Space Walk: Encountering Art in Re-inhabited Spaces

Speaking to the 2018 Melbourne Design Week theme, Design Effects, this walking tour took in contemporary art spaces nestled in laneways and behind facades.

Visiting public, artist-run and commercial art spaces including Blindside, MAILBOX, Sarah Scout Presents, Testing Grounds and Chapter House Lane – the tour guided visitors through Melbourne’s CBD discovering the myriad ways in which architectural space is re-inhabited by art.

Each initiative possesses it’s own character and style, and takes on a personality and aesthetic informed by the history and significance of the infrastructure it occupies.

In this diverse terrain, gallerists and artists adapt and re-inhabit spaces that sit outside the traditional white cube model.

Exhibiting artists at Blindside addressed the Euclidian architecture of the white cube and consider the influence of western popular culture in the Middle East. At Sarah Scout Presents, we encountered commercial space which speaks directly to a domestically scaled setting, while on Flinders Lane a row of old mailboxes in an unassuming foyer offered a surprising encounter. These re-contextualisations create rewards and challenges for both artists and curators and inform the way we encounter creative work.

The tour ended at Testing Grounds where Program Directors spoke about the ways in which their unique location and infrastructure fosters experimental practice and temporary creative communities. Participants had the opportunity to engage in on-site Melbourne Design Week programming including Food Democracy and Pyramid Scheme, listen to closing artist talks, relax at the onsite bar and stay for informal conversation. 

SPACE WALK was lead by Rachael Paintin, then Blindside Gallery Intern.