mike singe

half empty / half full

23 june - 22 july 2017

artist talk:
3pm saturday 24 june

With every breath we take, we increase the world's carbon dioxide levels. This exhibition of new work by Mike Singe attempts to identify how climate change influences the way we think about our engagement with the world.

The uniquely global characteristic of this environmental challenge ensures that we are all inescapably complicit in its creation through our daily actions.

Inspired by the portable resuscitation chambers used to revive canaries in coal mines, Half Empty / Half Full bestows common objects, such as balloons and air fresheners, with the ability to act as life preservers or slow executioners for the canaries, depending on the viewer's glass half empty / glass half full disposition.

The Twenty Twenty Vision series attempts an alternative way of visualising the commitment of individual nations to reducing carbon emissions. These drawings are made via a process that facetiously parodies the casual usage of the terms carbon capture and carbon reduction. Step one in the drawing process is to capture the carbon emitted from a burning candle and making the drawing surface completely black with soot (impure carbon). Step two, carbon reduction, is achieved by removing soot from the drawing surface to create botanical representations of selected national trees. The surface area of carbon removal is dependent on the nation's 2020 carbon reduction target. For example the image of Australia's Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) takes up only 5% of the total surface area of the drawing, matching Australia's commitment of a 5% reduction on 2000 levels. Beyond a mere pastiche of climate change related processes these drawings question, through the use of national symbols, notions of national identity and its relationship to a country's commitment to a sustainable existence.

Mike Singe studied at Curtin University, graduating in 1990, and went on to receive a Master of Fine Art in 2011 from the University of Tasmania, where he now resides. His artworks can be found in several important collections including; the Art Gallery of WA, Kerry Stokes, Murdoch University, Bankwest, Holmes a Court, Royal Perth Hospital, City of Joondalup, Curtin University, King Edward Memorial Hospital and several private collections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: CMYK balloons
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, acrylic resin
60 x 45 x 9cm x 4
2016
$4,000
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: control
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings
42 x 58 x 9cm
2016
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: bouyancy aid
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, floaties
45 x 60 x 12cm
2016
$1,400
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: blowout
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, party blowout
30 x 29 x 8cm
2017
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: life preserver
hydrostone, acrylic, tyre tube, bike rim, reflective tape
36 x 36 x 13cm
2016
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: australian landscape
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, gum leaf
42 x 64 x 9cm
2016
$1,400
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: lyrebird
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, football
42 x 58 x 9cm
2016
$1,400
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: yamaha [mountain leaf]
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, recorder
50 x 56 x 9cm
2017
$1,400
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: wall tile
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, wall tile
50 x 56 x 9cm
2016
$1,400
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: kangaroo
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, bouncing
dimensions variable
2016
$1,400
mike singe artwork
half empty / half full: CMYK trees
hydrostone, acrylic, wood, vinyl tube + fittings, air
45 x 51 x 8cm x 4
2016
$4,000
mike singe artwork
twenty twenty vision: Canada
impure carbon [soot], plywood
49 x 49cm
2016
$1,400
mike singe artwork
twenty twenty vision: Australia
impure carbon [soot], plywood
49 x 49cm
2016
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
twenty twenty vision: Ireland
impure carbon [soot], plywood
49 x 49cm
2016
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
twenty twenty vision: Indonesia
impure carbon [soot], plywood
49 x 49cm
2016
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
twenty twenty vision: South Africa
impure carbon [soot], plywood
49 x 49cm
2016
$1,400 sold
mike singe artwork
twenty twenty vision: Denmark
impure carbon [soot], plywood
49 x 49cm
2016
$1,400 sold