Current exhibition

REFLEX 2: A show of mechanical poetry
26 August - 7 September 2010

An award winning exhibition featuring:
Geoffrey Farquhar-Still, Ella Barclay, Chloe Bussenschutt, Sarah Firth, Nicci Haynes, Daniel Lorrimer, Marina Neilson, Sean O’Connell, Heike Qualitz, Matthew Smith & Alan Rose.

Gaffa Gallery presents Reflex 2: A Show of Mechanical Poetry, winner of the 2009 Canberra Arts Critic Award, curated by and featuring work from celebrated contemporary sculptor Geoff Farquhar-Still.

On view from 26 August until 7 September, this interactive exhibition displays kinetic sculptures displayed in an “absurd, delightful and slightly sinister manner”.

A quirky mix of Jules Verne-meets-Myth Busters, Reflex is an exhibition that actively explores both modern science and and mechanical poetry. All the objects on view require the active participation of gallery visitors to make the exhibition come to life.

Bringing together 11 artists and machine makers from around Australia, Reflex is an opportunity to engage with the poetic possibilities of machines and their hand cranked, 12-volt, gravity-activated personalities.

Some machines spin at the turn of a handle or the flick of a switch, revealing their nature with a cacophony of sound and movement. Others will rise and fall gently only to rise once more while others will crash, springing back to life at the flick of a switch.

“To look with the eyes is one thing, to feel with the hands, another thing entirely. Objects have form, color and scale but they also have weight, resistance and sound. The point of the exhibition is to bring together artists to create machines which serve no purpose other than to bend the mind into new shapes and to walk away filled with wonder at their brilliance,” says Farquhar-Still.

Over the last five years, Geoff Farquhar-Still has worked on large-scale interactive sculptures, including with Harris Hobbs Landscape Architects on four urban parks in southern Canberra. He has exhibited in group and solo shows in NSW, VIC and the ACT, receiving numerous awards. At present, Farquhar-Still is exhibiting at Canberra Museum and Art Gallery show ‘Something in the Air’, an exhibition of artists working with found objects, which includes work by Robert Klippel and Rosalie Gascoine.

Images from top:
Geoffrey Farquhar-Still
Heike Qualitz
Chlose Bussenchutt
Nicci Haynes