William Mansfield – Inferno

Sydney-based artist William Mansfield has created an interactive art installation sure to speak to anyone threatened with the fires of hell as a small, disobedient child. The piece is an over-the-top flame-drenched simulation of the hell from Dante’s epic poem Inferno, incorporating all of the bad bits your parents warned you about. Smoke billows out of the entrance – made up of a blow-up children’s toy – to set the scene for the descent into hell. A dull, red light bathes the room and a maniacal cackling extends the parody into the ludicrous.

The reaction experienced upon entering the room is where Mansfield has really subverted the literary and religious conventions of hell. It is nearly impossible not to have fun while interacting with the installation – and outright impossible to not interact with it at all. Tubes of fabric attached to wall-mounted fans blow every which way; forcing anyone game enough to enter to either duck or cop a face-full.

The depiction of hell offered in this exhibit mirrors the sadistic humour in Dante’s work. Mansfield exposes within us our inner child as we experience a kind of unrestrained enjoyment in the face of an inferno. If I knew hell was going to be this fun, I never would have owned up to stealing my brother’s Pokémon cards in 2003. (CB)

May 4–27; Wed-Sun, 12-6pm. Firstdraft, 13-17 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo. Info: firstdraft.org.au

BY CAITLIN BURNS