Review of APT8

This week I visited GOMA to see the APT8 (The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art) exhibition. This exhibition is a collection of works from 80 artists from over 30 countries. It occupies the entire gallery, with works on all levels of GOMA and a few works were actually created over multiple levels.

The main thing I noticed was the amount of mixed media installations. Many artists used video installation within their works and lots of exhibits were self contained.

One of my favourite works from this exhibition is "All we leave behind are the memories" is by Asim Waqif, This work borrows the catchphrase from the Deen Brothers, a well-known Brisbane demolition company.The artist is a trained architect that re purposes neglected, decaying and discarded materials. This installation spans over three levels in the gallery and is an interactive work. In this he attempts to challenge the boundaries of a museum/gallery space and how we interact with controlled environments. While I was at the gallery, there was a school group passing through and this installation proved to be very popular. It successfully managed to draw in active participants and got them to interact with the environment around them. 

Another work that I found quite interesting is "SaVAge K'lub". This work is a self contained space that was created by a group of Pacific artists. This installation is a response to the colonial practice of collecting, storing and displaying cultural treasures that belong/ed to the Pacific people. The setup of the work closely references a gentleman's club that was established in the 19th Century in London and draws on the decor of these exclusive clubs. Pieces from museum storerooms were moved to articulate contemporary Pacific culture. The video screen on the wall showed cultural performances from the artist's involved in creating the space. I found this work to be very successful, the space correctly referenced the gentleman's club and instead of excluding the Pacific culture, it invites them to participate. The VA in the title refers to the Samoan way of thinking of the space as 'active'. The artists specifically chose the pieces on display and interact with them in their performances.