VISUAL ART
THE DELUGE ARK(IVE) Nigel Helyer Moonah Arts Centre 23-27 Albert Rd Until December 16
Humans have always told stories, and the greatest of them have endured to become mythology and religion. They make sense of the world, and are spoken records passed through generations. There are stories of creation and apocalypse, the beginning and the end, cleansing and renewal.
Nigel Helyer is not afraid to reach for massive themes, and here, in the Deluge Ark(ive), he explores and examines one of the most primal and universal human myths: the tale of the great flood that covered the earth.
Helyer is not easy to pin down; he makes sculpture, but also works with sound, and his work seems to combine personal mythology with the tales of the great flood. It includes other ancient tales of sea voyages, such as the siren that lures sailors to their doom with its sweet voice, or the monstrous leviathan that hides in the deepest parts of the ocean.
Helyer’s sculptures are large and expertly constructed. He uses a fan of oars decorated with wax ears to evoke a powerful moment from Homer’s Odyssey when the sirens are encountered, and the sailors block their ears with beeswax to escape them. The word ‘ark’ is a boat in a net, evoking the ark of Noah, but also Gilgamesh, hero of the oldest surviving great work of literature. This work examines the notion of original sin and cleansing, but also balances it with the contrast between the life that was preserved on the ark and the rich diversity of creatures in the ocean.
There is more here than just sculpture. In the second gallery space we find a series of highly detailed illustrations, which are the result of a collaboration between Helyer and Turkish artist Oyku Ozer. Their work is not a footnote to the main show but as much a part of it as the other works on display, including the sails and coracles. Everything ties together in a rewarding way.
Where Helyer really shines is in making complex and vast thematic concerns accessible and engaging. The ideas here rely on our recognition of the primal nature of Helyer’s mythology. If such a thing exists as a collective memory of a time in history when the ice melted and the world was flooded, it is evoked here in a powerful way.
However, this show is not simply about the distant past. It is timely, for the ice caps are melting again and the waters will rise.
Helyer’s work, like the best art, tricks you: we think the story being told is fiction, but really it is about now. Layer upon layer, idea entwined with idea, this exhibition is essential viewing.