The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters – Goya: 2002

Jill Orr

5 - 10 Jan 2002

This is the title of an etching by Goya who is master of depicting human aberration. I felt the title aptly summed up the flavour of world events in recent times. This work was an eight-hour event in which sculptures were created from a tonne of meat bones. I wanted to work with the real stuff from which we are made as an antidote or reality check for the media depictions of the most horrific human situations which are seen from our peaceful lounge rooms through the screen and in photographs.

During this time the American invasion of Iraq was inevitable and refugees were forced from Australian shores and imprisoned in detention centres. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters-Goya was first performed in 2002 at Artspace, Sydney and again in 2003, funded by the City of Melbourne, at 45 Downstairs, Melbourne. War had begun and the deaths continue. My Sydney photographer was Brenton McGeachie and the Melbourne photographers were Sharp Edge Photography, Bruce Parker and Joanne Haslam. Video of the event was by Pete Brownstein of Riverstone Multimedia. – Jill Orr