Vibrant Matter

Simone Slee Rocks holding up #4 2019 red scoria rock and glass Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 2019. Courtesy of the artist and Sarah Scout Presents, Naarm/Melbourne. Photo: Christo Crocker — Simone Slee, *Rocks holding up #4* 2019, red scoria rock and glass.
Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 2019. Courtesy of the artist and Sarah Scout Presents, Naarm/Melbourne. Photo: Christo Crocker

16 July - 14 December 2024

Artists: Simone Slee, Susan Jacobs, and Ross Manning. 

Bringing together works from the UQ Collection and beyond, this exhibition is attentive to the agency of materials and to the vibrancy of matter.

The artists included in Vibrant Matter have co-produced their work with material components of drawing, sculpture, and sound art. Welcoming the active participation of these more-than-human materials and beings, the works move away from singular of authorship and instead actively co-create. Artistic control over the final outcome is balanced with chance, accident, and collaboration with the more-than-human as a creative driver: the gravitational force of volcanic rocks; the will of a snake; and the sonic potential of consumer detritus from the urban world. By establishing the parameters for the unexpected to occur and embracing the performative nature of materials, Jacobs, Manning and Slee animate the drama of our tumultuous ecological present: a time when matter means more than ever before.