Archive of Dust, Room 18 is a body of new work (12 works) stemming from a project the artist began in 2001, involving the ongoing collection of dust from museums and galleries around the world from which the artist cultures bacteria. Dust contains all and everything, settling almost everywhere. It is a resident of every crevice and country and is made up of all things, both synthetic and natural. Occurring as a byproduct of all activity, it marks and attacks those zones and objects that appear inactive, defunct, resting, while simultaneously marking out the contact of an absence. Dust is a distinct paradox in the world of institutionalised history and serves as a record of all who come to visit art in its multifarious homes, for we all come from dust, and to dust we shall return. The studious longevity of the artist’s accumulation of dust over nearly 25 years now contains samples from hundreds of institutions. For this new exhibition, the artist has focussed on dust collected in Room 18 at the British Museum, the current resting place of The Parthenon Marbles, alongside other related new work.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Melbourne, AustraliaVenue
Haydens, Brunswick East, Naarm/MelbourneNTRO Publisher
Haydens GalleryMedium
Giclee print, aluminiumResearch Statement
Archive of Dust, Room 18 operates at the intersection of institutional critique and ephemeral materiality within contemporary art practice. It investigates how the invisible atmospheric properties of museums function as overlooked cultural archives, examining how air itself becomes a contested site of preservation and displacement within institutional spaces.
Archive of Dust, Room 18 introduces the concept of "atmospheric appropriation" as a methodological innovation that extends institutional critique beyond visible artifacts. By materialising museum air as a legitimate subject of artistic inquiry, the research reveals institutional spaces as complex ecosystems containing microscopic traces of cultural exchange. This approach generates new frameworks for understanding preservation by focusing on typically overlooked sensory dimensions.
Archive of Dust, Room 18 builds upon an established artistic investigation of invisible elements and institutional spaces. The work connects to scholarly work in museum studies examining sensory experiences and environmental factors in cultural institutions. The research contributes to ongoing academic and artistic conversations about the ephemeral dimensions of preservation practices in institutional contexts.Size or Duration of Work
12 artworks, each artwork 80 x 80cm
