Aesthetics for Birds

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art for Everyone

Jennifer A. McMahon on the Drag

| 0 comments

This is entry #38 in our 100 Philosophers, 100 Artworks, 100 Words Series.

Philosopher: Jennifer A. McMahon, The University of Adelaide

Artwork: The Drag, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, 2015, Rover P6: 2-channel video. Colour, sound, 28 minutes. Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney. (stills below)

Words: Envisage a world with no fossil fuel.  A former car racing enthusiast saws his beloved car in half, dismantles it and carries, drags and pushes it to another location. He then lovingly bolts the car back together and reassembles it.  Not to drive (no fuel).  Some blue trim on his grey boiler suit, red upholstery, but otherwise, black on white.  Slow and heavy hearted though humorous in a laconic kind of way, I found I could not exhaust the implications and associations conjured by the work, savouring it and returning to the thought of it again and again.  Beautifully realized.

 

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *.