Off the Kerb is a small gallery on Johnstone Street in
Collingwood, opposite the Tote and next door to a Singapore noodle shop...
Sally took Grimshaw to see an exhibition of contemporary Japanese art. Six artists from Kanazawa from Japan exploring the atmosphere of a space. Walking in off the street the gallery featured some works taped to pieces of cardboard arranged on the floor. Seals had been applied to the painted images... In translation they were listed as 'stickers'. On the
second floor, Grimshaw climbed a ladder and in the household shrine mounted to the ceiling was a
mirror on either side of which were two small video screens one of which showed
Astro Boy and the other, footage from the tsunami that caused the meltdown at
the Fukushima power plant. A separate installation featured a dozen or so small
screens suspended from the ceiling in a circle. The viewer was invited to stand
inside the circle to watch a sleeping woman roll over in and out of the camera
frame. It was a little like being inside a goldfish bowl... Gasping for air,
Grimshaw went back downstairs and noticed the small plant growing between some
cracks in the floor boards. In one of the rooms there were several more
installations and some pictures of a building. Looking closer, Grimshaw
realised he was looking at some besser blocks. Amazing what catches the eye, he
decided. Outside it was raining and all the talk was about the big match between hawthorn and Geelong.
