An Eye Opener In Melbourne

And I don't mean in Young and Jackson's either...

Did goe to The NGV Centre in Federation Square in Melbourne this last week and was greatley amused. By a Canadian, no less.

Jeff Wall photographs were featured in the Fed Square Level 3 gallery and as it was the first time I had encountered the name, and I had half a ticket, I took them in. I might have been nonplussed at the subject matter - life in British Columbia in the 90's - and I might have thought the treatment a little banal - but I was amazed and educated to see the presentation.

You see the large-format images had been printed as transparencies and displayed in especially-made back-lit frames. They reminded me of giant light boxes much like the Medialux light boxes we sell here in the shop.. Aluminium sides and mitred corners. The illumination hitting the transparencies was extremely even, and as it fell through the images rather than on them, you could appreciate it from a multitude of angles.

In the same exhibition, several frames were set out in the same way, but were paper prints illuminated from the front. Sorry, Jeff - they just lost the charm of the light boxes.

The other two amazing things were the fact that the pictures were in Melbourne on loan from the Art Gallery of Western Australia - and the video presentation of an interview with Mr. Wall. I could stand about four minutes of it before I ran. Photospeak is the same as Artspeak. But with f stops...I wonder if there are such things a Plumbingspeak and Ballbearingmanufacturerspeak.

PS: Did goe to Young and Jackson's and was also greatley amused...until the beer money ran out.