REVIEW – SERVICE, 5
March 19th-21st, 2013
Madeleine Thornton-Smith
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| Students enjoying the opening of SERVICE, 5 |
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| The small hole in the door revealing a gold-covered plinth inside |
From the beginning of Tace Kelly’s exhibition SERVICE,5 the audience was given a clue as to what was to come. Having sealed off the normally automatic entrance way, the third-year Monash sculpture artist enabled the viewer to peer through a small hole in the painted door, revealing something – we were not quite sure what yet – glimmering in gold shining light. After being guided to the back entrance passage, attention was drawn to a small, normally unnoticed hole in the bricks, covered in shimmering paint. The subtlety of the exhibition’s exterior only further contributed to a great sense of curiosity as to what lay inside. Why the gold, the mystery?
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| Listening to the sounds of the basilica |
Upon entrance down a dark passageway into the main exhibition room of the Runt gallery, the viewer was greeted by an unexpected surprise: pigmented oil, tainted with gold, slowly dripping bit by bit onto a painted cardboard plinth. As more and more pigmented oil was released, the plinth slowly gave way, the temporary nature of the artwork something which Tace expected and embraced.
Unfortunately on the first night of the exhibition the church-like gravity of the overall experience was somewhat muffled by the large amount of people inside Runt for the opening. Although haunting when empty, it was difficult to hear the soundtrack with such a large amount of people talking inside the room. However, it was evident throughout the audience was intrigued by the concept: alchemy happening before their very eyes.
Later, when the room emptied, the eerie sounds of mass in the basilica of San Marco haunted and echoed through Runt Space: a feast of both sight and sound.
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| The luminescent plinth |
