Launch 2013

Overview

The north of Brunswick is perhaps best known for its cheap Turkish food and abundance of bridal shops. Even locals might be surprised to find the Brunswick Arts Space tucked down an alley and behind a bakery off Sydney Road, but those who stumble upon the space will be rewarded with LAUNCH.

What it lacks in frothy tulle and kebabs, LAUNCH makes up for with innovative works from Melbourne's newest art grads. Five years since it, err, launched, LAUNCH remains a chance for the best of the city’s artistic youth to get some exposure outside of the usual internal, institutionalised galleries.

Josephine Waite and Ive Sorocuk, who spent the end of last year scouting graduation exhibitions for artists, curate this year's show. LAUNCH 2013 is at once menacing, nauseating and fun — "kind of like a weird party where everyone’s death-staring or puking and you still manage to let loose”, is how Waite colourfully describes the offering.

The show lives up to this statement with pieces that range from a creepy but mesmerising 3D projection to a slightly claustrophobic shed containing a rack of rock-like resin casts. Perhaps the most political work is Jerusalem Bus Stops by Helen Borowski. The piece depicts the people who now inhabit areas that were attacked in the lead-up to the Oslo Peace Accords in the early '90s, capturing the vulnerability and procession of life in a place that has seen terrible violence.

LAUNCH also features works from Anna Trundle, Michele Donegan, Laura Wood, Danny Digby, Felicity Why, Lauren Young, Lucinda Anderwartha, Alex Purchase and Nina Magee.

Image credit Helen Borowski.