It almost seems like another world away- and in a way it was, look at all 2014 has swept over us so far- but here is a fantastic snapshot of my little project from February this year. Filmed and edited by Andrew Ferguson from Ferguson Films, the video shows the seven films exhibited in Melbourne's laneways and various sites as part of my Masters of Fine Art at Monash University. Big thanks to all who assisted, attended the exhibition, and showed their support.

Last week I exhibited seven video works in Melbourne's CBD over three nights as the culmination of my Masters of Fine Art at Monash University. The series Untitled (domestic gestures) shows various cheeky gestures performed in public spaces (letting off a fire extinguisher, rolling down a hill, smashing plates etc etc). The works were then shown in various contexts- a library, a laneway, shop windows, a bar!- repeating and looping, ad infinitum. I was thinking about expectations of behaviours and boundaries to do with public space, to do with women, and the labour and maintenace of society. But I also hoped the works would function as a little "message in a bottle"- something noticed by the usual flaneurs and travellers through the city as a humourous interruption to their day. There were no labels or explantory texts on the works to facilitate further information. I was pretty happy with how it all went (bar some tech issues, ce la vie!), and the happiest news came to me this week. A librarian commented to a work colleague who was watching my video that it was causing confusion at the lending desks. The librarians would often see someone at the desks, move to help them, but find they were instead watching my video. Ah, my little message in a bottle...

Some install shots of last year's c3 show here- http://www.c3artspace.com.au/tania-smith/

Untitled (refrain) was an installation of performance videos exhibited at c3 Contemporary Arts Space at the Abbotsford Convent in July this year. The videos were displayed on five CRT televisions and DVD players and documented a range of performances in a costume designed in collaboration with Kiki Ando. The performances enacted a state of jouissance, a stolen moment of bodily pleasure, a dance-like gesture of delight. One of the performances took place in the site of the installation itself, captured on the gallery's closed security system and greeting the visitors as they entered the gallery space. Many thanks to Jon Butt from c3 for his assistance with the exhibition and the lovely Darebin Waste Transfer station employees, who were generous with their assistance in acquiring the many tv and dvd players used in the exhibition.
http://www.c3artspace.com.au/tania-smith/