A collection of knuckle dusters and guns in the corner of a room. A toxic barrel kicked over, its contents oozing all over the place. There is a huge pile of rubble in the middle of the floor. Bird shit is everywhere…
Craig Fisher makes beautiful objects. Objects so colourful and seductive in their appearance that one is instantly drawn to them. However, to pick up one of these knives could entangle us with the crime that seems to have taken place.
One constantly witnesses so much second hand violence, through films, television and other popular media, that it is easy to become numb to the atrocity and horror of it. Why is it we find watching Uma Thurman gratuitously massacring hundreds of ninjas in Kill Bill so fascinating and enjoyable? In a very filmic way Craig Fisher similarly plays with narratives of violence and destruction, colour and composition. However, what his work achieves that the movies cannot, is that the viewer is dropped directly into the space of these happenings. Whether one has been positioned as the victim or perpetrator is unclear, maybe you could even be framed for something you have not done. Fisher tackles nasty or crude situations witha cartoon-like humour that strikes a witty balance between reality and fiction, playfulness and death, sequins and puke.
It's Uncanny
(photo: Emma Emmerton)
Pile 'em up 2009
Floral Exepletives: Green Liberty & Pink Gingham, 2009
