Wise to the world

2 August 2006

'Hanami (for Sarah)', 2006 by Kit Wise will be shown in his exhibition Superhappiness.

Fantastical cityscapes using landmarks from the Japanese skyline are the basis of a new exhibition by Monash fine arts honours coordinator and artist Kit Wise.

Superhappiness, developed during a three-month Australia Council Tokyo studio residency Wise undertook earlier this year, is on display this month at Melbourne's Conical Gallery.

Each composite digital photograph in the exhibition depicts imaginary cityscapes. The composites combine up to 100 layers, including found online images and film clips as well as Wise's own images.

Printed on clear acrylic sheets, the images are stretched over free-standing Japanese-style folding screens with backlit projections that include animated details, in part evoking Japanese anime.

Wise's work uses composites of contemporary architecture from present-day cities to explore the 'hyper-reality' of our time. "The idea is that the world is being supplanted by a virtual space in which geography doesn't have meaning anymore," he said. Wise's approach explores the state not only in which people live, but also in which art exists.

"While some people see it as a chaotic and frightening state, I see it as incredibly exciting and full of creative possibilities."

Wise said current architecture had in some respects come full circle - from the days of the fluid depictions of the architecture of Medieval and pre-Renaissance Italy - to create shifting, permeable spaces, of which Melbourne's Federation Square is an example.

Contemporary Tokyo was an extreme example of this, where buildings were "entirely fabulous" and often expected to last only five or six years before they were supplanted, Wise said. "They are built almost to serve no function other than to be visual."

The exhibition is part of the 2006 Australia--Japan Year of Exchange, which marks 30 years of strengthened diplomatic ties between the two countries. It is expected to travel to London in 2007.

A graduate of Oxford University and the Royal College of Art in London, Wise undertook research scholarships in Paris, New ork and Rome before settling in Melbourne in 2002. He currently lectures in Fine Arts at the Faculty of Art and Design, Monash University.

What: Superhappiness, Kit Wise
Where: Conical Gallery, Upstairs, 3 Rochester St, Fitzroy.
When: August 5 -- 25. Opening hours Wed-Fri: 12 -- 6 pm, Sat: 12-5 pm.
Opening night, Friday August 4, 6 pm.

For more information contact Melissa Marino, Media Communications, on + 61 3 9905 2085 or 0437 121 978 or Mr Kit Wise on Kit.Wise@ArtDes.monash.edu.au, or +61 3 9903 1941