Those unspoken tragedies (and that slashed eye)
Brad Buckley's recent exhibition at Artspace is another paragraph in his ongoing interrogation of certain cultural 'rules'. Primary amongst these is speculation on the feasibility of such concepts as 'truth', a questioning of notions of morality and an acknowledgment of transgressive politics as a necessary strategy for change. The eroticisation of the interior space, particularly as it is figured in a Bataillean discourse, becomes, in Buckley's practice, associated with a ideal of an aesthetic "anti-architecture" where the site is voided of meaning, but reimbued with speculation. Yet Buckley's work shouldn't be seen only as a visual interpretation of theories of transgression, for it holds a beauty and mystery which functions in sympathy with these theoretical parameters. Always addressing itself to some 'Other', it apparently struggles towards an fulfilment of some impossible desire, and is always, very consciously, thwarted in this.
There are traceable patterns in Buckley's art works strategies of formal composition which are always evident, even omnipotent, which secure the work within a fine art context- for his installations are always aesthetically correct in a controlled, well-honed way, and this piece is, to this viewer, reminiscent of the formalism of interior design. This sense is perhaps enhanced in this show by the fact of the works' construction in an 'authorised' space of art, unlike some of Buckley's other installations which have functioned in 'unauthorised 'spaces: a church in Poland , the Macquarie Lighthouse at Vaucluse. Given his interest in transgression it seems that these unauthorised sites must hold a more compelling mandate as sites tor his expression.
An evocative paint job in this latest piece endows the institutional exhibition space with a warm, nurturing, and compelling yellow glow. This