Shifting Definitions

A happy merging of art, craft and design is the clever result of a curatorial twist on a reincarnation of the 2010 Jam Factory¹ exhibition Making Waves, recently on show at Fortitude Valley’s Gallery Artisan.² Set within painted walls reminiscent of vibrant turquois seas the collection of fifteen handcrafted wooden surfboards by Peter Walker are now exhibiting under the new title of One True Religion.

Originally curated by Margaret Hancock, the initial positioning of the collection emphasised the functionality of the surfboards in their capacity to act as mediators between man and the kinetic power of the ocean. In the exhibition catalogue of 2010 the foregrounding of fluid dynamics and woodwork techniques³ positioned the works as primarily objects of aesthetic and technical beauty.

Intentionally or not, by repositioning the exhibition under the new title One True Religion, Gallery Artisan shifted the emphasis onto the ideological attributes of the boards. By privileging the namesake of the exhibition which was inspired by the Dave Hickey quote ‘surfing is the one true religion’, the exhibition is contextualised by the notion that beach culture simultaneously encompasses and transcends all religion and religious difference.

Within this context the quirky detailing on the eclectic collection of boards creates a strange and surprising dialog about the undefinable nature of Australian culture. Furthermore the handcrafted aspect of the works adds a dimension to the physical presence which takes the surfboard as an artistic medium in a new direction from similar contemporary pieces such as Philip George’s Inshallah (God Willing) 2009-10, Vernon Ah Kee’s cantchant 2007, and Scot Redford’s Perpetual Abstraction (7066 A.D.) 1997.⁴

My personal favourites are those boards detailed by singes from hot rocks, which embody a sense of tension and risk that reflects the sometimes volatile race relations that play out on our beaches. Overall this collection is a wonderfully successful merger between art and life and deserves to be presented as such.

Eileen Abood

1. JamFactory’s exhibition spaces showcase local, national and international work by leading artists, craftspeople and designers.

2. Artisan is the trading name for Craft Queensland, a not-for profit company supported by Arts Queensland and Australia Council funding. Artisan is aimed at developing markets and audiences to enable a self-sustaining and strong creative sector. Artisan presents exhibitions of high calibre and ilk situating art, craft and design, within our culture, time, and place.

Artisan 2011, ‘About Artisan’ viewed 29 September 2011 <www.artisan.org.au/>.

3. Thomson, M 2010, ‘Fluid and Solid’, PeterWalker Wooden Surfboards, JamFactory, Adelaide.