From Space to Place

What is the difference between space and place? When and how does a space become a place? How does globalisation affect the sense of place of a community?

These are some of the questions that the participating artists addressed through their work in this challenging and innovative show.

From Space to Place presented new works created by 14 early-career Australian artists during their 2004 residency at the International Art Space Kellerberrin (IASKA).

IASKA was a ground-breaking art organisation which runs a cutting edge program of exhibitions and residencies by distinguished contemporary artists in the remote rural community of Kellerberrin, 210 km east of Perth in the heart of the Western Australian wheatbelt. Participating artists lived and worked in the town for periods of up to three months, interacting with the community and developing artworks based on their experience of the place and people.

From Space to Place concentrated on the ambiguities, paradoxes and contradictions that exist between notions of space and place, approaching the project’s theme from two main interpretive angles concerning the interaction between personal and social space, and the interface between social/cultural space and the natural environment.

This exhibition stemmed from an encounter between young artists and the people and place of contemporary rural Australia. The project provided artists with a rare opportunity to work for extended periods of time outside an urban environment.

The resulting works were a testimony to the excitement that grew from the discovery of newvrealities and from a dialogue between individuals who represented sections of society that don’t often have the opportunity to engage with each other.