Anne Ferran: Body of Water

Sutton Gallery

Melbourne

7 February – 9 March 2013

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Anne Ferran’s latest exhibition at Sutton Gallery was comprised of two video works. Both record river ways that have been earmarked for urban development. Taking the title of the exhibition, Body of Water(2011) was projected in the gallery’s main room. From the viewpoint of a canal boat, the video records a journey through east London along the Bow Back Rivers, a network of small rivers and canals. The footage was taken in 2007 when the massive Olympic Park development was beginning in the area. The second work Swansong(Tchaikovsky remix)(2013),exhibited on two screens in the smaller room, documents the movements of a swan decoy as it floats on a small river in South Sydney. Located on the edge of the sprawling metropolis, close to an old coal mine, we can assume this idyll will soon be surrounded by suburban development.

Firmly located in the artist’s experience, these new works mark a departure from Ferran’s usual photo-based practice that considers the historical experience of women in nineteenth century Australia. Furthermore Body of Water and its companion piece document a sense of place before it is lost, whereas earlier pieces, like Lost to Worlds(2008) and Soft Caps (1995), work with what remains of a lost history.

Body of Watercuts frontal views of the rivers as they are traversed in real time with slowed down footage of views of the riverbanks. It is an unexpected perspective from which to experience London. We pass by the old canal walls and span the scaffolding of new developments towered over by cranes. New apartment blocks mix with the shells of abandoned factories, and occasionally we witness the spring-green reclamations by nature. The

Anne Ferran, Swansong (Tchaikovsky remix), 2013. Still from single channel high definition video, 4:10 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.

Anne Ferran, Body of Water, 2011. Installation detail. Courtesy the artist and Sutton Gallery, Melbourne.