Entrance Installation

Researching relations between sculptural practice as intervention and the experience of interior public space, this work asks how can certain changes in generic public architectures either alter or reveal the psychology of their experience and function? The work was commissioned by the Sydney Biennale and such a question intersects with its themes of rationality and emotional intelligence. Eskdale altered the AGNSW entrance cloakroom and vestibule through insertions of hand-sewn partitioning and cladding that affected perception of space and paths into the main halls of the gallery. A crafted sense of the artist's touch permeated and re-delineated the space, questioning the primacy of vision as a way of knowing. The project develops upon the metaphor of 'phantom architectures' framed by Elisabeth Bronfen (2001), 'Chryptopias: Secret Sites/ Transmissible Traces,' Gregor Schneider: Totes Haus Ur, La Biennale di Venezia in conjunction with concepts of built space and identity collected in Sarah Menin ed. (2003), Constructing Place: Mind and Matter. There are links here with Schneider's (2001) Venice Biennale work, 'Totes haus u r', as well as in the use of montaged institutional space and constructed veneer in the work of Ann Hamilton, 1993, 'a round', The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, 1993. "No one can say that I feel, therefore I am. The project invites the audience to participate in an aesthetic experience using not only their sight, but also all the senses provoking active participation and inciting the emotions. The audience will be challenged to think and feel," (international curator, Isabel Carlos, Gallery Notes). 51 artists from 32 countries included Jimmy Durham, Bruce Nauman, Nathan Coley, Pat Brassington, Susan Norrie and Daniel Von Sturmer. The artist was included in a DVD of collected interviews. She presented a lecture on her work at a related education forum. Review: M Desmond, Art Monthly no 172 Aug04 p20.