BreakHaus
2021
Praxis Artspace
Adelaide Festival Centre Media Screens
BreakHaus is part of a larger series of installations that employ projected videos, grid animations, and minimal sculptural objects. Collectively, these artworks delve into the realm of rave culture as a sanctuary for escape from heteronormativity.
Building upon my previous installation, GridHaus, which explored the use of dance and raves as a form of resistance, I realised that such resistance often burdens queer individuals. BreakHaus challenges the prevailing notion that resistance always necessitates effort. It boldly explores the potent concept of doing nothing, of taking a break, and of simply relaxing.
In the creation of BreakHaus, I envisioned a tangible representation of Judith Butler's heteronormative matrix, manifested as an incandescent grid. This grid, intricately woven throughout the installation, undergoes a gradual, hypnotic unravelling. Digitally rendered to possess a physicality reminiscent of bodily movement, this process symbolizes the breakdown and reconstruction of normative spaces.
The soft blue hue, carefully chosen for its calming effect, paradoxically experiences agitation as it remains ensnared in a perpetual state of flux. It evokes nostalgia for the 1995 Microsoft Windows 'Mystify' screensaver—a dynamic polygon of lines that bounces around the screen, eternally trapped in a cyclic loop. Viewers observe, waiting for the lines to converge into a single corner of the screen, anticipating a moment of completion, only to be met with the algorithm's reset.
Through BreakHaus, I endeavor to craft a sensory experience that challenges preconceived notions, scrutinizes the status quo, and provides a glimpse into the transformative potential of moments of quiet rebellion.
Materials: Digital Animation/Video, Powder-Coated Steel, Wood & Acrylic.
