Triennial

At the beginning of last year, I decided it would be a year when I didn't miss any major exhibitions or the like because I just didn't get round to going until it was too late. Ha ha!

So, now it is this year. And today I went to Melbourne to the National Gallery of Victoria Triennial 2020, which obviously didn't happen in 2020. As an added bonus, on the way to the station I heard on the radio that this week people with Seniors Cards could travel on public transport for free! I thought that might mean that the train would be packed, but fortunately that wasn't the case, and I had no-one beside me for my journeys into and out of town.

These animated birds are scattered along the road in front of the gallery. Of course a still photo doesn't show that they are moving, and I got two doing exactly the same thing so they aren't very exciting. But you can see that it is autumn and the trees in front of the gallery are starting to lose their leaves.

I started at the top of the gallery and worked my way down. I thought I had seen everything but in fact I missed a few of the exhibits. There is just too much to take in on one day!

This constantly moving display is quite amazing. As you can tell from the people, it is huge. The three-dimensional effect is an illusion. It is actually a flat screen, and even the white "frame" is not really there:

Quantum Memories by Refik Anadol

Some exuberant fashion:

Richard Quinn

Tomo Koizumi

There's over 200m of fabric in that outfit!

This tunnel structure is amazing:

Botanical Pavilion 2020 by Kengo Kuma and Geoff Nees

It is constructed using traditional Japanese methods of interlocking pieces held in place by tension and gravity. The timbers on the inside are from trees from the Melbourne botanic gardens, that didn't survive the drought between 1996 and 2010. They are arranged by colour rather than species, although my photo doesn't show that. It was wonderful to walk through.

I stood waiting for this piece to do something for a while then after I walked away it turned itself on and did its thing:

An Ode to the Airbag by Jonathan Ben-Tovim

The bags gradually inflate and deflate. Did it make me think of the Takata airbag recall? No. Even though my car was involved in that recall. It looks impressive, though.

I found a couple of quilts, although neither of them are actually part of the Triennial.

Joseph's Coat, c 1910, Lancaster County Pennsylvania

In this case it is actually the light in front of the quilt that is part of the Triennial. It is Chandelier 85 Lamps, designed by Rodi Graumans. 

U - Lick the Watermelon (Rush Job) by Seulgi Lee

My photo isn't great, but I loved the bold shape and colours and the fine matchstick quilting. To "lick the skin of the watermelon" is apparently a Korean idiom meaning something like the English "only scratching the surface", but can also refer to something done without proper care, in a rush. Which is not how this quilt was made.

This was amazing:

Phantom Landscape by Yang Yongliang

At first glance it is a traditional Chinese mountain painting, and it was displayed with that type of work. But the landscape is composed of urban scenes such as skyscrapers, traffic and construction, and as it is a video things move and there is a soundtrack. It was quite mesmerising.

 

There are so many amazing parts to the exhibition which can't be captured in a photograph because they are videos, or are too big, or too dark, or beyond my or my phone's photographic ability! I took lots of blurry useless photos. If you really want to know what the exhibition is like, go there if you can (until 18th April), or spend a while exploring the Triennial website (link again: Triennial 2020)