Nicololas Aloisio-Shearer

5 — 7 June 2020

A Tale of Curses, Tyranny and Sorrow engages with the domestic and decorative traditions of Baroque tapestry and ceramics and the identity building impulses present in fantasy roleplaying practices, such as Dungeons and Dragons. The collapse of geek masculinity and historical, allegorical figuration in this exhibition interrogates the way we construct and deploy identities in our attempts to find solid ground in an indifferent and infinitely complex historical moment.

Nicholas Aloisio-Shearer is an artist and independent curator whose practice is concerned with the digital conditions of contemporary life. His practice engages with the cultural functions of imaging technologies and examines how networked cultures make use of the history of representation. He has exhibited in a number of galleries including UNSW Galleries and Milani Gallery, and artist-run spaces including First Draft (Sydney), Kudos Gallery (Sydney) and Bus Projects (Melbourne). Nicholas graduated with Honours from a Bachelor of Design in Photography and Situated Media at UTS in 2014 and in 2019 completed a Masters of Fine Art (Research) at UNSW Art and Design.

Accompanying text by Hannah Jenkins.
Made by Hannah Jenkins with Bitsy

A Tale of Curses, Tyranny and Sorrow

Here are four stories (that are also poems, that are also games) made in service of Nicholas Aloisio-Shearer's work. Don’t let their form fool you—these are critical responses to the exhibition 'A Tale of Curses, Tyranny and Sorrow' shown at Outer Space, Brisbane, in June 2020. They have been created to lead you to the same considerations, reflections and conclusions as if you had read an essay (though I hope you’ll have more fun).

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For the best experience, please play on a desktop. Click the game once to activate it, then use your keyboard arrows (or WASD) to navigate and progress the text.

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