I am greeted by an elongated white walled gallery with a colourful wonderland installation. I feel small and insignificant in comparison. “An Open Space” is literally spelt out by various coloured wooden blocks. It stands from one width of the gallery to the other. It is constructed by life size child building blocks. Adult versions of squares, circles, triangles and rectangles spelling out the words. To enhance the exaggerated child play are birds. The birds have some sort of authority as though the installation is their home or a meeting place. They are on various letters and free standing almost inspecting the work. They are part of the words with their black bodies, beaks and coloured feathers.
The O of the words beckons you to enter even though it’s obvious what stands on the other side…an open space. The open space in this respect is not the focus but rather the gateway in which is the installation. I want to go through the O and come back to view it from the front again numerous times. I did feel like moving the letters around or moving them to another angle. It felt interactive although it could have been that wonderland sense. This could be the active version of “numbers and letters” as seen on ABC.
Having just entered the gallery from the Flinders Lane city lunch rush hour. A typical grey Melbourne day with grey suits and heels. The installation was strangely peaceful, solitary and very refreshing. I wanted to sit for awhile away from the hustle and bustle outside.
I would have liked to see what a child thought of this. I was with my son but he was asleep and too young to comprehend. Is it a gateway we forget when we transit child to teenager to adult? The forgotten naivety and fun we experienced from simplicity? Or am l reading too much into the installation. Is it simply an adult playground for us to view and enjoy?
I look forward to the next exhibition by this artist. Exhibition is until 28th of May.
www.annaschwartzgallery.com
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