Angelica Mesiti (b. 1976) is one of Australia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, best known for her masterful ability to combine powerful performance with resonant video, sound and spatial installation. In 2009, Mesiti was the recipient of the Blake Prize and received the Anne Landa award in 2013. Six years later, she went on to represent Australia at the 58th Venice Biennale with the three-channel video installation ASSEMBLY, exploring notions of plurality and non-linguistic communication that are a hallmark of her work. Over the course of her two-decade career, Mesiti’s works have payed homage to individual and communal forms of expression, ranging from sign language, choreographic gesture, Morse code and whistling to ancestral musical traditions, body percussion and communication between non-human species. Now, she premieres an immersive visual and sonic experience in the Tank at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, titled The Rites of When. Mesiti has transformed the 2200-square-metre underground space – a former oil tank during WWII – into an installation that reimagines community rituals related to the seasons. It’s especially significant since we are living during the climate emergency, as The Guardian applauds a project that “nails the brief of creating an ecstatic ritual to meet our apocalyptic times.”
Mesiti creates an immersive space for visitors to reflect upon humanity’s relationship with the Earth and beyond. Commissioned in 2020, the major project includes seven monumental video screens interspersed between the Tank’s own forest of concrete columns. Here visitors watch a film composed of two movements: the “hibernal” (winter) and “aestival” (summer) solstices. We see collective celebrations relating to the longest night and longest day of the year, respectively. The Rites of When is informed by practices of depicting, describing and understanding life through humanity’s shared experience of the night sky. Elements within the Tank reference the Nebra sky disc, a Bronze Age artefact bearing an early depiction of the Pleiades star cluster, a celestial entity that intrigued Mesiti for its connections to seasonal harvest cycles and its significance to cultures across the globe. Each movement begins and ends with a sequence titled “Celestial nebula”, further acknowledging the knowledge drawn from the movement of the stars. Featuring dance, new musical compositions and soaring aerial drone views, The Rites of When offers a deep reflection upon the age-old and continuing relationship between humans, nature and the cosmos.
The unique sonic environment is an essential component of The Rites of When. In September Mesiti told The Guardian that the former oil tank “rings like a bell. It has this resonance that is very rare, that might be found in a cathedral or in a deep cave. So it’s kind of an instrument, in a way.” She sound tested the venue and then created a bespoke soundtrack made up of vocals from all-female French ensemble La Mòssa, percussion created with choreographer Filipe Lourenço and electronic music by DJ Chloé Thévenin. Extensive research goes into creating an installation that resonates with audiences on a profound level. Art Gallery of New South Wales director Michael Brand acknowledges this when he says: “Mesiti’s video practice has long observed the intricacies of human behaviour, utilising choreography and performance with an increasing attention to the natural world. This work marks an important shift from the role of the artist as an observer to her role as a creator of alternative worlds. Mesiti’s interpretation of our globalised existence is a reminder that in times of permanent crisis, culture and community matter deeply.’
The multidisciplinary artist joins the remarkable ranks of artists who have presented work at Tank, from Louise Bourgeois to André 3000. Mesiti’s new all-encompassing project might bring to mind the stunning, multi-sensory installations of James Turrell, teamLab or Luisa Baldhuber. The Rites of When is offers an awe-inspiring investigation into humanity’s relationship with the cycles of the natural world. Ecstatic celebrations associated with specific moments in the calendar – notably mid-winter solstice carnivals and mid-summer harvest festivals – present a portal into a realm where the past, present and future meet.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Angelica Mesiti: The Rites of When | Until 11 May
Words: Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Image Credits:
- Angelica Mesiti ‘The Rites of When’ 2024 (video still), 7-channel digital video installation, colour, sound, approx 30 min, collection of the artist, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the Nelson Packer Tank, 2024 © Angelica Mesiti.
- Angelica Mesiti ‘The Rites of When’ 2024 (video still), 7-channel digital video installation, colour, sound, approx 30 min, collection of the artist, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the Nelson Packer Tank, 2024 © Angelica Mesiti.
- Angelica Mesiti ‘The Rites of When’ 2024 (video still), 7-channel digital video installation, colour, sound, approx 30 min, collection of the artist, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the Nelson Packer Tank, 2024 © Angelica Mesiti.
- Angelica Mesiti ‘The Rites of When’ 2024 (video still), 7-channel digital video installation, colour, sound, approx 30 min, collection of the artist, commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales for the Nelson Packer Tank, 2024 © Angelica Mesiti.
