Exhibition5 Jan – 6 Feb 2021
The Image Looks Back
Due to COVID-19, The Image Looks Back appeared as a Digital Exhibition. In an era of post truth, fake news, and manipulated…
Our virtual doors are still open
It has been incredibly confronting to witness the upheaval in the arts, so hard hit by COVID-19 restrictions. We admire the agility of our sector and the way the arts have changed already – lead by the performing arts. Rather than the limited options of streaming services we can now engage with performers – live in our homes. Our ability to access online material remotely has changed permanently and for the better.
This is an exciting development.
At RMIT Gallery we are working to deliver fresh online programming to our audience. Since our doors closed to the public in March we have been very busy rescheduling our exhibitions and developing new ones.
Whilst it may look like we have paused, we are working hard learning to shift our delivery method to suit the online space. We are working to offer a truly accessible gallery that never closes. We have been continuing to work with our artists, curators and partners – rethinking our program delivery to suit the online space.
As our scheduled exhibition The Image Looks Back was due to open a few days after our doors closed, and before installation was completed, we have been exploring ways of sharing the works and curatorial ideas with you. We are pleased to present a virtual curator’s talk, with Shane Hulbert discussing the works in the exhibition. You can watch the video here.
You can also immerse yourself in the ‘quarantine edition’ of the Black Box Experiment by the Melbourne-based artist collective QueerTech.io. The Black Box Experiment was originally conceived for The Image Looks Back as a live ‘digital making-as-performance’ work that would fold the visitor into a 3D virtual mirror-world of the gallery itself. The Black Box Experiment has now migrated to online but (reflecting actual social distancing in the virtual world) is devoid of audience. You can explore the experiment here.
There will be more projects and publishing online for our students, staff and broader audience to enjoy.
As we all do our best to cope with the uncertainty of the current situation, we hope that you can pause and embrace the slow life, look inwards, introspect and indulge in creative pursuits and find moments of joy along the way. We will be back soon with our doors open, until then, rest assured, we will be working to present our very best programming online.
Story by Helen Rayment |RMIT Galleries Curator
- The Image Looks Back image credit: Mike Gray, Donna, detail, 2018, archival inkjet print, courtesy of the artist
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