We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Title

WYE

Artist

Mikhael Subotzky

South Africa

1981 –

No image

  • Details

    Media category
    Time-based art
    Materials used
    three channel video installation, colour, sound, deck chairs, relective black Perspex wall-cladding, sound baffling squares, sand
    Edition
    1/5
    Dimensions
    display dimensions variable; duration: 00:48:30 min; aspect ratio: 4:3
    Credit
    Gift of Brian and Gene Sherman 2021. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program
    Location
    Not on display
    Accession number
    49.2021.a-e
    Copyright
    © Mikhael Subotzky
    Artist information
    Mikhael Subotzky

    Works in the collection

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  • About

    Mikhail Subotzky’s complex three channel video installation WYE was commissioned by the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation in 2016. The work examines the human impact of colonisation and the historical links between Britain, South Africa and Australia through a narrative spanning time and space, told from the perspectives of three fictional characters: Craig Hare, a present-day light-house keeper, James T. Lethbridge, a colonial settler in 1820, and Feio, an Australian psycho-anthropologist from the future. Three short films, titled Feio, Hare and Lethbridge, were shown simultaneously on separate screens in a purpose-built sound space. The floor was covered with sand, contributing to an immersive environment that echoes the coastal location featured in each of the films.