THE BOX: DEATH TRANSFORMATION REBIRTH 

THE BOX: DEATH TRANSFORMATION REBIRTH has been devised within the context of a Stage 4 COVID-19 Lockdown in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia – a time when museums and art galleries are closed and offering virtual art experiences. The artworld is a resilient one, and despite being one of the hardest-hit sectors, there has been a continual stream of online art-based content, virtual exhibition viewings, live feed artist talks, online art fairs, panel discussions, and workshop webinars on offer. 

 This travelling exhibition has come about through a question we have been asking ourselves: how do we generate experiences of intimacy with art during a pandemic? We are interested in exploring the role of the curator. What is an exhibition, and what can it be? What happens when the home is the exhibition space, and art occupies the same space as the TV?

With our home and work lives seemingly collapsed, the distinction between private and public space has become blurred. What is important for us as curators is the experience of art, the moment of encounter between viewer and objects, and the dialogue that emerges. As such, DEATH TRANSFORMATION REBIRTH embraces the notion of intimacy with art objects across time and space. It offers each host the opportunity to experience and connect with art objects in the safety of their own home – unwrapping the individual works, selecting and displaying them in their home, and just being with the works. 

In a gallery context, our role as curators would normally involve the selection and display of works of art. Whilst we have selected the works of art for this project, we are handing over the specific decisions around display to the exhibition hosts. The project has been developed with the awareness that each venue will generate its own unique exhibition experience. We invite our hosts not only to engage with the selected works, but also to engage with the curatorial process of organising the art objects in their homes. The following Curatorial Notes are deliberately “loose” in their relationship with the exhibition’s themes.

Our intention is to provide our thoughts in the form of our text, our curatorial contributions (see next page), our chosen exhibition format and our selection of art objects such that the hosts make connections between the works of art, their lives and notions of death, transformation and rebirth.