52 ACTIONS: COMMONGROUND, 2021
Gillian Kayrooz, The Commonground Series, 2021, comissioned for
Artspace - 52 Actions.
Full Program ︎
Artspace - 52 Actions.
Full Program ︎
52 ACTIONS is Artspace’s latest online commissioning platform supporting artists living and working in Australia through the development and presentation of new works.
This new iteration utilises the digital framework established by 52 ARTISTS 52 ACTIONS to support Australian artists, collectives, performers, writers and creatives through the commissioning of new work. Each week for a year a different participant will present a new commission on the Artspace website and across our digital platforms – from live performance to photography and video, sound and text-based work to interventions, digital public programs and more.
Hey, how are yous? This week I want you to wander with no intention and in good company, or to give it to you straight - take a walk with a mate.
This series of actions titled, ‘Commonground’ revisits the three suburbs that I grew up in and have spent the majority of my life travelling between for school, work, family and friends.
This new iteration utilises the digital framework established by 52 ARTISTS 52 ACTIONS to support Australian artists, collectives, performers, writers and creatives through the commissioning of new work. Each week for a year a different participant will present a new commission on the Artspace website and across our digital platforms – from live performance to photography and video, sound and text-based work to interventions, digital public programs and more.
Hey, how are yous? This week I want you to wander with no intention and in good company, or to give it to you straight - take a walk with a mate.
This series of actions titled, ‘Commonground’ revisits the three suburbs that I grew up in and have spent the majority of my life travelling between for school, work, family and friends.
Walking through Parramatta for seven minutes and thirty seconds.
Walking through Merrylands for five minutes and forty-one seconds.
Walking through Guildford for nine minutes and one second.
Parramall, 2021
The Roxy, 2021
Parramall Remains, 2021Parramatta, Merrylands and Guildford each have their own charm, for better or for worse, as well as incredible food and architecture shaped over decades of multicultural communities calling these suburbs home.
I wanted to carry out the simple action of walking, to take you with me through these spaces of domestic and social utility, in particular laneways, arcades, carparks, local shopping malls and main streets. The ‘tiny planet’ videos are created with a 360 degree camera that visually references and reshapes the stigma-fueled ‘othering’ of Western Sydney. I hope it is both cathartic and a point of reference for future trips to these neighbourhoods (particularly for a feed - you can’t go wrong).
I wanted to carry out the simple action of walking, to take you with me through these spaces of domestic and social utility, in particular laneways, arcades, carparks, local shopping malls and main streets. The ‘tiny planet’ videos are created with a 360 degree camera that visually references and reshapes the stigma-fueled ‘othering’ of Western Sydney. I hope it is both cathartic and a point of reference for future trips to these neighbourhoods (particularly for a feed - you can’t go wrong).
Merrylanda Cakes, 2021
Merrylands Arcade, 2021
Merrylands Community Garden, 2021
These visual maps might also belong to a not-too-distant future archive as these sites undergo rapid change. Some suburbs are becoming unrecognisable through constant states of mass development, homogenisation and gentrification, and historical buildings, malls and generations-owned small businesses are in the process of being demolished.
The walks are accompanied by a visual archive of photos I have taken over the past year and include a few cheeky annotations to give them background and character. Finally, I’ve created an Instagram filter that designates you a freestanding South-West carpark to develop your own affinity with.
I acknowledge and pay my respects to the Darug people, the traditional custodians of the land on which I work and walk on. Sovereignty was never ceded.
The walks are accompanied by a visual archive of photos I have taken over the past year and include a few cheeky annotations to give them background and character. Finally, I’ve created an Instagram filter that designates you a freestanding South-West carpark to develop your own affinity with.
I acknowledge and pay my respects to the Darug people, the traditional custodians of the land on which I work and walk on. Sovereignty was never ceded.
Guildford Pedestrain Overpass, 2021
Behind Guildford Hotel, 2021
The Pipeline, 2021
Gillian Kayrooz, Walking Through Parramatta for Seven Minutes and Thirty Seconds, 52 Artists 52 Actions Artspace, 2021, installation by StoryBox Parramatta, single channel video, colour, sound, 7 minutes, 30 seconds
© Gillian Kayrooz 2022. all rights reserved.