DOMESTIC RENEWAL

November 15th, 2013

When Domestic Renewal’s curator Rohan Nicol invited 19 practitioners to make objects for a table setting the furthest thing from anyone’s mind was a traditional dinner party. The resulting small-scale works may seem perfectly at home on the bespoke trestle table, but they are far from functional.

Most are instantly recognisable as standard domestic items; it’s only upon closer inspection that customisation is apparent, as in Henry Wilson’s Electrified Enamel Kettle. Others, like Swell, Squiggle, Morph, Bighead by Bridie Lander,are stunning re-interpretations of everyday objects.

Uniting all the work in Domestic Renewal is a highly conceptualised response to issues of consumption, memory, urbanisation and domesticity. Each work’s form becomes irrelevant; what prevails is the artist’s overarching idea for improving the environment in which we live.

Sarah King and Liane Rossler’s Ghost flatware and cutlery made from plastic shopping bags is a compelling argument for recycling. While Ann Cleary’s Re-scaled interval (place setting) is a clever architectural model that makes us question our sense of place in the urban environment.

Domestic Renewal is interdisciplinary in nature, with a strong sense of collaboration between practitioners in craft, design, visual art and architecture. It allows for experimentation and exploration and this is what makes the exhibition as curious as it is wondrous.

JamFactory is the final venue in Domestic Renewal’s national tour; rather fittingly this stop sees the exhibition augmented with an accompanying table of JamFactory-made products. Most are functional and many are exquisitely beautiful, such as Kristel Britcher’s Cirkus and Alexander Valero’s Euhedra.

The most appealing, however, are those that straddle the fine line between visual art and design; Alice Potter’s What Pat Shot At found cutlery series is simply charming. JamFactory’s table of objects is a pleasant counterpart to Domestic Renewal and operates as a respectful contribution to this already visually rich exhibition.