The Burning is an exhibition of new work by Benjamin Crowley made during his year as Artist in Residence, focusing on the existential concerns of living with truth and sincerity and avoiding ‘bad faith’. Coined by Sartre, living in bad faith is to adopt false values and to disown innate freedom for societal or external pressures.

Benjamin’s practice has been concerned with the critique of identity and culture; specifically Australian culture and masculinity. Much of the aim within this critique was to highlight the adoptive and performative and therefore inauthentic elements of identity. The Burning re-contextualises this interest in broader philosophical terms. Influenced by popular existential ideas and the writings of Sartre, Camus and Kierkegaard; the exhibition references in particular Kierkegaard’s idea of the ‘dizziness of freedom’; the dual sensations experienced when standing by a cliff face – the fear of falling and the impulse to throw oneself off – through conceptual and literal motifs within the exhibition. In part, The Burning is attempting to provoke this sense of dread and dizziness.

Artist Talk
Come along to the Artist Talk on Wednesday November 25 at 6:00 pm, where guests will gain a deeper insight into the The Burning. Entry is free.