SPACE B
DAVID-ASHLEY KERR
ARCADIA
The title of this photographic series, Arcadia, is intended in the ironic sense, used in reference to the early colonial representation of Australia as a pastoral paradise. Using staged performance, Kerr depicts rituals associated with farming to metaphorise the binary nature of patriarchy and primary production. The dark, sacrificial undertone of the lone figure in this series of self-portraits acts as an examination of the damaging interaction between humans and the environment.
The accompanying video work Clash (2014) expands upon the dystopian themes explored in Arcadia. Depicting two men who might very well be the one person, Clash is an unconventional self-portrait. Through a cyclical narrative, Kerr interrogates the propensity for violence amongst men. Here, violence between two individuals is conflated with self-harm, in a manner that questions to what extent our interpersonal relationships are actually contingent upon the personal perception of ourselves.
