Cool Change (In the middle of a heat wave)
Group exhibition
Curated by Floorplan Studio
18 - 22 January 2023
Abstract Thoughts, Darlinghurst NSW

Emma Pinsent, Henry Butterworth, Jade Court Gold, Lisa Myeong-Joo, Lucille Martin, Mori, Mungo Howard, Thomas Kuss, Thomas Kusturin

Born out of a growing urgency to discuss and untangle the complexities of the world around us, Cool Change is framed by Australia’s shifting cultural and ecological landscapes. The exhibition embodies a collective desire to nurture and understand the worlds we inhabit, creating space for perspectives that subvert western-colonial ideologies and celebrate connections to Country, ancestors, human and non-human life, whilst also offering regenerative conversations around visual culture.

Encompassing a wide variety of creative practices Cool Change allows for numerous relationships and points of correspondence to emerge through the artworks. The artists draw upon the past to confront the present moment in time and bear witness to the impacts of our own undoing as we only begin to comprehend the true extent of the Earths interconnectedness and the ramifications of extractive capitalist economies.

Water organically evolved into a central motif of Cool Change weaving its way through artworks and ideas. The element echoes the fluidity of the present moment and the entanglement of all beings. It simultaneously foregrounds the physical implications of the climate emergency, including landmarks swallowed by rivers and oceans fouled by waste.

Cool Change uses creative storytelling to highlight how human beings are relational entities bound and influenced by environments. We are not separate from the earth; we are a part of it, every living thing, small or large, is part of the interconnected web of life.