Imagining Alternatives

Andrew Frost

In Kylie Banyard’s exhibition Imagining Alternatives the form of the geodesic dome makes a number of appearances, from sculptures and walk-in structures to watercolours on paper. There are also kaleidoscopes, both as sculptures and paintings, and best of all, a sequence of specially commissioned reels of View Master slides featuring Banyard’s paintings of houses and buildings constructed in various eco communities around the world.  Oh yes, and there’s a Dream Machine, one of Brion Gysin’s rotating light sculptures that induces a hypnotic state in the viewer wherein one might see colours and flickering shapes.

For Banyard the idea of constructing an alternative to the contemporary world is in part nostalgic and forward thinking; from the past we might come up with a viable alternative future. And by invoking the utopian possibilities of yesterday, as well as the deeply emotional connection to childhood such as the View Master, Banyard suggests that to imagine an alternative, we have to present an alternative way of looking, and thus the beauty of the shapes, colours and patterns.

Until December 14

Firstdraft, Surry Hills

http://firstdraftgallery.com

Pic: Kylie Banyard, detail from The View Master Project. Courtesy the artist.