The Field, a multisensory installation in ‘Patricia Piccinini: Curious Affection’ is both a great artistic, and engineering, accomplishment that captivates all who enter the exhibition. This ambitious new commission for the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is populated with the enchanting and enigmatic creatures for which Piccinini is renowned, but uniquely they sit in a field of over 3000 transgenic flowers that gently sway in response to passing viewers, the movement made possible by a multi-layer flooring system designed and manufactured by GOMA to function under the weight of the visitor.
Watch | Timelapse
Patricia Piccinini, Australia b.1965 / The Field 2018 / 3000 objects: ABS and PPE plastic / Dimensions variable / Courtesy: The artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco / © The artist
A soundtrack by Grammy Award winning producer and film composer Franc Tétaz plays over 60 speakers fitted into the floor, walls and ceiling to create an all-encompassing spatial experience, as if walking through a forest pulsing with insects.
Behind ‘The Field’ is the ‘Mountain Path’, offering a steady incline from which audiences can look out, take-in, and reflect on the unique world of inter-species collaboration and connection below.
If you’re a lover of GOMA’s immersive exhibitions played out on a grand scale, then ‘Patricia Piccinini: Curious Affection’ is for you, her most ambitious exhibition to date occupies GOMA’s entire ground floor with a retrospective of Piccinini’s most recognisable works from the past 20 years, and a suite of installations – including a large-scale inflatable sculpture – especially conceived for the Gallery’s expansive spaces.
Watch | installation of ‘Pneutopia’
Patricia Piccinini, Australia b.1965 / Pneutopia 2018 / Ripstop nylon, shed, air / Dimensions variable / Courtesy: The artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne; Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney; and Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco / © The artist
Known for her imaginative, yet strangely familiar, lifelike hybrid creatures, Piccinini invites us to think about our place in a world where advances in biotechnology and digital technologies are challenging the boundaries of humanity. Patricia Piccinini’s fantastic hybrid beings invite us to find beauty in a world not ruled by notions of perfection.
Feature image detail: Construction of Patricia Piccinini’s The Field 2018
#QAGOMA
