COLLISION: EXAMINING THE ACCIDENTAL LANDSCAPE
2012
Engaging a forensic aesthetic, this illuminated wall of glass, plastics, gravel and silicon is compiled of fragments from wrecked cars and street debris. Lit from behind by de-commissioned hospital x-ray boxes, the work encourages detailed examination for clues and evidence, reflecting a contemporary fascination with detection, problem solving and crime scene analysis.
The strict grid format of Collision references Robert Hoddle's 1837 design for early Melbourne, where the city's roads and laneways resemble the game of 'noughts and crosses' or 'tic, tac, toe'. This highlights the chance and random aspects of traffic and incedents, despite an attempt to overlay a formal structure.
As an examination of the urban landscape, Collision's petri-dish assemblage of kerbside detritus also references archaeological digs, where separate titles for each box are a clinical and factual record, documenting the place and date of each discovery.
