Trocadero + Five Walls 20 07 17

20 July 2017 Comment

Spaces, places and topographical, geographic areas in transition and metamorphosis after a destructive period is the overarching theme of the works on display currently at at Trocadero Art space Footscray. Robert McDougall’s stunning video and installation works, ”The Sokhumi Elegies” in Gallery One is an immersive cinematic experience. The Sokhumi Elegies examines the memory and legacy of the War in Abkhazia, a relatively unknown but brutal conflict which occurred in the early ‘90s in north-west Georgia, bordering Russia on the Black Sea coast. A collaboration with Georgian refugees who survived the war and the horrific campaign of ethnic cleansing that followed, the work concerns a series of trips made to Abkhazia in 2015 by the artist to document what had become of their former homeland – particularly the capital, Sokhumi. Dreamlike personal narratives and mythologies are explored, in and around conflicting historical information, towards a series of uncertain elegies to the sorrow of war and the haunting misery of exile and trauma in situations when truth and justice are absent and continually denied. Christine McFetridge’s “The Winter Garden” in Gallery Two is a beautiful and delicate photographic body of works. ‘The Winter Garden’ is an ongoing documentary photography project based in Christchurch, New Zealand, following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The work considers themes of belonging, community and connection to place after a period of prolonged trauma and transition. Christine McFetridge is a New Zealand born photographer and writer based in Melbourne. Her practice and research meet at the intersection of social documentary, oral history and the photobook to examine empathy and the correlation between community and belonging. In addition to the installation work by Gen Lown in the foyer space, Nooky - the large-scale kinetic sculpture installation of a damaged and discoloured and tarnished backyard pool also references a topographical map (mountain ranges, streams and rivers all appear) within the stained plastic of the discarded pool. The openings at Arcade and Five By Five were fun, colourful and playful. Emilie Walsh “Scope” in Arcade were beautiful quirky and fun periscopes into animated worlds. Rebecca Monaghan’s ” Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release” was a fun-loving exploration and celebration of form, colour and shape.