ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Concrete has been with us for millennia. The basic ingredients—sand, water, and aggregate, a cement-like binder—were being mixed at least as far back as Egyptian times. It was the Romans, however, who really became the masters of this material.
Many Of the Roman Empire’s concrete structures remain standing today; Rome still boasts the Colosseum (completed 80AD), with its foundation formed from cast concrete, and the impressive Pantheon (completed 128AD). The Pantheon’s 43.3-metre dome is still the world’s largest non-reinforced concrete dome.
With the fall of the Roman Empire the secrets of concrete were lost, and it was not until the early nineteenth century that, through the development of Portland Cement, modern concrete was born.
In the research for the exhibition I read it more than once, and it still is a such an overwhelming idea: Concrete is the most-used man-made material in the world today, second only to water as the most-consumed substance on the planet. Can that be true? It is such a staggering thought. In the truth of this fact, one cannot help but wonder—is it concrete’s incredible ubiquity that renders its importance and necessity almost mute, or, inversely, could it be asked: are we even able to imagine a world without concrete?
This exhibition aims to question our preconceptions of concrete. The selected exhibitors have pushed this material beyond the mundane and the everyday, to make it a fresh material of the ‘now’, resulting in poetic and innovative manipulations of concrete—from rough, savage and brutalist through to sleek and highly polished. Linked through the use of concrete, the art, design and architecture in this exhibition combine to highlight the similarities between these intersecting creative disciplines.
Margaret Hancock Davis
Lead Curator
Exhibitors:
Abdul-Rahman Abdullah, Adam Goodrum, Alex Lotersztain, Anna Horne, Baldasso Cortese Architects, Candalepas Associates, CHEB – Deb Jones and Christine Cholewa, Convic, Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Edition Office, Elvis Richardson, Glenn Murcutt, Kyoko Hashimoto and Guy Keulemans, Inari Kiuru, Jamie North, Megan Cope,Rhiannon Slatter, Tom Borgas, Sanne Mestrom, SMART Design Studio and WOOD Melbourne.
Supporters:
This exhibition is supported by the Visions regional touring program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to cultural material for all Australians.
JamFactory acknowledges the support of the South Australian Government through Department for Innovation and Skills and the assistance of the Visual Arts and Crafts Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. JamFactory’s Exhibitions Program is also assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council.
This exhibition’s principal sponsor is Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia. Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia is the peak body for the cement, concrete and quarry industry in Australia.
Its members operate cement manufacturing and distribution facilities, concrete batching plants, hard rock quarries and sand and gravel extraction operations throughout the nation.
Curators:
Margaret Hancock Davis
Lead Curator
Brian Parkes
Co-curator
Text presented on this website are excerpts from CONCRETE: art design architecture.
Profile writers: Leanne Amodeo, Coby Edgar, Caitlin Eyre, Sasha Grbich, Margaret Hancock Davis, Ewan McEoin, Lara Merrington, Brian Parkes and Danielle Robson.
A 264 page catalogue containing commissioned essays and thoughtful insights into each project highlighting the significance of concrete in our lives today.