Lyon Housemuseum Galleries in Kew presents a cinematic installation of A Drone Opera by multi-disciplinary artist Matthew Sleeth. Two monumental 66-panel LED screens will be mounted on trusses and presented as sculptural objects in a dramatic evocation of a rock concert with four speaker stacks to amplify the sound. The multi-channel installation will occupy the entire central gallery of the Lyon Housemuseum Galleries – measuring 26m x 13m – and will be on show for a limited time, from 14 – 29 March.
‘A Drone Opera was always imagined as a sensory experience – for an audience to viscerally encounter often abstracted ideas like total surveillance, military violence or our fear and fetishisation of new technologies.’ Matthew Sleeth.
Exploring a narrative of desire, fear and destruction, the immersive film has been structured around the myth of Icarus as a framework to explore our complex relationship with technology. Featuring opera singers, the choreography of custom-built drones and laser set design, this uniquely seductive world becomes a poetic reflection of our anxiety surrounding surveillance. Live mapping of the space makes visible the idea the we are now all being watched - all the time - and includes excerpts from CIA FLIR footage to draw attention to the violence carried out in our names. A Drone Opera is produced by new-media artist Kate Richards with an original libretto by composer Susan Frykberg.
The two week installation of A Drone Opera at Lyon Housemuseum Galleries will be accompanied by a diverse series of thought-provoking, multi-sensory and unique programs and events. Two panel discussions, titled: Surveillance Cities and Expanded Fields of View will explore our contemporary love affair with technology and the new reality of constant surveillance: how facial recognition, autonomous vehicles, and computer-aided design are changing our urban landscapes and the way we interact with one another.
On the final night of the exhibition, drummer/percussionist Nat Grant, performing on two drum kits, and noise guitarist Dave Brown will activate the space with a responsive performance.
The Lyon Housemuseum has a longstanding relationship with the artist Matthew Sleeth; founding patrons Corbett Lyon and Yueji Lyon have been collecting the work of Sleeth for more than a decade. This includes commissioned video art, large-scale installations and 3D printed sculptures. A Drone Opera also belongs to the permanent Lyon Collection, a 30-year Collection of contemporary Australian art. Among the other 55 artists represented in the Collection are Howard Arkley, Patricia Piccinini, Kathy Temin, Polly Borland, Brook Andrew and Callum Morton.
For more visit: www. lyonhousemuseum.com.au
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