Exhibitions » Exhibition Archive » SQUARE2 Archive » Murray Hewitt: Stations
Murray Hewitt: Stations
15 November - 12 December 2010 in the Square² Gallery
Stations shows 17 closed petrol stations, filmed in late 2009 and early 2010 when soaring gas prices forced many to shut down. The artist documents a series of these desolate, derelict sites after their closure. Often located on main trunk routes or busy highways, these square, boxlike buildings appear to have been deserted by all living things, as cars and trucks roar by them without regard for their slow deterioration.
The soundtrack features heavy metal band AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells, a classic road song which includes the line “’Cause if good's on the left, Then I'm stickin' to the right”. A tongue in cheek reference to the broad moral implications of the international economic recession, and the subsequent rise in oil prices, the song suggests that there is also an element of reckless abandon in individual drivers’ sense of responsibility for this crisis. It invokes the sensation of driving along fast, windows down, carefree and singing loudly.
The artist recalls he and his elder brother as children, playing along with the song on tennis rackets, and being reprimanded by their mother for its corrupt message. It wasn’t the first time: “I clearly remember having to turn the contrast down on RTR (Ready To Roll) to make the screen black so we couldn’t see KISS singing I was made for loving you, in their corrupting black tights, silver platforms and that bass player with the extendable tongue.” The appeal of ‘good’ paled by contrast.
This work follows on from Hewitt’s 2007 film Jessie’s Girl, where petrol stations are shot at night in the rain. In this work a classic hits radio station forms the soundtrack, evoking an atmosphere of stale romanticism, while the stations themselves become newly beautiful, dressed in glossy blacks and colourful reflected lights. Hewitt finds situations of irregularity, pathos and humour in the everyday, presenting them straight-faced for viewers to read according to their own inclination and politics.
The artist was born in Hastings and brought up in Hawke’s Bay. Working predominantly in video, Hewitt has been practicing for the last nine years. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2005) and a Masters in Fine Arts (2007) at Massey University in Wellington. Hewitt is currently based in Moera in Lower Hutt.
MURRAY HEWITT
15 November – 12 December 2010
Stations 2010
DVD
Duration: 5:30 minutes, looped
Courtesy the artist