MEDITATIONS #1, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney (2006)

If you leave me can I come too?

Curated by BEC DEAN, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney

Invitation ‘IF YOU LEAVE ME CAN I COME TOO?’ Australian Centre for Contemporary Photography, Sydney, 2006

Installation view: Meditations #1, Australian Centre for Photography Sydney, 2006

REVIEWS

You’re a loser, baby!

Not every exhibition has its own theme song. In a cunning move that cuts out the fuss of sound systems and copyright, curator Bec Dean’s exhibition is called If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? That way, Mental as Anything’s boppy tune gets stuck in your head, creating a catchy virtual soundtrack. When they ask If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?, the Mentals put a cheeky spin on the heartbreak of being dumped. This exhibition uses similar tactics. Nine Australian artists mix a healthy dose of wit in photographs, installations and videos exploring the treacherous emotional territory of melancholia, loneliness and despair. (…)

BORIS+NATASCHA’s DVD Meditations #1 parodies New Age self-help tapes. A soothing voice coaxes a naked woman to feel powerless and worthless, chanting the loser mantra: “You will never be good enough.”  This is strong stuff.

Sydney Morning Herald, March 17, 2006