We Are Electric

Overview

Energy: we're either using it or talking about it. When we do the latter, we also do the former, of course. It describes our strength and vitality, and also covers how we power the world — and, unsurprisingly, it's a hot topic regarding the planet's future.

At We Are Electric at the UQ Art Museum from Tuesday, February 14–Saturday, June 24, energy is firmly in the spotlight, too. This free exhibition explores the subject through art, pondering extraction, extinction and the world's post-carbon futures. So, as all great showcases should, you'll be inspired to think deeply while you're peering at paintings, sculptures, installations, video works and other creative pieces — about how energy flows within us, how the planets vibrate and how humanity's need for energy to fuel our existence is coming at a cost.

Haines & Hinterding Encounter with the Halo Field, 2009-2015, still from single-channel video, sound. Commissioned in 2009 by the Australian Network for Art and Technology and Art Monthly Australia with support from the Australia Council for the Arts. Reshot for High Definition in 2015. Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney. Photo: the artists.

Artists on display include Will Benedict, Diane Borsato, Eglé Budvytytè, Megan Cope, Mavis Ngallametta, Yasmin Smith, and Haines and Hinterding — plus The Institute of Queer Ecology, and Daniel Beeron (Galaman), Davina Harries, Judith Henry, Clarence Kinjun, Doris Kinjun, Debra Murray and Eileen Tep from Girringun Art Centre.

Together, and in a plethora of ways, they'll get art lovers buzzing about the electricity of our hearts, earth's electromagnetic fields, climate change and renewable resources.

Understandably, We Are Electric doubles as a call to action — as thinking about energy always needs to be as well.

Michaela Gleave, Terrella, 2022. Installation view, We Are Electric, UQ Art Museum, 2023. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Josef Ruckli.

Top images: Michaela Gleave, Terrella, 2022. Installation view, We Are Electric, UQ Art Museum, 2023. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Josef Ruckli.

George Tjungurrayi, Tingari, 2004, synthetic polymer paint on linen. Installation view, We Are Electric, UQ Art Museum, 2023. Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 2007. © the artist licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd. Photo: Josef Ruckli.