Zero definitely more than sum of its parts

THOUSANDS of Dark Mofos will descend on Mona tonight — and it’s all for ZERO. About 4300 free tickets were originally made available for the grand opening party of the museum’s new major exhibition, ZERO. Those tickets were quickly snapped up by keen patrons, but people who missed out will now be able to secure tickets at the door (subject to capacity) tonight — meaning the crowd figure is likely to be much higher. And they’re sure to be captivated by ZERO, which showcases the work of an influential yet often overlooked art movement founded in post-war Germany. Based around the theme of ‘vibration’, the exhibition brings the work of the Zero movement’s leading artists — including the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein, Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, plus artists from Italy, Switzerland, Venezuela and Japan — together in Australia for the first time.

Guest curator Mattijs Visser, the founding director of the international Zero foundation, said Zero is “one of the most significant, yet largely forgotten, art movements since World War II”.

“Internationally, Zero has had a major influence on contemporary artists and curators,” he said.

“There is no highlights [in the exhibition]. There is a beginning and an end. It’s one adventure. So there is no highlights, just one flow.”

Mona owner David Walsh said ZERO was “visual without being anti-intellectual”.

“It’s more visual than intellectual, which is a nice place to be,” he said.

“It’s an easy place — a lot of the stuff we’ve done has been a little bit more difficult than this.”

Featuring live performances by space-jazz legends Sun Ra Arkestra, pictured left, and electric string quartet FourPlay, tonight’s ZERO Grand Opening runs from 6-10pm.