From Sharne Wolff…
Fugitive Structures is an annual architectural initiative by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. The third iteration of this continuing series has recently been installed in the Foundation’s Paddington gallery. Encompassing two separate but related projects –Sway and Owner Occupy – the series focuses on contemporary themes of homelessness, migration and human displacement by exploring the potential for inventing new forms of innovative dwellings for urban locations.
Created in collaboration with Tel Aviv based architectural collective Sack and Reicher + Muller and fabric technician Eyal Zur, Sway is installed in the gallery’s Zen garden. Sway’s atmospheric tent-like structures are constructed from lightweight netting and aluminium poles to form a billowy and protective pavilion. Inspired by old and new experiences of ephemeral and impermanent shelters – including those of the Bedouin desert peoples and the Israeli ‘sukkah’– they present an opportunity to think about further possibilities. Inside the gallery Owner Occupy from Sydney-based artists Hugo Moline and Heidi Axelsen comprises five small interactive shelters. Audience members are encouraged to reconfigure the shelters into individual or community-style dwellings. Aside from the exhibition’s over-arching themes of global exodus and disenfranchisement, the local housing crisis gives extra impetus to the idea of finding creative 21st century solutions. Ultimately, this exhibition is less about art or architecture and more about all of us.
Owner Occupy until October 3
Sway until December 12
Sherman Contemporary Art Gallery, Paddington
Pic: Sack and Reicher + Muller with Eyal Zur Sway, 2015?, aluminium, HDPE, Polyester. Commissioned by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney Photo: Brett Boardman.
