Gary Carsley's 'Sciencefictive' Exhibition Explores Chinese Gardens as Cultural Portals

In his 2014 exhibition, Gary Carsley creates a contemplation garden set within a suburban apartment complex, showcasing lifesize lambda monoprints of Chinese garden gates. The piece Astria Portia 4 (Moongate/Stargate) features an IKEA Gilbert chair directly facing the Moongate Singapore Chinese Garden, which displays 26 shifting images from various Chinese gardens globally. Surrounding walls exhibit four lifesize silhouettes of garden statues, crafted from wallpaper depicting legendary Chinese figures like Hua Mulan, Yue Fei, and Guan Yu. This wallpaper is derived from a Chinese reproduction of a chinoiserie interior from Brighton Pavilion, dating back to around 1819. Previously, larger iterations of the Sciencefictive project were commissioned for the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane and showcased at the Kunstverein in Ulm, Germany. Carsley refers to his work as a 'mappa mundi' that links Chinese cultures and diasporas worldwide, with moongates and stargates acting as gateways to alternate realities. The exhibition prompts viewers to consider whether gardens symbolize human creation rather than nature, proposing that art serves as a similar cultural construct. Visitors are invited to use the chair for moments of reflection, transforming the gallery into a space for contemplation. This article first appeared in April 2015.