Lucy Quinn, Bettina Hill and Benjamin Forster make a formidable, multi-talented trio. To kick off 2010 the three have forgone a flashy parading of new work in favour of a collaborative effort that is less about endings and outcomes than about examining the act of making.Connected presents the spoils of a series of kitchen-table art attacks: collaborations, experimentations and procrastinations. And what sessions these must have been – the prevalence of sparklers, ice blocks and pink hypercolour tshirts give the impression that for Quinn, Hill and Forster this was a process largely based in fun. Yes, that’s right. They copy and appropriate each other’s practices in teasing tributes, delving into process based projects and comparing notes along the way. The artists have given themselves little in the way of restraint and restriction. All mediums are present – playful tangles of method and material that offer no apologies for how or explanations of why they were made.
The resulting works possess a fresh vitality that is often lost when art passes the idea stage and fleeting moments of genius are obscured. In sharing concepts and processes the artists have obtained a comfortable distance and disconnection from their work, avoiding the pitfalls of preciousness and overworking.
Connected creates an intricate and inviting space, revealing the cogs of the artists’ minds, rewarding the viewer with humour and pathos, reclaiming the joy of both making and seeing.
The exhibition continues at the ANU School of Art Foyer Gallery until March 6th.
By Yolande Norris of Uselesslines