“Signs of Life: Text-based Artworks by Alan James” includes the artwork pictured above, which sums up many of the early lessons delivered by 2012. Called “Mindfulness 101” it features the archetypal wayfinding words “You are here” in the small text in the centre. Although part of an exhibition at Redland Art Gallery, it is hung in an area of the gallery adjoining Redland Council’s customer service area. This positioning is masterful, and reinforces “Mindfulness 101’s” reminder of the transitory nature of existence, the artificiality of the human construct, and nudges strenuously at our sense of the here and now. As far as public artworks go, this one is up there and out there to engage its audience.
Till Sunday 29 January 2012, Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland.www.more2redlands.com.au/ArtGallery.
For more about Alan James and his “Signs of Life: Text-based artworks”, www.signs-of-life.com.au.