Refracted Reality
Bruno was selected to be part of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts prestigious Salon event in 2020. For this he produced a new body of work melding his interests in video, sculpture and painting.
Below is a excerpt from the catalogue essay written by curator Anna-Louise Richardson.
Somewhat of a self portrait And puddles is part poem, part music video that serves as a disjointed and surreal narrative of what it means to be seen as disabled. Originally commissioned by Fine Print Journal (SA) you can watch the video here.
Booth describes disability as ‘not sexy’, the word conjuring up images of hospitals, concessions made and what could have been. Growing up in the 1990s disability was absent from media outside of the Paralympics and occasional human interest stories. The closest thing Booth had to role models that looked like him were cartoon characters. The mutants and misfits in these animated worlds had superpowers and were loved not in spite of their differences but because of them. Burnt out but still fading in responds to arguments that we have progressed into more nuanced understandings of what it means to have a disability, with the rebuttal that until we do away with the categorisation, those associations of pity, fear and unease will remain.
In New fossil, same molecules Booth reimagines an old BMC (British Medical Council) ambulance that his father converted into a campervan when he was a child. Almost every summer his family would drive from their home in Lancashire in the North West of England down to Devon, where they would spend two to three weeks camping, using the converted ambulance as a base. The idea of renewal and rebirth, of repurposing old materials, made a lasting impression on Booth, who remembers with amazement how his father turned the van into a cosy home for four. While memories of these trips have inevitably faded and blurred with the passing of time, there remains a connection, a window Booth can re-open into his childhood.
Booth cites cats as strong ‘influencers’ on his practice. Slinking through the gallery in a high gloss Adidas tracksuit is the enigmatic High carb, low effort, a wry comment on the paradox of acquisition and consumption. While today we find ourselves with more wealth, more possessions and more social capital than ever before, a steady stream of influencers espouse the virtues of a stripped-down existence, minimal lives furnished with only the most stylish essentials. Is minimalism a cure for capitalist overindulgence, or simply a new mode of consumption, an excess of less? Which path do we choose?
And puddles. Single channel HD video with sound. 2 minutes.
Burnt out but still fading in. Acrylic and oil paint on canvas. 630mm x 370mm.
New fossil, same molecules. Shade cloth, enamel paint, PVC pipe, steel, rope, sewing, fan, motion sensor and pine. Variable dimensions.
High carb, low effort. Acrylic paint steel, fleece, silk, sewing. 620mm x 410mm.