Frances Stark

Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne

Installation view of a dark room with three walls, ceiling and floor visible. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still, we can see two animated figures in full body against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. The figure to the left is male. He is seen in profile, turned to the right. He has light skin, short blonde quiff, and is wearing baby blue briefs with a white lining. To the left of him, slightly closer to us, we can see what appears as a female figure. She is facing away from us, and we can see green bra straps on her back. She has light skin, and short brown hair. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "The more you fuck, the better you will edit" in grey typewriter font. In front of the projection, four black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs stand in rows of three. To the left, obscuring the corner where the center wall and the left wall meet, we can see a narrow black curtain stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the green light from the projection. In the ceiling, we can see spot lights that are turned off.

Installation view of the same dark room with three walls, ceiling and floor visible as in previous image but seen from the right. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still, we can see two animated figures from the waist up against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. To the left in the projection, we can see a female figure. Her torso is seen in profile, while her head is turned to the left. Her skin is light and her brown hair is cut in a short bob. We can't se her face, as she is looking at a male figure slightly further away from us, in the center of the projection. He has light skin, short blonde quiff, and is looking straight at us. His upper body is bare and we can see his nipples. His head is round and his eyes are two vertical oval black shapes with white triangles, representing reflecting light. He has fine light brown eye lashes. His mouth is a thin, vertical black line and his nose is in the shape of a small button. There is no particular facial expression to be discerned. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "My father won a price in Venice." in dark grey typewriter font. In front of the projection, four black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs stand in rows of three. On each side of the projection in the corners where the center wall meets the left and the right wall, we can see narrow black curtains stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the green light from the projection. In the ceiling, we can see spot lights that are turned off.

Installation view of the same dark room with video projection but from reversed viewpoint. We can see two white walls meeting in a corner at the center of the image. In the corner, a narrow black curtain hangs from just below the ceiling to the ground. In front of it, about half way up, we can see a bright lamp and just above it, a surveillance camera. On the wall to the right, we can see a beamer mounted. Further to the right on the same wall, another narrow black curtain hangs from ceiling to the ground. The dark floor is polished and reflects the green light from the beamer and the projection out of frame. In the center of the floor, stand a group of chairs with square black seats and backrests and chrome legs. They are positioned in three rows with four chairs in each row. The white walls reflect the green light from the beamer and appear bright green.

Installation view of the same dark room but seen from the right. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still, we can see a text passage against a white background and two animated figures standing in each corner, framing the text. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. In the bottom right corner of the projection, we can see a female figure in full body. Her skin is light and her brown hair is cut in a short bob. She is turned away from us. On her back, we can see thin green bra straps. In the bottom right corner of the projection, we can see a male figure. He has light skin, a short blonde quiff, and is seen from behind but turned slightly to his right. His figure is blurry, suggesting movement, as if he is taking a step forward. The text passage is laid out in seven justified rows. The font is black and appears to be mimicking handwriting. The passage reads: "In the previous episode a woman told a lazy son of a filmmaker of her "film" involving two people acquainted only through camsex and how the guy tells the girl to watch Fellini's 8 1/2 and that it ends when the guy disappears after suffering from police brutality." In front of the projection, three black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs stand in a row. On each side of the projection in the corners where the center wall meets the left and the right wall, we can see narrow black curtains stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the white light from the projection.

Installation view of the same dark room with three walls, ceiling and floor visible as in previous image but seen from straight ahead. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still, two animated figures in full body against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. The figure to the left is male. He is seen in profile, turned to the right. He has light skin, a short blonde quiff, and is wearing baby blue briefs with a white lining. To the left of him, slightly closer to us, we can see what appears as a female figure. She is facing away from us, and is wearing a green bra. She has light skin, and short brown hair. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "The more you fuck, the better you will edit" in grey typewriter font. In front of the projection, four black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs stand in rows of three. On each side of the projection in the corners where the center wall meets the left and the right wall, we can see narrow black curtains stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the green light from the projection. In the ceiling, we can see spot lights that are turned off.

Installation view of the same dark room with three walls, ceiling and floor visible as in previous image but seen from the right. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still, we can see two animated figures in full body against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. The figure to the left is male. He is seen in profile, turned to the right. He has light skin, short blonde quiff, and is wearing baby blue briefs with a white lining. To the left of him, slightly closer to us, we can see what appears as a female figure. She is facing away from us, and we can see green bra straps on her back. She has light skin, and short brown hair. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. In front of the projection, four black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs stand in rows of three. To the left, obscuring the corner where the center wall and the left wall meet, we can see a narrow black curtain stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the green light from the projection. In the ceiling, we can see spot lights that are turned off.

Installation view of the same dark room with three walls, ceiling and floor visible as in previous image but seen from straight ahead. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still we can see a female and a male animated figure in full body standing next to each other against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. The figure to the right is male. His body and head is turned slightly to the right, facing the female figure. He has light skin, short blonde quiff, and is wearing baby blue briefs with a white lining. The female figure to the left has light skin, short brown hair in a bob, and long eye lashes. Her body and head is turned slightly to the left, facing the male figure. She is wearing a green fig leaf over her crotch, and a green bra with two green fig leaves covering her breasts. They are looking at each other and we can see their faces in profile. Their eyes are vertical black oval shapes, and their noses look like small buttons. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. In front of the projection, four black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs stand in rows of three. To the left, obscuring the corner where the center wall and the left wall meet, we can see a narrow black curtain stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the green light from the projection. In the ceiling, we can see spot lights that are turned off.

Installation view of the same dark room with three walls, ceiling and floor visible as in previous image but seen from the left. On the center wall we can see a large video projection. In the video still, we can see a male animated figure from just below the shoulders up against a green screen. He is positioned slightly to the right in the frame. The figure is doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. His head is round, and he has a blonde quiff which is slightly out of frame and cropped. His eyes are two vertical black ovals with white triangles, representing reflecting light. He has fine light brown eye lashes. His mouth is a thin, vertical black line and his nose is in the shape of a small button. There is no particular facial expression to be discerned. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. In front of the projection, we can see three black chairs with square backrests and chrome legs in a row. On each side of the projection in the corners where the center wall meets the left and the right wall, we can see narrow black curtains stretching from just below the ceiling to floor. The floor is dark and polished, and reflects the green light from the projection.

Close up of one of the rectangular black curtains seen in previous installation views. We can see two walls meeting in a corner in the center of the image. On the left wall, we can see a video projection with two animated figures in full body against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. They are standing next to each other, facing each other. On the right wall, a black narrow curtain hangs positioned with its left edge in the corner. To the right, we can see some of the right wall reflecting the green light from the projection. Underneath the curtain, we can glimpse some warm light, suggesting that the curtain might be hiding a doorway to another room.

Close up of video in previous installation views. In the video still we can see a female and a male animated figure in full body standing next to each other against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. The figure to the right is male. His body and head is turned slightly to the right, facing the female figure. He has light skin, short blonde hair, and is wearing baby blue briefs with a white lining. The female figure to the left has light skin, short brown hair in a bob, and long eye lashes. Her body and head is turned slightly to the left, facing the male figure. She is wearing a green fig leaf over her crotch, and a green bra with two green fig leaves covering her breasts. They are looking at each other and we can see their faces in profile. Their eyes are vertical black oval shapes, and their noses look like small buttons. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "you have an impressive analysis capability." in grey typewriter font.

Close up view of the video projection in previous installation views. In the video still, we can see a male animated figure from just below the shoulders up against a green screen. He is positioned slightly to the right in the frame. The figure is doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. His head is round, and he has a blonde quiff which is slightly out of frame. His eyes are two vertical black ovals with white triangles, representing reflecting light. He has fine light brown eye lashes. His mouth is a thin, vertical black line and his nose is in the shape of a small button. There is no particular facial expression to be discerned. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "I'm risking in Italy" in black typewriter font.

Close up view of the video projection in previous installation views. In the video still, we can see a male animated figure from the knees and up against a green screen. He is positioned slightly to the left in the frame, and his upper body is turned to his right. The figure is doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. His head is round, and he has a blonde quiff. He is wearing baby blue briefs with white lining. His upper body is nude and we can see his nipples. His head is turned to his right, and we can see his face in profile. His eyes are two vertical black ovals with white triangles, representing reflecting light. He has fine light brown eye lashes. His mouth is a thin, vertical black line and his nose is in the shape of a small button. There is no particular facial expression to be discerned. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "You fall in love with a lot of writers." in black typewriter font.

Close up view of the video projection in previous installation views. In the video still, we can see a male animated figure from just below the shoulders up against a green screen. He is positioned slightly to the right in the frame. The figure is doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. His head is round, and he has a blonde quiff which is slightly out of frame. His eyes are two vertical black ovals with white triangles, representing reflecting light. He has fine light brown eye lashes. His nose is in the shape of a small button, and his mouth is open, represented by a black horizontal oval. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "I'm in a serious rebel period." in black typewriter font.

Close up view of the video projection in previous installation views. In the video still, we can see a male animated figure from just below the shoulders up against a green screen. He is positioned slightly to the right in the frame. The figure is doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. His head is round, and he has a blonde quiff which is slightly out of frame. His eyes are two vertical black ovals with white triangles, representing reflecting light. His eyelids are lowered, covering the upper third of his eyes. He has fine light brown eye lashes. His nose is in the shape of a small button, and his mouth is a thin, vertical line. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "Who ends feeling perfect?" in black typewriter font.

Close up of video in previous installation views. In the video still we can see a female and a male animated figure in full body standing next to each other against a green screen. The figures are doll-like, similar to those in Playmobil or LEGO. The figure to the right is male. His body and head is turned slightly to the right, facing the female figure. He has light skin, a short blonde quiff, and is wearing baby blue briefs with a white lining. The female figure to the left has light skin, short brown hair in a bob, and long eye lashes. Her body and head is turned slightly to the left, facing the male figure. She is wearing a green fig leaf over her crotch, and a green bra with two green fig leaves covering her breasts. They are looking at each other and we can see their faces in profile. Their eyes are vertical black oval shapes, and their noses look like small buttons. She is wearing lipstick. In the left bottom corner of the projection, we can see a logo that looks like the outline of two capital letters "N" in white cartoonish font. Underneath it, we can read the text "xtranormal" in white modern font. At the bottom of the projection, we can see the captions "I'm not an art expert." in black typewriter font.

Frances StarkFrances Stark: My Best ThingIan Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne

Exhibition Images and Videos

Frances StarkFrances Stark: My Best Thing
Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne