EXPERIMENTS IN LIVING [MELT] | 2021 DARKROOM RESIDENCY

Huw Davies Gallery, PhotoAccess, ACT
23 October - 13 November, 2021

Melt [6x6 photograpaphic negative exposed to open flame] This image was taken at Scottsdale Reserve in July 2020 while accompanying Ngunawal Custodian Tyronne Bell (along with his son Jai and cousin Phil) on a post-fire cultural heritage survey. Sco… — **Melt [6x6 photograpaphic negative exposed to open flame]**
This image was taken at Scottsdale Reserve in July 2020 while accompanying Ngunawal Custodian Tyronne Bell (along with his son Jai and cousin Phil) on a post-fire cultural heritage survey. Scottsdale was badly burnt by the Clear Range and Orroral bushfires which passed through in early February 2020.

Originally supported by a 2020 ArtsACT HOMEFRONT grant, this body of work was completed during Sammy’s time as a darkroom resident as part of the 2021 PhotoAccess Dark Matter program.

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/mɛlt/

become liquified by heat
leave or disappear unobtrusively
dissolve in liquid
make or become more tender or loving
change or merge imperceptibly into (another form or state)

The past few years have challenged us to reconsider our illusion of control over the natural world. The veil of autonomy is starting to slip.

Through the theme of 'Melt' this exhibition is a personal reflection of the experience of the last two years, starting with the 2019/20 catastrophic bushfires and extending to the most recent COVID pandemic lockdown. While these two particular events are the consequences of more dramatic acts of more-than human agency this exhibition, through a mix of text, documentary imagery and entangled acts of co-creation, quietly reminds us that more-than human forces are constantly shaping our lives.

There is a tangible anxiety from the precariousness of our assumed position. This exhibition is open about my own periods of darkness. The vulnerability is intentional in its offering, holding space for more honest communication and making a stand for the practice of love.

Melt, 2021

13 minutes, 14 seconds
Single-channel High Definition video
16:9, colour, sound