Our current show by Michael Georgetti raises a plethora of concepts, from authorship to audience interaction. To unpack some of these ideas, Lochie Bradfield has put together an essay on the exhibition. Here are his thoughts:

Nietzsche said we could arrive at a Universal Truth if we could claim the opposite of a statement was also a truth. Perhaps Michael has arrived at one by claiming ‘Everything is just something’, for ‘Something’ is also ‘Just Everything’.

In this case my mind turns to holograms, which Michael is fond of using in his work. Holograms work by having one part reflect the whole, in which case every part contains the whole. This exhibition seems a mindful step in the direction of incorporating more of Michael’s life into his art.

For Michael to include chess in this exhibition is significant, at least for me. Chess was the original conductor for our friendship being forged. We got to know each other through a series of chess games one spring when we were teenagers. I’ve never won a game against Michael but I always manage to learn something new from each of the games we play. I’m not sure I can say the same for him, which is to say I’m not sure he’s ever learned anything about chess from me. That never stops him from playing me though.

When I found out Michael was to play Darryl Johansen , one of Australia’s top chess masters , I asked him, “Will you win?” He looked at me, smiled and said, “No – I will lose,” and his eyes beamed.

Loss is just something, I suppose, which we all come to experience and remember, and often it is in such times that we learn the most. This time it is something Michael has factored in. The exhibition also contains a set of installations, video works and readymade objects, most of which were not created by Michael. This decision is obviously a conscious one, for Michael could surely fill many galleries over with his original works. Instead he has chosen to exhibit a childhood painting by his friend Monte, a toy magic garden given to him by his nephew, a garden statue borrowed from his neighbour. He has also invited his friend and colleague Geordie Miller to analyse and document the chess games.

At the heart of these inclusions are an unspoken reference to a large number of the social interactions and connections that animate Michael’s day to day world. It is from these relationships that Michael has chosen to populate the exhibition that you see in front of you.

The exhibition then seems a mindful invitation and validation. So many who have been exposed to art have seen a work at one point in time that made them stop and say aloud, “Hang on a second! I could do that!” With this exhibition I can see Michael nodding his head and saying, “Yes, you could.”

This exhibition sees besides the point of authorship, of genius, perhaps even of creativity. Instead it seems a means of creating exchanges, happenings, perhaps something that is even useful. Michael has created an ephemeral zone here in Chapter House Lane, in which the day to day meanderings of life intersect with what we’ve come to know as art.

It is as though what Michael is saying with this exhibition is that what matters more than the art is the fact that you are here.

Enjoy it and have a nice day.

All photos courtesy of Michael Georgetti, 2015. For more about the exhibition, see Michael’s website.