‘A complex collapse’ appropriates the iconic Australian imagery of the long neck beer bottle and the process of home brewing‚ as a vehicle to explore the pressures encountered by a foreign body in a new environment. The process of being altered by ones environment is a thread shared with the Arrival work. However in 'A complex collapse' the pressure that reshapes the body stems from within. It is an internal force enhanced by environmental changes,the addition of new substances, and most importantly time.
The title, “A complex collapse” refers to the process where complex molecules are broken down into simpler forms during the practice of fermentation. The works investigate the process of change, the way substances, people or thoughts, transform imperceptibly over time, through exposure and contamination. They explore and imagine the loss of control that comes from a gradual molecular change (that occurs within sealed bodies), and document the tension between what bubbles away under the surface and what remains unchanged on the exterior.
In these works the process of brewing suggest a complex breakdown of matter, of histories and of beliefs that occur inside opaque bodies. Such uncertain transformations vary; at times they are positive and successful, whilst at other times they are hidden, pathological and prone to collapse.
Real time
A complex collapse (Primary Fermentation) is a seven day (150 hour) video work that records the gas escaping an airlock during the primary fermentation process of brewing beer. The primary fermentation occurs when the yeast consumes the sugar and in the process creates alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The real time duration suggests a temporal fidelity that questions our understanding of processes through fragments. It is a recording that does not attempt to simplify but instead exists in its complexity and in its unrealistic demands.The extended duration of the work also means that the viewer only ever witnesses part of the process.The camera renders the invisible, visible yet not truly accessible.
A complex collapse (secondary fermentation) comprises of a video recording of a beer bottle undergoing the process of secondary fermentation. Secondary fermentation occurs when the brew is bottled and sucrose is added to carbonate the beer. As the yeast consumes the sugar, co2 is generated and the brew is carbonated inside the opaque bottle. In this instance the sealed body becomes unable to withstand the internal pressure from inside and eventually explodes.
The sealed body has no safeguard for release. The gradual change that occurs internally has no external indicators. The bottle becomes a complex collective where glass, liquid and gas compete precariously under an opaque facade. The tension between the exterior appearance of the glass bottle and the interior transformation is heightened through the real time nature of the works.
Bind and Separate is the attempt at reconstructing the bottle after explosion. An epoxy glue is used to hold the fragments together in order to rebuild the body. However the restoration is not complete, as there are pieces that cannot be retrieved. Furthermore the glue that is used, to reconnect all the fragments, settles and hardens between the gaps, acting as a barrier to reconstruction and thereby illustrating the conundrum that what binds also invariably separates. Bind and separate also exposes the previously invisible fault lines that lay buried within the structure of the glass. Materials: Glass, Araldite
A complex collapse (line 1) 15 min loop‚ The work comprises of four beer bottles in the process of secondary fermentation, their inability to contain their internal pressure leads to a process of prolonged leaking.
Video excerpts
A complex collapse
A complex collapse. Primary Fermentation
Duration: 150hrs
A complex collapse. Primary Fermentation
Duration: 5 hours and 30 minutes
