MGA Exhibition, Brutel, Tender, Human, Animal Roger Ballen Photography

Roger Ballen Dresie and Casie, twins, West Transvaal 1993 gelatin silver print

The photography is unsettling presenting workfrom 1983 - 2006. Ballen was born in New York City in 1950, he was introduced to photography at an early age, through his mother who worked for magnum photography agency and also ran her own gallery in New York. Roger Ballens works have been collected in the following books: boyhood (1970), Dorps (1986), platteland (1994) and many more.

The Photograph that stood out the most for me was the image of Dresie and Cassie, twins. This photograph was very confronting and hard to look at, it is a scary image thay both looked like mass - murderers, they had that look about them. They are drolling and have a stare that scared me. But art is not all about beauty.

All the photographs that Roger Ballen had taken have no visual depth, they all look very flat that is done intentically to make them look creepy, and add some shadows around the figures. Roger used black and white photography diliberatley to set the mood, as these pictures are mysterious and creepy, if they were in colour they would set a different mood, happy and bright. All the photographs that were on display used alot of line and shapes within the photo itself.

I didnt like this exhibition myself, i think because it was so confronting and creepy, i think it will stick in the back of my head though. I think i didnt like it because i have never witnessed this sought of photography before it was something new and extremly different.

Design Now Exhibition, Melbourne Museum

Kim Wong, Jewellery, Three Greedy Pigs from the Bedtime Stories collection, 2008 Photo: Kim Wong

Design Now! is object gallerys annual exhibition held at Melbourne Museum that presents the work of outstanding graduates from applied art and design courses nationwide.There is a broad range of designs that are shown from furniture to jewellery.

There was a design that stood out straight away from all the rest which was The Sound Bubble by Naomi Fogel, Naomis design reminded me of the Sydney Opera house,i liked this design because it is aimed at melbournes rapid growth of music culture and we dont have any pubs that are decent enough to listen to live music this is a real must for Melbourne, we need it.

Another design i liked was the jewellery that was made by Kim Wong. She made: Romantic Citizens, Twin Chimps, Winter Wonderland, Princess Nishtha, Three Greedy Pigs and Peek a Boo. I liked these designs because they are fun and quirky each piece of jewellery uses alot of colour and they are very bold.

Kim has captured the individual spirit of each animal, this jewellery is designed for people who dont take themselves to seriously and perhaps indulge once and a while in childhood dreaming.

I enjoyed this exhibition because it showed a range of different designs, it was interesting to see what was thought of, and how the design works at this time in life. It was very interesting to see different designs all in the one space.