Something Happened is a series of documented performances by Melbourne and Perth based artists Ross Coulter, Hannah Jackson, Tanya Lee and Stuart Ringholt. These videos capture absurd situations that explore boundaries between discomfort, fear, embarrassment, and displacement. Recalling the absurdist tradition, these works straddle a line between humiliation and humour, depicting actions performed in both public and private settings.
The works boldly confront individual and collective fears of embarrassment. The familiar and shared nature of these emotions provides an experience of intimacy, and perhaps brings us closer to the artworks.
Much of what these four artists produce contains a foolish and infantile dimension. However this apparent naïveté also forces a re-examination of what we consider appropriate as public and private behaviour; as well as what is appropriate in contemporary art. This re-examination aims to open a space between exhibitionism and modesty where we become aware of our uncertain place between isolation and social interaction.
Stuart Ringholt is an artist based in Melbourne; he has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally, and is represented in a number of major public and private collections. He is currently a PhD candidate at Monash University and is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
Ross Coulter is an artist based in Melbourne; his has recently exhibited in Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria; Melbourne. In 2013 he completed a MFA (Research) at the VCA and a Bachelor of Fine Art at the Victorian College of the Arts. He is currently a studio artist at Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne.
Hannah Jackson is an artist based in Perth; she recently exhibited in The Aesthetics of Disengagement curated by Chelsea Hopper, Moana Project Space; Perth. She recently completed a Masters in Occupational Therapy at Curtin University.
Tanya Lee is a Perth based artist working across performance, video and drawing. She has exhibited at Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth and also exhibited nationally as part of various artist-run initiatives including Art Proper Collective in Sydney. Tanya completed a BA and Masters (Fine Art) at Curtin University, which included a year at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Dijon.