High five 2high
Okay… I’ll be honest with you.
The prospect of going to an event that combines local artists, local bands and the Brisbane Powerhouse stirs in me an above-average level of excitement.
Naturally, therefore, I was very much raring to go when I heard about this year’s 2high Festival (really, click on it, they have quite a fun website).
Happily, my eager anticipation was sated when I descended via the Turbine Hall into the bowels of the Powerhouse, and was met with the huge range of visually and conceptually diverse local talent that made up the art component of the festival.
I’ve always liked the Powerhouse. I may even go so far as to say it is one of my favourite public buildings in Brisbane. Why do I like it so much? Not sure. It has a great feeling about it. Something that stems, perhaps, from the combination of big old building, soft lighting, cavernous spaces, food smells, the river, and exposed brick. Especially exposed brick.
So really, 2high Festival was kind of on a winner from the word go.
Keeping with the spirit of honesty with which I opened, I must confess to never having to been to 2high Festival before, despite its lengthy history. The festival started out in 1993 (ah, there’s my excuse - I was six) as a way to bring more women into the forefront of the cultural industry. The passing of time has seen the fulfillment of this goal, along with the growth of 2high into the ‘beast’ that it is referred to as today.
But let’s get down to business.
Here’s what I liked.
Andrew Forsyth. Lazy8 - dizzy. Perspex, wood, metal and video projection.
So what are we looking at here? It’s a mirror on a stand in the background, placed on the floor, with a curved piece of perspex in the foreground which hangs from above. A video image is projected onto the perspex and light is used to reflect back the surrounding space in the mirror.
The work creates a kind of interactive sensory experience. It uses the creation of an optical illusion to trick the mind into taking a journey from reality, looking out onto another place, and then back into reality. This is done through the placement of light, mirrors and the curved projection board.
This was probably my favourite work of the evening, and I’m not usually a huge fan of video installations. My eye was drawn to it upon entering the display space, which was actually quite packed with art of various mediums including lots of other, competing installations. What I found particularly effective about this piece was the way in which the curved perspex actually gave the impression of looking out onto another place.
…
Damien Matter. Untitled. Mixed media on paper, vintage paper & book covers
This is more my kind of thing. Bit of a collage kinda girl at heart, actually.
Sorry, mixed media sounds more sophisticated.
These were cool. The artist responsible for these actually comes from a graffitti background, and uses his work to explore the relationship that the human mind has with concepts of sex, love, violence and beauty.
These mixed media pieces look pretty from a distance, but close up you’re intrigued and confounded by their subject matter. The works, independently of each other, contain an interesting tension that is multiplied by the overall effect of the group.
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David Soukup. Vertical Integration. Spray enamel on plywood.
Gosh darn, so apparently this wasn’t a part of the 2high Festival, but, rather, is displayed within a continuing exhibition entitled Urban Art Agenda 3, on at the Powerhouse until 23 November (…quick!).
Despite this, the exhibition’s integration within the festival is fairly substantial so I think it warrants talking about.
Taking a different form from Damien Matter’s work above, Soukup’s influence also stems from street art, this time the stencil art that was prolific in the 1980s.
When you consider that the depth created in this work is done with stencil, these works inspire some pretty serious wonderment.
Here’s what I didn’t like so much…
Moreso, what I didn’t get so much.
See, I would have thought that Brisbane would have an abundance of visual artists faced with something of a lack of abundance of exhibition opportunities. This, I thought, would have translated into a nice, meaty exhibition at the 2high Festival.
Instead, I found myself looking for more, and was surprised when I didn’t get it.
And here’s what I wish I had been there to see.
Elevator poetry reading - sounds promising, no?
