Russell Lowe: Dark Machines

When 3 Jun - 23 Jul 2016
Where
UNSW GALLERIES
Address
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd Paddington NSW 2021
Hours
TUES TO SAT, 10AM–5PM
Phone
+61 2 8936 0888

Russell Lowe is an artist, architect, computer programmer, filmmaker, and motorcycle rider. 'Dark Machines: Presence in the Sublime' unites some of these disparate passions to investigate understandings of the sublime. This project brings together sculptural installation and iconic cultural leaders of the 20th century, with the perception of speed and experience of sound.

The artist’s interest in speed comes from a quote by British philosopher Aldous Huxley, who in 1931 claimed that speed was a modern manifestation of the sublime. Lowe questions Huxley’s claim, arguing that the production of Russian artist Kazimir Malevich's Black Square 1915 had earlier resulted in both Malevich and his collaborator, Alexi Morgunov, experiencing intense visual and visceral sensations that indicated a sublime state of being.

This exhibition brings the experiences of Huxley and Malevich together for the first time by proposing that Suprematist sculpture offers a new approach to the sublime. Once a day, the motorcycle engines embedded in the sculptures will be activated, reaching a fleeting moment of maximum speed and sound.

Russell Lowe, Dark Machines: Presence in the Sublime 2013–16. Installation view, UNSW Galleries, 2016. Photograph: Silversalt Photography

Russell Lowe, Dark Machine – Choke 2014. Installation view, UNSW Galleries, 2016. Image courtesy the artist.

Banner and Tile Image: Russell Lowe, Dark Machine 2015. Image courtesy the artist.