The Desires of Mute Things

We want to see suffering, serenity, humour, when we know nothing. Colonisers of the world, we want everything to speak to us: the beast, the dead, the statues. And these statues are mute. They have mouths and don’t speak. They have eyes and don’t see us.
Chris Marker and Alain Resnais, Les statues meurent aussi (Statues also die) 1953

The Desires of Mute Things responds to the colonial collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It draws a vague outline around a network of contentious and often problematic representations of people and place. A drifting eye lingers on objects and spaces within the museum (both public and hidden) while an anonymous voice follows a train of thought that is prompted by the objects, spaces and people it encounters along the way.

Thanks to: the Salamanca Arts Centre, Sarah Thomas, The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Jane Stewart, Zoe Rimmer, Greg Lehman, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Advisorary Council, Mark Cutler (narration), Wide Angle Tasmania, the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian College of the Arts

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	The Desires of Mute Things 2015 HD video installation and objects 14:10 mins This work was originally commissioned by the Salamanca Arts Centre as part of the exhibition 'Colonial Afterlives' Curated by Sarah Thomas

	We want to see suffering, serenity, humour, when we know nothing. Colonisers of the world, we want everything to speak to us: the beast, the dead, the statues. And these statues are mute. They have mouths and don’t speak. They have eyes and don’t see us. Chris Marker and Alain Resnais, Les statues meurent aussi (Statues also die) 1953 The Desires of Mute Things responds to the colonial collection of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It draws a vague outline around a network of contentious and often problematic representations of people and place. A drifting eye lingers on objects and spaces within the museum (both public and hidden) while an anonymous voice follows a train of thought that is prompted by the objects, spaces and people it encounters along the way. Thanks to: the Salamanca Arts Centre, Sarah Thomas, The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Jane Stewart, Zoe Rimmer, Greg Lehman, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Advisorary Council, Mark Cutler (narration), Wide Angle Tasmania, the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian College of the Arts