate insights into practised customs at sacred burial sites, known as maqām in Arabic. Filmed in Delhi, India, with full permission from the maqām custodians, Bring the Silence depicts people of many faiths offering their respects a Sufi Saint, Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325 CE). Sufism is the inner and mystical spiritual dimension of Islam, seen by many as a practice that fosters cultural understanding. Maqām are burial sites of Sufi Saints, sacred places associated with spirituality and enlightenment that hold multilayered significance. Visiting an enlightened one, a ‘Wali’ or Saint, is an intrinsic part of a continuing body of spiritual practices and beliefs emanating from Sufi traditions. Upon entering a maqām, a person makes an offering – incense, rose petals or flowers – and in return receives the blessing of the Saint. In a climate of global turmoil, the custodians of the maqām in Delhi believe that it is important for people to witness the existence of a space that promotes cultural and spiritual harmony and understanding. Bring the Silence creates a space that retains echoes of the sacred; a place that offers commonality, acceptance and peace. The video footage, displayed on double-sided screens suspended from the ceiling, shows views of the maqām from different angles. Bowls of rosewater placed throughout the space and straw mats covering the floor reference the atmosphere of a maqām; an inviting space demonstrating both the spirituality and the domesticity of the everyday. The word maqām transcends ethnicity; on the screens, the viewer can observe Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and Muslims entering the shrine to seek the blessings of the Saint. Bring the Silence alludes to multiple perspectives, materially and conceptually, edifying the way Sufism deals with the seen and the unseen, the physical and the metaphysical.

266

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(pp. 264–265 & 266–267) Khaled Sabsabi, Bring the Silence, 2018

267

Suzanne Lacy Born 1945 in Wasco, USA Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA

21st Biennale of Sydney

Widely regarded as a pioneer of socially engaged and public art, Suzanne Lacy uses installation, video and performance to confront issues relating to gender identity, sexual violence, labour, poverty, incarceration, racism, aging and youth culture. Often working in collaboration with members of communities and other artists, Lacy’s projects merge art with activism and ritual, generating dialogue and providing a conduit for change. In 2015 Lacy was commissioned by Super Slow Way to create Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope in Lancashire, England. Engaging with the economic, cultural and spiritual history of the area, Lacy worked in collaboration with artists and community organisations such as Building Bridges Pendle, In-Situ, organisers Paul Hartley and Rauf Bashir, musicologist Ron Pen, and anthropologist Massimiliano Mollona. The project evolved through a series of community meetings, workshops and singing sessions that brought together residents to produce a performance in September 2016 in the abandoned spaces of the Brierfield Mill. The Circle and the Square, 2017, represents the work of many residents in the community and explores the intertwined histories of labour and migration and the social and economic repercussions of the demise of the textile industry. Comprising a multipart audio-visual installation and resource room, the installation represents the project and documents the performance, with a timeline on the region’s histories of immigration and labor, interviews with former mill workers and a two-screen projection of the Dhikr and Shape-Note performance. The Circle and the Square’s central film, by Mark Thomas of Soup Co., depicts Sufi chanting (Dhikr), whose participants sit in a circle, and Shape Note singing, whose participants are seated in a square. Listening to the film, the two different vocal forms, both with strong roots in Lancashire, combine into a single form of spiritual expression.

268

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Suzanne Lacy, The Circle and the Square, 2016

269

270

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 270) Suzanne Lacy, The Circle and the Square, 2016 (p. 271) Suzanne Lacy, The Circle and the Square: Resource Room

271

Dimitar Solakov Born 1987 in Sofia, Bulgaria Lives and works in Sofia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Working primarily with video and photography, and more recently integrating drawing into his practice, Dimitar Solakov is interested in connections, the bonds that exist between people, the relationship between human beings and nature, and the links between different ideas and belief systems. Examining our interpretation of the past from the perspective of the present, Solakov investigates the subjectivity of history and how information presented as fact can often be based on insufficient evidence and distorted narratives. ‘New Life for the Past’, 2015, is a series of panoramic photographs and facsimile drawings that scrutinise officially sanctioned historical conservation. When Solakov visited the Krakra Fortress in Pernik, Bulgaria, he was shocked to discover the poor quality of restoration work conducted at the site. Conservation of the fortress was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a financial instrument of the European Union’s cohesion policy aimed at reducing disparities between development of different regions. Investigating further, Solakov found that the ERDF had funded the preservation of numerous cultural heritage sites in Bulgaria. Visiting the locations that had supposedly undergone restoration, Solakov began creating a visual record of the results. His photographs corroborate that, in most cases, construction appears to have been carried out with little historical research or regard for the cultural significance of the sites. Alongside his photographic documentation of the sites, Solakov began creating a series of twentyeight drawings. Using small fragments of bone, fossils, teeth and shells – mostly purchased from eBay – as a starting point, Solakov reconstructed animals and organisms based on what he imagined they might have looked like. With no formal training in painting or in paleontology, Solakov conceived of a host of fictional creatures only loosely connected to reality, much in the same way the conservation of heritage sites in his native Bulgaria has been conducted with only a tenuous link to history.

272

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Dimitar Solakov, Pliska, 2015

273

274

21st Biennale of Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

(p. 274) Dimitar Solakov. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island (p. 275) Dimitar Solakov, Untitled, 2015

275

Biennale of Sydney Archive

Small steps, larger journey

21st Biennale of Sydney

Sydney Biennales in the 1970s and 1980s

At a time when 225 regularly recurrent exhibitions of contemporary art are listed on the website of the Biennial Foundation, it is salutary to recall the situation in Australia in the early 1970s. Contemporary art was rarely shown in the state galleries, commercial galleries depended mostly on established artists, and independent art spaces were just getting started.1 Artist-run spaces such as Central Street Gallery, founded in Sydney in 1966, and artist-prioritising spaces such as Pinacotheca, established by Bruce Pollard in Melbourne in 1967, were pioneers. When, in 1968, the Power Institute sought to ‘bring the latest ideas and theories concerning contemporary art to the people of Australia’ as its founder’s will required, it met with loud local opprobrium for collecting and discussing art from Europe and the United States. But signs of change were all around. In 1969 Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Wrapped Coast launched John Kaldor’s amazing ‘Public Art Projects’ – the first, and arguably the granddaddy of them all. Some private galleries began to show young, experimental Australian artists: among them Gallery A in Melbourne and Sydney, Tolarno in Melbourne, Rudy Komon and Frank Watters in Sydney, and Bonython in Adelaide. Some state galleries gave younger curators a room or two to show these artists, and to occasionally survey what they were doing.2 And in 1973, the first Biennale of Sydney was launched. That year, I was in New York, so missed this event, but I was familiar with the kind of work chosen and with the context. As a newspaper critic, I had written about the installation works that appeared in the last years of the Transfield Art Prize. At the Opera House, however, local colour field painting and formalist metal sculpture from the private galleries mentioned above were prominent (22 of the 36 artists shown). Yet key ideas such as including some art from the region, and the funding of the Biennale being a private-public partnership, were already articulated. For the 1976 edition, I was one of the loose team of artists, critics and others who advised director Tom McCullough, having worked with him in 1975 as an exhibiting artist and author of the catalogue essay for the 6th Mildura Sculpture Exhibition. Like many of us, McCullough had, as he put it in the Biennale catalogue, a ‘firm conviction that sculpture and sculpture-related artforms currently seem the most vigorous area within the visual arts from which to assemble an exhibition.’3 He had built up a strong rapport with artists, particularly Melbourne sculptors working

outside domestic and gallery settings such as John Davis, and Ross Grounds whose Ecology Well from ‘Sculpturescape ’73’ was illustrated in ‘The Provincialism Problem’, my article for Artforum in 1974.4 In those days, however, more was at stake than picking the right medium for artistic self-expression: nothing less than prefiguring (at least aspects of) the kind of world in which it would be best for all to live. Fresh from battling the directors and boards of the state galleries who, with the honourable exception of Ian North at the Art Gallery of South Australia, banned the ‘Art & Language’ exhibitions of 1975, I was pushing for ways of breaking the binds of provincialist dependence. As I recalled in 1979, the artists advising McCullough asked: Why not just take a representation of Australian regional sculpture and compare it to two other regions on the Pacific Rim, such as the California West Coast and Japan outside Tokyo? Give local artists and audiences a chance to see whether a regionalist response does not have more to offer than provincialist dependence by mounting a show free from the internationalist, that is US-dominated Official Culture.5 In the end, of the 80 artists whose work was shown, 18 were Australian, 14 Californian, with two from South Korea and three from New Zealand. All but one of the Japanese artists was Tokyobased. Ten artists came from England, eight from New York (on the advice of John Stringer), and five from Italy (on the advice of Tommaso Trini), with Joseph Beuys and Bernard Pagès added. The exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) took us from already conventional open form metal sculpture (Mark di Suvero riffing on Jackson Pollock via David Smith) to the experimental installations favoured at Mildura and in Japan. Two standout memories: Beuys’s Eurasia installation from 1966 (a.k.a. Eurasia Siberian Symphony, 1963), and Stuart Brisley’s Lying, Standing, Walking and Talking, a wooden cage that he built himself into at Hyde Park during the period of the exhibition, triumphantly bursting free at the end. Now, that’s telling you about the world as it is, and about how it should be! One of the obvious blind spots in 1976 was the utter absence of any reference to the recent political crisis following the dismissal of the Whitlam government the previous year. These tensions exploded on opening night, when many artists

284

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Opening of the inaugural Biennale of Sydney, Sydney Opera House, 1973: (from left) HC ‘Nugget’ Coombs, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, artist Minami Tada and Chairman Franco Belgiorno-Nettis. Image Biennale of Sydney Archive

and others, including myself, turned their backs on Malcolm Fraser during his opening address, and walked out to join the protesters outside. Another big blank was that, of the 80 artists, only six were women. These two factors consumed the 1979 edition, directed by Nick Waterlow. To me, the most powerful work that year was Peter Kennedy’s November Eleven, No. 1, 1979, a banner based on those traditionally used by the trades unions, later shown with a compelling video made with John Hughes. It stood in marked contrast to Beuys’ Ausfegen (Sweeping Up), 1972, a vitrine containing the debris that he and students swept up after a May Day march through Karl-Marx-Platz in Berlin, an ‘action’ that I found to be disappointingly pluralist.

Today, most biennials have institutionalised management, substantial if always insufficient funding, a reasonable expectation of recurrence, and a recognised place within a global network of similar organisations. Given this, it is hard to recall how provisional, self-inventing, yet vital they were in their early years. Nothing guaranteed their continuity, but everything about the limits of the local scene required them. Sydney was no exception. McCullough and Waterlow ran essentially one-person operations, with financial support from the Belgiorno-Nettis family. In the long run, of equal importance was funding and guidance from the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council, above all from Leon Paroissien, one of a small but growing number of local professionals whose international experience enabled them to understand what it

285

21st Biennale of Sydney

takes to build a multifaceted visual arts support system. In their insightful comments on the 1979 Biennale, Charles Green and Anthony Gardner highlight the tensions inherent in the fact that, at the time, local art worlds in most cities outside New York and some in Western Europe were divided between ‘a provincial ghetto represented by one set of commercial art galleries or an international art world enclave represented by another, usually smaller and more exclusive, number of galleries and, increasingly, some artist-run spaces’.6 Underlying this was a sharpening division between those who faced the present from a basis in studio and craft-based practice and those who knew that artmaking everywhere needed to reinvent itself from inside out (conceptualism, performance), and from the ground up (expanded-field sculpture). As well, at the time, a third approach – then called ‘political art’ or ‘community cultural work’, later named ‘social practice art’ – was taking early steps towards a pathway (which we now see as a kind of worldly locality) between these two orientations. It is difficult, today, to recall the intense investment in the Biennale on the part of local artists, not only in Sydney but also throughout the country, as one of the important places where the struggle between these orientations must, they felt, play out. Sydney Biennale, White Elephant or Red Herring? Comments From the Art Community, a 1979 publication funded by the Student Representative Council of the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education (now UNSW Art & Design), records in detail three years of discussion at dozens of meetings held in both Melbourne and Sydney during which participants worked to imagine a biennial that would truly represent the needs of Australian artists and audiences. The appointment of Waterlow, who had a background in community arts, as Biennale director was seen as a victory. Hopes eventually concentrated around two quantifiable demands: equal representation for Australian artists and for women artists. But Waterlow’s overriding concern was to show a range of European post-object and performance work that had not been seen locally (thus his title ‘European Dialogue’), so the first demand was not met. Of the Australian artists, half were women. Small steps within a larger, longer, still difficult journey. The Power Institute, where I taught from 1976 to 2001, had a close involvement in Biennales, not least as the regular organiser of the Biennale forums, which gave visiting artists, critics and

curators a chance to engage publicly with their local counterparts, and with each other. Julie Ewington shaped these for many years. A measure of why these discussions were so necessary can be gained from AGNSW director Edmund Capon’s comments at the opening of Bill Wright’s 1982 edition ‘Vision in Disbelief’, that he found this Biennale ‘less brutish’ than the previous iteration because it was ‘less social, less political’.7 The forums also made manifest the internationalist outlook to which the Power Institute had been committed since 1968 when it commenced teaching and collecting contemporary art. While works such as Mary Kelly’s Post-Partum Document, 1973–79, made the 1982 Biennale notable for a few outstanding inclusions, the controversy caused by calls to ban Juan Davila’s Stupid As A Painter eclipses most other memories. The Institute supported Leon Paroissien’s 1984 Biennale ‘Private Symbol: Social Metaphor’ with a similarly encompassing program. Studio-based practices, painting in particular, seemed to be resurging with a vengeance, especially in the old centres of Europe, notably Germany, and New York, while markets responded happily. Wanting to push through the always-false dichotomy of aesthetics or politics, Paroissien posed questions such as: ‘Is there evidence of social engagement in recent art of more than archaeological relics of the late 1960s and 1970s? Or are we currently witnessing an evolution of socially engaged art in new forms within the resurgence of figurative/ narrative art?’8 He was clearly hoping for the latter. In the event, different answers were given by artists such as Mike Glier, with his mural-sized painting of world superpowers as sweaty wresters, and Jörg Immendorff, whose narcissistic painting The World of Work – The Biennale, It’s Me, was created during a week inside the AGNSW. While this was exciting to witness, I was not alone in thinking that Immendorff failed to meet Paroissien’s challenge. Wright and Paroissien had seen agenda-setting shows such as ‘A New Spirit in Painting’, ‘Westkunst: Contemporary Art since 1939’ (also 1981), and ‘Zeitgeist’ (1982). That the first was shown at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, the second in a vast trade-fair hall in Cologne, and the third (a variation of the first) at the Martin-GropiusBau, Berlin, underscores another factor shaping Sydney Biennales, and another reason for their consistently ambitious scale and scope. During the 1980s and 1990s they took on the job of informing local audiences, and challenging local artists, by

286

showing the latest tendencies in European and North American contemporary art – a task that, in the main centres, was performed, usually, in the temporary exhibitions of the major public galleries and museums. German neo-expressionism, American postmodern painting and the mostly Italian transavantgarde arrived in Australia more through the Sydney Biennales than through exhibitions at the state galleries. As elsewhere, Biennales were testing-grounds, rehearsals for what the temporary exhibition rooms, even the collection rooms, might look like. This legacy is everywhere evident in the ways that state galleries are hung and programmed today. The 1984 edition saw the introduction of another feature of subsequent Biennales: satellite exhibitions on topics related to the main theme, but treated in art historical depth. At the Power Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University, Wystan Curnow (with Bernice Murphy) curated ‘I Will Need Words’, a substantial exhibition of the work of Colin McCahon, while Christine Dixon and

I, with major assistance from Dinah Dysart, curated ‘Aspects of Australian Figurative Painting 1942–1962: Dreams, Fears and Desires’ at the National Trust’s S.H. Ervin Gallery. The latter was based on an insight of Virginia Spate’s about the then-current moment: that it was characterised by a recurrence of the fear-filled climate of the First World War and the Cold War years. This complicated a then-widespread recollection of the 1950s in particular as a period of calm conventionality. One vivid memory is that, in his speech opening the exhibition, Bernard Smith (who had retired as director of the Institute in 1977, and was invited up from Melbourne for the purpose) roundly attacked our premise, the hang, everything about the show, while insisting that his interpretations of the period remained the most valid. Afterwards, as I walked him around the exhibition, the discussion became intense and very interesting (my notes show, for example, that he admitted for the first time publicly that the famous ‘Antipodeans’ exhibition and manifesto of 1959 were originally prepared for showing in London, not Melbourne, which explains

287

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Ramingining artist community, The Aboriginal Memorial, 1987–88, installation view, Pier 2/3, 7th Biennale of Sydney, 1988. Image Biennale of Sydney Archive

much about both). In a long radio interview on ABC the following morning, he recanted everything he said in his speech the night before. What to do when one’s mentor both attacks and supports you in the same 24 hours? The answer: publish the texts of both statements, and let the chips fall as they may.9

21st Biennale of Sydney

In March 1984 Premier Wran announced that the Power Gallery would move to what was then the Maritime Services Board building on Circular Quay, a key moment in a lengthy process that, seven years later, resulted in the opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) on the site.10 This, too, was partly a Biennale effect: while our main motivation was to realise a core provision of the bequest that established the Power Institute, another was to provide a place for future Sydney Biennales more welcome than that offered by the AGNSW, where Capon would regularly program more popular shows alongside reduced rooms for the Biennale. The European exhibitions mentioned above were important for Waterlow, director or co-director of three later Biennales, and for most subsequent directors. The catalogue for his 1986 edition ‘Origins, Originality + Beyond’ was a primer in postmodern theory, but the exhibition itself strove to point past the postmodernist rush to banish originality in favour of appropriation, quotation and pastiche by two manoeuvres: on the one hand, regular reminders of the originality of the early twentieth-century modernists and, on the other, with Beuys as the tutelary genius, calls for a ‘cosmic vision’ – that is, ‘an insistent, creative, religious impulse which overcomes the separation between science and cult’ and hopefully, like the original modernists, represents ‘a new beginning rather than an end’.11 In the event, the artists shown grappled fitfully with Waterlow’s urgent question: ‘The death or resurrection of originality?’ We cannot expect one exhibition to transcend what some of us already saw as the overall failure of postmodernism as a tendency. Waterlow was more successful in his assiduous efforts to engage all facets of the local art scene in the Biennale, thus bridging much of the divide mentioned earlier. Satellite exhibitions dotted the city, from Pier 2/3 to Penrith, the commercial galleries were actively involved, and the nearly three-month-long Biennale calendar was filled with seminars, performances and other events. Befitting the celebrations of 200 years of white settlement – or, from Indigenous perspectives, dismay at the effects of two centuries of invasion – the 1988 edition was entitled the ‘Australian Biennale’. Director Waterlow persisted with his desire to educate locals about the deep history of Euro-American 288

modernism, thus the historical scope of ‘A View of World Art c. 1940–1988’. The nationalist agenda of the Bicentenary was met by insisting that this was a view ‘From the Southern Cross’. Important works by Arthur Boyd, Ian Fairweather, Sidney Nolan and Fred Williams were included to make this point, but it was somewhat obscured by the variety of high modernist masterpieces and the cacophony of the contemporary works around them, and by the odd claim in the introduction that these artists’ distance from Europe during the Second Word War meant that ‘unawed, they pillaged and utilised whatever they could glean from text, reproduction and hearsay’, thus laying the foundations for the independent yet watchful strength of Australian artists today.12 Twenty-five years earlier, Smith had pilloried such romanticising of the Antipodeans as ‘The Myth of Isolation’.13 In his catalogue essay, Ian Burn set out a much more subtle reading of the nuances of such exchanges by showing, for example, how Nolan and Margaret Preston, ‘at the margins of modern art’, pursued ‘a constructed mediation’ of influences ‘as a critical practice’.14 It is a shame that Waterlow was unable to complete his projected book Aspects of Australian Art. From our conversations, I gather that he wished to trace the non-nationalist and anti-Antipodean tendencies in our art. Perhaps the ‘UnAustralian’ art history project of Rex Butler and ADS Donaldson will realise this ambition. Today the 1988 Biennale is remembered mostly, and rightly, as the occasion when The Aboriginal Memorial was first presented to a wide public. As Djon Mundine attests, Waterlow had immediately recognised its significance, and in his introduction describes it as ‘the single most important statement in this Biennale’.15 It stood in uncompromising contrast to the hypocrisy of the official Bicentenary. As art, it offered a more authentic ‘Beyond’ than the gestural kind for which Waterlow had called two years earlier. Those of us who saw it at the far end of Pier 2/3, during the evening ceremony that introduced it and at various times of day subsequently, will never forget its impact. In comparison, the current installation at the National Gallery in Canberra has the feel of an antiseptic attraction at a garden supplies centre. When the MCA opened in November 1991 – with an impressive range of exhibitions curated by Murphy, Paroissien and, soon after, Mundine – Sydney had acquired the final main pillar of its visual art exhibitionary complex, bringing it up to par with major global cities worldwide. The AGNSW responded by beefing up its contemporary program under Tony Bond. With Artspace and many other venues,

Sydney was ready to participate in the boom years of contemporary art. During the 1990s, Sydney Biennales continued to do what all biennials do: show selected, striking examples of the latest developments in world contemporary art – or, as Caroline A Jones puts it, biennials demonstrate better than any other format the global worldpicturing work that works of art can do.16 Sydney Biennales also continued on the other main path set during the 1980s: the detailed exploration of big-scale questions about the historical forces that shaped modern international art, and about where Australian art, including Indigenous art, stands in relation to them. Terry Smith

1 For an overall interpretation, see Terry Smith, ‘Biennials: Four fundamentals, many variations’, posted 7 December 2016: www.biennialfoundation.org/2016/12/biennialsfour-fundamentals-many-variations/. 2 Tracked in Catherine Speck and Joanna Mendelssohn, ‘The 1970s: Curators framing the avant-garde in writing and rewriting Australian art history’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017, pp. 97–112. 3 Thomas G McCullough (ed.), Recent International Forms in Art: The 1976 Biennale of Sydney at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, 1976, n.p. See also his undated reminiscences at www.biennaleofsydney.com.au/20bos/about-us/ history/1976-2/. 4

Terry Smith, ‘The provincialism problem’, Artforum, vol. 13, no. 1, Sept 1974, pp. 54–9.

Terry Smith, ‘Biennale notes’, Chimera, no. 5, 1979, n.p. Chimera was the student newspaper of Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education, Sydney. 5

Charles Green and Anthony Gardner, Biennials, Triennials, and Documenta: The Exhibitions that Created Contemporary Art, Wiley, London, 2016, p. 53.

Cited in Sandra McGrath, Weekend Australian, 10–11 April 1982.

Leon Paroissien, ‘Director’s introduction’, Private Symbol, Social Metaphor: The Fifth Biennale of Sydney 1984, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, 1984, n.p.

Bernard Smith, ‘Two commentaries on the exhibition “Aspects of Australian Figurative Painting 1942–1962: Dreams, Fears and Desires”’, Power Institute Occasional Paper No. 1, Power Institute of Fine Arts, Sydney, 1984.

This essay followed Terry Smith’s participation in ‘Biennale Archive Stories #3’ with Charles Green in conversation with Mami Kataoka at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, on 26 August 2017. Commissioned by and first published in Art Monthly Australasia with guest editor, Mami Kataoka, issue 305, March 2018.

10 By this time, Paroissien and Murphy had become co-curators of the Power Gallery, and were to become, respectively, founding director and chief curator of the MCA. 11 Nick Waterlow, ‘Origins, originality + beyond’, Origins, Originality + Beyond: The Biennale of Sydney 1986, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, 1986, p. 14. 12 Nick Waterlow, Australian Biennale 1988: From the Southern Cross, A View of World Art c. 1940–1988, Biennale of Sydney and Australian Bicentennial Authority, 1988, p. 10.

Bernard Smith, ‘The myth of isolation’, 1961, first published in Australian Painting Today, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1962.

14 Ian Burn, ‘The re-appropriation of influence’, in Waterlow, Australian Biennale 1988, op. cit., p. 43. 15

Waterlow, Australian Biennale 1988, op. cit., p. 11.

Caroline A. Jones, The Global Work of Art: World’s Fairs, Biennials, and the Aesthetics of Experience, University of Chicago Press, 2017.

289

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

René Block planting a tree as part of Joseph Bueys’ 7000 Oaks, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 5th Biennale of Sydney, 1984. Image Biennale of Sydney Archive

Lenders Art Gallery of New South Wales Australian Catholic University Art Collection Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection Deakin University Art Collection Elaine W Ng and Fabio Rossi Luo Qingmin Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Private Collection, Melbourne Private Collection, Melbourne Private Collection, Milan Private Collection, Sydney Sydney Opera House Trust Collection White Rabbit Collection, Sydney

List of works Archive Display Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Transfield Holdings Julian Abraham ‘Togar’

21st Biennale of Sydney

Born 1987 in Medan, Indonesia Lives and works in Medan and Yogyakarta, Indonesia Diabethanol, 2018 mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia-ASEAN Council and the Australia-Indonesia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Courtesy the artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila Born 1959 in Hämeenlinna, Finland Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018 angular video sculpture of 22 DIP LED modules, 4K/HD, 7:54 mins, looped 614 x 384 x 15 cm two research tables with attached ‘monitor mirrors’, 4K/ HD; 2:08 mins and 3:06 mins, looped; 100 x 72 x 54 cm Cast: Jenny and Matleena Kuusniemi Written and directed by Eija-Liisa Ahtila Cinematography: Jussi Eerola Wire FX: Reijo Kontio 3D VFX: Jari Hakala Editing: Heikki Kotsalo Produced by Ilppo Pohjola Copyright © Crystal Eye – Kristallisilmä Oy, Helsinki Commissioned by Serlachius Museums, Mänttä with support from AVEK; the Biennale of Sydney; Frame Contemporary Art Finland; Alfred Kordelin Foundation; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London; M-Museum; SES; and SKR Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London Ai Weiwei Born 1957 in Beijing, China Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Beijing, China 4992 Photos Relating to Refugees, 01.12.2015–10.02.2016 wallpaper dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin Ai Weiwei Drifting, 2017 documentary film, colour with sound 42:31 mins Written and Directed by: Eva Mehl and Bettina Kolb Executive Producers: Arno Hefner and Maren Wintersberg Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation A production by © Deutsche Welle 2017

At Sea, 2016 video, colour with sound 4:08 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

Brook Andrew with Rushdi Anwar Tombs of Thought III (Water), 2017 mixed media 104 x 129.5 x 129.5 cm Courtesy the artists; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels

Crystal Ball, 2017 crystal, life jackets 100 x 100 x 100 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Andrew Cameron Family Foundation Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

Brook Andrew with Rushdi Anwar, Shiraz Bayjoo, Mayun Kiki and Vered Snear Tombs of Thought IV (Fire), 2017 mixed media 200 x 221.5 x 100 cm Courtesy the artists; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels

Floating, 2016 video, colour 3:44 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin Law of the Journey, 2017 reinforced PVC with aluminium frame 60 x 6 x 3 m Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin On the Boat, 2016 video, colour 9:41 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin Brook Andrew Born 1970 in Sydney, Australia Lives and works Berlin, Germany; Melbourne, Australia; and Oxford, England Wiradjuri/Celtic ‘What’s Left Behind’, 2018 mixed media installation dimensions variable Contributing artists: Rushdi Anwar, Shiraz Bayjoo, Mayun Kiki and Vered Snear Brook Andrew with Shiraz Bayjoo Tombs of Thought I (Air), 2017 mixed media 180 x 142 x 89.5 cm Courtesy the artists; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels Brook Andrew with Vered Snear Tombs of Thought II (Earth), 2017 mixed media 205 x 127 x 148 cm Courtesy the artists; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels

290

Brook Andrew with Mayun Kiki Tombs of Thought V (Metal), 2017 mixed media 150 x 120 x 180 cm Courtesy the artists; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels Featured works by contributing artist: Brook Andrew Mirror VII, 2017 sapele timber, paint, block board, paper, Perspex, glue 200 x 75 x 10 cm Commissioned by the Musee d’ethnographie de Geneve, Switzerland Courtesy the artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels Mirror VIII, 2017 sapele timber, paint, block board, paper, Perspex, glue 100 x 75 x 10 cm Commissioned by the Musee d’ethnographie de Geneve, Switzerland Courtesy the artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels SMASH IT, 2018 single channel digital video 25 mins Courtesy the artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels Rushdi Anwar Born in Halabja, Kurdistan/Iraq Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia and Bangkok, Thailand Facing Living: The Past In The Present, 2015 single-channel digital video 12:30 mins Courtesy the artist Shiraz Bayjoo Born 1979 in Mauritius Lives and works in London, England and Indian Ocean region

Ile de France, 2015 single-channel digital video 31:18 minutes Courtesy the artist and Ed Cross Fine Art, London Mayun Kiki Ainu Born in Asahikawa, Japan Lives and works in Sapporo, Japan Untitled, 2011-17 single-channel digital videos 22:02 mins Courtesy the artist Vered Snear Born 1982 in Israel Lives and works in Toronto, Canada and Tel Aviv, Israel Diminishing Returns, 2018 single-channel digital video 9:10 minutes Courtesy the artist Featured works from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney

Michael Callaghan and Marie McMahon Sometime soon they’ll need a gun, 1977 screenprint on paper 76 x 57.5 cm Yusaku Kamekura and Akira Yokoyama Hiroshima Appeals, 1983 colour offset lithograph 103 x 73 cm Chips Mackinolty Land Rights Dance, 1977 screenprint on paper 75.6 x 51.2 cm David McDiarmid Urban Tribalwear Peter Tully, 1981 screenprint on paper 64.6 x 49.8 cm Ralph Sawyer Equality Peace Freedom Apartheid, 1975 screenprint on paper 91 x 58 cm Ralph Sawyer for Union of Australian Women International Conference, 1978 screenprint on paper 74.5 x 57 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Penelope Seidler AM and assistance from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Sydney Ball Born 1933 in Adelaide, Australia Died 2017 in Sydney, Australia Black reveal, 1968–69 synthetic polymer paint on canvas and enamel on gilder plywood 157 x 289.3 x 4.4 cm Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Banyon wall’), 1968 coloured paper collage on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Beam’ 2), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Modular sketch (Study for ‘Black reveal’ 2), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Delphi’ 2), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Diamond float’ 2), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Epic’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘New seasons’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Reach’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Red hold’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Strata span’ 2), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Temple 2’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Ticondera’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper (493.2017) 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Yellow close’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper (494.2017) 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Modular sketch (Study for ‘Zonal turn’), 1969 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm framed Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate

291

Sketchbook, 1963–65 mixed media 27 x 25 cm (closed), 54 x 25 cm (open) Courtesy Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Sketchbook, 1965–69 mixed media 45 x 31 cm (closed), 90 x 31 cm (open) Courtesy Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Sketchbook, 1970–90s mixed media 35 x 27 cm (closed), 35 x 54 cm (open) Courtesy Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate Marc Bauer Born 1975 in Geneva, Switzerland Lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Zürich, Switzerland A Brief History of Emancipation, 2018 digital print on paper, redrawn with pencil and colour pen dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich Arsenal, Shipyard, Brest, Brittany, France, 2018 wall drawing, charcoal dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich Diary, Madam F.C., 2017 ceramics, painted and glazed faience pottery from HBHenriot Quimper, France dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and Pro Helvetia Oliver Beer Born 1985 in Pembury, England Lives and works in Paris, France and Kent, England Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) I, 2018 HD video with sound Performers: Clive Birch and Tim Moriarty Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and the British Council Courtesy the artist; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris and Salzburg; and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) II, 2018 HD video with sound Performers: Alyx Dennison and Sonya Holowell Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and the British Council Courtesy the artist; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris and Salzburg; and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne Composition for Tuning an Architectural Space, 2012/2018 architectural acoustic performance Performers: Clive Birch; Benjamin Caukwell; Sonya Holowell; Simon Lobelson; and Jenny Lui This version created for the 21st Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and the British Council Courtesy the artist; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris and Salzburg; and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne Michaël Borremans Born 1963 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium Lives and works in Ghent and Ronse, Belgium The Bread, 2012 framed 17-inch LCD screen HD video, 4 mins, continuous loop Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp Budapest, undated pencil on paper 21 x 14.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Hindu Epic scenes [Ramayana] painted on the Coromandel coast of eastern India, collected at Sumba, Indonesia, c. 1800 textile length, painted cotton 470 x 96 cm Iraq Flag, presented on the occasion of Australia’s 150th Anniversary Celebration, 1938 cotton, rope 89 x 173 cm

Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate

21st Biennale of Sydney

A Chance to Make it Right, undated pencil on cardboard 8.9 x 23.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 14.8 x 21 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Central Park, undated wood, fimo and paint 30.8 x 23.8 x 10 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 10.3 x 16.6 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

The Faded Dream, undated pencil and watercolor on paper 26.8 x 20.6 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 14.8 x 21.9 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

IT IS A measure, undated pencil and oil paint on paper 17.8 x 24.2 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 21 x 14.8 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Small Museum for Brave Art I, 2007 wood, cardboard, paint 10.7 x 29.4 x 15.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 15 x 22.3 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Small Museum for Brave Art II, 2007 wood, cardboard, paint 12.5 x 17 x 9.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on wood panel 20.5 x 25.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Small Museum for Brave Art III, 2007 wood, cardboard, paint 10 x 23.6 x 13.3 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on wood panel 21.9 x 20.2 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Small Museum for Brave Art IV, 2007 wood, cardboard, paint 11.8 x 15.8 x 10 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolor on paper 10.8 x 11.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Space Vessel I, 2017 bronze and paint 9.2 x 9.04 x 11.3 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil on cardboard 21.8 x 15.8 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

The Storm, 2006 single-channel video 1:07 mins, looped Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil on cardboard 16 x 38.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Think or Suck (Design for a monument), 1999 pencil and watercolour on cardboard 26 x 21 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil on paper 21.4 x 14 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Tower, undated cardboard, wood and paint 46 x 11.5 x 11.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil on paper 19 x 24.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, 2008 pencil and watercolour on paper 8 x 10.6 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolour on paper 21 x 29.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on canvas 40.3 x 30.2 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolour on paper 25 x 20.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 15.5 x 23 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolour on paper 22.9 x 29.3 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 14.7 x 21 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolour on paper 21.5 x 28 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 23 x 29.2 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolour on paper 34.5 x 24.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 21 x 14.8 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated pencil and watercolour on paper 24.7 x 28.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 21 x 28 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated watercolour on cardboard 14.5 x 33.6 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Untitled, undated oil on cardboard 19 x 31.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Pro Helvetia

292

Miriam Cahn Born 1949 in Basel, Switzerland Lives and works in Stampa, Switzerland bau (construction/building), 18.5.16 oil on wood 215 x 370 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo blume für mich (flower for me), 4.6.2014 oil on wood 36 x 30 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo das shöne blau (the beautiful blue), 13.05.17 oil on canvas 200 x 195 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo fleischhaus (meat house), 2.1.2016 oil on wood 60 x 111 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo gezeichnet (drawn), 26. + 28.08 + 15.09.2015 oil on wood 190 x 180 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo gezeichnet (drawn), 14.8.2016 oil on wood 31.5 x 45 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo holztulpen (wooden tulips), 22.5.2015 oil on wood 39 x 34 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo könnteichseinmüssen (couldmustbeme), 31.01.2016 oil on wood 200 x 180 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo MARE NOSTRUM, 04. + 06.06.15 + 15.06.2016 oil on wood 175 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo mit blumenhãnden gehen (go with flowers), 25.1.2007 oil on canvas 190 x 110 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo o.t., 11.5.2007 oil on canvas 135 x 92 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo o.t., 7.2.2016 oil on wood 30 x 28 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo Reading in dust, the wild love (Lesen in staub, das wilde lieben), 1984 charcoal on paper (four panels) 4 framed works: 59.5 x 84 cm each image/sheet; 64 x 88.8 x 4.5 cm each frame Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo. Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Mervyn Horton Bequest Fund 1985 WAS MICH ANSCHAUT (WHAT MAKES ME), 29.6.2016 oil on wood 32 x 27.5 cm Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo Francisco Camacho Herrera Born 1979 in Bogota, Colombia Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Parallel Narratives, 2015–17 video, 50 mins Courtesy the artist; Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; and TheCube Project Space, Taipei Untitled, 2017 23 x 12 cm porcelain Courtesy the artist; Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; and TheCube Project Space, Taipei Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Featured work from the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Guanyin, bodhisattva of compassion, seated on a lotus, late 17th – early 18th century blanc-de-chine porcelain 21 x 11.7 x 7.5 cm Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Purchased 1921

Abraham Cruzvillegas Born 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico Lives and works in Mexico City Reconstruction: The Five Enemies I, 2018 mixed media dimensions variable Courtesy the artist; kurimanzutto, Mexico City; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Thomas Dane, London Reconstruction: The Five Enemies II, 2018 mixed media dimensions variable Courtesy the artist; kurimanzutto, Mexico City; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Thomas Dane, London Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation Roy de Maistre

Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens

Born 1894 in Bowral, Australia Died 1968 in London, England

Founded 2014 in Lusanga, Democratic Republic of Congo

A set of colour discs, scales, wheels, 1917–19 oil on paperboard and cardboard discs 90.5 x 105.5 cm Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Gift of Sir John Rothenstein in memory of Roy de Maistre 1969

Baloji Born 1978 in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium

CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji, 2018 video 9 mins Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Courtesy the artists Chen Shaoxiong Born 1962 in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China Died 2016 in Beijing, China The Views, 2016 four-channel video installation 2.5 x 3 m Courtesy Pékin Fine Arts, Beijing. Collection of Luo Qingmin Tiffany Chung Born 1969 in Da Nang, Vietnam Lives and works in Houston, USA and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam reconstructing an exodus history: boat trajectories, ports of first asylum and resettlement countries, 2017 embroidery on fabric 140 x 350 cm Courtesy the artist the unwanted population: a pilgrimage to the offshore islands, 2014–ongoing found footage, AP & UNHCR archival films, monitors durations variable Courtesy Video Unit of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Vietnam Exodus Project: response from the UNHCR and worldwide countries in the immediate years, 2015– ongoing reproductions of newspaper articles and corresponding cables from UNHCR archives & records 21.6 x 28 cm, each document Courtesy Archives of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees water dreamscape – the gangster named Jacky, the sleepers, and the exodus, 2017 seven watercolour paintings 83 x 114 cm each Courtesy the artist and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York (All watercolours are the result of the Vietnam Exodus History Learning Project, carried out in collaboration with Hồ Hưng, Huỳnh Bảo, Lê Nam Đy, Nguyễn Hoàng Long, Đặng Quang Tiến, Phạm Ái, Võ Châu Hoàng Vy) Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Glen and Sakie Fukushima; and Yoshiko Mori

Colour keyboard, c. 1919 oil, pencil on cardboard 13.3 x 122 cm Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Gift of Sir John Rothenstein in memory of Roy de Maistre 1969 Marjolijn Dijkman Born 1978 in Groningen, Netherlands Lives and works in Brussels, Belgium

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich Marco Fusinato Born 1964 in Melbourne, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne Constellations, 2015/2018 baseball bat, chain, purpose-built wall with internal PA system at 120+ decibels dimensions variable This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Anna and Morry Schwartz, UAP and the Australia Council for the Arts Courtesy the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne Anya Gallaccio Born 1963 in Paisley, Scotland Lives and works in London, England and San Diego, USA Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018 aluminium, clay, pump, software 5x5x5m This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from DETACHED, Hobart and the British Council Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Annet Gelink, Amsterdam; and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong Ryan Gander Born 1976 in Chester, England Lives and works in London, England

Navigating Polarities, 2018 installation with film projection, wall text dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Courtesy the artist

‘Other Places’, 2018 An artificial landscape of untouched snow covering a recreation of the terrain of the streets in which the artist played as a child, within which a series of sculptures, gestures and interventions have been situated.

Lili Dujourie

A man in khaki pants, a blue shirt and a baseball cap, with an American accent and a raised voice, 2018 A number of A-boards warning pedestrians that filming is in progress positioned at various locations around Cockatoo Island. dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Born 1941 in Roeselare, Belgium Lives and works in Lovendegem, Belgium American Imperialism, 1972/2018 steel, paint dimensions variable This version commissioned for the 21st Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Tucci Russo Gallery, Turin Luciano Fabro Born 1936 in Turin, Italy Died 2007 in Milan, Italy Every Order is Contemporaneous of Every Other Order: Four Ways of Examining the Façade of the SS. Redentore in Venice, 1972 screenprint on paper 255 x 945 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Penelope Seidler AM Courtesy the Estate of Luciano Fabro. Private collection, Milan Sam Falls Born 1984 in San Diego, USA Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA Hospice, 2017 pigment on canvas 381 x 443 cm Courtesy the artist; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; and Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles The River, 2017 fabric dye on canvas 381 x 443 cm Courtesy the artist; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; and Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles

293

A snow globe that never stops snowing (Attempting to keep the prefrontal cortex online), 2017 An enlarged spherical snow globe, the subject within which is permanently obscured by continual snowfall. 50 x 61 x 50 cm Courtesy the artist Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time, 2018 A bronze cast of a ball made of elastic bands collected from the doorstep of the artist, presumably discarded by a postman upon delivering mail to the artist’s address; accompanied by three other seemingly discarded individual bronze cast elastic bands. 30 x 30 x 31.5 cm Courtesy the artist Forces outside of you (Because you cede your life decisions and consequences to forces outside of you), 2017 Three winding steps leading to a shape resembling a door set against the gallery wall, emitting a glow that is the colour of daylight. 8.5 x 25.5 x 11.9 cm Courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery, London and New York Interested in everything committed to nothing, 2018 Twenty-six pebbles upscaled from ones originally found on Aldeburgh beach by the artist’s daughters, later used to create the typeset Set in Stone Regular, a font devised by the artist and produced by Adrien Vasquez of John Morgan Studio. The pebbles are arranged in a circle, in alphabetical order, reading clockwise. 450 x 30 x 450 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Renzo Martens Born 1973 in Sluiskil, The Netherlands Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium; and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Winter Trees, 2017 pigment on canvas 381.5 x 1016 cm Courtesy the artist; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; and Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles

Our time is limited – Proposal for the grave of Vivi Enkyo, 2018 A flat marble tombstone with a diamond inset into the surface. The stone is a reproduction of a previous stone made in 2016 for the fictional character Vivi Enkyo who is also an alter ego of the artist. The gravestone is reproduced here using a typeface newly-invented by the artist called Set in Stone Regular produced by Adrien Vasquez of John Morgan Studio, based on a collection of 26 stones found on Aldeburgh beach by the artist’s daughters. 94 x 21.5 x 139 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist; TARO NASU Gallery, Tokyo; and Ishikawa Foundation Research of In’s and Out’s, or Portal back to Parramatta River ferry, 2018 A replica of a metal hatch/porthole found by the artist on the Parramatta River Ferry boat, Sydney, Australia. 55 x 39 x 12 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

21st Biennale of Sydney

Some Other Places, 2018 An artificial landscape of untouched snow covering a recreation of the terrain of the streets in which the artist played as a child. dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Unproductive labour, 2018 A seemingly empty plinth with nothing to display that discreetly contains an elaborate scaled model of Dog Leg Tunnel situated on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, Australia running through the cavity of its empty mass. 50 x 111.2 x 50 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Up ended Breuer chair after several inches of snowfall, 2016 A Wassily Model B3 chair designed in 1926 by Marcel Breuer, up ended onto its front, on top of which cast marble resin sits representing several inches of snowfall. 86 x 80 x 73.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery, London and New York View from the studio window (5th October 2017), 2018 A reproduction of a window from the artist’s studio built into a gallery wall. The view, which features an uninterrupted 24-hour cycle (played in sync with the time of day where the work is exhibited) shows changing concentrations and colours of both daylight, moonlight and ambient street light as well as moving silhouettes of trees and a chain link fence cast against the frosted surface of the windows glazing. 145.9 x 122.5 x 33 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist; TARO NASU Gallery, Tokyo; and Ishikawa Foundation When an artist’s reach exceeds their grasp, 2018 A block of crystal is laser etched with an architectural model of the Duveens Gallery of Tate Britain, London, within which an intervention proposed by the artist of a false ceiling one might find in an office environment suspended within the gallery space has been proposed. 14.5 x 14.6 x 30.2 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Geng Xue Born 1983 in Baishan, China Lives and works in Beijing, China The Poetry of Michelangelo, 2015 video, black and white 19 mins White Rabbit Collection, Sydney Courtesy the artist Simryn Gill Born 1959 in Singapore Lives and works in Port Dickson, Malaysia and Sydney, Australia Carbon Copy, 1998 ink and carbon on paper; words from press statements

and speeches of Mahathir Mohamad and Pauline Hanson 53 parts: 39.5 x 29 cm each Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2010 Courtesy the artist; Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai; Tracy Williams Ltd, New York; and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled (Interior), 2008 bronze 9 x 36 x 27 cm, irreg. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by the artist, 2013 Courtesy the artist; Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai; Tracy Williams Ltd, New York; and Utopia Art Sydney ‘Untitled (Interiors)’, 2008 bronze approx. 10 x 35 x 25 cm each 3 parts: from a series of 5 Courtesy the artist, Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai; Tracy Williams Ltd, New York; and Utopia Sydney Marlene Gilson Born 1944 in Warrnambool, Victoria Lives and works in Gordon, Victoria Wathaurung/Wadawurrung Arrival, 2017 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Eureka Stockade, 2017 acrylic on linen 76 x 100 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Jones Circus at Eureka, 2015 acrylic on linen 80 x 100 cm Private collection Courtesy the artist Kulin Corroboree, 2012 acrylic on linen 80 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist Land lost, land stolen, treaty, 2016 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection Courtesy the artist Life on the Goldfields, 2014 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Australian Catholic University Art Collection Courtesy the artist Old Ballarat Town, 2016 acrylic on linen 76 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist Possession, Captain Cook First Fleet, 2017 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Deakin University Art Collection, purchased 2017 Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Race Meeting at Lal Lal Falls, Bunjil’s Final Resting Place, 2015 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Courtesy the artist What If, 2017 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Collection of David Atkins Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Tanya Goel Born 1985 in New Delhi, India Lives and works in New Delhi Carbon, (extension lines), 2018 coal, aluminium, concrete, mica and oil on canvas

294

213 x 274 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Carbon, (frequencies on x, y axis), 2018 coal, aluminium, concrete, mica and oil on canvas 213 x 274 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Fresco on cement and stone, 2017 plaster and graphite on found debris from houses built from 1950-70 in Delhi dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Index: pages (builder’s drawing), 2018 neel blue chalk pigment, cotton construction thread 151.5 x 682 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Susan Acret and James Roth Laurent Grasso Born 1972 in Mulhouse, France Lives and works in Paris, France, and New York, USA OTTO, 2018 HD video 21:26 mins Director: Laurent Grasso Director of Photography: Jean-Louis Vialard Editor: Maryline Monthieux VFX Artist: Thierry Ardiller Composer: Grégoire Auger Assistant Director: Yan Tomaszewski Drone Operator: Robert Mathieson Post-production Director: Christina Crassaris Sound Editor and Mixer: Jean Goudier Camera Assistant: Brendan Gribble Production Manager in Australia: Georgia WallaceCrabbe/Film Projects PTY LTD Unit Manager: Matt Woodham Logistics and Location Manager: Peter Bartlett Assistant Editors: Justine Haouy, Esther Lowe, Marine Pere Post-production Laboratory: Mikros/Technicolor Executive Producer: Sophie Denize Colour Grader: Jacky Lefresne Digital Supervisor: Nicolas Daniel Coordinator: Anaïs Meuzeret Created in consultation with Otto Jungarrayi Sims, Chairman, Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu with support from Cecilia Alfonso, Manager, Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Ambassade de France en Australie; Institut français; and Mami Kataoka 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 N.S. Harsha Born 1969 in Mysore, India Lives and works in Mysore Reclaiming the inner space, 2018 acrylic paint, acrylic mirror, wood, found cardboard packing material 4 x 12 m Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Julian Knights AO and Lizanne Knights; Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice; and Mami Kataoka Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice Chia-Wei Hsu Born 1983 in Taichung, Taiwan Lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan Ruins of the Intelligence Bureau, 2015 video installation with architectural drawings 13:30 mins Produced by Le Fresnoy Courtesy the artist and Liang Gallery, Taipei

Ami Inoue Born 1991 in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Lives and works in Kyoto, Japan ‘The Life of the Hunter’, 2018 A Common Field Between Grandpa and Me, 2016 video 4 mins Courtesy the artist History of grandfather’s hunting, undated 8 photographs 29.7 x 21 cm (portrait); 21 x 29.7 cm (landscape) Courtesy the artist History of my hunting, 2016–17 8 photographs 29.7 x 21 cm (portrait); 21 x 29.7 cm (landscape) Courtesy the artist The Life of the Hunter, 2016 video 6:51 mins Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with the generous assistance from Kyoto University of Art and Design Mit Jai Inn Born 1960 in Chiang Mai, Thailand Lives and works in Chiang Mai

Sosa Joseph Born 1971 in Parumala, India Lives and works in Kochi, India Entertainer, 2018 oil on canvas 122 x 92 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Grasshopper, 2018 oil on canvas 122 x 91.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Irul (the Dark), 2015 oil on canvas 183 x 152.5 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Leftover, 2018 oil on canvas 60.4 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Performers, 2018 oil on canvas 291 x 151 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Take Off, 2018 oil on canvas 122 x 91 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Uncertain, 2018 oil on canvas 61 x 76 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai What Must Be Said, 2015 oil on canvas 125.7 x 359.4 cm Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai Your Earth, My World, 2018 oil on canvas 152.4 x 304.8 cm

Jacob Kirkegaard Born 1975 in Esbjerg, Denmark Lives and works in Jyderup, Denmark Through the Wall, 2013 installation, 26-minute composition from field recordings, looped Courtesy the artist and Galleri Tom Christoffersen, Copenhagen Yvonne Koolmatrie Born 1944 in Wudinna, Australia Lives and works in Berri, Australia Ngarrindjeri Burial basket, 1997 woven sedge rushes 19 x 37 x 80 cm Collection of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney Courtesy the artist and Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney Burial basket, 2017 woven sedge rushes 46 x 111 x 57 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney Burial basket, 2017 woven sedge rushes 104 x 51 x 19 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney Burial basket, 2017 woven sedge rushes 140 x 47 x 9 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney Burial basket, 2018 woven sedge rushes 114 x 61 x 32 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney

Jennifer Reid, Cath Tyler Community Engagement: Naheed Ashraf, Zoya Bhatti, Lynn Blackburn, Tayeba Butt, Katie Nolan, Uzma Raziq, Bushra Yaquoob Collaborating organisations: In-Situ, Free Spiritual Centre, Building Bridges Pendle, Brierfield Action in the Community Commissioned by Super Slow Way Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Breen Mills Foundation Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen Born 1976 in Riihimäki, Finland Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland Dossier of Osmosis, 2018 mixed media installation with ultrasonic speakers; performances dimensions variable Texts: Nora N Khan, Tuomas A Laitinen, Not AI Neural Network Costume Design: Julia Valle Glass: Lasismi / Joonas Laakso Production Assistant: Paul Flanders Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Geoff Charnock and Giovanni Munoz; and Frame Contemporary Art Finland Courtesy the artist and Helsinki Contemporary, Finland Liza Lou Born 1969 in New York, USA Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA and KwaZuluNatal, South Africa The Clouds, 2015–18 oil paint on woven glass beads 35 x 2 m Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong and Dr Clinton Ng and Steven Johnson Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong Nicholas Mangan Born 1979 in Geelong, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson

A World Undone, 2012 HD video, colour, silent 12 mins, continuous loop Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the Medich Foundation and Irene Sutton Courtesy the artist; Sutton Gallery, Melbourne; Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland; and LABOR, Mexico City

Suzanne Lacy

Prabhavathi Meppayil

Born 1945 in Wasco, USA Lives and works in Los Angeles, USA

Born 1965 in Bangalore, India Lives and works in Bangalore

The Circle and the Square, 2017 multi-channel video installation Video Projection: Mark Thomas, Soup Inc. Interviews: Massimiliano Mollona, Graham Kay, Elena Adorni Principal Creative Collaborators: Rauf Bashir, Paul Hartley, Massimiliano Mollona, Laurie Peake, Ron Pen, Mark Thomas Musicians: Julian Evans, Hussnain Hanif, Hannah Land, Jennifer Reid, Cath Tyler Community Engagement: Naheed Ashraf, Zoya Bhatti, Lynn Blackburn, Tayeba Butt, Katie Nolan, Uzma Raziq, Bushra Yaquoob Design: Source Creative Documentation: Huckleberry Films Collaborating organisations: In-Situ, Free Spiritual Centre, Building Bridges Pendle, Brierfield Action in the Community Commissioned by Super Slow Way Courtesy the artist

sb/eighteen, 2018 installation of approximately 875 found objects (iron, copper and brass), and gesso dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Pace Gallery Courtesy the artist; Pace Gallery; Galerie Esther Schipper, Berlin; and GALLERYSKE, Bangalore and New Delhi

John Skinner Prout Mode of disposing of the dead, c. 1874–76 hand-coloured etching, reproduction Engraver: Edward Paxman Brandard Publisher: Virtue & Co. London

The Circle and the Square: Resource Room Mr and Mrs Peake, video installation by Graham Kay Documentary by Huckleberry Films Graphics by teraikeijidesign Principal Creative Collaborators: Rauf Bashir, Paul Hartley, Massimiliano Mollona, Laurie Peake, Ron Pen, Mark Thomas Interviews: Massimiliano Mollona, Graham Kay, Elena Adorni Musicians: Julian Evans, Hussnain Hanif, Hannah Land,

295

Kate Newby Born 1979 in Auckland, New Zealand Lives and works in Auckland and New York, USA A rock in this pocket., 2018 bricks, glass, ceramics, metal dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Creative New Zealand; Michael Lett, Auckland; Austral Bricks Courtesy the artist; Michael Lett, Auckland; and Fine Arts, Sydney I’m actually weirdly exciting, 2018 bronze, white brass, brass, silver dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Creative New Zealand and Michael Lett, Auckland Courtesy the artist; Michael Lett, Auckland; and Fine Arts, Sydney

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018 mixed media installation with paintings Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Neilson Foundation Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh

Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai

Nguyen Trinh Thi Born 1973 in Hanoi, Vietnam Lives and works in Hanoi Letters from Panduranga, 2015 single-channel video, colour and black-and-white, sound 35 mins Co-Production: Jeu de Paume, Paris; Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques; CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Courtesy the artist Tom Nicholson Born 1973 in Melbourne, Australia Lives and works in Melbourne Untitled wall drawing, 2009–18 pencil wall drawing dimensions variable Drawing realised with assistance from Ernest Aaron and Lauren Burrow Courtesy the artist. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Noguchi Rika Born 1971 in Saitama, Japan Lives and works in Okinawa, Japan

21st Biennale of Sydney

Cucumber 21 August, 2017 chromogenic print 26 x 18.4 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin Cucumber 22 August, 2017 chromogenic print 26 x 18.4 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin Small Miracles #1, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Untitled (Oujima #2), 2017 chromogenic print 26 x 18.4 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin Untitled (Oujima #3), 2017 chromogenic print 26 x 18.4 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin Untitled (Oujima #4), 2017 chromogenic print 26 x 18.4 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the Japan Foundation, the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo Ciara Phillips Born 1976 in Ottawa, Canada Lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Courtesy the artist Tawatchai Puntusawasdi Born 1971 in Bangkok, Thailand Lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand A Dim Night 1:1, 2018 brass and nickel alloy 90 x 40 x 100 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Earth Shadow at 3.00 pm, 2016 drawing, reproduction 60 x 156 cm Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #3, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of X Axis, 2017 copper engraving 60 x 102 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #4, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 79 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #5, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 79 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #8, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 79 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #9, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 78 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #12, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 81 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Small Miracles #13, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 81.5 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist

Untitled (Oujima #1), 2017 chromogenic print 26 x 18.4 cm Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin

Degree of Y Axis, 2017 copper engraving 56 x 81 cm

Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Degree of Y Axis (1,2,3...), 2017 copper engraving 56 x 78 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Front View, 2017 copper engraving 60 x 102 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns, 2017 copper engraving 53.5 x 63 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns, 2017 copper engraving 53.5 x 60 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns, 2017 copper engraving 53.5 x 63 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns, 2017 copper engraving 41 x 62 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns, 2017 copper engraving 41 x 60.5 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns, 2017 copper engraving 40 x 74 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Patterns (1,2,3...), 2017 copper engraving 53.5 x 60 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Plan View, 2017 copper engraving 50 x 102 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Super Moon 2:1, 2018 brass 180 x 80 x 200 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Chizuko Yashiro and assistance from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Koji Ryui Born 1976 in Kyoto, Japan Lives and works in Sydney, Australia Jamais vu, 2018 mixed media installation with sound dimensions variable Sound demonstration: Anna John Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney Sa Sa Art Projects Founded 2010 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia by the Stiev Selapak collective Participating artists: Khvay Samnang Lim Sokchanlina Vuth Lyno Pen Sereypagna

296

Additional contributions from collaborators, artists, students and residents of the White Building Chhum Phanith, Meas Chamnol, Seng Simouy and Vourng Chansim White Life, 2013 video 17:11 mins Courtesy the artists Children of the White Building and Emma Ota Team Work, 2013 video 10:53 mins Courtesy the artists Chev Doeurn White Building Has Dancers, 2012 video 3:27 mins Courtesy the artist Chia-Wei Hsu White Building – Sva Pul, Kong Nay, Sisters, Rooftop, 2016 video 18 mins Courtesy the artist

custodians of the Maqām of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Nizamuddin Auliya, New Delhi Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Andrew Cameron Family Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane Semiconductor Founded 1999 Based in Brighton, England Earthworks, 2016 five-channel computer generated animation with four-channel surround sound 11:20 mins Commissioned by SónarPLANTA Produced by Advanced Music Courtesy the artists Where Shapes Come From, 2016 two-channel HD video 8:55 mins Co-commissioned by the EDP Foundation, Lisbon and Phoenix, Leicester Supported by Arts Council England Courtesy the artists Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the British Council and Panasonic

Khvay Samnang ‘Human Nature’, 2010–11 15 digital C-prints 80 x 120 cm each Courtesy the artist

Born 1984 in Sydney, Australia Lives and works in Sydney

Lim Sokchanlina The Rock (White Building), 2011 single-channel video with sound 6:15 mins Courtesy the artist White Building Archive Clare McCracken and Sok Chanrado Toh! Muoy Pi Bei..., 2015 video 3:40 mins Courtesy the artists Pen Sereypagna Genealogy of Bassac, 2015–ongoing three videos, architectural drawings 3 mins each Courtesy the artist Tobin Rothlein Lightlines, 2011 video 4:17 mins Courtesy the artist Sok Chanrado Memory, 2012 video 2:21 mins Courtesy the artist Vuth Lyno Light Voice, 2015 site-specific installation, motion sensor, LED light, radio dimensions variable Courtesy the artist Vuth Lyno Playing Archive, 2015–ongoing handmade book 9.9 x 21 x 1 cm Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the AustraliaASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Khaled Sabsabi Born 1965 in Tripoli, Lebanon Lives and works in Sydney, Australia Bring the Silence, 2018 five-channel HD video installation with audio 11:30 mins, infinite loop Originally commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation and filmed with the permission of the

Yasmin Smith

Drowned River Valley, 2016–18 ceramic studio and installation: Barangaroo sandstone clay salt harvesting vessels, Sydney Harbour salt glaze, steel; midfire slip branches, Parramatta River mangrove wood-ash glaze; midfire slip sleepers, Cockatoo Island turpentine wood-ash glaze dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Neil and Karina Hobbs; Merran Morrison; and the Australia Council for the Arts Courtesy the artist and The Commercial, Sydney Dimitar Solakov Born 1987 in Sofia, Bulgaria Lives and works in Sofia ‘New Life for the Past’, 2015 Krakra, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Neutzikon, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist

Sostra, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Sozopol, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Untitled, 2015 12 drawings, watercolour pencils on paper, fossil (facsimile) 14 x 18.6 cm Courtesy the artist Yaila, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Michael Stevenson Born 1964 in Inglewood, New Zealand Lives and works in Berlin, Germany Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017 mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki with commissioning partners the Biennale of Sydney 2018 and Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA Commission supported by the Contemporary Benefactors of Auckland Art Gallery, Chartwell Trust, Auckland Contemporary Art Trust, Auckland Art Gallery International Ambassadors, and Michael Lett, Auckland Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Creative New Zealand and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Courtesy the artist; Carl Freedman Gallery, London; Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; and Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland Svay Sareth Born 1972 in Battambang, Cambodia Lives and works in Siem Reap, Cambodia Prendre les Mesures, 2015 single-channel HD video, colour, sound, needle, archival material, 65:25 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the AustraliaASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh Rayyane Tabet Born 1983 in Ashqout, Lebanon Lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon Dear Mr. Utzon, 2018 performance, podcast, 45 mins, reproduced ‘Bring Utzon Back’ leaflets* Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg and Beirut *‘Bring Utzon Back’ leaflet, 1967, paper, designed by Bill Turner, made by Bill Turner and John Kinstler. Collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Gift of May Watson and Bill Turner, 2007

Nove, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Pautalia, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Perperikon, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist

Akira Takayama Born 1969 in Saitama, Japan Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan; Yokohama, Japan; and Frankfurt, Germany

Pliska, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist

Our Songs - Sydney Kabuki Project, 2018 video documentation of performances that took place on 28 January 2018 250 mins Filmmaker: Hikaru Fujii Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation and generous assistance from the Japan Foundation; the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Mami Kataoka Courtesy the artist

Radnevo, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Shtipon, 2015 digital print 88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist Shumenska Krepost, 2015 digital print

297

Maria Taniguchi Born 1981 in Dumaguete City, Philippines Lives and works in Manila, Philippines

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Masaru Iwai The White Building Washing, 2012 video 11:50 mins Courtesy the artist

88 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist

Runaways, 2018 Java plum wood dimensions variable Courtesy the artist; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo Untitled, 2018 acrylic on canvas 289 x 792 cm Courtesy the artist; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Mercedes Zobel; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Esme Timbery Born 1931 in Port Kembla, Australia Lives and works in La Perouse, Australia Shellworked slippers, 2008 shell, glitter, fabric, cardboard and glue installed dimensions variable; 200 pairs: 5 x 9.5 x 6 cm each Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008 Courtesy the artist George Tjungurrayi Born c.1943 in Kiwirrkura, Australia Lives and works in Kintore, Australia

21st Biennale of Sydney

Untitled, 2015 acrylic on linen 244 x 183 cm Private collection Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2016 acrylic on linen 183 x 153 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2016 acrylic on linen 183 x 153 cm Private collection Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2016 acrylic on linen 153 x 122 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2016 acrylic on linen 122 x 122 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2016 acrylic on linen 122 x 122 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2016 acrylic on linen 122 x 107 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen 182 x 181 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen 182 x 181 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen 183 x 153 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen 183 x 153 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen 153 x 122 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen

153 x 122 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Untitled, 2017 acrylic on linen 137 x 122 cm Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Geoff Ainsworth AM and Johanna Featherstone Su-Mei Tse Born 1973 in Luxembourg Lives and works in Luxembourg Gewisse Rahmenbedingungen 3 (A Certain Frame Work 3), Altes Museum _ Villa Farnesina _ Villa Adriana, 2015–17 three-colour video projections, silent 4:27 mins, looped; 3:51 mins, looped; 3:20 mins, looped Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the National Cultural Fund Luxembourg Courtesy the artist; AD Gallery, Athens; Galerie Tschudi Zuoz, Switzerland; and Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong Martin Walde Born 1957 in Innsbruck, Austria Lives and works in Vienna, Austria Timeline, 2006–18 installation with printer dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Phileas and the Austrian Federal Chancellery Courtesy the artist and Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna Roy Wiggan Born 1930 in Sunday Island, Australia Died 2015 in Broome, Australia Bardi Borrorr – Hairbelt Ilma, 2013 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 56 x 56 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Flower, 2003 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 60 x 63 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Ilma, 1994 132 x 185 cm chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint, Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana Gallery, 1994 Copyright © Estate of Roy Wiggan Ilma, 1994 132 x 185 cm chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint, Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana Gallery, 1994 Copyright © Estate of Roy Wiggan Ilma, 1994 132 x 185 cm chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint, Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana Gallery, 1994 Copyright © Estate of Roy Wiggan Ilma, 1994 138 x 44 cm chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint, Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana Gallery, 1994 Copyright © Estate of Roy Wiggan Ilma, 1994 138 x 44 cm chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint, Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana Gallery, 1994 Copyright © Estate of Roy Wiggan

298

Ilma, 2013 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 55 x 30 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Ilma, 2013 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 136 x 53 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Rai, 2014 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 87 x 64 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Ulnaadda, 2010 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 90 x 44 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Riet Wijnen Born 1988 in Venray, The Netherlands Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands Conversation Six: Double-Lines, 2018 publication, black and white laser print, A3 folded Courtesy the artist Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Conversation Three, 2015 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Courtesy the artist Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Conversation Three and One, 2016 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Courtesy the artist Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Conversation Three, One and Four, 2017 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Courtesy the artist Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Main Structure, 2016 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Courtesy the artist Notes: Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction, 2015–ongoing laserjet prints, pen, paint and pencil 21 x 29.7 cm each Courtesy the artist Sculpture Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction, 2015–ongoing wood, paint 300 x 300 x 45 cm Courtesy the artist Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Featured work from the Whitworth/Bruce Collection: Grace Crowley Abstract, 1947 oil on board 61.5 x 78 cm Wong Hoy Cheong Born 1960 in Penang, Malaysia Lives and works in George Town and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia UNcover: Central Post Bank (56°50’21.4”N 60°36’30.9”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist UNcover: Church of the Spilled Blood (56°50’39.8”N 60°36’31.9”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist UNcover: FGBU (Federal Government Military Administration) Officers’ Club (56°50’38.8”N

60°37’11.5”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist

Absolute Dud, 2007 iron 75 cm (diameter) x 312 cm (length) Courtesy the artist

UNcover: Headquarters of the Volga-Urals Military District (56°50’28.9”N 60°37’27.4”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist

Icarus Container, 2018 steel, mirror, ground glass, video, sound dimensions variable Courtesy the artist

UNcover: Office of the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region (56°50’23.4”N 60°36’23.1”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist UNcover: Residence of the President of Russia (56°50’20.2”N 60°36’20.8”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist UNcover: Suvorov Military School (56°50’42.8”N 60°38’52.7”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm each Courtesy the artist Nicole Wong Born 1990 in Hong Kong Lives and works in Hong Kong

I can’t, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London Maybe you, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London People say, 2018 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London Perhaps it’s, 2018 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London She knew, 2018 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London The Stars: A New Way to See Them, 2015 inkjet print on book pages 178.2 x 252 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London Time Piece, 2015 ink on paper 50 x 35 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London. Collection of Elaine W Ng, Fabio Rossi Waiting Game, 2015 ink on paper, 20-sided die 108.5 x 77 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council ‘Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.’ Yukinori Yanagi Born 1959 in Fukuoka, Japan Lives and works in Hiroshima, Japan

Landscape with an Eye, 2018 video projection on 2.5 m (diameter) acrylic dome, 14:51 mins Courtesy the artist

Unfolding Places (Video Trilogy I), 2004 single-channel DV-PAL, colour, sound 18:15 mins Filmed in London and Seoul Voice-over: Helen Cho (English) Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Anonymous and assistance from the Japan Foundation; the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Panasonic

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was in partnership with the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane and was made possible with generous support from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Korea Foundation and assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen

Haegue Yang

Jun Yang

Born 1971 in Seoul, South Korea Lives and works in Seoul and Berlin, Germany

Born 1975 in Qingtian, China Lives and works in Vienna, Austria; Taipei, Taiwan; and Yokohama, Japan

The Intermediate – Hairy Tele Digi-Big-Bang Fanned Out, 2018 powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic twine, jute twine, clippings from hardware store catalogues on chromolux paper, mounted on alu-dibond, self-adhesive holographic vinyl film, acrylic glass 223 x 152 x 152 cm (approx.) Courtesy the artist The Intermediate – Head Carrying Woman, 2017 artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic twine, artificial plants 234 x 108 x 110 cm Courtesy the artist

Becoming European or How I grew up with Wiener Schnitzel, 2015–ongoing video 12:54 mins Courtesy the artist; Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna; Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou; and ShugoArts, Tokyo Xīní / Xuělí Blue Room, 2018 installation and printed wallpaper Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist; Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna; Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou; and ShugoArts, Tokyo

The Intermediate – Tinted Asymmetric UHHHHH Creature W, 2017 powder-coated stainless steel hanging structure, powder-coated stainless steel frame, steel wire rope, plastic twine 308 x 337 x 60 cm (approx.) Courtesy the artist

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Amanda Harkness and Karen Barrett; Mami Kataoka; Phileas; and the Austrian Federal Chancellery

The Intermediate – Tinted Bushy Bald-headed Bumpy Walks, 2017 artificial straw, powder-coated steel stand, casters, plastic twine 170 x 110 x 110 cm Courtesy the artist

The Intermediate – Tinted Multi-Tentacled Serpent, 2017 powder-coated stainless steel hanging structure, powder-coated stainless steel frame, steel wire rope, plastic twine, Bupo 367 x 345 x 276 cm (approx.) Courtesy the artist The Intermediate – Tinted UHHHHH Creature Inverted V, 2017 powder-coated stainless steel frame, steel wire rope, plastic twine 335 x 255 x 40 cm Courtesy the artist Lethal Love, 2008 aluminum venetian blinds, powder-coated aluminium hanging structure, steel wire rope, free-standing mirror wall, moving spotlights, scent emitters (Wildflower, Gunpowder) 182 x 734 x 617 cm (approx.) Courtesy the artist Sonic Rampant Obscure Turbine Vents, Double Decker – Brass Green, 2018 powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, brass plated bells, metal rings, powder-coated turbine vents, artificial plants 167 x 118 x 118 cm Courtesy the artist ‘Video Trilogy’, 2004–06 Restrained Courage (Video Trilogy II), 2004 single-channel DV-PAL, colour, sound 19:07 mins Filmed in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Seoul, Berlin Voice-over: Camille Hesketh (English) Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

299

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists Founded 2000 in Alice Springs, Australia

In Our Hands, 2018 soft sculptures made with bush dyed woollen blankets, embellished with wool and feathers dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Georgie and Alastair Taylor Courtesy the artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Alice Springs Samson Young Born 1979 in Hong Kong Lives and works in Hong Kong Muted Situations #22: Muted Tchaikovsky’s 5th, 2018 video with twelve-channel sound installation, instructions 45 mins Performed by Flora Sinfonie Orchester, directed by Thomas Jung Sound and video editing: Samson Young, Vvzela Kook Recording producer: Jens Schünemann Recording engineers: Manuel Glowczewski, Arnd Coppers Camera operators: Verena Maas, Tom May, Roman Szczesny, Jan Höhe Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from vA!, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong Courtesy the artist; Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; and Team Gallery, New York

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Feelings are, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London

Squandering Negative Spaces (Video Trilogy III), 2006 single-channel DV-PAL, colour, sound 27:57 mins Filmed in Brazil Voice-over: David Michael DiGregorio (English) Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin

300

21st Biennale of Sydney

Founding Patrons

The Biennale of Sydney applauds 40 years of patronage by Transfield Holdings and the Belgiorno-Nettis Family SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

The Biennale of Sydney Archive includes physical records from the first 20 editions of the Biennale, forming the most comprehensive archive of national and international art activity in Australia. Since the first edition in 1973, the Biennale has featured over 1800 artists from more than 100 countries and has grown to become one of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great cultural events. The Biennale of Sydney Archive has been supported by Transfield Holdings specifically to enable the documentation of the Biennale Archive and its gifting to the Art Gallery of New South Wales as part of the Galleryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Art Archive initiative.

301

Partners

Major Government Partners

Principal Patron

Principal Partner

21st Biennale of Sydney

Major Partners

Major Foundations

Exhibition Partners

Venue Partners

Distinguished Partners

Distinguished Foundation

302

Supporting Partners

Motel Picture Company

Supporting Foundations SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

ANDREW CAMERON FAMILY FOUNDATION

Breen Mills Foundation

Contributing Partners

art guide AUSTRALIA

FBi RADIO

Special Thanks to Water Taxis Combined

Contributing Foundations Oranges & Sardines Foundation

303

Patrons

Founding Governor

Governors

Ambassadors

Franco Belgiorno-Nettis AC CBE

Susan Acret and James Roth Anonymous Kate Mills and Sally Breen Penelope Seidler AM Dr Gene Sherman AM and Mr Brian Sherman AM

Geoff Ainsworth AM and Johanna Featherstone Andrew Cameron AM and Cathy Cameron GrantPirrie Private Amanda Harkness and Karen Barrett Julian Knights AO and Lizanne Knights Vicki Olsson Roslyn and Tony Oxley Pace Gallery Dr Dick Quan and John McGrath Georgie and Alastair Taylor Chizuko Yashiro

Founding Patrons The Belgiorno-Nettis Family Transfield Holdings Principal Patron

21st Biennale of Sydney

The Neilson Foundation

304

Benefactors

Glen and Sakie Fukushima Ginny and Leslie Green Julian and Stephanie Grose Mami Kataoka Elizabeth Laverty Lehmann Maupin Medich Foundation Yoshiko Mori John Sharpe and Claire Armstrong Silverlens Lorraine Tarabay and Nick Langley Victoria Miro Gallery Mercedes Zobel

Antoinette Albert Richard Banks and Chrissie Jeffery Mark Baxter and Geoffrey Cassidy Ahmed Begdouri and Martin Browne Candy Bennett and Edwina Lehmann Teresa Biet Andrew Birch and Cheryl Sing Peter Braithwaite Dr Candice Bruce in memory of Michael Whitworth Geoff Charnock and Giovanni Munoz James Darling AM and Lesley Forwood Hon Mrs Ashley Dawson-Damer AM DETACHED, Hobart Richard and Harriett England Barbara Flynn Heidi Forbes Rick and Jan Frolich Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Danny Goldberg OAM and Lisa Goldberg Stephanie and Ian Hardy Susan Hilliard and Shane Allan Neil Hobbs and Karina Harris Mark Hughes Bronwyn and David Joffick David and Angela Kent Annette Larkin David Leach and Tony Kenny Lewin Foundation Dorienne and David Light Amanda and Andrew Love

305

Benjamin Mangold Robyn Martin-Weber Nanda Hobbs Contemporary Mark and Louise Nelson Dr Clinton Ng and Steven Johnson Lisa and Egil Paulsen John Phillips PublicArt Works Belinda and Bill Pulver Alice and Daniel Quai Amelia Ramsden and Kamil Kreiser Elizabeth Ramsden Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd Gosia Schild Anna and Morry Schwartz Vivienne Sharpe Lawrence Smith and Anthea Williamson Ezekiel Solomon AM Jennifer Stafford and Jon Nicholson Joanna Strumpf and Ursula Sullivan Vanessa Tay Alenka Tindale Tea Uglow Rachel Verghis and Sigurdur Arngrimsson Dr Terry Wu and Dr Melinda Tee Di Yeldham and Ali Yeldham Companions STATION, Melbourne Irene Sutton Anna Waldmann

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Associates

Acknowledgments

The artistic direction of the 21st Biennale of Sydney could not have been realised without the sincere support and advice from old and new friends, colleagues, cultural institutions and all the participating artists. In addition to the supporters listed in the acknowledgement section of this publication, I would personally like to thank the hundreds of artists who generously shared their time, thoughts and practices with me during my research trips to more than 36 cities. Curatorial colleagues in museums and cultural institutions around the world have also initiated, implemented and assisted my research in invaluable ways. Although I could not reflect every encounter physically in the Biennale, the accumulation of insightful discussions and advice were integral to the final outcome. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Mori Art Museum, Chairperson Mrs. Mori and to my colleagues who accepted my external appointment and strongly supported me throughout the process. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge my family for their warmest encouragement, particularly my husband Keiji Terai, who has brought a state of equilibrium to my mind throughout every circumstance.

21st Biennale of Sydney

Mami Kataoka Artistic Director, 21st Biennale of Sydney

21_21Design Sight, Ability Links, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW Support Services, Ayya Aboulhaf, ACCA, Accessible Arts, Acoustics Research Laboratory and DMAF, Odette Adams, Addison Road, Community Centre, Elena Adorni, Kurahara Aiko, Safa AlWahah, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Jenny Anagnostopoulos, Anand, Veronica and Trevor Andrew, Ada Napaljarri Andy, Judy Annear, Shinya Aoyama, Ziba Ardalan, ARoS Art Museum, Anna Artaker, Arts & Culture Program, Settlement Services International, Arts Mildura, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Artspace, Naheed Ashraf, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Australia Council for the Arts, Australian Bronze, Australian Embassy, Japan, Austrian Federal Chancellery Mahesh B L, Olivier Bacin, Khadija Baratzada, Dr Amelia Barikin, University of Queensland, Australia, Nigel Bax, Canbora Bayraktar, SF Begbie, Larry Bell, Benesse Art Site Naoshima and Benesse House, Mahjoub Himi Benomar, Zoya Bhatti, Big Stories, Vivienne Binns OAM, Clive Birch, Lynn Blackburn, Blackmagic Design, Blacktown Arts Centre, René Block, Anthony Bond OAM, Eric Booth, Chhim Bopha, Bianca Boscu, Iara Boubnova, April Boughton, Bowral Bricks, Brickworks Building Products, Clinton Bradley, Soline Bredin, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Sabine Brunckhorst, Ane Bulow, Marie-Cécile Burnichon, Johanna Burton, Tricia and John Butler, Tayeba Butt, Achiel Buyse Vijay Kumar C S, Clive Calder, Scott Campbell, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Marcelo Campos, Laura Carey, Khadijah Carmona, Raul Lovera Carrasco, Benjamin Caukwell, Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard), The Ceramics Studio, Sydney College of the Arts, Jude Chambers, Va Chamnan, Lim Chanboramy, Chum Chanveasna, Lily Chen, Harriet Cheney, Amy Cheng, Heman Cheong, Cody Choi, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Jehan Chu, City of Canada Bay Council Bushcare Team and Concord Bushcare Volunteers, City of Canterbury-Bankstown, City of Parramatta, Mark Clark, Concord Bushcare Volunteers, Natasha Conland, Dr Lynne Cooke, Jonathon Cooper, Tamara Corm, Richard Court AO and Mrs Jo Court, Gabrielle Courtenay, Michaelie Crawford, Creative Youth Initiative, Mission Australia, Stephen Creswell, Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF), Nici Cumpston Rima D’Arcy, Calin Dan, Danish Arts Foundation, Kong Dara, Naheed Darwish, David Zwirner Gallery, Hong Kong, London, and New York, Will Davis, Chhim Davy, Charlotte Day, Sven Dehens, Kaat DeJonghe, Des Dejrangsi, Max Delany, Frank Demaegd, Alyx Dennison, Rhana Devenport, Steve Devereaux, Mark Donnely, Georgia Drysdale, Duddell’s, Hong Kong, Nicole Durling Skyla Eardley, Lotta Eberhardt, Fiona EdmondsDobrijevich, David Elliott, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Deborah Ely, The English Family Foundation, Wesley Enoch, Eora TAFE, Emi Eu, Sally Evans, Julian Evans, Elizabeth Evatt Farida Fahrtash, Erin Falls, Deborah Falls, Halina Faryadi, Paul Ferman, Sandra Ferman, Oriol Ferrer, Beata Fisher, Claire Forsyth, Anna Fraser, Elise

Fredericksen, Diana Freundl, Malcolm Jampijinpa Fry, Hikaru Fujii, Hiroyuki Fujiwara, Future Method Ganesh G H, Juan A. Gaitan, Matylda Gajda, Theaster Gates, James Gatt, Pauline Gauthron, Gridthiya Gaweewong, Björn Geldhof, Martin Germann, SJ Gibb, Alan Gibbs, Helen Gillespie, Ginga, Glasgow Print Studio, Glebe Youth Services, Erin Gleeson, Tasman Goodies, Leo Gothelf, Paula Gothelf, Alistair Gow, Dr. Charles Green, Ground Control Café, Madeleine Grynsztejn, Jan Guy Zahra Haidari, Hussnain Hanif, Makiko Hara, Bambang Harnawa, Parker Harris, Penny Harris, Todd Hawken, Sonja and Glenn Hawkins, Michelle Haywood, Barbara Henery, Albert Heta, Elias Heuninck, Higashiyama Artists Placement Service (HAPS), Sherri Hilario, Satoshi Hirose, Joy Hirst, Christopher Hodges, Daniel Hollier and the Operative, Sonya Holowell, Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Kenjiro Hosaka, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Huckleberry Films, Michael Hoy, Toshiaki Hozumi, Marianne Hultman Nahida Ibrahim-Khill, Igniting Change, Lucas Ihlein, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Network, Inner West Council, Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane, IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) Network, Interaction Consortium, Ishikawa Foundation for International Exchange, Okayama, Japan, Istanbul Biennial, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Sydney Mark Jackson, David Jacobs, Martin Janda, Jervis Bay Maritime Museum, JIA Group Limited, Siglinde Johannesson, Anna John, Jonathan Jones, Eungie Joo, Dr Darren Jorgensen, University of Western Australia, Diane Josse Glen Kaino, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Lukas Kalos, Marrianne Katia, Dominic Kavanagh, Neang Kavich, Deborah Kelly, Nick Keys, Mayun Kiki, Min-Jung Kim, Sunjung Kim, Nao Kimura, Lissa Kinnear, Kati Kivinen, Heinz Klausner, Dimitri Kleioris, Darren Knight, Vivien Knowles, Jeroen Koffeman, Raija Koli, Koorie Heritage Trust, Derek Kreckler, Aaron Kreisler, Bose Krishnamachari, Annika Kristensen, Kunstverein Amsterdam, Noun Kunthor Lake Macquarie Art Gallery, Budi Laksono, Hannah Land, Liz Land, Marcia Langton, Ngyen Ngoc My Le, Tatiana Lecomte, Daehyung Lee, Rachel Lehman, Nicolas Lemoine, Michael Lett, Eloise Lindeback, Liquid Architecture, Lismore Regional Gallery, Lisson Gallery, London and New York, Liverpool City Council, Alan Lo and Yenn Wong, The Lock-Up, Simon Loebels, Isa Lorenzo, Lost in Books, Anne Loveridge, Jenny Lui, Amy Luo, Diana Lwaies, Khvay Ly, Kourn Lyna, Anna Lysiuk Raviraj M D, Meg Maggio, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Edouard Malingue, Gulchera Mangal, Dorit Margreiter, Nomoto Masahiro, David Maupin, Jamie Maxtone-Graham, Steve McAuley, John Mcbride, Jesse McKee, Virginia McLeod, Ian McNicol, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Selma Mesanovic, Julieanne Mills, Jan Minchin, Mineral Sciences Laboratory, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Lee Mingwei, Virginia Mitchell, Cindy Mochizuki, Matt Mohebbi, MONA – Museum of Old and New Art, Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Sean Moores, Mrs Mori and Best Friends of Mori Art Museum, Tim Moriarty, Gordon Morrison, Lynne Morton, Tom Mosby, Djon Mundine OAM, Catherine Munger, Dr Josep Anton Muñoz, Museums & Galleries of NSW Salvador Rey Nagel, Fuyubi Nakamura, Akira and Tomoko Nakayama, Fumio Nanjo, Taro Nasu, Kan Nathiwutthikun, The National Art Center, Tokyo, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, National Museum of Natural History, Jessica Neath, Judith Neilson AM, Harry Jakamarra Nelson, Roger Nelson, Yustina Neni, New York CMI, Elaine W. Ng, Dr Rafal Niemojewski, Suhail Nizami, Katie Nolan, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Jenni Nurmenniemi Nathalie Obadia, Takeo Obayashi, Kaz Ohshiro, OK. Pangan OK. Video: 8th Indonesia Media Arts Festival 2017, Jiro Okamoto, Bige Orer, Shahla Osman, Vala Osmani, Kong Oukma Papunya Tula Artists, Francis Parker, Mike Parr, Parramatta Artists Studios, Julianne Patterson, Paving By Design Pty Ltd, Jerome Pearce, John Pearson, Isabel Peng, Hetti Perkins, Capucine Perrot, Melissa Perry, Emily Pethick, Chhim Phalla, Victor Pinchuk, Latifa Pirzad,

306

Philippe Platel, Katy Plummer, Ilppo Pohjola, Dr Albert Casas Ponsati, Gala Porras-Kim, Dr. Jeffrey E. Post, Shaun Postie, Martin Potter, Jaime Powellaas, Prashant, Eva Presenhuber, Shaun Presland Hoor Al Qasimi, Aluo Qingmin Uday R, Suhanya Raffel, Vandy Rattana, Uzma Raziq, Reach, Jennifer Reid, Lisa Reihana, Andrew Renton, Reverse Garbage, John Reynolds, Travis Rice, Thomas Jangala Rice, Haco de Ridder, Thomas Riegger, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Zoe Rimmer, Markus Rischgasser, Rhoda Roberts, Peter Robinson, Daniel Roesler, Immi Romot-Smith, Stephanie Rosenthal, Ross Downie, Fabio Rossi, Amanda Rowell, Sarah Rowland, Gabriella Roy, Julie Rrap, Christina Ruoff, Selina Ruzek, Judith Ryan Yogesh S, S.M.A.K.,the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art - Ghent, Zahra Salari, Grace Samboh, SANAA, Giacomo Sanzani, Inra Sara, Julia Sarisetiati, Virginie Schmitt, Katrina Schwarz, Kitty Scott, Aaron Seeto, Marinella Senatore, Alexandra Servel, Jasper Sharp, Andrew Sharpe, Jane Sheldon, Shimabuku, Misa Shin, Tsuji Shingo, Taro Shinoda, Natasha Sidharta, Tania Simanowsky, Natalie Simanowsky, Hey Sina, Neha Singh, Six & Petritsch, Patricia Sloane, Terry Smith, Sok Sokhan, Launh Sokleng, Nedko Solakov, Diane van Sommers, Yin Sotheara, Source Creative Design, Anne Southan, Lloyd Jungarrayi Spencer, State Library of NSW, Ranjana Steinruecke, Ann Stephen, Philip Sticklen, Studio Artes, Michael Stumpf, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jane Sutherland, Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, Sydney Shape Note Singers Taka Ishii, Yuu Takehisa, Natsu Tanabe, TARO NASU Gallery, Tokyo, teamLab, Keiji Terai, Taylah Terry, Peter Japaljarri Tex, Althea Thauberger, Laura Thompson, Vanessa Thorne, The Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, Hitomi Toku, Yutaka Tokuyama, Maria Tornatore-Loong, Rudy Tseng, Howie Tsui, Caroline Turner, Jennifer Turpin, Cath Tyler Elisa Uematsu, University Art Museums Australia, University of Technology, Sydney, UNSW Grand Challenge on Refugees and Migrants, Gabriela Urtiaga Inneke Van Waeyenberghe, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Chhim Vanny, Sharon Veale, Corentin Vendryes, Jose Luis de Vicente, Maryan Vickers, OK. Video, Tra Vigia, Anna Virtanen, Visual Arts and Design Educators Association of NSW (VADEA), Maryanne Voyazis, Tatjana Vujanovic Benjamin Wacksmann, Robert Wadell, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Kiyoshi Wako, Amelia Wallin, David Walsh AO, Trent Walter, Jonathan Watkins, Lyu Weixin, White Building Collective, White Building community, Robert Wilson, Andrew Windsor, Amanda Wise, Theodore Wohng, Wollongong Art Gallery, Aleit Woodward, Glenn Scott Wright Hiroshi Yamada, Kenji Yanobe, Bushra Yaquoob, James Yi-Rong and Grace Hsu, Ayako Yoshida

Biennale Teacher Circle

Volunteers

Tara Van Drempt, Mark Hetherington, Sharon Tofler

Shehzar Abro, Lucy Achhorner, Rohan Ackermann, Hannah Adlide, Lora Adzic, Jodie Aitken, Hajer Al-awsi, Phoebe Alexander, Damon Amb, Laura Anderson, Anita Aptaker, Tegan Arazny, Emmanuel Asante

Educators Shallal Bader, Emily Besser, Anney Bounpraseuth, Priscilla Bourne, Samantha Relihan, Clare Walker Guides Henry Copas, Margaux Ducerisier, Georgina Hardy, Joel Humphries, Lilia Jackson, Ivana Jovanovic, Stephanie Keenihan, Julian Kenworthy, Philippa Louey, Audrey Pfister, David Ryan, Linda Sok, Kate Stodart, Michael Waite, Sue Jo Wright, Imogen Yang Installation team

Rory Caddis, Ashleigh Campbell-Scott, Wei Cao, Judith Capp, Marianne Cara, Lynne Cartwright, Toby Castles, Michelle Cerreto, Michelle Chanique, Benita Chen, Lucy Chen, Siqi Chen, Bella Chidlow, Haseeb Chishti, Hyun Jee Cho, Tiffany Chow, Tess Clark, Ellie Clay, Caitlyn ComanSargent, Ginny Constable, Tango Conway, Sarah Cook, Paul Cooper, Claire Cooper-Southam, Ronald Crause, Ella Crowley, Tianran Cui, Yifang Cui Alannah Dair, Meredith D’Alton, Joanne Dantonio, Shak Daryanoosh, Suranjana Das, Dalila Daut, Julie Debray, Nicolas Debray, Klaubette Dedicatoria, Andrew Demetriou, Olivia Dennis, Jedd Dimension, Holly Dixon, Varensya Djunaidi, Patrick Doab, Caitlin Donaghy, Emma Dowden, Jenny Du, Sherrin Dunlevie, Maria Echeverri, Krishna Ekambaram, Callum Elliott, Kate Emanuelli, Soheil Ettehadolhagh Mark Facchin, Sydney Falls, Janet Fenech, Katherine Feng, Lily Fenwicke, Mark Ferguson, Kerrin Fernanda, Marta Ferracin, Bernadette Fingleton, Galit Fisher, Kirsty Flockhart, Claire Foley-Jennings, Ming Fong, Colette Fontaine, Tahney Fosdike, Christine Fulcher, Midori Furze Valerie Gaidarly, Imogen Gainsford, Meggie Gan, James Gao, Ying Gao, Beatriz Gardeazabal, Maeva Gazi, Alex Gengos, Nasibeh Ghasri Khouzani, Daniele Gianotti, Saskia Gilmour, Keroshin Govender, Michelle Grimm, Vladimir Grudinin, Onur Guden, Chani Gunasekera Victoria Hall, Lorrie Hammerton, Rhonda Haydon, Cheryl Hayman, Alex Hearn, Lynette Hearne, Anna Hedstrom, Stasia Hendrawan, Sophie Herron Hayman, Emilia Higgs, Wendy Hitchcock, Sandy Ho, William Hockenhull, Alicia Hollier, Yasunori Honda, Bernadette Horvat, Antonia Houben, Samantha Houben, Anqi Hu, Jiahui Hu, Jessie Huang, Tirza Hutagalung, Juanita Hyde Linda Ingaldo, Federica Iozzo, Kseniya Ivanchyk, Bassam Jabar, Bronwyn Jackson, Cecilia Jackson, Madi Jackson, Shubham Jaiswal, Hannah James, Jiening Jiang, Wentian Jin, Karyn Johnson, Nadine Johnston, Nicola Josey Helena Kallinis, Annie Kang, Tian Kang, Christine Kazub, Santoki KC, Annie Kennedy, Hannah Keogh, Daniel Khoo, Floura Khosh Kish, Patsy Killeen, Alex Kim, Hee Jung Kim, Olivia Kim, Phoebe Kim, Fiamma Kitching, Jarek Knoppek, Mel Koncar, Sadami Konchi, Nicki Kuanpadoong, Bindiya Kumar, Anastasia Kuratorova, Elsa Kwok, Carmen Ky Julius Labay, Marita Lacota, Catherine Lao, Gabriel Lappen, Elizabeth Lau, Victor Lau, Amelia Lazberger, Stanislava Lebedeva, Juyeon Lee, Kah-lin Lee, Younna Lee, Alison Leeson, Mia Lehn, Can Lei, Ji Li, Leyi Li, Lillian Li, Mingjing Li, Weiming Li, Yuanyu Li, Yura Li, Yvonne Liao, Zoe Liao, Kartzen liu, Kristin Liu, Sophie Liu, Maria Lluch Mandingorra, David Lobb, Kasane Low, Gemma Lucca, Man Luo, Michelle Lynn, Rhiannon Lyons Calina MacGinley Jamieson, Ben Macintosh, Mary Mackenzie, Leigh MacRitchie, Jinger Mai, Yuna Maki, Anna Manlulo, Maija Manou, Marketa Manova, Eunice Markham, Warren Marsh, Louise Martin, Daniel MartinoBurke, Tim Marvin, Verity Mathews, Gillian Mauchan, Jasmin Mavin, David May, Mutiara Mayra, Graham Mc Corkell, Holly McArthur, Rebecca McCormack, Sean McLaughlin, Barb McLean, Caitlin McMahon, Dan Metelkin, John Middleton, Sarah Millman, Georgina Milln, Emma Morton, Laura Moschner, Bridget Moyle, Maya Mulvey-Santana, Mary Murabito, Arthur Murgatroyd, Rhonda Murray Sahar Nabinik, Carmel Nakamura, Ei Nanaumi, Paweena Nekamanurak, Grace Nguyen, Julie Nguyen, Merena Nguyen, Nancy Nguyen, Vy Nguyen, Davina Norman, Aurora Nowosad

307

Anli Qian, Raja Syazwina Raja Shuib, Efrain Ramirez, Erin Repp, Christopher Rich, Helen Richter, Rachel Roberts, Jessica Romstein, Alice Rose, Alison Rose, Markus Rosenbauer, Allison Rowlands, Christine Ryan Celine saint Jean, Amanda Saker, Hiba Salman, Andrisa Santoso, Brahmashakti Saraswati, Estee Sarsfield, Kate Sayeg, Jessica Schembri, Ikumi Sekine, Libbi Sham, April Shao, Wei Sheng, Simone Sheridan, Meredith Shimmin, Marina Shine, Yani Silvana, Jacinta Simmons, Frankie Simone, Sophie Smyth, Erik Sniedze, Khushboo Sood, Michael Sprott, Elizabeth Starkey, Nerida Stephenson, Sheena Studenovic Redmond, Sofie Su, Eva Sun, Olivia Sun, Tina Sun, Zhenjun Sun, Tika Suresh, Olga Svyatova Eva Tang, Yunyan Tang, Louise Tate, Ruby TavenerGraham, Jordan Taylor, Janet Timberg, Toshi, Jasmine Tran, Lisa Tran, Andrew Treloar, Christina Tsaousoglou, Pam Usher, Sunshine and Crocodile Pty Ltd, Gitana Vasaityte, Chris Verheyden, Kim Vo, Stephen Voordouw Margaux Walker, Sandra Walker, Susanna Waller, Gavin Wang, Kevin Wang, Yang Wang, Jenny Watts, Rebecca Weaver, Magdalena Weidemann, Julia Westwood, Joella Wheatley, Anna Whetton, Claudia White, Jane Wilaicharoenphat, Sharon Williams, Sam Wilson, Ramonne Wilson Lemme, Lia Wittig, Amy Wong, Catherine Wong, Evena Wong, Louisa Wong, Rebecca Wong, Vanessa Wong, Anita Woods, Carmel Woods, Frances Woods, Karolin Wu, Xuewei Wu Jessica Xi, Murphy Xiao, Yao Xiao, Tuba Yagiz, Zhijun Yang, Zitao Yang, Cecilie Yates, Elise Yates, Hope Yates, Emma Yeung, Jean Yi, Caroline Yim, Meidan Yin, Lili Yu Rainne Zeng, Amara Zenteno, Cloe Zhang, Jenny Zhang, Lei Zhang, Yi Zhang, Yiwen Zhao, Jinrui Zheng, Yaru Zheng, Daniel Zhong, Echo Zhou, Shibang Zhou, Vivien Zhou, JJ Zhou, Elli Zhu, Judy Zhu, Junyi Zhu, Jasmine Zhuang

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Timothy Andrew, Libby Argus, Gustavo Balboa, Rebecca Barnott-Clement, Julia Bavyka, Adriana Beach, Sarah Betts, Marina Breit, Rochelle Briggenshaw, JeanChristophe Chevalier, Amy Conway, Cybele Cox, Daniel Curtis, Pearl de Waal, Mae Elliott, Maia Ferguson, Angela Fieldhouse, Jessica Fitzpatrick, Sage Fury, Ben Gavin, Felix Gill, Matthew Gorgula, Samuel Griffith, Emma Louise Hayman, Reuben Holt, Craig Hull, Izak Hutchinson, Andy Hutson, Rasmus Emil Tofthoej Jakobsen, Ester KarusoThurn, Rebecca Kenchington, Russell Kilbey, Amy Kisnorbo, Rachael Lafferty, Kate Latella, Timothy Lathouris, Celine Le Boulleur de Courlon, Yves Yuen Ying Lee, Owen Lewis, Kartini Ludwig, Ganbold Lundaa, Gawaa Lundaa, Daniel Luscombe, Sasha March, Masayuki Miyaji, Bridget Moyle, William Newell, Willa Pratt, Brooke Randall, Hannah Riley, Emma Rouse, Asti Sherring, Michael Sprott, Matthew Stanbrook, Cara Stewart, Olga Svyatova, Nathan Thompson, Simonem Tops, Andrew Vercoe, Mia Washbourne, Thomas Wilcox, Danny Wild, Simon Wilson, Matthew Woodham, Andrew Yeremeyev, Chelsea Zeller, Tian Zhang

Eva Balog, Jose Arthur Barbosa Mileo, Yonas Bauer, Gianni Benato, Melissa Bentley, Danielle Berry, Spandan Bhatt, Luke Bigucci, Helen Bird, Samu Bockarie, Jelena Bojicic, Alena Bondarchuk-McLaughlin, David Booth, Glenda Booth, Sinead Border, Bobbie Bory, Max Boutwell Draper, Courtney Bowd, Sassicca Bowyer, Rosalind Bradley, Nicki Brancatisano, Mary-Anne Brancato, Sally Bray, Jasper Broekhoven, Justine Broncard, Terence Bui, Mandy Burgess, Christine Burton, Ellie Burton, Ksenia Buryakova, Kim By, Chelsea Byrne, krysten byrne

Raman Odgers, Maki Ogawa, Thomas OKeeffe, Brendan O’Keeffe, Felipe Olivares, Maricelle Olivier, Kate O’Reilly, Alissa Osada-Phornsiri, Mary Osborn, Janelle Painter, Sally Parkinson, Anastasia Parmson, Esme Parr, Sam Patel, Chloe Pellicer, Priscilla Perrin, Jan Pettit, Cornelis Pieterse, Winona Poon, Pankti Porecha, Hepke Poutsma, Liza Proiaeva, Samuel Pugh

Image credits

Cover Mit Jai Inn Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018 mixed media installation with paintings Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh

21st Biennale of Sydney

p. 4 Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji, 2018 (video still) video 9 mins Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Courtesy the artists p. 21 Tawatchai Puntusawasdi Super Moon 2:1, 2018 brass 180 x 80 x 200 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Chizuko Yashiro and assistance from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai and the AustraliaASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist pp. 24–25 Exhibition view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Photograph: Zan Wimberley p. 27 (above) Roy Wiggan Ilma, 1994 chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana gallery 1994 Photograph: Diana Panuccio, AGNSW © Estate of Roy Wiggan (below; left to right) Roy Wiggan Ilma, 2013 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 55 x 30 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Flower, 2003 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 60 x 63 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Borrorr – Hairbelt Ilma, 2013 acrylic on plywood, cotton wool 56 x 56 cm Mollie Gowing Acquisition Fund for Contemporary Aboriginal Art 2018 Ilma, 1994 132 x 185 cm chip board, wool, PVA glue, synthetic polymer paint, florence paint, Commissioned for the opening of the Yiribana Gallery, 1994 Copyright © Estate of Roy Wiggan All works collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley p. 29 (above) Prabhavathi Meppayil sb/eighteen, 2018 installation of approximately 875 found objects (iron, copper and brass), and gesso dimensions variable

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Pace Gallery Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Pace Gallery; Galerie Esther Schipper, Berlin; and GALLERYSKE, Bangalore and New Delhi (below) Prabhavathi Meppayil sb/eighteen, 2018 (detail) installation of approximately 875 found objects (iron, copper and brass), and gesso dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Pace Gallery Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Pace Gallery; Galerie Esther Schipper, Berlin; and GALLERYSKE, Bangalore and New Delhi pp. 30–31 Lili Dujourie American Imperialism, 1972/2018 steel, paint dimensions variable This version commissioned for the 21st Biennale of Sydney Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Tucci Russo Gallery, Turin pp. 32–33 Kate Newby I’m actually weirdly exciting, 2018 (detail) bronze, white brass, brass, silver dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Creative New Zealand and Michael Lett, Auckland Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Michael Lett, Auckland; and Fine Arts, Sydney pp. 34–35 (left to right) Francisco Camacho Herrera Untitled, 2017 23 x 12 cm porcelain Parallel Narratives, 2015–17 video, 50 mins Guanyin, bodhisattva of compassion, seated on a lotus, late 17th–early 18th century blanc-de-chine porcelain 21 x 11.7 x 7.5 cm Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Purchased 1921 Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; and TheCube Project Space, Taipei pp. 36–37 Luciano Fabro Every Order is Contemporaneous of Every Other Order: Four Ways of Examining the Façade of the SS. Redentore in Venice, 1972 screenprint on paper 255 x 945 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Penelope Seidler AM Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Private collection, Milan Courtesy the Estate of Luciano Fabro pp. 38–39 Sa Sa Art Projects Participating artists: Khvay Samnang, Lim Sokchanlina, Vuth Lyno, Pen Sereypagna Additional contributions from collaborators, artists,

308

students and residents of the White Building Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists p. 41 (clockwise from top left) Khvay Samnang Human Nature, 2010–11 digital C-print 80 x 120 cm Courtesy the artist Khvay Samnang Human Nature, 2010–11 digital C-print 80 x 120 cm Courtesy the artist Pen Sereypagna Genealogy of Bassac, 2015–ongoing (detail) three videos, architectural drawings 3 mins each Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists Pen Sereypagna Genealogy of Bassac, 2015–ongoing (detail) three videos, architectural drawings 3 mins each Vuth Lyno Playing Archive, 2015–ongoing (detail) handmade book 9.9 x 21 x 1 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists pp. 42–43 Eija-Liisa Ahtila POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018 angular video sculpture of 22 DIP LED modules, 4K/HD, 7:54 mins, looped two research tables with attached ‘monitor mirrors’, 4K/HD; 2:08 mins and 3:06 mins, looped vertical single channel projection, 4K/HD, 2:35 mins, looped Cast: Jenny and Matleena Kuusniemi Written and directed by Eija-Liisa Ahtila Cinematography: Jussi Eerola Wire FX: Reijo Kontio 3D VFX: Jari Hakala Editing: Heikki Kotsalo Produced by Ilppo Pohjola Commissioned by Serlachius Museums, Mänttä with support from AVEK; the Biennale of Sydney; Frame Contemporary Art Finland; Alfred Kordelin Foundation; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London; M-Museum; SES; and SKR Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Mami Kataoka © Crystal Eye – Kristallisilmä Oy, Helsinki Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London p. 45 (clockwise from top left) Eija-Liisa Ahtila POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018 (detail) angular video sculpture of 22 DIP LED modules, 4K/HD, 7:54 mins, looped two research tables with attached ‘monitor

mirrors’, 4K/HD; 2:08 mins and 3:06 mins, looped vertical single channel projection, 4K/HD, 2:35 mins, looped Cast: Jenny and Matleena Kuusniemi Written and directed by Eija-Liisa Ahtila Cinematography: Jussi Eerola Wire FX: Reijo Kontio 3D VFX: Jari Hakala Editing: Heikki Kotsalo Produced by Ilppo Pohjola Commissioned by Serlachius Museums, Mänttä with support from AVEK; the Biennale of Sydney; Frame Contemporary Art Finland; Alfred Kordelin Foundation; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London; M-Museum; SES; and SKR Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley © Crystal Eye – Kristallisilmä Oy, Helsinki Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London

Eija-Liisa Ahtila POTENTIALITY FOR LOVE – MAHDOLLINEN RAKKAUS, 2018 (detail) angular video sculpture of 22 DIP LED modules, 4K/HD, 7:54 mins, looped two research tables with attached ‘monitor mirrors’, 4K/HD; 2:08 mins and 3:06 mins, looped vertical single channel projection, 4K/HD, 2:35 mins, looped Cast: Jenny and Matleena Kuusniemi Written and directed by Eija-Liisa Ahtila Cinematography: Jussi Eerola Wire FX: Reijo Kontio 3D VFX: Jari Hakala Editing: Heikki Kotsalo Produced by Ilppo Pohjola Commissioned by Serlachius Museums, Mänttä with support from AVEK; the Biennale of Sydney; Frame Contemporary Art Finland; Alfred Kordelin Foundation; Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London; M-Museum; SES; and SKR Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography © Crystal Eye – Kristallisilmä Oy, Helsinki Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London pp. 46–47 N.S. Harsha Reclaiming the inner space, 2018 acrylic paint, acrylic mirror, wood, found cardboard packing material 4 x 12 m Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Julian Knights AO and Lizanne Knights; Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice; and Mami Kataoka Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Pro Helvetia Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo

p. 51 (clockwise from top left)

What If, 2017 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Collection of David Atkins

Samson Young Muted Situations #22: Muted Tchaikovsky’s 5th, 2018 (production image) video with 12-channel sound installation, instructions, 45 mins Performed by Flora Sinfonie Orchester, directed by Thomas Jung Sound and video editing: Samson Young, Vvzela Kook Recording producer: Jens Schünemann Recording engineers: Manuel Glowczewski, Arnd Coppers Camera operators: Verena Maas, Tom May, Roman Szczesny, Jan Höhe Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from vA!, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong Photograph: Heike Fischer Fotografie Courtesy the artist; Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; and Team Gallery, New York Samson Young Muted Situations #22: Muted Tchaikovsky’s 5th, 2018 video with 12-channel sound installation, instructions, 45 mins Performed by Flora Sinfonie Orchester, directed by Thomas Jung Sound and video editing: Samson Young, Vvzela Kook Recording producer: Jens Schünemann Recording engineers: Manuel Glowczewski, Arnd Coppers Camera operators: Verena Maas, Tom May, Roman Szczesny, Jan Höhe Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from vA!, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; and Team Gallery, New York Samson Young Muted Situations #22: Muted Tchaikovsky’s 5th, 2018 video with 12-channel sound installation, instructions, 45 mins Performed by Flora Sinfonie Orchester, directed by Thomas Jung Sound and video editing: Samson Young, Vvzela Kook Recording producer: Jens Schünemann Recording engineers: Manuel Glowczewski, Arnd Coppers Camera operators: Verena Maas, Tom May, Roman Szczesny, Jan Höhe Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from vA!, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; and Team Gallery, New York p. 53 (above) Miriam Cahn Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Pro Helvetia Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Meyer Riegger, Berlin and Karlsruhe; Jocelyn Wolff, Paris; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo (below) Miriam Cahn das shöne blau (the beautiful blue), 13.05.17 oil on canvas 200 x 195 cm

309

pp. 54–55 (left to right) Marlene Gilson Life on the Goldfields, 2014 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Australian Catholic University Art Collection

Arrival, 2017 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Land lost, land stolen, treaty, 2016 acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist p. 56 (above) Marlene Gilson Eureka Stockade, 2017 (detail) acrylic on linen 76 x 100 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist (below) Marlene Gilson Life on the Goldfields, 2014 (detail) acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Australian Catholic University Art Collection Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist p. 57 (above) Marlene Gilson Life on the Goldfields, 2014 (detail) acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Australian Catholic University Art Collection Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist (below) Marlene Gilson What If, 2017 (detail) acrylic on linen 120 x 150 cm Collection of David Atkins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

p. 49 N.S. Harsha Reclaiming the inner space, 2018 (detail) acrylic paint, acrylic mirror, wood, found cardboard packing material 4 x 12 m Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Julian Knights AO and Lizanne Knights; Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice; and Mami Kataoka Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice

pp. 58–59 Noguchi Rika (left to right) Small Miracles #4, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Small Miracles #1, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Small Miracles #8, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Small Miracles #3, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm Small Miracles #5, 2014 pigment print 140 x 100 cm

21st Biennale of Sydney

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the Japan Foundation, the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo; and Gallery Loock, Berlin p. 61 (above) Roy de Maistre A set of colour discs, scales, wheels, 1917–19 (detail) oil on paperboard and cardboard discs 90.5 x 105.5 cm Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Gift of Sir John Rothenstein in memory of Roy de Maistre 1969 (below; from top) Roy de Maistre A set of colour discs, scales, wheels, 1917–19 oil on paperboard and cardboard discs 90.5 x 105.5 cm Colour keyboard, c. 1919 oil, pencil on cardboard 13.3 x 122 cm Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Gift of Sir John Rothenstein in memory of Roy de Maistre 1969 pp. 62–63 (front to back) Riet Wijnen Sculpture Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction, 2015– ongoing wood, paint 300 x 300 x 45 cm Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Conversation Three, 2015 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Conversation Three and One, 2016 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Conversation Three, One and Four, 2017 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm Diagram Sixteen Conversations on Abstraction: Main Structure, 2016 photogram 90 x 115.5 cm

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist pp. 64–65 Sydney Ball ‘Modular sketches’, 1967–69 acrylic, pencil on paper 58 x 78 cm; 69.7 x 88.5 x 3.5 cm frame (each) Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf, Sydney and Singapore and the Sydney Ball Estate pp. 66–67 & 68–69 Semiconductor Where Shapes Come From, 2016 two-channel HD video 8:55 mins Co-commissioned by the EDP Foundation, Lisbon and Phoenix, Leicester Supported by Arts Council England Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the British Council and Panasonic Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artists p. 71 (above) Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji, 2018 video 9 mins Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artists (below) Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) with Baloji and Renzo Martens CATPC – the artists from the plantation. A portrait by Baloji, 2018 (video still) video 9 mins Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Courtesy the artists p. 73 (above) Oliver Beer Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) I, 2018 (video still) HD video with sound Performers: Clive Birch and Tim Moriarty Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Courtesy the artist; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris and Salzburg; and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne (below) Oliver Beer Composition for Mouths (Songs My Mother Taught Me) II, 2018 (video still) HD video with sound Performers: Alyx Dennison and Sonya Holowell Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales Courtesy the artist; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris and Salzburg; and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne

310

pp. 74–75 Exhibition view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Artspace Photograph: Document Photography p. 77 (above) Ai Weiwei Crystal Ball, 2017 crystal, life jackets 100 x 100 x 100 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Andrew Cameron Family Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin (below) Ai Weiwei Crystal Ball, 2017 (detail) crystal, life jackets 100 x 100 x 100 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Andrew Cameron Family Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin p. 79 (above from top) Tiffany Chung water dreamscape – the gangster named Jacky, the sleepers, and the exodus, 2017 seven watercolour paintings (detail) 83 x 114 cm each Courtesy the artist and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York (All watercolours are the result of the Vietnam Exodus History Learning Project, carried out in collaboration with Hồ Hưng, Huỳnh Bảo, Lê Nam Đy, Nguyễn Hoàng Long, Đặng Quang Tiến, Phạm Ái, Võ Châu Hoàng Vy) The Vietnam Exodus Project: response from the UNHCR and worldwide countries in the immediate years, 2015– ongoing reproductions of newspaper articles and corresponding cables from UNHCR archives and records 21.6 x 28 cm / each document Courtesy Archives of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Glen and Sakie Fukushima; and Yoshiko Mori Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: silversalt photography (below) Tiffany Chung The Vietnam Exodus Project: response from the UNHCR and worldwide countries in the immediate years, 2015– ongoing (detail) reproductions of newspaper articles and corresponding cables from UNHCR archives and records 21.6 x 28 cm each document Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Glen and Sakie Fukushima; and Yoshiko Mori Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy Archives of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees pp. 80–81 Tiffany Chung reconstructing an exodus history: boat trajectories, ports of first asylum and resettlement countries, 2017 embroidery on fabric 140 x 350 cm Courtesy the artist and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York pp. 82–83 Michaël Borremans Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

p. 85 (clockwise, from top left) Michaël Borremans Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp Michaël Borremans Space Vessel I, 2017 bronze and paint 9.2 x 9.04 x 11.3 cm Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp Michaël Borremans Central Park, undated wood, fimo and paint 30.8 x 23.8 x 10 cm Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp Michaël Borremans Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

pp. 88–89 Tanya Goel Index: pages (builders drawing), 2018 neel blue chalk pigment, cotton construction thread 151.5 x 682 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Susan Acret and James Roth Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai pp. 90–91 Tanya Goel Fresco on cement and stone, 2017 (detail) plaster and graphite on found debris from houses built from 1950–70 in Delhi dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Susan Acret and James Roth Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai pp. 92–93 Exhibition view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley pp. 94–95, 96 & 97 Marco Fusinato Constellations, 2015/2018 baseball bat, chain, purpose-built wall with internal PA system at 120+ decibels dimensions variable This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Anna and Morry Schwartz, UAP and the Australia Council for the Arts Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne pp. 98–99 Chen Shaoxiong The Views, 2016 four-channel video installation 2.5 x 3 m Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy Pékin Fine Arts, Beijing. Collection of Luo Qingmin

pp. 102 & 103 Michael Stevenson Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017 (detail) mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki with commissioning partners the Biennale of Sydney 2018 and Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA Commission supported by the Contemporary Benefactors of Auckland Art Gallery, Chartwell Trust, Auckland Contemporary Art Trust, Auckland Art Gallery International Ambassadors, and Michael Lett, Auckland Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Creative New Zealand and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Carl Freedman Gallery, London; Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; and Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland pp. 104–105 Semiconductor Earthworks, 2016 five-channel computer generated animation with fourchannel surround sound 11:20 mins Commissioned by SónarPLANTA Produced by Advanced Music Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the British Council and Panasonic Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists pp. 106–107 Semiconductor Earthworks, 2016 five-channel computer generated animation with fourchannel surround sound 11:20 mins Commissioned by SónarPLANTA Produced by Advanced Music Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the British Council and Panasonic Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists p. 109 (above) Nguyen Trinh Thi Letters from Panduranga, 2015 single-channel video, colour and black-and-white, sound 35 mins Co-Production: Jeu de Paume, Paris; Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques; CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist (below) Nguyen Trinh Thi Letters from Panduranga, 2015 (production still) Photograph: Jamie Maxtone-Graham Courtesy the artist

311

p. 111 (above, left to right) Sam Falls Winter Trees, 2017 pigment on canvas 381.5 x 1016 cm The River, 2017 fabric dye on canvas 381 x 443 cm Hospice, 2017 pigment on canvas 381 x 443 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; and Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles (below) Sam Falls The River, 2017 (detail) fabric dye on canvas 381 x 443 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; and Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles pp. 112–113 Laurent Grasso OTTO, 2018 HD video 21:26 mins Director: Laurent Grasso Director of Photography: Jean-Louis Vialard Editor: Maryline Monthieux VFX Artist: Thierry Ardiller Composer: Grégoire Auger Assistant Director: Yan Tomaszewski Drone Operator: Robert Mathieson Post-production Director: Christina Crassaris Sound Editor and Mixer: Jean Goudier Camera Assistant: Brendan Gribble Production Manager in Australia: Georgia WallaceCrabbe/Film Projects PTY LTD Unit Manager: Matt Woodham Logistics and Location Manager: Peter Bartlett Assistant Editors: Justine Haouy, Esther Lowe, Marine Pere Post-production Laboratory: Mikros/Technicolor Executive Producer: Sophie Denize Color Grader: Jacky Lefresne Digital Supervisor: Nicolas Daniel Coordinator: Anaïs Meuzeret Created in consultation with Otto Jungarrayi Sims, Chairman, Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu with support from Cecilia Alfonso, Manager, Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Ambassade de France en Australie; Institut français; and Mami Kataoka Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. 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 pp. 114–115 Laurent Grasso OTTO, 2018 HD video 21:26 mins Director: Laurent Grasso Director of Photography: Jean-Louis Vialard Editor: Maryline Monthieux VFX Artist: Thierry Ardiller Composer: Grégoire Auger Assistant Director: Yan Tomaszewski Drone Operator: Robert Mathieson Post-production Director: Christina Crassaris Sound Editor and Mixer: Jean Goudier Camera Assistant: Brendan Gribble

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

pp. 86–87 Geng Xue The Poetry of Michelangelo, 2015 video, black-and-white 19 mins White Rabbit Collection, Sydney Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Artspace. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist

pp. 100–101 Michael Stevenson Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017 mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki with commissioning partners the Biennale of Sydney 2018 and Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA Commission supported by the Contemporary Benefactors of Auckland Art Gallery, Chartwell Trust, Auckland Contemporary Art Trust, Auckland Art Gallery International Ambassadors, and Michael Lett, Auckland Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Creative New Zealand and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Carl Freedman Gallery, London; Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney; and Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland

Production Manager in Australia: Georgia WallaceCrabbe/Film Projects PTY LTD Unit Manager: Matt Woodham Logistics and Location Manager: Peter Bartlett Assistant Editors: Justine Haouy, Esther Lowe, Marine Pere Post-production Laboratory: Mikros/Technicolor Executive Producer: Sophie Denize Color Grader: Jacky Lefresne Digital Supervisor: Nicolas Daniel Coordinator: Anaïs Meuzeret Created in consultation with Otto Jungarrayi Sims, Chairman, Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu with support from Cecilia Alfonso, Manager, Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, Yuendumu Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Ambassade de France en Australie; Institut français; and Mami Kataoka Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks. Photograph: Zan Wimberley 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

21st Biennale of Sydney

pp. 116–117 George Tjungurrayi Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Carriageworks Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Geoff Ainsworth AM and Johanna Featherstone Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney p. 119 George Tjungurrayi Untitled, 2018 acrylic on linen 183 x 183 cm Private collection Courtesy the artist and Utopia Art Sydney pp. 120–121 & 122–123 Jun Yang Xīní / Xuělí Blue Room, 2018 installation and printed wallpaper Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Amanda Harkness and Karen Barrett; Mami Kataoka; Phileas; and the Austrian Federal Chancellery Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna; Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou; and ShugoArts, Tokyo pp. 124–125 Akira Takayama Our Songs – Sydney Kabuki Project, 2018 video documentation of performances that took place on 28 January 2018 250 mins Filmmaker: Hikaru Fujii Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation and generous assistance from the Japan Foundation; the AustraliaJapan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Mami Kataoka Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist pp. 126 & 127 Akira Takayama Our Songs – Sydney Kabuki Project, 2018 (video still) video documentation of performances that took place on 28 January 2018 250 mins Filmmaker: Hikaru Fujii Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation and generous assistance from the Japan Foundation; the AustraliaJapan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Mami Kataoka Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Courtesy the artist

pp. 128–129 Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Daniel Boud Courtesy the artist pp. 130–131 Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Participants: Jessie Street National Women’s Library Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist p. 132 (above) Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Participants: MCA Young Guides Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Daniel Boud Courtesy the artist (below) Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist p. 133 (clockwise, from top left) Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist Ciara Phillips Workshop, 2010–ongoing installation and print studio dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made

312

possible with generous assistance from the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney, the British Council and Glasgow Print Studios Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist p. 135 Brook Andrew ‘What’s Left Behind’, 2018 mixed-media installation dimensions variable Contributing artists: Rushdi Anwar, Shiraz Bayjoo, Mayun Kiki, and Vered Snear Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Penelope Seidler AM and assistance from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels pp. 136 & 137 Brook Andrew ‘What’s Left Behind’, 2018 (detail) mixed-media installation dimensions variable Contributing artists: Rushdi Anwar, Shiraz Bayjoo, Mayun Kiki, and Vered Snear Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Penelope Seidler AM and assistance from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels p. 139 (above) Chia-Wei Hsu Ruins of the Intelligence Bureau, 2015 video installation with architectural drawings 13:30 mins Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Liang Gallery, Taipei (below) Chia-Wei Hsu Ruins of the Intelligence Bureau, 2015 (video still) video installation 13:30 mins Produced by Le Fresnoy Courtesy the artist and Liang Gallery, Taipei p. 141 (above) Tom Nicholson Untitled wall drawing, 2009–18 (detail) pencil wall drawing dimensions variable Drawing realised with assistance from Ernest Aaron and Lauren Burrow Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, purchased with funds provided by the MCA Foundation, 2013 Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist (below) Tom Nicholson Untitled wall drawing, 2009–18 pencil wall drawing dimensions variable Drawing realised with assistance from Ernest Aaron and Lauren Burrow Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, purchased with funds provided by the MCA Foundation, 2013 Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

pp. 142–143 (left to right) Sosa Joseph Leftover, 2018 oil on canvas 60.4 x 100 cm Irul (the Dark), 2015 oil on canvas 183 x 152.5 cm Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai p. 144-145 (left to right) Sosa Joseph Take Off, 2018 oil on canvas 122 x 91 cm Your Earth, My World, 2018 oil on canvas 152.4 x 304.8 cm What Must Be Said, 2015 oil on canvas 125.7 x 359.4 cm

p. 147 (above) Esme Timbery Shellworked slippers, 2008 (detail) shell, glitter, fabric, cardboard and glue installed dimensions variable; 200 pairs: 5 x 9.5 x 6 cm each Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008 Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist (below) Esme Timbery Shellworked slippers, 2008 (detail) shell, glitter, fabric, cardboard and glue installed dimensions variable; 200 pairs: 5 x 9.5 x 6 cm each Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008 Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist pp. 148–149 Marjolijn Dijkman Navigating Polarities, 2018 (detail) installation with film projection, wall text dimensions variable Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Courtesy the artist pp. 150–151 Marjolijn Dijkman Navigating Polarities, 2018 installation with film projection, wall text dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Mondriaan Fund Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist

Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney

pp. 154 & 155 Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen Dossier of Osmosis, 2018 (detail) mixed media installation with ultrasonic speakers and performances dimensions variable Texts: Nora N Khan, Tuomas A Laitinen, Not AI Neural Network Costume Design: Julia Valle Glass: Lasismi / Joonas Laakso Production Assistant: Paul Flanders Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Geoff Charnock and Giovanni Munoz; and Frame Contemporary Art Finland Documentation of a performance for the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Helsinki Contemporary, Finland

p. 162 Yarrenyty Arltere Artists In Our Hands, 2018 (detail) soft sculptures made with bush dyed woollen blankets, embellished with wool and feathers dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Georgie and Alastair Taylor Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Alice Springs

pp. 156–157 Simryn Gill ‘Untitled (Interiors)’, 2008 bronze three parts: dimensions variable Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by the artist, 2013 Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai; Tracy Williams Ltd, New York; and Utopia Art Sydney p. 158 John Skinner Prout Mode of disposing of the dead, c. 1874–76 hand-coloured etching, reproduction Engraver: Edward Paxman Brandard Publisher: Virtue & Co. London Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography p. 159 (front to back) Yvonne Koolmatrie Burial basket, 2017 woven sedge rushes 104 x 51 x 19 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Burial basket, 2017 woven sedge rushes 140 x 47 x 9 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Burial basket, 1997 woven sedge rushes 19 x 37 x 80 cm Collection of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney Burial basket, 2017 woven sedge rushes 46 x 111 x 57 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Burial basket, 2018 woven sedge rushes 114 x 61 x 32 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Vicki Olsson

313

p. 161 Yarrenyty Arltere Artists In Our Hands, 2018 (detail) soft sculptures made with bush dyed woollen blankets, embellished with wool and feathers dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Georgie and Alastair Taylor Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Alice Springs

p. 163 Yarrenyty Arltere Artists In Our Hands, 2018 (detail) soft sculptures made with bush dyed woollen blankets, embellished with wool and feathers dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Georgie and Alastair Taylor Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artists and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Alice Springs p. 165 (above) Svay Sareth Prendre les Mesures, 2015 single-channel HD video, colour, sound, needle, archival material, 65:25 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh (below) Svay Sareth Prendre les Mesures, 2015 (detail) single-channel HD video, colour, sound, needle, archival material, 65:25 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from Reliable Source Industrial (Cambodia) Co., Ltd and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh pp. 166–167 Marc Bauer Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and Pro Helvetia Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich p. 168 (above) Marc Bauer Diary, Madam F.C., 2017 (detail) ceramics, painted and glazed faïence pottery from HBHenriot Quimper, France dimensions variable

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai

pp. 152–153 Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen Dossier of Osmosis, 2018 mixed media installation with ultrasonic speakers and performances dimensions variable Texts: Nora N Khan, Tuomas A Laitinen, Not AI Neural Network Costume Design: Julia Valle Glass: Lasismi / Joonas Laakso Production Assistant: Paul Flanders Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Geoff Charnock and Giovanni Munoz; and Frame Contemporary Art Finland Documentation of a performance for the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Helsinki Contemporary, Finland

Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and Pro Helvetia Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich

21st Biennale of Sydney

(below) Marc Bauer A Brief History of Emancipation, 2018 (detail) digital print on paper, redrawn with pencil and colour pen dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and Pro Helvetia Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich

partnership with the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane and was made possible with generous support from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Korea Foundation and assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist pp. 174–175 & 176–177 Jacob Kirkegaard Through the Wall, 2013 installation, 26-minute composition from field recordings, looped Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galleri Tom Christoffersen, Copenhagen pp. 178–179 (clockwise, from left) Nicole Wong

p. 169 (above, left to right) Marc Bauer

The Stars: A New Way to See Them, 2015 (detail) inkjet print on book pages 178.2 x 252 cm

Arsenal, Shipyard, Brest, Brittany, France, 2018 wall drawing, charcoal dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney

Time Piece, 2015 ink on paper 50 x 35 cm Collection of Elaine W Ng and Fabio Rossi

A Brief History of Emancipation, 2018 (detail) digital print on paper, redrawn with pencil and colour pen dimensions variable

Waiting Game, 2015 ink on paper, 20-sided die 108.5 x 77 cm

Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and Pro Helvetia Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich (below) Marc Bauer Diary, Madam F.C., 2017 (detail) ceramics, painted and glazed faïence pottery from HBHenriot Quimper, France dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen and Pro Helvetia Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich pp. 170–171 (left to right) Haegue Yang The Intermediate – Tinted Multi-Tentacled Serpent, 2017 powder-coated stainless-steel hanging structure, powder-coated stainless-steel frame, steel wire rope, plastic twine, Bupo 367 x 345 x 276 cm (approx.) The Intermediate – Hairy Tele Digi-Big-Bang Fanned Out, 2018 powder-coated steel stand, powder-coated metal grid, casters, plastic twine, jute twine, clippings from hardware store catalogues on chromolux paper, mounted on aludibond, self-adhesive holographic vinyl film, acrylic glass 223 x 152 x 152 cm (approx.) Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was in partnership with the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane and was made possible with generous support from the Australia Council for the Arts, the Korea Foundation and assistance from Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist pp. 172–173 Haegue Yang Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was in

Maybe you, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm She knew, 2018 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm

108.5 x 77 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council ‘Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.’ Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London p. 183 (above) Simryn Gill Carbon Copy, 1998 ink and carbon on paper; words from press statements and speeches of Mahathir Mohamad and Pauline Hanson 53 parts: 39.5 x 29 cm (each) Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2010 Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai; Tracy Williams Ltd, New York; and Utopia Art Sydney (below) Simryn Gill Carbon Copy (it’s not easy to get rid of money politics but we’ll try), 1998 ink on paper Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2010 Image courtesy the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia © the artist pp. 184–185 Liza Lou The Clouds, 2015–18 oil paint on woven glass beads 35 x 2 m Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong and Dr Clinton Ng and Steven Johnson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

Perhaps it’s, 2018 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Feelings are, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm I can’t, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm People say, 2018 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council ‘Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.’ Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London p. 180 Nicole Wong Feelings are, 2015 marble 50 x 40 x 5 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council ‘Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.’ Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Rossi & Rossi, Hong Kong and London p. 181 Nicole Wong Waiting Game, 2015 ink on paper, 20-sided die

314

p. 187 Liza Lou The Clouds, 2015–18 (detail) oil paint on woven glass beads 35 x 2 m Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong and Dr Clinton Ng and Steven Johnson Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong pp. 188–189 (front to back) Maria Taniguchi Runaways, 2018 Java plum wood dimensions variable Untitled, 2018 acrylic on canvas 289 x 792 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Mercedes Zobel; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo

p. 191 (above) Maria Taniguchi Untitled, 2018 (detail) acrylic on canvas 289 x 792 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Mercedes Zobel; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo (below) Maria Taniguchi Runaways, 2018 (detail) Java plum wood dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Mercedes Zobel; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo

p. 195 Rayyane Tabet Dear Mr. Utzon, 2018 performance, 45 mins, reproduced ‘Bring Utzon Back’ leaflets* Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Documentation of a performance for the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Sydney Opera House. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg and Beirut *’Bring Utzon Back’ leaflet, 1967, paper, designed by Bill Turner, made by Bill Turner and John Kinstler. Collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Gift of May Watson and Bill Turner, 2007 p. 197 Oliver Beer Composition for Tuning an Architectural Space, 2012/2018 architectural acoustic performance This version created for the 21st Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac and the British Council Performance documentation of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Sydney Opera House. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris and Salzburg; and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne pp. 198–199 Cockatoo Island Image courtesy Airview Online p. 201 Abraham Cruzvillegas Reconstruction: The Five Enemies I, 2018 mixed media dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; kurimanzutto, Mexico City; Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; Regen Projects, Los Angeles; and Thomas Dane, London

pp. 206–207 Julian Abraham ‘Togar’ Diabethanol, 2018 (detail) mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia-ASEAN Council and the Australia-Indonesia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist p. 208 Julian Abraham ‘Togar’ Diabethanol, 2018 (video still) mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia-ASEAN Council and the Australia-Indonesia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Courtesy the artist p. 209 Julian Abraham ‘Togar’ Diabethanol, 2018 (detail) mixed media installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia-ASEAN Council and the Australia-Indonesia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist p. 210 Martin Walde Timeline, 2006–18 (detail) installation with printer dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Phileas and the Austrian Federal Chancellery Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna p. 211 Martin Walde Timeline, 2006–18 installation with printer dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Phileas and the Austrian Federal Chancellery Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna pp. 212–213 Mit Jai Inn Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018 mixed media installation with paintings Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh p. 214 Mit Jai Inn Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018 (detail) mixed media installation with paintings Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island.

315

Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh p. 215 Mit Jai Inn Planes (Hover, Erupt, Erode), 2018 (detail) mixed media installation with paintings Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from the Neilson Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and SA SA BASSAC, Phnom Penh pp. 216–217 Anya Gallaccio Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018 aluminium, clay, pump, software 5x5x5m This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from DETACHED, Hobart and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Annet Gelink, Amsterdam; and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong p. 218 Anya Gallaccio Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018 (detail) aluminium, clay, pump, software 5x5x5m This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from DETACHED, Hobart and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Annet Gelink, Amsterdam; and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong p. 219 (above) Anya Gallaccio Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018 (detail) aluminium, clay, pump, software 5x5x5m This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from DETACHED, Hobart and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Annet Gelink, Amsterdam; and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong (below) Anya Gallaccio Beautiful Minds, 2015/2018 (detail) aluminium, clay, pump, software 5x5x5m This version was created for the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from DETACHED, Hobart and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Annet Gelink, Amsterdam; and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong pp. 220–221 (left to right) Tawatchai Puntusawasdi A Dim Night 1:1, 2018 brass and nickel alloy 90 x 40 x 100 cm Super Moon 2:1, 2018 brass 180 x 80 x 200 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Chizuko Yashiro and assistance from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

pp. 192–193 Rayyane Tabet Dear Mr. Utzon, 2018 performance, 45 mins, reproduced ‘Bring Utzon Back’ leaflets* Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Documentation of a performance for the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Sydney Opera House. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg and Beirut *’Bring Utzon Back’ leaflet, 1967, paper, designed by Bill Turner, made by Bill Turner and John Kinstler. Collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Gift of May Watson and Bill Turner, 2007

pp. 202–203, 204–205 Yukinori Yanagi Icarus Container, 2018 (detail) steel, mirror, ground glass, video, sound dimensions variable Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Anonymous and assistance from the Japan Foundation; the AustraliaJapan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Panasonic Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

p. 222 (left to right) Tawatchai Puntusawasdi Earth Shadow at 3.00 pm, 2016 drawing, reproduction 60 x 156 cm Plan View, 2017 copper engraving 50 x 102 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Chizuko Yashiro and assistance from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist

21st Biennale of Sydney

p. 223 Tawatchai Puntusawasdi Super Moon 2:1, 2018 (detail) brass 180 x 80 x 200 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from Chizuko Yashiro and assistance from MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist pp. 224–225 Koji Ryui Jamais vu, 2018 mixed media installation with sound dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Document Photography Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney p. 226 Koji Ryui Jamais vu, 2018 (detail) mixed media installation with sound dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney p. 227 Koji Ryui Jamais vu, 2018 (detail) mixed media installation with sound dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney pp. 228–229 Ai Weiwei Law of the Journey, 2017 reinforced PVC with aluminium frame 60 x 6 x 3 m Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin pp. 230–231 Ai Weiwei Law of the Journey, 2017 (detail) reinforced PVC with aluminium frame 60 x 6 x 3 m Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made

possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

from Neil and Karina Hobbs; Merran Morrison; and the Australia Council for the Arts Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and The Commercial, Sydney

p. 232 (above) Ai Weiwei 4992 Photos Relating to Refugees, 01.12.2015–10.02.2016 wallpaper dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

pp. 244–245 Ami Inoue The Life of the Hunter, 2016 video 6:51 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with the generous assistance from Kyoto University of Art and Design Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

(below, front to back) Ai Weiwei Floating, 2016 video, colour 3:44 mins Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin 4992 Photos Relating to Refugees, 01.12.2015–10.02.2016 wallpaper dimensions variable Courtesy the artist and neugerriemschneider, Berlin p. 233 Ai Weiwei. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Sherman Foundation. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist pp. 234–235 Yukinori Yanagi Landscape with an Eye, 2018 video projection on 2.5 m (diameter) acrylic dome 14:51 mins Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Anonymous and assistance from the Japan Foundation; the AustraliaJapan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Panasonic Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist pp. 236–237 Yukinori Yanagi Absolute Dud, 2007 iron 75 cm (diameter) x 312 cm (length) Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Anonymous and assistance from the Japan Foundation; the AustraliaJapan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; and Panasonic Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist pp. 238–239 Yasmin Smith Drowned River Valley, 2018 ceramic installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Neil and Karina Hobbs; Merran Morrison; and the Australia Council for the Arts Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and The Commercial, Sydney p. 240 Yasmin Smith Drowned River Valley, 2018 (detail) ceramic installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Neil and Karina Hobbs; Merran Morrison; and the Australia Council for the Arts Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist and The Commercial, Sydney pp. 241, 242 & 243 Yasmin Smith Drowned River Valley, 2018 (detail) ceramic installation dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance

316

p. 246 (above) Ami Inoue History of grandfather’s hunting, undated (detail) 8 photographs, text 29.7 x 21 cm (portrait); 21 x 29.7 cm (landscape) each Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with the generous assistance from Kyoto University of Art and Design Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island Courtesy the artist (below) Ami Inoue History of my hunting, 2016–17(detail) 8 photographs 29.7 x 21 cm (portrait); 21 x 29.7 cm (landscape) Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with the generous assistance from Kyoto University of Art and Design Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist p. 247 Ami Inoue The Life of the Hunter, 2016 (video still) video 6:51 mins Courtesy the artist pp. 248–249 Su-Mei Tse Gewisse Rahmenbedingungen 3 (A Certain Frame Work 3), Altes Museum _ Villa Farnesina _ Villa Adriana, 2015–17 three colour video projections, silent 4:27 mins, looped; 3:51 mins, looped; 3:20 mins, looped Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from the National Cultural Fund Luxembourg Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; AD Gallery, Athens; Galerie Tschudi Zuoz, Switzerland; and Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong pp. 250–251 Kate Newby A rock in this pocket., 2018 bricks, glass, ceramics, metal dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Creative New Zealand; Michael Lett, Auckland; Austral Bricks; and Paving By Design Pty Ltd Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Michael Lett, Auckland; and Fine Arts, Sydney pp. 252 & 253 Kate Newby A rock in this pocket., 2018 (detail) bricks, glass, ceramics, metal dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with assistance from Creative New Zealand; Michael Lett, Auckland; Austral Bricks; and Paving By Design Pty Ltd Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Michael Lett, Auckland; and Fine Arts, Sydney

pp. 254–255 Nicholas Mangan A World Undone, 2012 HD video, colour, silent 12 mins, continuous loop Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with assistance from the Medich Foundation and Irene Sutton Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist; Sutton Gallery, Melbourne; Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland; and LABOR, Mexico City pp. 256–257 Ryan Gander ‘Other Places’, 2018 An artificial landscape of untouched snow covering a recreation of the terrain of the streets in which the artist played as a child, within which a series of sculptures, gestures and interventions have been situated. dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist; TARO NASU Gallery, Tokyo and Lisson Gallery, London and New York

p. 259 (clockwise from top left) Ryan Gander Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time, 2018 A bronze cast of a ball made of elastic bands collected from the doorstep of the artist, presumably discarded by a postman upon delivering mail to the artists’ address; accompanied by three other seemingly discarded individual bronze cast elastic bands. 30 x 30 x 31.5 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of ‘Other Places’ at the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist Some Other Places, 2018 An artificial landscape of untouched snow covering a recreation of the terrain of the streets in which the artist played as a child. dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Courtesy the artist Ryan Gander A man in khaki pants, a blue shirt and a baseball cap, with an American accent and a raised voice, 2018 A number of A-boards warning pedestrians that filming is in progress positioned at various locations around Cockatoo Island. dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander

three images, 75 x 85 cm (each)

Ryan Gander Up ended Breuer chair after several inches of snowfall, 2016 A Wassily Model B3 chair designed in 1926 by Marcel Breuer, up ended onto its front, on top of which cast marble resin sits representing several inches of snowfall. 86 x 80 x 73.5 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery, London and New York

UNcover: Central Post Bank (56°50’21.4”N 60°36’30.9”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm (each) Courtesy the artist

Ryan Gander Unproductive labour, 2018 (detail) A seemingly empty plinth with nothing to display that discreetly contains an elaborate scaled model of Dog Leg Tunnel situated on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, Australia running through the cavity of its empty mass. 50 x 111.2 x 50 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist Ryan Gander Unproductive labour, 2018 (detail) A seemingly empty plinth with nothing to display that discreetly contains an elaborate scaled model of Dog Leg Tunnel situated on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, Australia running through the cavity of its empty mass. 50 x 111.2 x 50 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist Ryan Gander Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time, 2017 A bronze cast of a ball made of elastic bands collected from the doorstep of the artist, presumably discarded by a postman upon delivering mail to the artists’ address; accompanied by three other seemingly discarded individual bronze cast elastic bands. 30 x 30 x 31.5 cm Interested in everything committed to nothing, 2018 Twenty-six pebbles upscaled from ones originally found on Aldeburgh beach by the artist’s daughters, later used to create the typeset Set in Stone Regular, a font devised by the artist and produced by Adrien Vasquez of John Morgan Studio. The pebbles are arranged in a circle, in alphabetical order, reading clockwise. 450 x 30 x 450 cm Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Some Other Places, 2018 An artificial landscape of untouched snow covering a recreation of the terrain of the streets in which the artist played as a child. dimensions variable Commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of ‘Other Places’ at the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist pp. 260–261 (left to right) Wong Hoy Cheong UNcover: Headquarters of the Volga-Urals Military District (56°50’28.9”N 60°37’27.4”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper

317

UNcover: Office of the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region (56°50’23.4”N 60°36’23.1”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm (each) UNcover: FGBU (Federal Government Military Administration) Officers’ Club (56°50’38.8”N 60°37’11.5”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm (each) UNcover: Suvorov Military School (56°50’42.8”N 60°38’52.7”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm (each) Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist p. 262 Wong Hoy Cheong UNcover: Central Post Bank (56°50’21.4”N 60°36’30.9”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm (each) Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist p. 263 Wong Hoy Cheong UNcover: Suvorov Military School (56°50’42.8”N 60°38’52.7”E), 2015 digital prints and wax rubbings on rice paper three images, 75 x 85 cm (each) Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist pp. 264–265 Khaled Sabsabi Bring the Silence, 2018 (detail) five-channel HD video installation with audio 11:30 mins, infinite loop Originally commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation and filmed with the permission of the custodians of the Maqām of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Nizamuddin Auliya, New Delhi Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Andrew Cameron Family Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane pp. 266–267 Khaled Sabsabi Bring the Silence, 2018 five-channel HD video installation with audio 11:30 mins, infinite loop Originally commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation and filmed with the permission of the custodians of the Maqām of Hazrat Khwaja Syed Nizamuddin Auliya, New Delhi Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Andrew Cameron Family Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery, Brisbane pp. 268–269 Suzanne Lacy The Circle and the Square, 2016 performance, video installation, two-year project, threeday performance, one-week video installation Video Projection: Mark Thomas, Soup Co. Interviews: Massimiliano Mollona, Graham Kay, Elena Adorni Principal Creative Collaborators: Rauf Bashir, Paul Hartley, Massimiliano Mollona, Laurie Peake, Ron Pen, Mark Thomas

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

p. 258 Ryan Gander Forces outside of you (Because you cede your life decisions and consequences to forces outside of you), 2017 Three winding steps leading to a shape resembling a door set against the gallery wall, emitting a glow that is the colour of daylight. 8.5 x 25.5 x 11.9 cm Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from GrantPirrie Private; Ishikawa Foundation, Okayama, Japan; Taro Nasu; and the British Council Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Copyright © Ryan Gander Courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery, London and New York

Courtesy the artist

21st Biennale of Sydney

Musicians: Julian Evans, Hussnain Hanif, Hannah Land, Jennifer Reid, Cath Tyler Community Engagement: Naheed Ashraf, Zoya Bhatti, Lynn Blackburn, Tayeba Butt, Katie Nolan, Uzma Raziq, Bushra Yaquoob Design: Source Creative Documentation: Huckleberry Films Collaborating organisations: In-Situ, Free Spiritual Centre, Building Bridges Pendle, Brierfield Action in the Community Commissioned by Super Slow Way Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Breen Mills Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

Collaborating organisations: In-Situ, Free Spiritual Centre, Building Bridges Pendle, Brierfield Action in the Community Commissioned by Super Slow Way Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Breen Mills Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

p. 270 (above) Suzanne Lacy The Circle and the Square, 2016 (detail) performance, video installation, two-year project, threeday performance, one-week video installation Video Projection: Mark Thomas, Soup Co. Interviews: Massimiliano Mollona, Graham Kay, Elena Adorni Principal Creative Collaborators: Rauf Bashir, Paul Hartley, Massimiliano Mollona, Laurie Peake, Ron Pen, Mark Thomas Musicians: Julian Evans, Hussnain Hanif, Hannah Land, Jennifer Reid, Cath Tyler Community Engagement: Naheed Ashraf, Zoya Bhatti, Lynn Blackburn, Tayeba Butt, Katie Nolan, Uzma Raziq, Bushra Yaquoob Design: Source Creative Documentation: Huckleberry Films Collaborating organisations: In-Situ, Free Spiritual Centre, Building Bridges Pendle, Brierfield Action in the Community Commissioned by Super Slow Way Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Breen Mills Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: Zan Wimberley Courtesy the artist

p. 274 Dimitar Solakov. Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

(below) Suzanne Lacy The Circle and the Square, 2016 performance, video installation, two-year project, threeday performance, one-week video installation Video Projection: Mark Thomas, Soup Co. Interviews: Massimiliano Mollona, Graham Kay, Elena Adorni Principal Creative Collaborators: Rauf Bashir, Paul Hartley, Massimiliano Mollona, Laurie Peake, Ron Pen, Mark Thomas Musicians: Julian Evans, Hussnain Hanif, Hannah Land, Jennifer Reid, Cath Tyler Community Engagement: Naheed Ashraf, Zoya Bhatti, Lynn Blackburn, Tayeba Butt, Katie Nolan, Uzma Raziq, Bushra Yaquoob Design: Source Creative Documentation: Huckleberry Films Collaborating organisations: In-Situ, Free Spiritual Centre, Building Bridges Pendle, Brierfield Action in the Community Commissioned by Super Slow Way Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from the Breen Mills Foundation Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist

pp. 272–273 Dimitar Solakov Pliska, 2015 digital print 87.5 x 175 cm Courtesy the artist

p. 275 Dimitar Solakov Untitled, 2015 12 drawings, watercolour pencils on paper, fossil (facsimile) 14 x 18.6 cm each Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at Cockatoo Island. Photograph: silversalt photography Courtesy the artist pp. 276–277 Archive Display Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Transfield Holdings Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography pp. 278–279 Archive Display Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Transfield Holdings Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Document Photography pp. 280–281 Archive Display Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Transfield Holdings Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: silversalt photography pp. 282–283 Archive Display Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous support from Transfield Holdings Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Photograph: Document Photography

p. 271 Suzanne Lacy The Circle and the Square: Resource Room Mr and Mrs Peake, video installation by Graham Kay Documentary by Huckleberry Films Graphics by teraikeijidesign Principal Creative Collaborators: Rauf Bashir, Paul Hartley, Massimiliano Mollona, Laurie Peake, Ron Pen, Mark Thomas Interviews: Massimiliano Mollona, Graham Kay, Elena Adorni Musicians: Julian Evans, Hussnain Hanif, Hannah Land, Jennifer Reid, Cath Tyler Community Engagement: Naheed Ashraf, Zoya Bhatti, Lynn Blackburn, Tayeba Butt, Katie Nolan, Uzma Raziq, Bushra Yaquoob

318

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

319

Biennale of Sydney

Board of Directors

Director & CEO

Kate Mills Chairman

Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker Director and CEO

Julian Knights AO Deputy Chairman (until September 2017)

Ben Strout CEO (until April 2017)

Geoffrey Cassidy

Isabelle Morgan Assistant to the Director and CEO

Danielle Earp Anne Flanagan

Artistic Director

Paris Neilson

Mami Kataoka Artistic Director 21st Biennale of Sydney

James Roth Penelope Seidler AM (until April 2018) Naseema Sparks AM

21st Biennale of Sydney

Tea Uglow

Development Barbara Moore Deputy Director and Head of Development Helen Bermingham Grants Coordinator Hannah Brunskill Development Coordinator Sarah Hetherington Benefaction Manager Samantha Jones Guest Relations Assistant Anna Meyerowitz Grants Coordinator (PPL) Anna Young Partnerships Manager Exhibition Danielle Devery Head of Exhibition Gina Hall Head of Exhibition (until April 2017) Stephanie Berlangieri Curatorial Assistant Olga Chang Curatorial Fellow

320

Celia Dottore Curatorial Intern Caroline Geraghty Exhibition Manager Chloe Hodge Exhibition Coordinator Charlotte Hickson Exhibition Coordinator (until December 2017) Aidan Li Curatorial Coordinator Alexandra Lucas Assistant Registrar Rachel Roberts Exhibition Intern Nadya Sinyutina Production Coordinator Tai Spruyt Curatorial Research Manager Lucy Stranger Exhibition Intern Gotaro Uematsu AV Coordinator Aden Wessels Technical Production Manager Finance & Administration Nina Trofimova Head of Finance and Administration Margaux Ducerisier Volunteers Team Leader Carina Lamprecht Operations Manager Lucy Latella Volunteers Coordinator Timothy Lawley Volunteers Team Leader Haitian Liu Accountant

Roisin Lynagh Administration Coordinator

Biennale of Sydney Archive Project

Madika Penrith Volunteers Team Leader

Art Gallery of NSW Lisa Catt

Frances Robinson Volunteers Manager

Claire Eggleston

Marketing & Communications

Eric Riddler

Terry Harding Head of Marketing (until October 2017)

Biennale of Sydney Paula Latos-Valier AM

Claire La Greca Marketing Manager

Public Relations (art)iculate Kym Elphinstone Claire Martin Julia Barnes

Steven Miller

Megan Bentley Jasmine Herse

Melissa Ratliff

Design Agency of Record Civilization Michael Ellsworth Molly Derse

SiĂ˘n Davies Marketing Assistant

Shaun Kardinal Gabriel Stromberg

Lisa Girault Text Editor

Design Studio

Claude Moelan Digital Consultant

Mira Yuna Lauren Barber

JD Reforma Web & Social Media Coordinator

Gavin Lacanilao Gian Lacanilao

Programs & Learning Melissa Ratliff Curator, Programs and Learning Celia Bradshaw Programs and Learning Assistant Liz Bradshaw Learning Coordinator Margaux Ducerisier Programs and Learning Intern Philippa Louey Programs and Learning Intern Grace Winzar Programs and Learning Intern

321

SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement

Raya Leary

Rebecca Fortune Signage Coordinator

First published in 2018 by the Biennale of Sydney Ltd This publication is copyright and all rights are reserved. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced or communicated to the public by any process without prior written permission. Enquiries should be directed to the publisher. © Biennale of Sydney Ltd 2018 Published for the exhibition 21st Biennale of Sydney, SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement, 16 March - 11 June 2018. All works of art © the artist All images © Biennale of Sydney, except where noted otherwise A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry for this title is available from the National Library of Australia ISBN: 978-0-9578023-5-3 Biennale of Sydney Director and Chief Executive Officer: Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker Artistic Director: Mami Kataoka Publication Coordinators: Claire La Greca and Siân Davies Artist Texts: Tai Spruyt and Stephanie Berlangieri Text Editor: Lisa Girault Graphic Concept: Civilization Designers: Mira Yuna – Lauren Barber, Gavin Lacanilao and Gian Lacanilao The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Biennale of Sydney of the publisher. All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain permission to use copyright material reproduced in this publication. In cases where this has not been possible, owners are invited to notify the Biennale of Sydney. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People are respectfully advised that this publication may contain names and images of deceased Indigenous people. Biennale of Sydney Ltd 4/ 10 Hickson Road The Rocks NSW 2000 Australia