This too shall pass
Ashe
29 April–27 May
Opening and performance: Friday 28 April, 5.30pm
Artist talk and performance: Saturday 29 April, 1.00pm
Performances each Saturday, 1.00pm
What does it mean to belong – or be shunned – in contemporary society? This too shall pass invites viewers to contemplate the human experience of ageing and loss of connection with self and community. The installation references dehumanising bureaucratic systems with live performance elements.
This too shall pass highlights the loss of human connection and intimacy experienced by the elderly in contemporary society. By highlighting the connection between bureaucracy and identity, the installation draws attention to how personal information collected by the state (and corporations) becomes a defining aspect of an individual’s identity, rendering them as data rather than as human beings with unique stories and experiences.
Documents embedded in concrete blocks cast from the interior of a filing cabinet are evocative of the rough textures and heavy masses of Brutalist buildings, and the bureaucratic processes that contribute to the construction of identity. The combination of these elements comments on the impact of social systems on individual identity and the weightiness of bureaucratic structures in contemporary society, emphasizing the permanence and power of these structures in our lives.
Through the use of various media, such as photographs, sculpture, video, and static performance, This too shall pass invites viewers to contemplate the human experience of ageing and loss of connection with self and community and its impact on human connection, identity and spirit.
Ashe is a visual artist based in Dhudhuroah Country, NE Victoria. He works with a variety of mediums, including photography, sculpture, text, and video, to create poetic and evocative installations that often incorporate live performances. His works explore the complexities of identity, belonging, and marginalization.