The desmology of encounter : Luke Willis Thompson at the Adam Art Gallery

Abstract

Peter Shand discusses 3 moving image works featured in 'Luke Willis Thompson' at Adam Art Gallery, including: 'Cemetery of Uniforms and Liveries' (2016); 'Autoportrait' (2017); and 'How Long?' (2017), completed as part of Create Residency in association with Chisenhale Gallery. With the controlled use of space and light within the gallery as a point of departure, Shand considers how each work responds differently to "the complexities of colonial trauma and its continued experience", addressing themes of silence, absence and distance within the works; the use of film during production; and issues of race associated with photography and cinema historically. Includes discussion of site and "the art gallery as a place of encounter" as a persistent theme of Thompson's practice.