Jonathan Jones and Tim Silver, Breezeblock, Sydney
Tim Silver has cast a series of tree burls from Tasmania that are created at points of ‘trauma’ by the tree. Aside from being fascinating sculptural forms, they are rather like scars or messages from the natural world. Meanwhile Jonathan Jones has gleaned from the internet Aboriginal artifacts from his region of NSW in order to analyse their construction and consider their history. This unusual process of reclamation speaks of both a search for cultural identity and an acknowledgement of the evolution of systems of trade. The action also raises questions around the sale of cultural capital in the digital age. Both artists absorb and reflect on elements from the landscape creating poetic and unsettling new meanings.
Jones and Silver approach the landscape, taking imprints, the shape of existence.
Evidence of the past rearticulated, amplified, coerced into new situations.
Shaped by disparate forces, each form has a gravity of its own.
Dislocated, but still animate.
Silent, but speaking.
Exhibition: 4 April – 5 May 2014. Breezeblock, Sydney
Tim Silver is represented by Sullivan and Strumpf, Sydney
clare lewis 