The Barwon Interviews/On Getting to The Altar of Good Fortune/Bitch Slap

Overview

The Barwon Interviews, On Getting to The Altar of Good Fortune and Bitch Slap are three of five new exhibitions currently showing at Seventh Gallery.

Natasha Carrington's The Barwon Interviews utilises four screens, each showing a different interview with a prisoner on site at Barwon Prison. By showing a limited portion of the interviewee's body — legs to waist — a sense of anonymity and distance remains intact. With subtitles on all four screens and one interview being played out loud, the flow of information is constant and overwhelming, forcing the viewer to either focus on one screen, or let the information wash over them. The subject's stories range from baking bread, to bodybuilding and reflections on family, offering a rare insight into the lives and mind of these oft forgotten inmates.

Take a walk into the back half of the gallery and you’ll find a startlingly white room, housing On Getting to The Altar of Good Fortune. Two tiny images can be found, one pasted on the wall and the other poking out of the doorframe. Again loud audio is played, creating an interesting audio and visual interplay. Artist Ilya Milstein calls his piece a ‘travelogue’ of a trip to Germany turned research expedition, concerned with uncovering the secrets of an 18th century sculpture  by Johann Goethe.

Bitch Slap by Madeline Rose Chapman invites viewers to think about how women are seen and understood in our world. Images from famous films show women being beaten by men — while these somewhat familiar images are not immediately shocking, their isolation forces the viewer to consider just what our immunity to their horror communicates about society.

While each exhibition is separate, they are united by the constant presence of both audio and visual stimuli, creating a collectively engaging experience for the viewer.

Image from The Barwon Interviews