Peter Hennessey: My Hell's Gate.
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Title
Peter Hennessey: My Hell's Gate.
Venues
Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces (2010 – 27 February 2010)
Date
(2010)
Summary
Single-artist exhibition. Located: Australia (VIC).
Country of context
Australia
Abstract
“My Hells Gate" is a project that deals with the strangely hidden place occupied by explosives in contemporary life, both literally and metaphorically. The work takes as its starting point the massive explosive demolition in 1885 of a reef of underwater rocks located at Hell's Gate in the East River of New York City, then re-scales and re-stages it under a tonne of water in the front gallery of Gertrude.
This essentially peaceful explosion underscores the fact that as many explosives are used in mining and civil engineering as are used in war, reminding us that we live in a world pushed along by countless detonations. These are not belligerent, but are violent nonetheless.
There is a strange but unsettling beauty in watching the slowly unfolding demolition of "My Hells Gate". The surprising poignancy of seeing a little part of someone's world crumble so gracefully.
Peter Hennessey, 2010 [Exhibition media, 2010]