Concrete Playground

What can an archive reveal? Certainly something of the past, of course, but what can it say about the present? For Melbourne-based artist Brook Andrew, the ethnographic postcards and novelty items from early to mid twentieth century hold particular interest for the way they represent indigenous people as well as their colonising counterparts. Converting found postcards into colourful and signature-patterned boxes, Andrew will build a wall of these boxes in Artspace, allowing the viewer to look at the images as a kind jumbled puzzle to be deciphered and contemplated.

Andrew's artistic territory combines race, history and the baggage that comes with these themes using text, neon and found ephemera. The artist will be talking about his installation, Lives in Paradise, on July 20 @ 5.00pm at Artspace.