From Sharne Wolff…
Burn Rate: Reinhardt Dammn, might seem a curious title for Scott Redford’s latest show unless you’re already familiar with Redford’s invented character ‘Reinhardt Dammn’. Reinhardt is described by Redford as a ‘charismatic, twenty something artist/surfer dude with rock star ambitions that far outstrip his actual abilities’. Reinhardt sits somewhere between a fictional character and an alter ego for Redford.
This show, the latest instalment in the Reinhardt Dammn experiment, features a video where a group of young girls are filmed destroying a stage set – a potentially universal scenario according to the artist. ‘Burn rate’ – economic jargon for negative cash flow – is a term that has its roots in the dot-com era of start-ups and refers to the situation where new businesses often incur losses before they begin to make money. Redford likens this economic predicament to that of contemporary art, where he argues ‘aesthetic capital’ is becoming exhausted. And that’s where the remainder of the exhibition comes in. Record players and amps (props from the video) have been made into minimalist works because ‘artworks should be judged for their ability to insert themselves into different narratives and engage in productive dialogue with a variety of contexts’. That last quote is taken from Redford’s ‘selfie’ interview – an essay where the artist asked himself questions in order to elicit the appropriate responses. Copies printed at Officeworks will be available at the show.
Until March 3
MOP, Chippendale.
Pic: Scott Redford, Reinhardt Dammn: Burn Rate, 2013. Photography: Moja Reeves. Courtesy the artist and MOP Gallery.
