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The Substation/ In the air – Artist Panel and Performances /

Location
On-site
The Substation, 1 Market Street, Newport, Victoria 3015, Australia
Dates
23 July 2025
Times
Wed 6–8pm
Format
Exhibition/​Free/​Talk/​Performance/​Outdoor Billboard Gallery
Accessibility

This event is wheelchair accessible and gender-neutral accessible toilets are available. Registered assistance animals are welcome.

Admission

Free

Please RSVP here

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION

This is a free event, please note that spaces are limited. RSVP here to secure your attendance at the event.

Join us for an evening of conversation and live performance surrounding In the air, a group exhibition curated by Dr. Jessica Clark currently showing at The Substation, that explores the urgent entanglements between energy, industry, and Country.

Exhibiting artists Aidan Hartshorn, Casey Jeffery, Cassie Sullivan, Emily Parsons-Lord, Francis Carmody, Xanthe Dobbie, and curator Jessica Clark, will gather to collectively reflect upon the tensions between progress and preservation, consumption and collapse, and the role of creative practice in navigating the complex ecological and political climate of the present.

The panel discussion will be followed by performances by artists Emily Parsons-Lord and James Howard, drawing on their practices concerning atmosphere, vibration, and sonic texture.

Presented in the context of The Substation – a repurposed power station turned multi-artform space – In the air collectively draw focus to the vulnerability and wreckage inherent to the now.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Humanity is consuming too much too fast, and the planet is at a breaking point.

In the air variously explores critical perspectives on energy and power production, consumption, excess, and human impact, past, present and future. Featuring new and recent works by a selected group of Australian artists, the exhibition highlights the realities of industry, infrastructure, and technology to the detriment of Country.

Silicon, steel, silver, cobalt, graphite, coal, nickel, copper, tin, lead, chlorine, petroleum, the list of rare earth metals (REMs) required to power life and living is seemingly endless. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of REMs are extracted across the globe, for solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, but also anything with a screen or battery.

In the air equally draws focus to the electrical currents and electro-magnetic waves circulating within the natural realm, in the earth, in the body, in the air, and beyond. In doing so, the exhibition is grounded by an Indigenous knowledge framework that acknowledges the interrelationship between life, materiality, and place. 

Participating artist’s channel notions of confusion, connection, curiosity, and prompt a contemplative space to consider an urgent human responsibility to act at an individual and collective level. Presented in the context of The Substation – a repurposed power station turned multi-artform space – works of art collectively draw focus to the vulnerability and wreckage inherent to the now.

Curated by The Substation Artform Advisor, Jessica Clark.

ARTISTS

Aidan Hartshorn

Casey Jeffery

Cassie Sullivan

Emily Parsons-Lord

Francis Carmody

Sabrina Nungarrayi Gibson

Xanthe Dobbie

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Dr. Jessica Clark is a proud palawa/pallawah woman, born in lurtruwita/trowunna and currently living and working on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm/Melbourne. She is a curator, researcher, and writer with a background in art history and education. Clark holds a PhD Fine Art and Music (2023), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, which was awarded The Chancellor's Prize for Excellence, University of Melbourne 2024.

Currently, Clark is Curator at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA); Curatorial Manager, Victorian First Peoples Art and Design Fair at Creative Victoria; Ursula Hoff Fellow (2024-26), University of Melbourne and an Artform Advisor at The Substation.

Image by Cassie Sullivan

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1 Market Street, Newport,
Victoria 3015, Australia

Currently closed
Wed–Sat 11am–5pm

Gallery hours: Wed-Sat 11-5pm (03) 9391 1110
info@thesubstation.org.au

We acknowledge and recognise the Ancestors, Elders and families of the Yalukit-willam of the Kulin Nation, who are the traditional custodians of the land that The Substation is on. We extend our respects to their ancestors and elders past and present, and to all First Nations people.

We are committed to continually improving our services to ensure our events can be enjoyed by all. If you have specific access requirements (including seating arrangements for events) please get in touch.

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