The Offering

THE OFFERING

The exhibition ‘The Offering’ was definitely not what I was expecting. I had looked on the website and seen that it was in an old church but I didn’t realise that it was going to be a sculpture/installation art exhibition. When we walked into the building I was very surprised by what I saw with all the floors ripped up and the strips of the wall lay across the floor. I didn’t understand the artwork at all and didn’t really see how it would interest people to come and see this.

While watching the video that accompanied the artwork, the artist began to talk about using the idea of layers to create the artwork. Once he talked about this I began to understand a bit more his meaning behind the artwork. He said that by cutting away the carpet and cutting these panels out of the wall he was pulling back the layers that had been put on the building over the years from the various people who had used the building.

When the artist spoke to us, he further explained the meaning behind the artwork. He talked about his previous works and why he does what he does. I liked what he said about the building being 105 years old and that is the average oldest age you can live to. When you think about it like that, what is happening and what he is doing to the building is kind of symbolic to that.

The question of whether it is art or not depends on the person. Everyone has different opinions and what someone believes is art, someone else might think it isn’t. When I first saw the space, I didn’t really think it was art but after hearing the artist speak, I can understand how it is art just a different form of art that I’m not used to.

Overall, the exhibition is not something that I would be interested in seeing as it was a bit to unusual for me. However, after watching the video and listening to the artist, I can understand the meaning behind the artwork and what they are trying to show.

SLEEPER

The sleeper exhibition was a moving picture exhibition at Dandenong station. There were small screens placed around the station with videos playing of plant life. I didn’t like this exhibtion very much at all. I thought it was weird and kind of pointless. They spoke about how 10,000 people walk through everyday in peak hours alone but really, how many of them would actually stop and look at the screens. Most people wouldn’t even notice because they are in such a hurry to either get to work or go home.