SITE LAB // Small Gestures Towards Infinity

Taking place over seven weeks, SITE LAB // Small Gestures Towards Infinity was a celebration of art, culture, community and collaboration in a regional NSW, post disaster. SITE LAB offered a series of temporary art projects in unexpected spaces across Lismore CBD and a thought-provoking free program of artist talks, live listening events, and sculptural activations.

Presented by Arts Northern Rivers and Lismore Regional Gallery over 29 July to 17 September 2023, SITE LAB  commissioned six contemporary artists with strong connections to Bundjalung Country: Peter Faulkner, Michael Donnelly & Betty Russ, Merinda Davies, Belinda Smith, and Chris Bennie. Each artist took their contemplation of art in the Anthropocene via different media, involving installation, experimental soundscapes, Indigenous knowledge, floating sculpture, performance and community-engaged work. ‘Small Gestures Towards Infinity’ challenges the idea of ‘getting back to normal’ in the face of the collapse of biodiversity and the imminent necessity of eco-critical art.

These experimental and site-specific responses to the region’s post-flood landscape invited curiosity and contemplation, addressing an urgent need for spaces for community to re-commune. The Northern Rivers has historically endured adversity with natural disasters at catastrophic levels. SITE LAB provided temporary spaces for community connection and critical discourse, and positioned contemporary art practice at the forefront of the region’s recovery.

Download the full report here.