Dangerous Liaisons
Linden - St Kilda Centre for Contemporary Arts 2005

Dangerous Liaisons deals with representations of class in painting and film. Cinema offers a framework for a critique of class division in society that that is widely felt to be irrelevant or non-existent in cultural theory today, yet contemporary cinema continues to explore and uphold class distinctions. Looking intently at a handful of recent films, it is clear that the substance of a good movie is the main character's inner conflict. They might be ensnared in the vanity of upper-class boredom as in Dangerous Liaisons, or hell-bent on home improvement like the Kerrigan family in The Castle. Each of the characters from the movies included in this exhibition is embroiled in a circumstance of individual class struggle. With a wing-backed chair and fleur-de-lys curtains, Dangerous Liaisons recreates an aristocratic salon that is the stage for the unfolding of a dramatic scene.