From Andrew Frost…
In Kylie Banyard’s exhibition Imagining Alternatives the geodesic dome makes a number of appearances, from sculptures and walk-in structures to watercolours on paper. There are also kaleidoscopes, both as sculptures and paintings, and best of all, a sequence of specially commissioned reels of View Master slides featuring Banyard’s paintings of houses and buildings constructed in various eco communities around the world. Oh yes, and there’s a Dream Machine, one of Brion Gysin’s rotating light sculptures that induces a hypnotic state in the viewer wherein one might see colours and flickering shapes.
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For Banyard the idea of constructing an alternative to the contemporary world is in part nostalgic and forward thinking; from the past we might come up with a viable future, and by invoking the utopian possibilities of yesterday, as well as the deeply emotional connection to childhood such as the View Master, Banyard suggests that to imagine we have to present an alternative way of looking, and thus the beauty of the shapes, colours and patterns are more than just visual fields but signposts to liberation.
Until December 14
Firstdraft, Surry Hills
Pic: Kylie Banyard, detail from The View Master Project. Courtesy the artist.
