Personal Space

November 2012

Time out
to de-stress,
breath & just be

Personal Space was an Interactive Exhibition, Artists’ Studio, Bric-A-Brac Bazaar, Teahouse & Local Native Garden rolled into one.
Personal Space explored and referenced the passing of time, space and the moment that one finds themselves alone. It sought to enable a personal moment in the heart of a bustling city and explore the concept of finding personal space amongst the delayed trains, overfilled buses and impending deadlines. During Perran’s stay, He opened up his personal space and invited audiences to come along and share a cup of tea, sit in an artwork, water an installation and see art in its making

Exhibition

Personal Space
Solo Show

Awards

Pop-Up Project’s – Set Up Shop Competition
FBI Radio & The Rocks (Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority)

Medium

Experiential, Site-Specific, Interactive

The Transitory Nature of Personal Space

In late 2012, Perran transformed a small shop in Sydney’s historic Rocks district into a vibrant artistic space. Perran’s Personal Space explored the ways by which People living hectic lives take time out to de-stress, breath and just be.
Perran was granted the use of a disused shop, its glass walls providing unobstructed views of the space to locals and tourists strolling the cobblestone Nurses Walk.
Over two months Perran spent his days transforming the space, ‘creating little artworks and experiments’: subdividing it with grate walls woven with native flora, building aquaponic ecosystems, moss worlds, native gardens, constructing a tearoom and positioning and repositioning his most Zen-inducing sculptures amidst it all.
Inspired by the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of Wabi-sabi, in creating Personal Space Perran sought to increase present moment awareness for those who entered by stimulating all the senses, foregrounding the ephemeral beauty of nature, its detail and impermanence, and celebrating the simple charm of the ordinary.
A complex concept to grasp, Wabi-sabi is not so much an aesthetic philosophy as a holistic aesthetic attitude which expresses through artistic practice, artworks and spaces the philosophies of Wabi-Sabi.

Costi’s exhibition and Pop-Up project
inspire new horizons for old spaces,
if only for a blink.

Alex Christopher,
Artgaze Magazine

Pop-Up Momentum – Temporary and Short Term Creative Spaces
Perran Costi’s Personal Space exhibition was recently part of this exciting version of the project. Personal Space, on Nurses’ Walk, had ceiling to floor window coverage onto the street. Inside was a rich, calming environment though I found myself at first not sure if I’d walked into a shop, native botanical wonderland, science lab, artist’s studio or gallery. It was a space you could easily pass much time in, combing over all the components with relish. You could touch, feel, see, hear and smell the exhibition.
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After this Rocks visit I spent some time thinking about Costi’s works and how they themselves, with references to urban life, city spaces and the environment, related to the Renew and Pop-Up philosophy overall. Baggage – Land Grab is a work that for me illustrates the endeavour.

 

In late 2012, Perran transformed a small shop in Sydney’s historic Rocks district into a vibrant artistic space. Perran’s Personal Space explored the ways by which Sydneysiders living hectic lives take time out to de-stress, breath and just be.

 

Featuring a brown vintage, leather suitcase and opened to bare its insides, the lower half is filled with lush green grass. The upper lid is a screen filled with bright blue sky and happy skipping clouds. The pieces spoke of history and reminded that spaces retain memory yet are open to hold something new; pointing to the hope and the new life that comes from the courage to re-write and innovate.

 

Costi’s exhibition and the Pop-Up project inspire new horizons for old spaces, if only for a blink.

Very rarely do I see an artwork that
literally makes me stop in my tracks.

Naomi Gall,
The Near And The Elsewhere

“Very rarely do I see an artwork that literally makes me stop in my tracks. Perran Costi’s work Personal Space, is fantastic. The large water feature is a sculptural wonder that has to be viewed from all angles. Costi incorporates found and everyday objects into his work and there is a real sense here that the work itself is alive.”

Personal Space Photos

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