4:00am Tondo Rondo Catharine Hodson, Antoinette Wood et al

4:00am Tondo Rondo is a collaborative project between the artist Catharine Hodson and a surface engineer and her team, Antoinette Wood et al. The title ‘surface engineer’ (Apparaître l'ingénieur) is in fact a moniker for commercial cleaners coined by Claude Berri in the film Ensemble, c’est tout. By re-imagining the detritus provided by her creative collaborator, Hodson meshes the roles of cleaners and artists together. As rescuers of objects both the artist and the cleaner perform similar duties. This correlation between the two jobs raises the issue of how menial labour and creative labour are accorded unequal value in society.

Furthermore, the carefully considered rondo formations highlight the perceived disparity between the previously unconsidered aesthetic value of the found objects as disposable ‘junk’ or ‘trash’ and their now stylised renaissance in a gallery space. Yet, in a Duchampian tradition Hodson’s artistic gesture is geared towards highlighting the surreal equivalence of materials and roles rather than distinguishing between the two.

Saturday 5 March 2011: Artist Discussion Chaired by Bridie Lonie with Molly Samsell, Alexandra Kennedy, Catharine Hodson

Click to download the exhibition text (PDF)

Presented alongside Molly Samsell Interfaces and Alexandra Kennedy anisotropy