Unpacked
Jennifer Pickering

In this installation, stacks of suitcases appear to lift off from the gallery floor, following a trajectory towards the viewer's line of sight. The cases are empty except for hidden lights that illuminate the inner lining of each case, drawing the viewer's gaze through a circular tunnel that exposes layers of various colours, patterns and fabrics. Drawing the viewer's attention to the interior of these cases evokes a sense of absence or even a collective trou de mémoire. This void metaphorically speaks to the failure of Western societies to consider their role in disrupting social conditions globally through their fixation on speed and consumption. Unpacked considers the intersection between popular appreciation of mobility and tourism and the hidden, invisible or ignored costs that accompany recent histories of travel, circulation and exchange.

Exhibition Date: February 28 to April 5, 2008

gallery   Lynn Richardson   Judy Anderson