Cover image of the review
Installation view of Alex Hobba, *A Gun Went Off in Human Resources*,​ 2020. Photo: Jordan Halsall

Alex Hobba, A Gun Went Off in Human Resources / Alex Cuffe, Love is the Length of Her Hair


26 Sep 2020
Alex Hobba, A Gun Went Off in Human Resources, TCB art inc. 2 Jul - 13 Dec 2020 Alex Cuffe, Love is the Length of Her Hair, TCB art inc. 2 Jul - 13 Dec 2020

The attention-seeking coronavirus, having made it physically impossible to see art exhibitions, has also emphasised a distanced way of seeing. I can look at an exhibition without having to touch anything or talk to anyone or go anywhere. I can just sit here, somewhat isolated and alone (I live Southside), staring at my computer screen, tapping my keyboard, clicking my mouse. Both exhibitions by Alex Hobba and Alex Cuffe at TCB have been on display since March, suspended in time like a pregnant pause. Although the exhibitions were open to visit for a brief moment, around two or three days in July, the second wave of Melbourne’s lockdown forced the gallery to suddenly close until further notice. The installation shots of each exhibition space, collated into online catalogues, have come as their own versions of the shows, complicating what we can devote our attention to.

Alex Hobba, A Gun Went Off in Human Resources,​ installation shot.

In Alex Hobba’s exhibition, titled A Gun Went Off In Human Resources, attention pivots around a central narrative, a linguistic framework detailed in the vinyl decal printed on the gallery wall, subtitled “3 Acts of Misguided Reason”. The narrative described in these three “acts” becomes the glue binding together the somewhat uninviting, slick and sterile looking forms that are scattered across the gallery space. At first glance at the exhibition’s documentation, it is not explicitly apparent how the “3 Acts” are illustrated. These visual prompts—a large cartoonish drawing, plaster casts, 3D computer rendered images and looped videos playing on tiny screens—aren’t set out as cryptic. Instead, they act as small invitations to read into a humorous tale.

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