Zones of Contact — Biennale of Sydney 2006
Until August 27, venues throughout Sydney
Details of artists and venues at
REVIEW BY VIVIAN MESSIMERIS
Every two years Sydney showcases contemporary art from around the world. The Biennale of Sydney is one of the most prestigious art festivals in the world. This year's theme, "Zones of Contact", has been explored by artists through a range of media including film, installation, digital media and traditional forms, and has been interpreted through issues including refugees/migration, borders, war, terrorism and surveillance.
Walking through Martin Place, you might be interrupted by the work of Ghazel. Wanted (2005) features two interchanging posters/advertisements headlined by a bold "WANTED". Beneath this is a photograph of a woman's face, partially blocked out, so that you cannot fully see or identify her. Underneath the portrait is information describing the woman. The details do not relate to her physical appearance, but rather her background. It states her age, country of birth and immigration status. She also advertises she would be willing to marry to get citizenship — something many migrants are forced to consider.
The work echoes the "wanted" images of terrorists. Yet Ghazel's only "crime" is being born in Iran, and wanting to migrate to France — wanting a better life for herself. Ghazel exposes the barriers and inequalities between rich and poor, European and non-European, the First World and the Third World. She shows us through her own experiences the reality and the difficulties of migration in contemporary society — that globalisation does not equate to the free movement of people. The work shows us that equality is a notion that does not exist for most people in the world.
Not far from Ghazel's billboard is the work of Milica Tomic and Miloslav Balka at the Victoria Barracks. Upon entering the barracks you could be forgiven for not immediately noticing the two artworks — a rust coloured shipping container, and a rectangular (pergola like) wooden frame. While the two works are large, their content is subtle. Only on close inspection can one fully grasp the depth and power of these two works.
Tomic's Container (2006) is riddled with bullet holes. The work refers to the murder of captured Taliban fighters under the supervision of US forces in Afghanistan in 2002. They were transported in shipping containers to a remote region, and then gunned-down in the containers. This war crime has largely been ignored by the West, yet Tomic reminds us that this crime and the war in Afghanistan has not been forgotten and is still an issue the world has to recognise.
Just metres away sits Balka's work, Winterreise. The eerily beautiful artwork features a large wooden frame, supported by beams across its roof. Laid across the top of the structure is a thin transparent fabric, with a snow-covered landscape printed on it.
The picture is a photograph of a frozen lake in a forest. The lake is located in Poland, and in World War II was situated near a Nazi concentration camp. The lake became infamous, because the Nazis poured the ashes of holocaust victims into it. Balka states that the Nazis "threw the ashes into the pond until it was full. More ashes than water. Now [it is] sealed with a thin coat of ice and snow on it."
Winterreise reminds us that under this beautiful landscape lies a horrible past. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow of this image is cast across the ground, reflecting the shift and changes of the days and the seasons as time passes by. However, we are reminded that the past cannot be changed.
Victoria Barracks provides a poignant backdrop for these artworks. Here soldiers and wars are glorified, yet both artworks show the real horrors of war. The works remind us that wars have victims and crimes, and that we should not only remember them but also demand justice.
In contrast the work of Raphael Lozano-Hemmer consumes the central corridor of the Art Gallery of NSW. Consisting of surveillance cameras, rotating fluorescent tubes and television screens, the artists theme is technology and its relationship to contemporary notions of identity. Homographies (2006) essentially incorporates the viewer. As you move through the gallery the cameras display your movements on the television screens. As the viewer realises they are the actual artwork, the presence of the surveillance equipment becomes uneasy and onerous. Lozano-Hemmer's work reminds us of the omnipresence of surveillance in contemporary society, and its immediate assumption of guilt.
The Biennale of Sydney offers something for everybody. The theme "Zones of Contact" has been reflected poetically, intellectually and powerfully. The festival has allowed space for the contemplation and discussion of deep political, social and cultural issues.