The Melbourne Art Review

Artists: Tim Craker, Ardi Gunawan, Jordan Marani, Louise Paramor and Brie Trenerry

Content: Sculpture/Installation

Exhibition: Guildford Lane Gallery - 20 - 24 Guildford Lane Melbourne 3000

Dates: June 17 - July 24 2010

Adaptation, an exhibition of sculpture and installation, curated by Mark McDean, is one of several events taking place across Melbourne during the Seven Thousand Oaks Art and Sustainability Festival.

Adaptation presents a complex discourse based on the mission and values of Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), whose work was grounded in social philosophy, using art as away to participate in and shape society and politics.

The approach that the artists have taken in this show is to create work as an intervention of space, where the sculpture moves away from walls and off plinths to inhabit the gallery’s own architecture.

The strength of the show and the work that most successfully incorporates the themes of sustainability and the habitation of space is Web by Tim Craker. A large net-like structure made from dried fennel stems and jute twine, Web stretches between two of the gallery’s structural pillars. The work is conceptually strong, engaging ideas of foraged and found objects and is aesthetically beautiful, the dried stems carry the deep aroma of fennel engaging the viewer both visually and with smell.

All the work in Adaptation is large, dramatic and striking, however the gallery space itself  is unsuitable due to being overly rustic and untidy. The gallery does not provide a conventional  “white box” space for the work to perforate and as a result much of the visual impact of the exhibition is lost.

However, the show is dynamic and well conceived and the festival itself is an exciting investigation into the possibilities of art in the context of sustainability and the community.