A Gap Opens Up
At an exhibition by Charlie Sofo the room sheet is crucial. It is a way of decoding the underlying narratives of the objects, actions or rituals that inform the works. Phrases such as Wedges Used to Secure Wonky Cafe Tables, or ‘museum blinds opened daily’, assume a poetic status as adjunct works. Incorporating adjustments to existing architecture as well as found objects, video and photography, Sofo’s recent exhibition at the entry to the Living Museum of the West is the culmination of a three-month residency where the artist gathered information through research and ambient observations.
The Museum itself, situated on the Maribyrnong River in Pipemakers Park, is founded on the value of community-based history making. The Museum’s collection policy places emphasis not just on material artefacts that relate to local history—such as the distinct artillery, meat processing and pipe making histories of the area—but to oral histories, film footage, photography and paperwork.
Largely thanks to the sustained commitment of artist Kerrie Poliness as a volunteer, there has been regular interest from the contemporary art community for projects in and around the museum over the past twenty-eight years. The entry to the museum has not previously been used for such a project, and as Sofo is well aware, there is a vividness to art projects free from the ghosts of previous exhibitions. Through the artist’s simple act of opening the museum blinds, the exhibition provides a radical new view upon entry, incorporated into the exhibition as Open Blinds. The act draws attention to both the existing architecture and to the natural world beyond the windows. The work displays the kind of simple clear-sightedness with which we view a house—and