Julian Hamman

Parkland

2023, 3-channel video & sound installation, 32:35 minutes, 4:3.

Parkland is a time-based work that involves the audience in six unexplained, senseless moments of violence in South Sydney.

Installation created for the 2023 Scratch Art Space Exhibition Program in Sydney, Australia.

Artist Statement

With Parkland, I wanted to create a work that in some way, dealt with the empathy we show, or choose not to show, towards strangers every day. The apathy of a bystander. I wanted to render the audience as mere witnesses to aggression and tragedy. A passive experience where you can choose to engage in whatever way; walking in and out. A place to listen, watch and offer sympathy.

The idea started with thinking about the medium - how often we go to movies and experience moments of violence in a passive sense. Especially video art. How often we walk in halfway through the video and have a few seconds where we decide whether to stay or leave. In essence, I think the gallery experience can be distancing for video works. I’ve tried to use this distance within the piece - detached camerawork presenting mundane activities, punctuated by aggression.

Screenings

• Scratch Art Space, Sydney - Solo Exhibition
  
• LOT Projects, London - Solo Exhibition
  
• Confort Mental, Paris - Solo Exhibition
• Warburton Film Festival - Official Selection
• Young Australians Film Festival - Nominee