Interregna

Moana Project Space's sophomore exhibition Interregna was in essence a conceptual affair. Any direct allusions in the exhibition to the word's explicit meaning as a transition of power were cryptic and perhaps almost absent, but the composition of errata, of junk, and of transitional personal experience provided an ulterior definition. Abdul Abdullah's paintings were the exhibition's most discreet pieces; Abdul's oil and enamel triptych of his three brothers obliterated their silhouettes into packing-foam pink, leaving nothing distinct but their faces. It passed comment on the compartmentalisation and dehumanisation of distinguishing a person by their faith, or by the association of their physical characteristics with a religion, in this case, Islam. Go Home (Numbers 1-10) berated the gallery's entrants with the threat, “Go Home”.

Casey Ayres' Making Hot Wheels Out Of Hoopties (Mr Tokyo Drift) was whimsical, perhaps an angel and a motorbike; a motorised stolen fixed-gear bike, castrated by a chain that locked it mid-air. Untitled was an installation; a vivisection of motorbike piping that periodically gushed smoke in a manner reminiscent of an old car's broken muffler. Nathan Beard's contribution was self-aware and circumspect. The Anna Mae/Tina/Angela (I Idolise You) argued with Ayres' Mr Tokyo Drift over the position as centre-stage feature; I Idolise You being a mixed-media piece garishly imposing a Buddhist shrine directly on top of a Tina Turner video. It called into question the procedures of worship and of veneration: Buddha against Tina Turner, incense sticks against television. The mixed media framed Beard's second piece, River Deep, Mountain High, a vista of bruises and abrasion infiltrating a dunescape of skin. Ultimately, Interregna was an intriguing experiment, and Moana has confirmed its position as the most intriguing and exciting development on East Hay Street.