Cloud Studies is the first solo exhibition in Australia by Forensic Architecture, a research agency comprised of architects, artists, filmmakers, journalists, scientists, lawyers and other specialists who undertake investigations into human rights abuses, state violence and environmental crimes around the world.
Using the disciplinary tools of both architecture and forensics, Forensic Architecture have given rise to a new form of investigative practice that seeks to uncover, analyse and present evidence from the crimes of our recent past and consider the convergence of architecture, media, and violence.
In Cloud Studies, Forensic Architecture contend with the interconnectedness of global atmospheres. The work brings together eight recent investigations under a single theme; toxic clouds. In a year of bushfire, pandemic and protest, where toxic clouds colonise the air we breathe and shape the way we connect, Cloud Studies presents evidence of perseverance and resistance.
As Forensic Architecture explains:
Tear gas is used to disperse bodies gathering in democratic protest, white phosphorus and chlorine gas are used to spread terror in cities, herbicide is sprayed from airplanes to destroy fields and displace those whose livelihood depends on them, arson is used to eradicate forests for industrial plantations. Mobilized by state and corporate powers, toxic clouds colonize the air we breathe across different scales and durations, from urban squares to continents and from incidents to epochal latencies.
About the artists
Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, investigating human rights violations including violence committed by states, police forces, militaries, and corporations. FA works in partnership with institutions across civil society, from grassroots activists, to legal teams, to international NGOs and media organisations, to carry out investigations with and on behalf of communities and individuals affected by conflict, police brutality, border regimes and environmental violence.
Exhibition catalogue
Responses to the Cloud explores the themes of Cloud Studies from a local context, with new writing by Joel Spring, Saba Bebawi, Jason De Santolo, Tom Melick, Nikki Lam, Thalia Anthony, Micaela Sahhar and curators Stella Rosa McDonald and Eleanor Zeichner.
Design by Daryl Prondoso.
The Frank Watters Gift is a testament to Frank’s generosity and friendship, and provides a vibrant snapshot of Australian artistic practice across five decades.
Artists: Micky Allen, Susan Andrews, George Barker, John Bartley, Roger Crawford, Neil Evans, Vivienne Ferguson, Joe Frost, Peter Godwin, Rew Hanks, David Hawkes, Catherine Hearse, Jumaadi, Hendrick Kolenberg, Richard Larter, Jasper Legge, Euan Macleod, Chris O’Doherty, John Peart, Jon Plapp, Evan Salmon, Ken Searle, Paul Selwood, Tony Tuckson, Ruth Waller, Max Watters
In 2018 Watters Gallery, one of Australia’s longest-running, most influential and respected commercial galleries, closed its doors after 54 years. Established by Frank Watters, along with co-directors Geoffrey and Alexandra Legge in 1964, Watters Gallery supported the careers of some of Australia’s most exciting artists including Richard Larter, John Peart, Ruth Waller, Chris O’Doherty and Euan Macleod.
Frank Watters has since donated 67 artworks from his personal collection to UTS – the most significant gift in the collection’s thirty-year history. The Watters Gift is a testament to Frank’s generosity and friendship, and provides a vibrant snapshot of Australian artistic practice across five decades.
The Watters Gift was a display of selected works from the collection of Frank Watters, donated to UTS and displayed on campus in 2020. The associated publication marking the gift is available for download or order below.
Exhibition catalogue
The Watters Gift was accompanied by an extensive catalogue with texts by Tania Creighton and Sonia Legge and a foreword by UTS Vice Chancellor Attila Brungs.
Design by Daryl Prondoso.
Fit for Purpose brings together six international designers and collectives whose work is driving change through explorative, sustainable, ethical and collaborative practices.
Artists: Bethany Williams, CONGREGATIONdesign, Elisa van Joolen, Helen Kirkum, JOIN Collective Clothes, Matthew Needham
Curated by artist, designer and lecturer in the UTS School of Design, Armando Chant, the exhibition includes unique garments and shoes, process samples, patterns and sketchbooks together with video interviews with the designers.
This exhibition was prematurely closed due to COVID lockdown on 24/3/2020.
Exhibition catalogue
The Fit For Purpose publication is presented as a foldout poster with an exhibition introduction by Bandana Tewari, an essay by curator Armando Chant and a list of works.
Design by Daryl Prondoso.
