Modified

Exhibition Details

ORGANISING INSTITUTION
Parallax Productions Pty Ltd

ARTIST
Paul Caporn

CATEGORY
A, B, C (selected)
MEDIUM
photo media, dioramic installations,
video

INSTALLATION
15 works, 45 - 55 running metres,
100 - 150 square metres

COST SHARE
WA $1,650.00 (inclusive gst) (Price subject
to change)
Interstate tba

DOCUMENTATION
5 Catalogues gratis
Media kit with press release
and digital images

EDUCATION
Educational Packages
(includes teachers notes, catalogue,
activity sheets)
Didactic panels
Lectures and floor talks upon request

CRATES
9 crates, totalling 11.5 cubic metres

TOUR DURATION
September 2006 - June 2008
Available WA and interstate

ARTIST ON THE MOVE & ARTBUS
Sponsored by Healthway to promote
the message Smarter than Smoking

Paul Caporn, 'Catcher', Archival ink jet print, 700mm x 700mm

In his new exhibition entitled Modified, Western Australian artist Paul Caporn satirically engages with ideas of masculinity and cultural identity. Modified presents artworks that examine the very suburban activities of customising, DIY and obsessions with backyard tools and appliances and their related stereotypical rituals.

The show is built around five main pieces, Tool Box, Barbie Mate, Life Boy, Excess and Mowing the Median Strip, all of which are large, three dimensional installation pieces, skilfully made, with the polished, plastic finish one would expect from manufactured consumer goods. These works are accompanied by a series of anodized aluminium prints and photographs that reflect engineering drawings and media product shots.

Playing with interpretations of male domesticity, desire, consumption and production, familiar objects have been modified, re-negotiating their utility, aesthetic qualities and cultural significance. For example, Caporn hybridizes man and machine in works such as Barbie Mate where he produces a 'Weber' barbecue kettle with a fleshy gut bursting forth, thereby mimicking the stereotypical Aussie beer gut that may be seen around such an object.

Caporn is fascinated with the objects of suburban backyard culture and the way they become humanised and intertwined with the desires and fantasies of their owners.