FRONT GALLERY: KIERON BROADHURST AND JACK WANSBROUGH (WA) - EARTH COINCIDENCE CONTROL OFFICE

Opening - 5:30 PM - Wednesday, 1st February

Artist Talks - 6:00pm

Running - 2nd February - 18th February 2017

The Earth Coincidence Control Office was born into a flooded villa in the Virgin Islands. Here, in 1965, Margaret Howe (an amateur researcher) and Peter (a bottlenose dolphin) had lived together, each half in the water and half out. Here, an ambitious project had taken place, in part funded by NASA, to establish a common language between humans and dolphins. Just over here on the flooded balcony, in a moment of desperation as funding was starting to disappear, Howe and the dolphin were simultaneously administered LSD, so each could open their mind wide enough to let the other in. 

Earth Coincidence Control Office, a collaborative work by Kieron Broadhurst and Jack Wansbrough, tracks the strange history of its namesake, a shadowy organisation which emerges from this moment. This is a history of conspiracy, coincidence, cetaceans and strange utopian visions. This exhibition presents an approximate, partial render of what the Adelaide ECCO Offices once looked like, if they existed at all.

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Kieron Broadhurst is a artist based in Perth, WA. His work investigates the speculative potential of fiction within contemporary art practice. After completing a BFA(Hons) from Curtin University he was selected to participate in Hatched at PICA. He has since exhibited prolifically, including at Firstdraft, PSAS, Moana and Success. Broadhurst is currently undertaking a Doctorate of Philosophy (Art) at Curtin University, where he also works as a tutor.

Jack Wansbrough is an artist based in Perth, Western Australia. His work draws from local history, especially focusing on perceived mysteries, ghost stories and counter-culture spiritualism. Fiction is used as a tool to engage with these subjects with productive uncertainty.

Photography by Steph Fuller