Hovering like alien chandeliers at the entrance to the Gallery of Modern Art’s Media Gallery, housing the Premier of Queensland’s National New Media Art Award 2010, were Nigel Helyer’s Voxæther sound sculptures. Made from laser-cut transparent acrylic, the highly symmetrical forms are derived from Radiolaria—microscopic amoeboid protozoa that inhabit the oceans. The exotic and intricate shapes of Radiolaria were first brought to public attention in 1904 by the biologist Ernst Haeckel in his Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms of Nature). Wrapped around these exotic otherworldly forms were wires which resonated like a theremin, an early electronic instrument, also known as an aetherphone.
Easily the coolest work in the exhibition, Soda_Jerk’s Astro Black: A History of Hip-Hop is an hilarious four-screen video mash up. Combining elements I would not normally expect to find in a history of hip-hop, sisters Danielle and Dominique Angeloro mix video like frenzied turntabalists. Protest banners held up in Public Enemy’s ’80’s music video Fight The Power feature radical jazz pioneer Sun Ra—the messenger from Saturn—whilst the members of Kraftwerk do the ‘beam me up, Scotty’ to meet with Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
Continuing in the futuristic theme, Wade Marynowsky’s robots greeted us in an adjacent darkened room, barking out stilted proposals. The work’s title, The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie Robot 2 references Bunuel’s 1972 film, however the work has more in common with a Dalek. The over-sized floating automaton appeared like a frilly revolving cake, all dolled-up but somehow trapped on the dance floor. In the darkness its size intimidated, but with the pompous and refined dressings it became both attractive and repulsive. Its many layers of masks immediately provoked our sense of