Friday 14th July will see internationally acclaimed Visual Artist and Multi-Sensory creator Benjamin Knock opening his Terra-Therma exhibition at No Vacancy Gallery in Melbourne. The artist travelled through Iceland with a videographer and sound recordist to capture incredible footage of the landscape. This new work acts as both a research project and a multisensory exhibition of the frozen waters and its ever changing scenery.
Knock worked closely with sound artist Moritz Zeisner (BER) to capture field recordings of the glaciers and the surrounding volcanically active areas using a Hydrophone, Seizmaphone and Geophone. These sounds have been transformed into a composition that literally aurally drops the audience inside the frozen hydrogen structures.
The exhibition is an essay on the environment and the impact humans are having on one of the most fragile and important ecosystems of the world.
Whilst in Iceland, Knock also collected samples of ice and water from around the glaciers. He then mixed these into the pigments used to create the collection. Knock has not only captured the beauty of this remote landscape but literally brought a little bit of Iceland back to Melbourne. The paintings are based on the fragmented nature of the glaciers and utilise acrylic, oils and aerosol to capture the impermanence of the ever-changing structures.
To complement the paintings a series of 6 suspended, multi-layered laser-etched perspex panels hang from the centre of the gallery. The designs have been etched to digitally represent some of the geological formations along the south coast surrounding the glaciers. These multiple transparent elements and light refraction attempt to recreate the experience of being inside the ice caverns.
The exhibition will open on the 14th of July at No Vacancy Gallery from 5 pm – 8 pm until Sunday 23rd July
