The Thing is the Thing

Neil Ayling, Gordon Cheung, Tim Ellis, Stewart Gough, Julian Hughes Watts, Hiroe Komia, Benet Spencer

Curated by Benet Spencer

Integral to the work are archetypal elements such as the formalist principles of modernism reflected in colour, geometry and pattern, and re-examined in the context of science, technology or architecture. Alongside are iconographic images of fictitious modernist structures, as well as culturally mediated and personal reinterpretations of images and objects from both science and science fiction.

Taking Frank Stella’s famous epigram ‘what you see is what you see’ as a starting point, the title references endgame strategies. Steeped in the zeitgeist of 1960s minimalism, Stella’s statement can be seen as reflecting the final throws of the prevailing ism-centric and linear history of modern art. In stark contrast, John Carpenter’s 1981 classic The Thing takes some of the paranoia more commonly associated with 50s B movies and relocates it to the edge of the world in an Antarctic research laboratory. The carnage that ensues is spectacular, stretching science fiction towards an apocalyptic gore-fest of special effects and obliterations – an endgame that may be less cerebral but is no less memorable.

ASC Gallery