The 21st Biennale of Sydney borrowed the term ‘superposition’ from quantum mechanics - referring to electrons that can exist in two opposing forms at once - to invite viewers to consider accelerating global conflicts from varied perspectives. The 70 exhibiting artists and artist collectives artists were chosen for their diverse perspectives and artforms, to offer a panoramic view of global contexts and experiences.  The exhibition displayed works in all forms of artistic media across sites including Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Carriageworks, Cockatoo Island, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney Opera House and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.

 

“Possibilities for imagining increased empathy are enriched by works such as Khaled Sabsabi’s Bring the Silence (2018) –  a literally multi-perspective, five-channel video installation, carpeted with mats and scented with rose oil, documenting a Sufi maqam in New Delhi where Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and Muslims seek blessings together– and Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s Potentiality for Love (2018) – a multi-screen, lab-chic invitation to experience inter-species empathy with chimpanzees.” – Frieze

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“On Cockatoo Island, formerly the site of a prison and shipbuilding factory, British artist Ryan Gander has created an installation inspired by childhood recollections of snow settling on the streets of the Northwest England community where he grew up. Other Places (2018) is a room where dunes of salt have settled around a street sign, a tombstone, and half-obscured objects. Viewers can’t enter the room, but they can view it through windows and watch a live feed from a camera zooming in on specific details. The work combines the serenity of a Zen garden with the inaccessibility of another person’s private memories.

 

One of the most spectacular works is Japanese artist Yukinori Yanagi’s Icarus Cell (2018), a sprawling labyrinth made of shipping containers outfitted with reflective glass walls that confuse, double, and distort spaces.” – Art in America