engaging the interval

Description

Join us for our first MADA Gallery exhibition of 2022 - engaging the interval by PhD Candidate Benjamin Woods.

As explained by Benjamin engaging the interval is an installation and performance project that explores forces and conceptualisations underpinning sculptural forming practices. To rethink a conventional habit of privileging form over matter my research develops processes of forming, framed through the operations of the interval, that produce resonant situations between the forces revealed by practice. The interval, considered in terms of both space and time, produces opportunities for noticing difference in relation as well as generative potential for transformation. Through a careful exploration of moments where form is imposed on material and bodily dynamism, this research comprises an adaptable ecology of practices—touch, breath, and listening—which makes possible patterns of sensing and comprehending differences in habits of response and cognition revealed by the production of resonant situations.

Click the image above to watch “Forming resonant situations: engaging the interval in performance and installation practices” – a video documentation of the exhibition.

*HEADPHONES RECOMMENDED*
This is a video and audio document of a performance that took place at MADA Gallery, Monash University on January 22, 2022. The performance occurred as part of a PhD exhibition by Benjamin Woods.

Performers:
Sarah Bunting, performing with the work 'Kelpy Cymbal (after Lygia Clark)' 2021-2022. 
Niki Johnson, performing with the work 'Interwoven Pools' 2021-2022. 
Meredith Turnbull, performing with works from 'Beeswax Flutes' 2018-2022. 
Benjamin Woods, performing with the works 'Ghost shrimp burrow flutes' 2021, and 'Beeswax Flutes' 2018-2022.

Documentation:
Elena Betros-Lopez, performance videography.
Natalie Reed, photography.
Benjamin Woods, installation videography, sound, and editing.

Details of works in the exhibition

Shelf 1 (left to right):
'Copper melting pots (one with beeswax)', 2021. A set of hand-raised copper pots made by Benjamin Woods (BW) to produce beeswax flutes in the context of a live performance. The performance was held as part of Abbra Kotlarczyk’s exhibition A sonorous draft; a lexicon of windjamming held at BLINDSIDE from Jun 30-Aug 7, 2021.
Beeswax Flutes, 2017-2022. Various beeswax flutes by BW made through a makeshift clay mould-making process.

Shelf 2:'Beeswax Flutes', 2017-2022. Various beeswax flutes by BW made through a makeshift clay mould-making process.

Projection:'Leaves (hope for resonance)/ 葉（共鳴への希望)', 2020. A sonic and sculptural installation by BW presented at Youkobo Art Space, Suginami-ku, Tokyo from January 22-26, 2020. These sounds and images are an outcome of a 2-month long artist residency at Youkobo Art Space from Dec 2019 to Feb 2020. 
Edited video and audio recording.
Duration: 9:03m. 
Courtesy of the artist with thanks to Makiko Tsuji, Hiroko Murata and Tatsuhiko Murata at Youkobo Art Space.

Shelf 3:'Beeswax Flutes', 2017-2022. Various beeswax flutes by BW made through a makeshift clay mould-making process.

TV Screen 1:'Beeswax Flutes 2', 2018. A performance by Benjamin Woods with Geoff Robinson and Sarah Bunting presented as part of Why Listen to Plants? (Week: Why Listen to Bees?) curated by Dani Zuvela in a partnership with Liquid Architecture and the former RMIT Design Hub. 
Edited performance video and audio recording. 
Duration: 19:05m. 
Courtesy of the artist and Liquid Architecture, with thanks to Sensi-Lab for studio recording.
Credits: double bass playing and videography by Geoff Robinson; beeswax flute playing by Sarah Bunting and Benjamin Woods; concept, editing, choreography and sculpture by Benjamin Woods.

Shelf 4:'Beeswax Flutes', 2017-2022. Various beeswax flutes by BW made through a makeshift clay mould-making process.

Floor sculptures in the middle of the room:'Interwoven Pools', 2021-22. A set of two plywood and latex structures produced by BW in consultation with Niki Johnson. The structures are made to house water, clay, sand and other sonic devices, including a hydrophone, to produce a range of textured sounds and material minglings.
Credits: artist consultation by Niki Johnson, technical expertise by Dan Truscott.

TV Screen 2:'Benthic Community Flutes Sketch 1 (Sandy Ghost Shrimp)', 2021-2022. 
A video documentation of improvised melodic performances with hand-blown borosilicate glass flutes at various locations along Moonee Ponds Creek, with excerpts of hydrophone underwater recording along Darebin Creek.
Duration: 8:07m. 
Courtesy of the artist and Tributary Project (Geoff Robinson, Ying Lan-Dann, Saskia Schut, Benjamin Woods), with thanks to Dr Fiona Bird.
Credits: videography by Elena Betros-Lopez and Benjamin Woods; concept, performance, sculpture, video and audio editing by Benjamin Woods.

Window platform (left to right):'Ghost shrimp burrow flute' and 'Benthic structures', 2021. An arrangement of various hand-blown borosilicate glass flutes with cast beeswax and layered sand sculptures, installed on a plywood platform with a black rubber mat.

Ceiling sculptures in middle front of the room:'Weedy cymbal (after Lygia Clark)', 2021-2022. A copper sculpture made by BW in consultation with Sarah Bunting. 
Credits: artist consultation by Sarah Bunting, technical expertise by Jordan Wood and Shani Shafrir.

'Thick Leaf', 2019-2022. A bronze cast, produced from a wax cast of a carving produced by BW for the exhibition Leaves (hope for resonance)/ 葉（共鳴への希望), 2020.
'Kiri', 2019. Wood carving produced by BW for the exhibition Leaves (hope for resonance)/ 葉（共鳴への希望), 2020. The carving was used as a stamp (using green paint) to make take-home posters for visitors to the exhibition.