Poetry, crime scenes and stolen car feature in UC art exhibition
Kristyn Comino and Claudia Doman
18 June 2014: Audio-visual haiku inspired by crime-scene photographs, poetry being pulled apart and put back together randomly by a machine and a twice-stolen car shown upside down, are a few of the works featuring in the º£½ÇÉäÇø's Faculty of Arts and Design 20th staff exhibition: Unruly Orchestrations.
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Opening night of the UC art exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre. Photo: Michelle McAulay |
The exhibition, which was opened on Friday 13 June by the director of the Canberra Museum and Gallery, Shane Breynard, will be displayed at the Belconnen Arts Centre until 29 June.
"This exhibition really allows the academic staff to show how art and research can mix in surprising and innovative ways," said Katie Hayne, University's research development officer and co-curator of the exhibition. "There are so many forms of visual and written work, from architecture and industrial design, to many forms of media, graphic design and poetry."
The exhibition includes an installation involving 'Georgia', a stolen car that made its last appearance during opening night. The work is part of a series of artworks by artist Ursula Frederick and Ms Hayne about their much loved 1980 Toyota Corolla, which has been stolen twice. 
"After she was stolen the second time the engine completely seized. This art work will in some ways be a memorial to 'Georgia', my much loved car that I have had since I first came to Canberra 12 years ago," Ms Hayne said.
"We also want to make a statement about the visible presence of stolen and dumped cars around Canberra, and reference the recent announcement by Toyota that they will stop making cars in Australia. We have painted the car high-visibility orange to represent the body of the worker who has been destabilised by the potential loss of jobs."
The exhibition also features the work of media arts and graphic design researcher Dr Geoff Hinchcliffe, 'DaDa Visualisation' in which poetry will be pulled apart and randomly reconstructed as data via an electronic printer, as well as Centenary Professor Ross Gibson's audio-visual poetry, inspired by his collaboration with Sydney's Police and Justice Museum, particularly using its large archive of old crime-scene photography.