Proposal for an unrelated site

19 November 2004 - 27 February 2005
Borg Henry Gallery

Proposal for an unrelated site Paul Cullen, 2004 Courtesy of the artist and Jane Sanders, Art Agent

Paul Cullen's new installation resembles a mysterious experiment in which visitors are invited to scrutinise the 'evidence' for clues.

The artist spoke to the Gallery’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Felicity Milburn.

In Proposal for an unrelated site, you've suggested a kind of parallel universe or impossible space, where gravity is suspended.

Rather than suggesting this to be something universal, I'm thinking of it as more localised, like a disturbance in the field of known things. It’s a kind of proposition, a proposal for some other place. First and foremost, it’s a sculptural project involving objects, drawings and the architectural spaces of the gallery.

You have used quite ordinary materials – furniture, appliances, pencils. Why is this?

Being commonplace is important because it takes the activity into the realm of the everyday. I’m interested in aspects of the traditions of sculpture, such as materiality, space and the use of found objects. The everyday is an important consideration in art practice in terms of subject matter, in the methodologies employed and in materials used. Making something from scratch has a long tradition behind it and the use of the everyday does too. I am always working in relation to this tradition of the found object. I like to dismantle or alter objects when I include them as components of my work . In the case of this exhibition, the tables have been altered in various ways, more as a kind of irrational act than to fit them for some new purpose.

The complete interview can be found in Bulletin 139.