The Doom Buggies was part of Photo 2024 International Festival of Photography, investigating the dichotomy between high and low culture through a series of meticulously staged works, presented in a hyperreality that is equally wry and melancholic.
History
Add to Elements
Yes
NTRO Output Type
Original Creative Work
NTRO Output Category
Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Melbourne, Australia
Venue
Neon Parc
NTRO Publisher
Neon Parc
Start Date
2024-03-01
End Date
2024-04-06
Medium
photography
Research Statement
The Doom Buggies was an exhibition investigating the dichotomy between high and low culture through a series of meticulously staged works, presented in a hyperreality that is equally wry and melancholic. Sylvester’s work questions the tension between authenticity and desire within high-gloss consumer culture, by incorporating pop-cultural references that are hinted to, but just out of reach. In The Doom Buggies, Sylvester builds a series of elaborate, choreographed ‘dream’ stages, which reflect and refract a state of mind rather than place or narrative.
It was the first time in my studio built photographic work that instead of elaborate sets, in it's place was choreographed ‘dream’ stages, which reflect and refract a state of mind rather than place or narrative. This feeling, as if being in a pop-music video; is simultaneously personable and detached, connected and disconnected, aware yet unaware.
The exhibition was an exclusive as part of the Photo 2024 International Festival of Photography held across Victoria. In tandem with the exhibition the art work, 'Body be a soul' (2023) was also included in the Festival, presented at Treasury Place, Melbourne. Monumental in scale it depicts a prophetic face looking back towards us at an epic 10 metres tall.