Richard Goodwin, Poroplastic 1: Red octopus, 2008, steel, plastic, motorcycle parts, Courtesy of the artist, photography Joanne Saad
Visitors to Building 10 (the old Fairfax Building in Ultimo) this year have been intrigued by a new addition to the mezzanine level at the Jones Street end of the atrium space: parts of a disassembled motorcycle are arranged on a steel frame, frozen mid-explosion.
‘Poroplastic 1: Red Octopus” is the work of multidisciplinary artist and architect, Richard Goodwin. Goodwin’s work is concerned with several nodes of research – this represents a body of work that examines the machine as exoskeleton.
The form of ‘Poroplastic 1′ is not a haphazard arrangement, but derived from intensive 3D modelling using highly detailed computer animations. Another major project Goodwin has been pursuing is modelling the publicly accessible spaces in city buildings, and visualising intersections in the form of parasites or openings.
An earlier contribution by Goodwin to UTS campus is situated in the Markets building outside the Law Faculty – two round chambers set into the wall contain wigs and clothing, connected by a single metal bar to text (Articles 26 & 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) etched into the concrete. The use of clothing in these earlier works were Goodwin’s gesture towards the clothing as second skin, as both exoskeleton and carrier of the body’s history.
More recently Goodwin exhibited with Michael Snape and UTS Photography and Situated Media director David Burns in an exhibition ‘Co-Isolated’. In this exhibition Goodwin combined several elements of his work: performance and vehicles old and new. The vehicle as readymade, altered by combination with other vehicles or additions of fabric or extensions have been an ongoing theme in his work. One of the most elegant of these, comprising a brand new Honda motorcycle strapped onto the back of a Chinese delivery tricycle, won Goodwin the 2011 Wynne Prize at the AGNSW.
Goodwin’s multidisciplinary work across architecture, design, visual and performance art brings together a strong set of ideas and strategies for contemporary urban life, and interrogates how we define and use our public spaces.
If you are interested in hearing more about Richard Goodwin and his work this lecture from the College of Fine Arts, is well worth watching:
