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Wonder Room for One
Wonder Room for One
History
Location
Federation Square, Parliament House, Trades HallStart date
2019-10-21End date
2020-12-12Language
engNotes
The work is iterative and with that its profile and critical reception built over time across prominent sites of protest in the City of Melbourne. The museum box played host to a different sound work with each iteration as a protest related to each site was activated by members of the public. As people were invited to step into the museum box, and onto a treadmill, the speed at which they walked dictated the pace and volume of the sounds from past protests. While people relived the events it coincided with actual protests: at Parliament House thousands of people (from all demographics) at the Invasion Day Rally engaged with the work; and again, at Trades Hall, a workers protest of hundreds finished at the site. The archival collided with the actual as new and old technologies were spliced to reveal the history of site, alongside the conceits of participatory culture, and ironically, participatory art.Research statement
Questions of spectatorship, and the efficacy and legacy of protest and collective action were raised by Bishop and Reis’ mobile public art piece - a work activated by audience engagement. Given Melbourne's rich history of protest, as well as recent global issues, the work is a timely reminder of the importance of civil debate and collective action. The relative freedoms, social progress, and the conditions under which we live and work are legislated through political conversation, prompted by democratic action and protest. Commissioned by City of Melbourne B & R researched key moments in Melbourne's protest histories and over 2019/20 (around the pandemic) their cabinet of curiosity appeared in three locations around the city. Thousands of participants stepped into the object and onto a treadmill to immerse themselves in the affective and emotional elements of the event. The speed they walked at dictated the pace and volume of the sounds they listened to, drawn from Occupy Melbourne, Invasion Day and the Melbourne Vietnam Moratoriums. The work’s significance lies in the way it questioned both art's and protest's efficacy in the age of clicktivism. It demonstrates issues with digital dividuation by separating out the subject's affective engagement with collective protest. At Federation Square 21/10/2019 we replayed the Occupy protests from 2011; at Parliament House 26/1/2020 we replayed the Invasion Day rally from the year before; at Trades Hall we replayed the moratorium marches of 1970/71. As the work invited people to relive events it coincided with actual protests: at Parliament House thousands of people (from all demographics) at the Invasion Day Rally engaged with the work; and again, at Trades Hall, a workers protest of hundreds finished at the site. The archival collided with the actual as new and old technologies were spliced to reveal the history of site, alongside the conceits of participatory culture, and ironically, participatory art.Publication classification
JO1 Original Creative Works – Visual Art WorkScale
NTRO MediumExtent
2 x MP4 (one to be added with each iteration) 8 Jpegs including flyer/posters given out and put up at event, and posted on social media NB: docs to be added as profile builds around each iterationUsage metrics
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