Museum of Contemporary Rubbish in Melbourne

The Melbourne City Guide: The Thousands

Chris Rainier, ‘((space echo))’ and Alice Bradshaw, ‘Museum of Contemporary Rubbish’ exhibition openings 

Screen Space, 30 Guildford Lane, Melbourne 

by Thomas Blatchford

Two new shows opening at Screen Space, one completely sublime, and the other completely rubbish. But purposefully, you understand. The first, in the main gallery, is by Chris Rainier, the sound artist and sonic experimentator whose idea of heavy metal is looping the heck out of a lap steel guitar (ah, God’s own instrument). ((space echo)), however, will also feature a 16mm film of a Space Echo, which presumably refers to a Roland RE-201, but could also be an actual sound reflection from the depths of the unknown universe, I suppose. You know what these multimedia types are like. This exhibit runs until May 5.

The other exhibit is Alice Bradshaw’s photographic catalogue of shite, The Museum of Contemporary Rubbish. As a collector and cataloguer of discarded objects, Bradshaw has done more routing in bins than News International and wants to show you what she’s found. You can think of it as a critique of modern art if you like – that what you’re looking at might as well be out of a bin – but it’s nicer to think of it as the ultimate upcycling show. By putting this junk on display, MoCR demonstrates that every banana skin, broken pen, used johnny and yellowing receipt has a story behind it worth pondering. The collection is on display until May 26 – postcards available in the gift ship.  

Rubbish (2011) from Alice Bradshaw on Vimeo.