Day out for the Daleks
January 16th - February 7th 1998

Joanna Fursman | Kate Gray | Roger McKinley | Susan Philipsz | Shane Whelehan
The day where the Daleks discover human senses and go crazy with sensory amazement.

The modern world is becoming more and more automated with computers and machines interfacing our contact with the environment but does this mean we are loosing our faculties to sense or are we becoming sensitive to a different and possibly larger range of stimuli? Perhaps we are becoming able to sense what previously would have been non-sense......

Depicting an architectural feature within the space using rosemary oil emulsified in green paint, Fursman's Wall of Smell deals with the evocative power of smell and creates a subtle environment in which the surrounding aroma emanates from a visual feature.

Gray's video piece Game Over uses footage of the original space invader game interspersed with footage of a youth's hands frenetically playing a contemporary arcade game. The piece portrays a complex level of sensory interaction with electronic machines with which human usage, familiarity and even dependency has greatly developed over the years since the humble space invader.

In relation to today's glamorously packaged and artificially flavoured foodstuffs, a sense of taste denial is suggested with Mc Kinley's Perfect survivalists food package. The package provides the average human with the precise quantity of calories and vitamins needed to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Philips' poem / buried a sound deep in the ground is a sound piece which is hidden in the space. The source of the sound is traceable through tiny holes drilled into a surface.As you listen and trace the location of the sound the poem acts as a locating map echoing the idea of emanating soundwaves.

Whelehan's machine Activity void 0 - 2750mm presents something which has a large presence and seemingly physical body but gives way to nothingness when touched. Through a simple act of transformation the machine gives body to air.