Crisis Complex

By Carrie Miller

In a postmodern world that’s simultaneously responsible for producing and managing the risks that keep us in a state of emergency, Crisis Complex presents an opportunity for artists to address the collective angst of a society on the verge of a global nervous breakdown. They do it with an eye to the irony that got us here in the first place and some imagination about how to get us out.

It’s an impressive group of local and overseas artists showing at Tin Sheds Gallery including Heidi Axelson & Hugo Moline, Ella Barclay, Edgar Cobián, Carla Cescon, Tony Garifalakis, Francesca Heinz, Adam Norton, Lise Hoveson & Javier Rodriguez, Joaquin Segura, theweathergroup_U, and Takayuki Yamamoto.

In her attempt to connect with extraterrestrial life, Carla Cescon has constructed a makeshift communications hub with scavenged TV sets and radios under a bright yellow beach umbrella which signals her sunny optimism in the face of end times. She’s even handing out show bags with the words ‘The End’ inscribed on them. Another highlight is Adam Norton’s Generic Escape Capsule – part Unabomber cabin, part Ikea kit home for a doomsday prepper. It’s the artist’s ‘paranoid response to external threat’ designed to cure your delusions in comfort, complete with cooking and bathroom facilities and a ‘media room’ consisting of a radio and pack of cards.

Until October 13

Tin Sheds Gallery, The University of Sydney

https://sydney.edu.au/architecture/about.html

Pic: Courtesy the artist.