It’s the end of the world as we know it. Well, not really. Not even if it was 2012, what with all the Apocalypse Mayan calendar malarkey hitting the big screen – and the collective paranoia – in big budget special effect.
But as a culture, we’ve been obsessing over the end of days for quite a while now. We manifest Doomsday cults, pinpoint end dates with failed accuracy (think Y2K) and even now, what with the climate shot to hell, we still find a way to obsess over our inevitable demise.
That’s why Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) are holding Revelations: Contemporary Visions of Apocalypse, a look at exactly how the end of the world will happen from some of the hottest artists in town, including Travis Kelleher, Andrew Nicholls, Tori Benz and Ryan Nazzari. Also among this all-star cast is Joshua Fitzpatrick, who will be working in collaboration with Pia Bennett.
‘We have fused together the disciplines of painting, printmaking and installation to create an installation comprised of two components,’ Fitzpatrick recently told OUTinPerth.
‘This work investigates the notion of the apocalypse as a sensation of immanent and unfolding chaos and utilises the contrasting aesthetic modes of the sublime and the grotesque, both of which evoke conflicting feelings of delight and horror in their beholder.
‘Upon entering the FAC, the viewer is first met by a hand carved linoleum floor (Lilith) that extends the entire length of the hallway gallery. The floor, worn down in some areas to suggest disrepair, employs a highly decorative Victorian design. The presence of wax, gold leaf and animal hair woven into the floor, disrupt the unity of the carved pattern and suggest notions of decadence, ruin and abandonment.’
In effect, it harks back to FAC’s original purpose as the first lunatic asylum of WA, containing within it many ruined women, many instances of the tainted Lilith incarnate. The result is a space where ruin and majesty are blurred together.
And there, inside the main gallery space, is the second component of Fitzpatrick and Bennett’s work: a mountain painted onto mounted wall panels, fitting ‘precisely within the gallery architecture’.
‘The monumental scale of the painting is intended to create an overwhelming experience for the viewer,’ Fitzpatrick explained. ‘The polished gesso surface and monochromatic colour palette of the image infuse the space with a sublime austerity.’
But this is just the beginning. From here the pair will use the space as an environment, a veritable set on which to create and photograph dioramas of human drama, instances of the sky falling, of God smiting the earth and Revelations being revealed.
‘This work forms part of our on-going collaborative art practice which investigates the slippage between the beautiful, the banal and the grotesque,’ Fitzpatrick concluded. ‘As artists, we are driven by the desire to extend our art practice beyond the conventional and strive to create work that is both aesthetically engaging and intellectually sustaining.’
Revelations: Contemporary Visions of Apocalypse appears at Fremantle Arts Centre until January 24. www.fac.org.au
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
