25 Days
Sara MacKillop
19 October – 11 November 2006
Sara MacKillop, Labels, 2006, labels, 85cm. Photo: Colin Davison
Sara MacKillop takes mass-produced found objects, slightly manipulating or juxtaposing them to re-focus attention towards their formal qualities. Their useful life finished, these objects are resurrected by MacKillop, who rescues them from the thrift-store and grants them new life and gives them sanctuary within the gallery.
Sara MacKillop, ‘25 days’, 2006, installation view. Photo: Colin Davison
Sara MacKillop, ‘25 days’, 2006, installation view. Photo: Colin Davison
Sara MacKillop, ‘25 days’, 2006, installation view. Photo: Colin Davison
The origin of each object is never wholly obscured. However, MacKillop’s subtle manipulations bring to the fore each object’s, often overlooked, formal attributes. What could at first be seen as the result of mere absent-minded game playing, under further examination reveals more than a nod to the grander traditions of twentieth century Modernism. Literally throwaway, MacKillop takes these objects from the realm of the ephemeral, removing any extraneous information in the process, and transforms them into a mirror for our own imaginations and memories.
Sara MacKillop, Green pages, 2006, book pages, 43x34cm. Photo: Colin Davison
Sara MacKillop, Orange pages, 2006, book pages, 43x34cm. Photo: Colin Davison
Sara MacKillop, Maroon pages, 2006, book pages, 43x34cm. Photo: Colin Davison
Sara MacKillop, Mounts, 2006, picture frame, mounts, 27x22cm. Photo: Colin Davison
The specific objects MacKillop chooses and the way in which she uses them are vital to this process of transformation. Pages torn from an old book and pressed like wild flowers under glass; identically sized jigsaw puzzles piled one on top of the other and upside down; an identity parade of same coloured playing pieces from different board games; all are no longer quite ‘current’, but neither are they yet completely ‘retro’. Through selecting and emphasising their specific design – rather than functional – aspects and employing them in their conversion into works of art, MacKillop reunites them with a larger cultural context.
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