#16 – Nooks and Crannies.

Apart from spending my days sipping coffee in a café – either studying or people watching or procrastinating my time away (and by that I mean writing) – I often have days to myself where I visit an art gallery/museum.

I deeply love all forms of art and appreciate its value in illuminating issues and challenging perspectives. I believe that art plays an important role in society – whether you recognise or appreciate it, or not – and has had a paramount importance in my life since my younger years (I wanted to grow up to be an artist). Art has a gut wrenching and compelling quality that is capable of making me stop in my footsteps to admire its glory in totality – its aesthetic, its concept and its message. A question I always ask is, “how did the artist do/make this?” I find myself so intrigued by their work and it has me constantly wondering about their practice.

I think the habit of asking myself that question is attributed to having taken visual arts as a subject in high school – which I loved and excelled in. The study of art theory encompassed the aspect of ‘artist practice’ – all the little technicalities involved – which we were taught to analyse and consciously incorporate into our own art making as well. I loved making art because it challenged me – pushed me outside my comfort zone and taught me a lot about myself. (More of that next time.)

Anyway, on the days I pace along gallery walls, I try to pack more into my itinerary. With my camera I will walk through city streets and lanes, snapping at interesting things and new perspectives. However, while I love taking photos, I’ve slowly refrained from constantly having my camera in hand when I’m in an art gallery or museum – I just feel that it distracts me from my purpose of being there. (I'm secretly happy when photography is not allowed in an exhibition.)

These film photos were taken on a fine day in August when I went to see Aleks Denko’s exhibition “My Fellow Aus-Tra-Aliens” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia – situated in The Rocks, Sydney.

I felt like this was the epitome of my dreams getting mocked at (thumbs up for the curating of the exhibition).

But I loved his satirical humour and social commentary that was carried consistently throughout the exhibition.

Ended off the day with my first escape room experience and quality time with friends.

Looking forward to celebrating the end of exams and assignments with food, friends and fun (plenty of fun) – and of course, getting to do more writing and photography!

With love,

Emily.

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#16 – Nooks and Crannies.