TERRA-THERMA - A Journey To Iceland Through Art Comes to No Vacancy Gallery

Internationally acclaimed Visual Artist and Multi-Sensory creator Benjamin Knock will this July in Melbourne present Terra-Therma at No Vacancy Gallery. Opening on Friday 14 July, this is Iceland seen through the eyes of the artist who travelled with a videographer and sound recordist to capture incredible footage of the landscape. This new work acts as both a research project and a multisensory exhibition and features a series of paintings and sculptures that transport the audience to the frostiest part of the world. Complimenting the exhibition is a 45-minute composition based on sound recordings that capture the cracking and creaking of the great glaciers.
 
Knock worked closely with sound artist Moritz Zeisner (BER) to capture field recordings of the glaciers and the surrounding volcanically active areas using a Hydrophone, Seizmaphone and Geophone. These sounds have been transformed into a composition that literally aurally drops the audience inside the frozen hydrogen structures.

 

Travelling to the remote east coast of Iceland Knock explored glaciers and ice caverns leading him to map the landscape using Lidar technology. The exhibition is an essay on the environment and the impact humans are having on one of the most fragile and important ecosystems of the world. Knock with this exhibition has set out to highlight the impermanence of the building blocks that make up our current Holocene. It's no surprise the artist is a man of ethics and recently turned down a large commission from BHP Billiton. Terra-Therma is the perfect response to that rejection of a corporate giant.  

 

A film directed by Emile Zola will be presented as part of the exhibition and is narrated by Anncii Sjöburg Lifmark who was also present on the expedition to Iceland. The film presents incredible footage captured by Knock and the videographer and features beautiful drone footage along with close-ups of the glaciers and ice caverns that could be straight from the movie Interstellar. This is another world; this is Iceland as seen through the artist's eyes. A beautiful barren, icy landscape crying out for the world to care and act now before it's too late.
 
Whilst in Iceland, Knock also collected a small amount of ice and water samples from around the glaciers. He then mixed this into the pigments used to create the collection. Knock has not only captured the beauty of this remote landscape but literally brought a little bit of Iceland back to Melbourne. The paintings are based on the fragmented nature of the glaciers and utilise acrylic, oils and aerosol to capture the impermanence of the ever-changing structures.
 
“To conceptualize the work,” said Knock, “I spent a lot of time at all the terraforming elements that had sculpted the surrounding landscapes and biospheres. I really wanted the audience to feel as though they two were experiencing the glaciers. This is where the concept for the suspended panels came from.”

 

To complement the paintings a series of 6 suspended, multi-layered laser-etched perspex panels hang from the centre of the gallery. The designs have been etched to digitally represent some of the geological formations along the south coast surrounding the glaciers. These multiple transparent elements and light refraction attempt to recreate the experience of being inside the ice caverns.

This is an exciting exhibition that is sure to capture the audience's attention. Knock is dedicated to captivating the public's imagination and bridging the gap between surrealism and our natural environment. His expertise lies in creating large-scale murals, digital world-building, and fine art studio work. He has gained recognition for his captivating paintings on buildings, installations and exhibits regularly around the globe. His artistic style draws significant inspiration from geology and the hidden wonders beneath our feet. The exhibition will open on the 14th of July at No Vacancy Gallery from 5pm – 8pm.

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