EXIT (2008/2015) created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with Laura Kurgan, Mark Hansen, and Ben Rubin, in collaboration with Robert Gerard Pietrusko and Stewart Smith. UNSW Galleries – Part of the Sydney Festival. 7 January to 25 March 2017.

“EXIT is a monument to the present time that traces the movement of our world.”- Hervé Chandès, General Director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris.

As part of the Sydney Festival, UNSW Galleries presents the Australian premiere of EXIT, a 360-degree immersive installation based on a concept by philosopher and urbanist, Paul Virilio and commissioned by Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain for its 2008 exhibition, Native Land, Stop Eject. Hervé Chandès, General Director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris stated that, “EXIT is a monument to the present time that traces the movement of our world.” Updated in 2015 for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, EXIT is an impressive multidisciplinary team effort created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a New York-based studio of artists and architects, in collaboration with Laura Kurgan, Mark Hansen, Ben Rubin, Robert Gerard Pietrusko, Stewart Smith, and a team of scientists and geographers.

Lord Mayor, Clover Moore who opened the exhibition at UNSW Galleries on 6 January 2017, declared that EXIT was “riveting, overwhelming and informative” and “one of the most powerful exhibitions of our time.” Clover Moore had first seen it in Paris in 2015 and was instrumental in bringing it to Australia for the 2017 Sydney Festival.

EXIT runs from 7 January to 25 March at UNSW Galleries and is free to the public. It reflects the university’s desire to push the boundaries between art and technology; as well as its ambition to situate itself at the forefront of debate and policy response to the biggest issues of our time.

EXIT – Virilio, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Hansen, Kurgan, Rubin, Pietrusko, Smith – 2008-2015. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. 30 November 2015.

The 45-minute multimedia work breathes life into statistics gathered from over one hundred sources reflecting the increasing pressures which the world faces today, including the unprecedented rise in displaced populations; migrants and refugees who are forced to leave their homes. The audio and visual impact of EXIT creates a sense of urgency with a 3D panoramic view of an orbiting globe moving across the screen in almost full circle, broken only by the entrance and exit. Each time it begins its cycle, the audience is stuck by the visual and auditory representation of data and statistics which fall under the six themes: Population Shifts: Cities, Remittances: Sending Money Home, Political Refugees and Forced Migration, Natural Disasters, Rising Seas and Sinking Cities, and Speechless and Deforestation.

The data collected from a variety of sources has been geo-coded, processed through a programming language, and translated visually to provide the greatest impact. One can’t help but feel a sense of dread. EXIT is a projection of the present, an insight into the future and a call to action. The multimedia event is art as social commentary. The six themes of EXIT cover significant issues with the animated facts and figures behind the events designed to provoke thought, encourage discussions and initiate change.

Terre Natale, Ailleurs commence ici – Paul Virilio – 2009. Produced by Axelle Poisson. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. 10 November 2015.

Upon entering and leaving EXIT at UNSW Galleries, the audience is addressed by Paul Virilio who discusses the central themes and the impact of climate change whilst walking towards the viewer in a video in French with English subtitles commissioned by Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in 2009. Virilio asserts that, “It is almost as if history is on the move again.” Adding that, “It’s almost as though the sky, and the clouds in it and the pollution of it, were making their entry into history. Not the history of the seasons, summer, autumn, winter, but of population flows, of zones now uninhabitable for reasons that aren’t just to do with desertification, but with disappearance, with submersion of land. This is the future.”

UNSW Galleries Director Felicity Fenner confirmed that, “This is a must-see ‘wake-up call’ to Australian audiences.” She added that, “EXIT encapsulates three of the Grand Challenges currently being investigated by UNSW researchers – climate change, refugees, and global inequality.” As part of their Grand Challenges initiative, UNSW has organised a program of public discussions which includes a talk given by EXIT’s US-based creators.

EXIT at UNSW Galleries is a thought-provoking, immersive multimedia experience that is essential viewing and one of the visual art highlights of this Sydney Festival.

-Zalehah Turner

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Zalehah Turner is a Sydney based critic, writer and poet currently completing her Bachelor of Arts in Communications majoring in writing and cultural studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. Zalehah is an Associate Editor of Rochford Street Review: https://rochfordstreetreview.com/2016/02/09/welcome-zalehah-turner-rochford-street-review-associate-editor

exhibition: EXIT
where: UNSW Galleries cnr. Oxford St and Greens Rd, Paddington, NSW 2021.
dates: 7 January – 25 March 2017
opening hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10am–5pm
cost: free
information: https://www.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/unsw-galleries/exit