Survey: Three Days/ Thirty Four Artists/ One Shed

‘Survey’ was an exhibition that uniquely brought together, albeit very briefly, the collective talents of a range of Sydney’s emerging artists alongside a number of more established local practitioners. Together such artists comprised painters, sculptors, object-designers, performers, musicians, photographers and film and video makers. Singular also was the location of the event; the recently cleared railway sheds to one side of the state-funded, multi-arts organisation CarriageWorks. Unlike CarriageWorks though, ‘Survey’ was realised with the utmost professional attention to detail but without funding or a budget. This testifies to the exceptional level of commitment and capability of the artists and organisers who initiated this project off their own backs.

Of course, ‘Survey’ represented but a section of the considerable and extremely active independent artist community who work in this city. The railway sheds building in which their work was shown turned out to be the ideal venue for the occasion; a vast, two-storey ex-industrial structure in the heart of Redfern/Newtown unlike almost any other in Sydney. In fact, the building was such a fundamental aspect of the general success of ‘Survey’ providing as it did an architectural scope rarely accessible to artists here and to which those participating responded with overwhelming enthusiasm and vision.

Indeed, what could have been a shambles - given the extremely tight timeframe, considerable number of artists involved and sheer scale of the ‘gallery’ – turned out to be a supremely confident gesture that highlighted the collective ability of a diverse range of independent Sydney artists. In the end ‘Survey’, for all its brevity, was an intense and immersive experience generated within an architectural setting basically unparalleled in the local artistic landscape. The creative and organisational achievement of ‘Survey’ as an independently staged exhibition/event not only suggests a sequel, it practically demands one...

Alex Gawronski