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Of Heaven and Earth
Sally Rees and Matt Warren
Of Heaven and Earth is a collection of works, solo and collaborative, by Hobart artists Sally Rees and Matt Warren, produced or begun whilst on residency in Montreal, Canada in 2008.
Stranded in Montreal for a month after original art-making plans fell through, and feeling like aliens in a strange, but beautiful city in the dead of winter, the pair were inspired to make these works.
The resulting videos, soundworks and installations are both a portrait of the the city and an antidote to the alienation and homesickness sometimes felt whilst there. They portray a desire for an imagined sanctuary, created using the materials available at the time. Comforting snippets of ‘home’ (the Australian night sky, the beloved pet rabbits left behind) conspire with signifiers of ‘the other place’ (captive exotica, endless snow, a foreign electrical hum) to speak of the isolation of the alien and the toll of the willing exchange of comfort for adventure.
The original incarnation of the exhibition featured only two installation works, Rees' Snowglobe and Warren's The Lull and was shown in the tiny artspace in the Auberge Alternative in Old Montreal (an alternative hostel/accommodation where the the pair were given refuge), founded and run by Tasmanian native Angela Reeve, whom the pair gratefully acknowledge.
This extended version of the exhibition features re-worked versions of both Snowglobe and The Lull and also includes a collaborative piece The Great Escape that was begun in Montreal in 2008 and completed in Hobart recently. With these works now being shown in their hometown, the artists consider this exhibition to be the closing of a challenging but pivotal chapter.
The time has come, the 1st month over, much done, much still to do. The world is an exquisitely arranged soundscape, it's an exquisite corpse. We have to wait and see or hear the response. We need to be patient. We must be silent to hear it. We need to stare through to see it. And a chapter will close, and maybe I will forgive, but I won't forget. I won't say any more, but, There's something important to be said.
This will be a short blog (readers breath a sigh of relief). Just a brief catchup of the past, first month of 2010.
Throughout January in Kelly's Garden at Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart I presented the work The Last Beach Movie. I was pretty happy with it. Responses were quite positive. It felt like a rather light-hearted work for me, which isn't bad, but it quite surprised me. Even though your work may come together pretty close to your original vision, you don't always know what the work is until it's there. Despite some issues with folks seemingly wanting to check how secure the toy piano was (often lifted out of the sand exposing the lock) and the 'stool' incident, (it going missing, then being found damaged), the work remained fairly intact. There were even some nice additions in the form of shells and driftwood that punters had made. Thanks for those who came and enjoyed it. Thanks to SAC for hosting it and MONA for including it in the festival. Now if I can get rid of the sand.
Also part of MONA FOMA was a wonderful fellow Mani Neumeier, (of Krautrock legends Guru Guru) whom I had the pleasure of meeting back in 2003 on my research trip to Germany and his partner Etsuko Watanabe, performing percussion and vocals. Mani did a few other side performances as well. It was great to catch up with him again after nearly 7 years and I was happy to have played a small part in getting him to Tasmania to play and he bought his own unique style to proceedings. Glad S got to meet them both!
I started my new position as Gallery Coordinator at Inflight ARI. Bit of a learning curve at the moment, but it will settle in to my brain soon enough. I'm proud to be working for something that over time has become a bit of an institution and I look forward to the years program and the continued challenges.
The psych/black/drone project that was forged in later 2009 with former Soundtracks Will Dissolve member Tim Panaretos called UNTERMORAST now has a web presence. There is a track up now, we are looking at more gigs and recordings in the future.
I presented a sound art/listening work shop up at 6a ARI on Saturday Feb 30. I essentially spoke about listening to the layers of sound that make up the world, how to make your own performed sounds and mixing, manipulating and arranging your own soundscapes. Everytime I do something like that, a lecture or workshop, I learn something as well. Although sparsely attended, it was well received. Thanks 6a.
This Wednesday night; M.O.I.O (my slow noisy sludgey/rock project with Aaron Metcalf) is doing a support gig for The Ghost And The Storm Outside final gig. Will be interesting to be slotted amongst a slew of faster bands. The proverbial dogs balls, in a good way though I think. We are also currently working on a couple of new songs that we are quite excited by. Not quite ready yet, but soon.
I received a couple of copies of the Concrete Lung CD EP. Very happy to have been part of it and Aaron is also happy to have engineered my drum track. I think we did good.
Finally; Ms Rees and I have a two person show at 6a ARI opening on Feb 12. It's an extended incarnation of the Montreal show from 2008 called Of Heaven and Earth. This will close a chapter of our lives that was a bit of a test, but we are really keen to see the works here at home.
"Of Heaven and Earth is a collection of works, solo and collaborative, by Hobart artists Sally Rees and Matt Warren, produced or begun whilst on residency in Montreal, Canada in 2008. Stranded in Montreal for a month after original art-making plans fell through, and feeling like aliens in a strange, but beautiful city in the dead of winter, the pair were inspired to make these works.
The resulting videos, soundworks and installations are both a portrait of the the city and an antidote to the alienation and homesickness sometimes felt whilst there. They portray a desire for an imagined sanctuary, created using the materials available at the time. Comforting snippets of ‘home’(the Australian night sky, the beloved pet rabbits left behind) conspire with signifiers of ‘the other place’ (captive exotica, endless snow, a foreign electrical hum) to speak of the isolation of the alien and the toll of the willing exchange of comfort for adventure.
The original incarnation of the exhibition featured only two installation works, Rees' Snowglobe and Warren's The Lull and was shown in the tiny artspace in the Auberge Alternative in Old Montreal (an alternative hostel/accommodation where the the pair were given refuge), founded and run by Tasmanian native Angela Reeve, whom the pair gratefully acknowledge.
This extended version of the exhibition features re-worked versions of both Snowglobe and The Lull and also includes a collaborative piece The Great Escape that was begun in Montreal in 2008 and completed in Hobart recently. With these works now being shown in their hometown, the artists consider this exhibition to be the closing of a challenging but pivotal chapter."
That's it for now. Take care of each other.
