Neue Luxury is a global dialogue on luxury in the 21st century.

Neue Luxury

Luxury

 

 

The National Gallery of Victoria presents the Australian premiere of the ground-breaking video installation Factory of the Sun by German-born artist Hito Steyerl from the 28 September 2018 – 24 March 2019.

Factory of the Sun, 2015, first shown at the 2015 German Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, is a fully-immersive installation that tells the dystopian story of a group of workers in a labour camp. The participants are forced to perform choreographed dance routines and their movements are transformed into a valuable commodity: artificial sunshine.

 

Steyerl uses light as a metaphor for the agency of individuals as we are faced with the interlacing forces of digital information, economic interests and political power. Highlighting the global flow of data, the video samples a variety of moving image genres, including documentary films, video games, drone surveillance, advertising, news footage and YouTube dance videos.

Inspired by a quote from Donna Haraway (A Cyborg Manifesto, 1984), ‘Our machines are made of pure sunlight,’ Steyerl underscores the relationship between technology, speed and efficiency, and the ethical questions of contemporary digital life.

Acquired by the NGV in 2016, the work invites visitors to recline in sun lounges, surrounded by a digital grid-like pattern, reminiscent of Star Trek’s Holodeck, while the video is projected on a screen in the immersive environment.

Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said, ‘Berlin-based Hito Steyerl is recognised as one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary artists working today and her practice has positioned her as a leading figure in the art world. Her work highlights the ethics, politics, economics and aesthetics of our current digital society and the NGV is proud to have acquired this important work.’

For more please visit www.ngv.vic.gov.au

 

Image 01. Installation view of Hito Steyerl: Factory of the Sun exhibition space at NGV International. Photo: Tom Ross. Image 02. Hito Steyerl. Factory of the sun 2015 (detail), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Suzanne Dawbarn Bequest, 2017. Installation view at 56th Venice Biennale Image courtesy the artist © Hito Steyerl

Art • News • SHARE

Related Features

    422

  • Tiffany Paper Flowers

    Collection launch

    Tiffany & Co. celebrated the debut of its latest jewellery collection, Tiffany Paper Flowers™ at the Collins Street, Melbourne store on Tuesday 28th of August.

    • 136

  • TATSUO MIYAJIMA

    Without zero

    Tatsuo Miyajima is a veteran of the international exhibition circuit whose work has twice been included in the Venice Biennale (1988 and 1999). The artist believes that every human life is unique and important. To this end and over the last three decades, Miyajima has become known for his large-scale, immersive installations, which use LED-lit numbers, counting from one through to nine, backwards and forwards at different speeds, while never hitting zero.

    • 64

  • JOHN WOLSELEY

    Heartlands and Headwaters

    The story of the pelican operates as an evocative microcosm of John Wolseley’s career: in the winter of 2014, the artist was camped in a swampy area just south of Mataranka the Northern Territory, Australia nearing the conclusion of six weeks spent creatively immersed in the wilderness.

About Customer Service Contact
Join Mailing List

Share this