The Hanging: Montages: The Full Cut, 1999–2015

June 30th 2016

TraceyMoffatt

Fancy yourself as a bit of a film connoisseur? Do you prefer to see the world at 24 frames per second?

Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg’s exhibition, Montages: The Full Cut, 1999 – 2015, brings together eight montage films the two artists have made together.

Created over the past sixteen years, these films offer an insight into the tropes and stereotypes that populate the moving image. From the coloured woman to the mother figure to the struggling artist; the same scenes play out again and again in different films, leaving you with the eerie feeling of déjà vu.

Live the horizontal lifestyle and watch this blockbuster from the comfort of an beanbag at Artspace, while you gaze at a screen 100 times bigger than your home TV. This larger than life mash-up brings together thousands of iconic and lesser known films throughout the ages. From movies created pre-colour to Woody Allen yelling at his mother in the sky, moments are stitched together to create loose storylines that critique the stereotypical characters that Hollywood knows and loves.

For example, in the film titled Doomed, Moffatt and Hillberg splice together scenes that are continuously on the brink of imminent disaster. Each scene builds up images of mass hysteria, in an attempt to expose our tendency to suspend disbelief at these cinematic events.

This exhibition is not only for Meryl Streep spotting, but offers us the chance to re-evaluate stereotypical representations in cinema and their influence on how we see the world. A worthwhile watch that would only get better with popcorn.

WHAT: Montages: The Full Cut, 1999-2015
WHERE: Artspace, 43 – 51 Cowper Wharf Rd, Woolloomooloo
WHEN: 23 June – 10 August
HOW MUCH: FREE – more info here

 

Contributor

FBi’s Arts & Culture executive producer.

Read more from Nerida Ross