Victorian College of the Arts - Research Publications

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http://hdl.handle.net/11343/334

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Just death is true

Sylvester, D (various, 2006)

In 'Just Death Is True' a young woman lies with a blue face pack on, cradling an old fashioned phone against one ear, the thickly applied mask revealing lines in the young woman’s skin. The glazed eyes of the woman and her inability or unwillingness to speak into the phone emphasise the general feeling of entropy in this image, that speaks of youth, time and inevitable mortality.
All You Need To Know You Knew Early

Sylvester, D (Various, 2007)

'All You Need To Know You Knew Early', is part aphorism and morality tale in a photograph of an interviewer, cameraman, subject and us as viewers. Illustrating that on camera one may adopt gestures while looking into a lens as a subject and proposes that the instant of capture is itself a performance. The camera serves as a silent choreographer, dictating movements.
On Holiday

Sylvester, D (Various, 2011-03-04)

'On Holiday' features a 1:1 scale fabrication of the decommissioned Concorde with original cutlery purchased via eBay. Overlooking a sunrise, an elite traveller gazes at an unknown destination. This photograph plays on the minds interpretation of luxury aspirations, where the Concorde promised a future of supersonic travel that is now buried in history, existing only as a symbol of a decadent past. Using visual sleights used by advertising where travel is marketed as a way of both living in the moment and creating cherished memories, this work acts as a memory, a collective memory of what travel on the Concorde may have been.
What Happens Will Happen #3

Sylvester, D (Various, 2011-03-04)

'What Happens Will Happen #3' is one from a series of photographs that speaks of the idealism of youth, harbouring a dream to not just change physically by painting your face however by joining others in like-mindedness, change the world in protest. The image produces a skewed idea of wanting to be involved politically yet self consciously desiring to be cool at the same time. In this photograph a red haired girl paints a peace symbol over her face.
Adidas hikers

Sylvester, D (Various, 2017-04-21)

'Adidas hikers' continues my exploration of pop culture's mixing of authenticity and desirability to create a loose narrative of two models standing at a faux Laurel Canyon hiking expedition that resembles a fashion shoot, selfie, brand recognition and body positivity. The mixing of authenticity and fabrication continues as a major component of my photographic practice.
Fillet-O-Fish

Sylvester, D (Various, 2017-04-21)

‘Fillet-O-Fish’ is a sculpture that resembles a psychiatrist’s couch, however upholstered in a screen print based of the design for the wrapping of the McDonald’s fish burger. Here, I reflect upon through therapy the sensations and memories of even the most fleeting consumable item—fast food—may hold for ourselves as mortal humans. The work is a combination of signifiers obvious and hidden, here I illustrate that brands change, people change and everything dies.
Céline

Sylvester, D (Bus Projects, 2017-10-28)

‘Céline’ is a sculptural work produced for Bus Projects, Melbourne. Essentially a recreation, a prop, of the entryway to high end clothing store, Céline, in which in marble a large box shape spans all lengths of the shopfront windows. It displays just one item: a series of silhouetted letters forming the word ‘Céline’. Backlit in soft halo light, the brand name hovers in front of the onyx like a dream, a subtle reminder that the ‘idea’ of Celine transcends any of its products. The work was a memorial to the brand as it had changed owners and lost the ‘L'accent Aigu’ above the ‘e’. In turn I changed the marble to a sickly green MDF construction to create a tombstone, and the ‘halo’ lighting became comic book green. The work continues my investigation of high-end fashion, this time to its interior spaces that resemble contemporary galleries to the low-end cultural aspects of green slime, death, and comics. This new body of work addressed the research by creating a completely new way of working for myself, that being a sculpture that was ephemeral, coated in acrylic slime, the work would only exist for the duration of the exhibition. I wanted to make point of the similarities of high-end department stores look not being dissimilar to a commercial gallery, that as a viewer or shopper, you are not a person, however an object inside a work of art. The work was lit in its green colouring 24 hours and with the glass frontage to the street, the work activated the street and passers-by in green. A washed light similar to a cave entrance at dusk, similar to Kryptonite. The exhibition was held at well-respected artist run space, Bus Projects and received funding from Creative Victoria. The initial contact from Bus Projects to myself was an initiative for well-known artists to exhibit alongside emerging artists in the other gallery spaces. The exhibition was reviewed in well-respected journal, MEMO Review in Melbourne; featured a catalogue and essay by RMIT’s Nella Themelious and mentioned in Artforums Magazine round up of Australian exhibitions by writer Wes Hill. Afterwards this work was re-made in steel to become a key work for my NGV survey exhibition two years later.
Ghost Story

Sylvester, D (Various, 2017-04-21)

In 'Ghost Story' a photograph depicts a prop hospital door while an actor passes around with an orange in her mouth. Initially I found a banal photo of hospital doors available to buy from a manufacturer in Milwaukee; however, something about it resonated – the cleanliness of colour – and what looked like more doors behind, like heading down a tunnel. I made this style of door, with its ghostly feel in my studio, and placed a TV actor to jump around the corner, pretending to play a joke on whoever is inside, with an orange in mouth, as if to say, “It’s going to be all right”, to play on my common research themes of authenticity and mortality.
Shoobie Doobie

Sylvester, D (Neon Parc, 2021)

Shoobie Doobie is a major solo exhibition of previously not exhibited works in various mediums. The exhibition continues my ever-expanding references of cultural moments and artefacts to build a Gesamtkunstwerk "a total work of art" practice – framed in a hyperreality that is equally wry and melancholic.
No longer exposed to problems or tension

Sylvester, D (Various, 1999)

From 1998, I began making staged, photography, works described as ‘encased miniature dramas’. These early images tended to explore ideas around relationships, conformity and individuality, and, started with written texts, in the case of 'No longer exposed to problems or tension' a small girl listens to music, already at this age seemingly with anxiety that only music can alleviate.

Victorian College of the Arts - Research Publications

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