‘Dying In Spite of the Miraculous’ was a group exhibition which explored the various psychological states we inhabit and experience as our lives play out through their choreographed moments. It was an investigation of the real and the unknown, it sought to elucidate how sites play an indelible role in informing our ways of being, whilst also exploring the grey conceptual spaces that often emerge between an artist’s initial idea and the finished work. Curated by Emily Cormack, Alexie Glass-Kantor, Simon Maidment and Brett Sheehy the exhibition was presented as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.
As you entered Gertrude Contemporary, the front space was shrouded behind a wall of languid fabric draped elegantly from the ceiling. You made your way through this shroud, meandering precariously through visible pathways before stumbling upon the viewing space. It was an unnerving experience that was mirrored in Ulla Von Brandenburg’s work Singspiel (2009). This video work—shot in black and white and projected directly onto fabric—documents a selection of arbitrary human interactions and intimate moments staged within the surrounds of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoy. The camera moves slowly and gracefully, using the hallways and rooms of the Villa Savoy as characters in their own right, informing and eavesdropping on each scene from the background. As spectator, you are drawn into these private moments, into scenes of supposed serenity, into realms of the personal which are exposed for all to see—you become aware that these mise-en-scène are entirely choreographed with actors playing out pre-ordained characters. Overlayed with haunting music which appears to be mimed by the characters in a stream of consciousness loop, this work is entirely unnerving—the vignettes appear to be