A quiet corner where we can talk
25 August - 18 November 2018
Curated by Lauren Gutsall
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Ōtepoti, Dunedin
Aotearoa, NZ
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A quiet corner where we can talk, 2018. Hand tufted wool. Installation view.
A quiet corner where we can talk, 2018. Hand tufted wool. Installation view (detail)
Megan Brady is a dedicated observer. Taking an intimate and focused look at her immediate surroundings, she celebrates the quiet, but ever-present minutiae of everyday life – the unnoticed, the unseen and the overlooked. Public spaces are a continuing area of focus within Brady’s practice. Often transitory in nature, these spaces are designed specifically for navigation and interaction, including libraries, shopping malls, departure lounges, lobbies and waiting rooms. Brady’s work investigates the characteristics and intentions of these spaces which are designed to appeal to a wide demographic and be functional in nature, while importantly manage to offend the aesthetic sensibilities of no one. Beyond this visual interrogation, Brady also takes note of the music that often finds a home in these environments – strategically selected to instil a calm, comforting atmosphere but rarely actively listened to.
In A quiet corner where we can talk, a title taken from a hypothetical conversation between composer John Cage and the founder of ‘furniture music’ (background music) Erik Satie, Brady has produced a bespoke hooked rug that fills the gallery space. With the aid of an electric hand tufting gun, Brady has spent months handcrafting this carpet – a direct, laborious and physically demanding engagement with both materials and process. Brady has made a series of carefully considered decisions, from designing the carpet pattern with a birds-eye-view of the gallery’s spatial layout, to the custom-made ‘elevator music’ soundscape. A quiet corner where we can talk injects a sense of value and care into something that is seemingly banal – it is hand-made, a one-off, imperfectly perfect and heavy with Brady’s labour and time.
Lauren Gutsall
A quiet corner where we can talk, 2018. Hand tufted wool. Installation view (detail).
A quiet corner where we can talk, 2018. Hand tufted wool. Installation view.
A quiet corner where we can talk, 2018. Hand tufted wool. Installation view (detail).︎︎︎ Back