Blog Archives
I am looking in a room, 2017
“This work was made in response to the location, standing on Hopkins Street looking up into the windows of the Trocadero Art Space studios. I was interested in the somewhat voyeuristic feeling of peering up into a lit window at night and, in turn, attempting to connect with the street life on the footpath below.
During the making of the work, the first subject simply pulled out their phone and ignored the camera. They then introduced me to Alvin Lucier’s astounding 1969 sound artwork ‘I am sitting in a room’. The second subject improvised choreography in response to that artwork.
I have a long-standing interest in the cultural convergence of screens, windows and image frames, as articulated by Friedberg (2006) in ‘The Virtual Window: Alberti to Microsoft’. I wanted to explore the ambiguous and shifting positions between looking in and looking out, the feeling of being inside and outside, hence the title ‘I am looking in a room’, with a hat tip to Lucier.”
This four-channel video work was commissioned by the West Projections Festival 2017.
I am looking in a room, 2017
“This work was made in response to the location, standing on Hopkins Street looking up into the windows of the Trocadero Art Space studios. I was interested in the somewhat voyeuristic feeling of peering up into a lit window at night and, in turn, attempting to connect with the street life on the footpath below.
During the making of the work, the first subject simply pulled out their phone and ignored the camera. They then introduced me to Alvin Lucier’s astounding 1969 sound artwork ‘I am sitting in a room’. The second subject improvised choreography in response to that artwork.
I have a long-standing interest in the cultural convergence of screens, windows and image frames, as articulated by Friedberg (2006) in ‘The Virtual Window: Alberti to Microsoft’. I wanted to explore the ambiguous and shifting positions between looking in and looking out, the feeling of being inside and outside, hence the title ‘I am looking in a room’, with a hat tip to Lucier.”
This four-channel video work was commissioned by the West Projections Festival 2017.
MFA exegesis
Bennett, A 2009, To Occupy, Master of Fine Art exegesis, Monash University
“I investigate the ‘shudder’ one experiences when encountering a room that has resonance; that has duration; where past, present and future collapse. ‘Interiority’ has been a useful concept for exploring this shudder. In architecture it is used to describe the experience of being in an interior space; in psychology it refers to one’s interior life, what it feels like inside your head or body. I therefore seek to fold together the collapse between ‘what it feels like inside this room’, ‘what it feels like inside my head’ and the space of the camera in that process of encounter.”
MFA exegesis
Bennett, A 2009, To Occupy, Master of Fine Art exegesis, Monash University
“I investigate the ‘shudder’ one experiences when encountering a room that has resonance; that has duration; where past, present and future collapse. ‘Interiority’ has been a useful concept for exploring this shudder. In architecture it is used to describe the experience of being in an interior space; in psychology it refers to one’s interior life, what it feels like inside your head or body. I therefore seek to fold together the collapse between ‘what it feels like inside this room’, ‘what it feels like inside my head’ and the space of the camera in that process of encounter.”
The Age
Nelson, R 2009, ‘Perpetual pirouette is a novel spin’, The Age, 22 Jul, p.14.
“Normally, photography also has the stability of a rectangle; but the photographic work of Alison Bennett stitches together many frames, so that you experience a surround-vision of interior space.”
The Age
Nelson, R 2009, ‘Perpetual pirouette is a novel spin’, The Age, 22 Jul, p.14.
“Normally, photography also has the stability of a rectangle; but the photographic work of Alison Bennett stitches together many frames, so that you experience a surround-vision of interior space.”
un magazine
Knudsen, S 2008, ‘To Occupy’, un magazine, Vol.2 Iss.2, p.59
“Her photographs depict stained and well-worn surfaces, discarded objects and litter, ghostly rooms, graffiti-covered walls or the charcoaled remains of a fireplace among many other traces of human occupation and inhabitation.”
un magazine
Knudsen, S 2008, ‘To Occupy’, un magazine, Vol.2 Iss.2, p.59
“Her photographs depict stained and well-worn surfaces, discarded objects and litter, ghostly rooms, graffiti-covered walls or the charcoaled remains of a fireplace among many other traces of human occupation and inhabitation.”
Artichoke
Baumbart, M 2008, ‘Verticalism’, Artichoke, #24
“Bennett is able to listen and ‘speak’ to the people she encounters, and – through some empathetic personal alchemy – those who are absent, but whose presence might still be felt. Through this exchange she was able to move into a shared space with the subject, figuratively at first and then quite literally – with her camera in her hand.”
Artichoke
Baumbart, M 2008, ‘Verticalism’, Artichoke, #24
“Bennett is able to listen and ‘speak’ to the people she encounters, and – through some empathetic personal alchemy – those who are absent, but whose presence might still be felt. Through this exchange she was able to move into a shared space with the subject, figuratively at first and then quite literally – with her camera in her hand.”
antiTHESIS
Bennett, A 2007, [Cover & internal images], antiTHESIS journal, Vol.17 2007.
antiTHESIS
Bennett, A 2007, [Cover & internal images], antiTHESIS journal, Vol.17 2007.
antiTHESIS symposium
Bennett, A 2006, ‘Dereliction and the space between’, antiTHESIS symposium, Melbourne University, 7 Jul
“Let me take you into my confidence. May I confide in you, close the gap? Interiority begins to describe, to capture, the attraction and elusive flows between
surfaces, between the surface of my skin and the enclosure of walls, its thresholds and
apertures. The projection of desire and the containment of memory, the geometry of
intimacy and defense.”
antiTHESIS symposium
Bennett, A 2006, ‘Dereliction and the space between’, antiTHESIS symposium, Melbourne University, 7 Jul
“Let me take you into my confidence. May I confide in you, close the gap? Interiority begins to describe, to capture, the attraction and elusive flows between
surfaces, between the surface of my skin and the enclosure of walls, its thresholds and
apertures. The projection of desire and the containment of memory, the geometry of
intimacy and defense.”
Arena Magazine
Bennett, A 2005, [cover images], Arena Magazine, No.78 Aug – Sep 2005.
Arena Magazine
Bennett, A 2005, [cover images], Arena Magazine, No.78 Aug – Sep 2005.
Stiched panoramas of interiors, 2004-2010
I am interested in the ‘shudder’ one experiences when encountering a room that has resonance; that has duration; where past, present and future collapse. ‘Interiority’ is a term that traverses a number of relevant fields. In architecture it is used to describe the experience of being in an interior space; in psychology it refers to one’s interior life, what it feels like inside your head or body. I seek to fold together the collapse between ‘what it feels like inside this room’, ‘what it feels like inside my head’ and the space of the camera in that process of encounter. These works have been shown at the Historic Houses Trust in Sydney, National Wool Museum in Geelong, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Horsham Regional Art Gallery; and ANU School of Art Gallery as part of the Vivid National Photography Festival. Media coverage and reviews include The Age, un magazine, Artichoke, Arena, Architecture Australia & antiTHESIS journal.
Stiched panoramas of interiors, 2004-2010
I am interested in the ‘shudder’ one experiences when encountering a room that has resonance; that has duration; where past, present and future collapse. ‘Interiority’ is a term that traverses a number of relevant fields. In architecture it is used to describe the experience of being in an interior space; in psychology it refers to one’s interior life, what it feels like inside your head or body. I seek to fold together the collapse between ‘what it feels like inside this room’, ‘what it feels like inside my head’ and the space of the camera in that process of encounter. These works have been shown at the Historic Houses Trust in Sydney, National Wool Museum in Geelong, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Horsham Regional Art Gallery; and ANU School of Art Gallery as part of the Vivid National Photography Festival. Media coverage and reviews include The Age, un magazine, Artichoke, Arena, Architecture Australia & antiTHESIS journal.
Architecture Australia
Rice, C 2004, ‘Space and image inside Hill End’, Architecture Australia, Jul
“This idea of the interior as a particular kind of relation between the imagistic and the spatial is given new impetus in Inside Hill End, a series of photographs by Alison Bennett recently exhibited at The Mint in Sydney.”
Architecture Australia
Rice, C 2004, ‘Space and image inside Hill End’, Architecture Australia, Jul
“This idea of the interior as a particular kind of relation between the imagistic and the spatial is given new impetus in Inside Hill End, a series of photographs by Alison Bennett recently exhibited at The Mint in Sydney.”
Alison Bennett 