The 2011 Sister City Biennial exhibition titled Urbanition opens tonight in Sydney.
As a collaborative exhibition between San Francisco Art Commission (SFAC) Gallery and CarriageWorks, Urbanition the art community’s response to greener and more liveable cities.
The exhibition is addressed to the Mayors of San Francisco and Sydney, as artists propose a range of unique and visionary solutions for city life.
“The key focus of the exhibition is to bring together artists from San Francisco and Sydney to look at the idea of what a city can be,” said Director of CarriageWorks, Lisa Havilah.
“It’s about artists rethinking or imagining how a city could be in the future.”
Artworks vary from video and multimedia to performance and sculptures and address issues like climate change, pollution and immigration.
Sydney artist Chris Fox proposes his work, Salon Jet pack, as the future for transportation in the city.
“Basically it’s a transport network that styles your hair while you fly around the city,” he said.
Salon Jetpack comes in five different hairstyles or “tribes” as Fox likes to call it: ponytail, mohawk, bob, quiff and afro.
Fox said the idea was for people from different cities to join a particular tribe and “change your identity into a Jet packer.
“It’s this sort of brand identity gone rogue.”
Fox said he wanted to “allow people to see the parallels in which they obsess about their new car or electronics.”
He admitted his proposal was “a little tongue in cheek” but likened its feasibility or probability to the government’s constant promises for better transportation.
“The endless proposals we hear from the city for a new train line don’t seem as distant as a Salon Jetpack network.”
Ms Havilah said she’s looking forward to Sydneysiders’ reaction to Urbanition.
“When artists make responses to issues and ideas it gives audiences an entry point into the work.”
Curators and artists will speak tonight at the exhibtion opening at 6pm.
Urbanition will run from August 4 to September 3.
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