Why do sheds hold such appeal? Is it their under-designed simplicity, the purity of function, material and lack of conceit, ambition or demand? The sentinel shed in the country landscape is particularly captivating; with the beauty of decay and neglect transforming the building in a slow graceful metamorphosis. The simple lines, purpose and gentle trace of time a relief for the over stimulated.
Architect and Monash University lecturer Ross Brewin’s passion for the rural shed found focus during casual drives in the country over the past seven years with hundreds of images taken of these idiosyncratic structures. Recalling the work of the German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, each shed is captured from a single full frontal vantage point.
Ross commented, “Sheds are in many ways accidental moments in architecture. Their design is intuitive and pragmatic, with the beauty not predetermined but developing naturally out of the simplicity of design, construction, materials and passage of time. They are intriguing buildings. Often set apart and neglected, each develops its own character and with time and decay a graciousness and charm begin to take hold.”
Forty-nine of these images, taken over the past seven years have been chosen for the exhibition 49 Sheds to open at Mornington Peninsula Gallery on the 27th February 2013. Without clues to their use, ownership or location each shed stands as a monument to itself – presented strongly in profile along with the rot, the rust, the weathering, the overgrowth and resistance to time. Each shed suggesting a simple perfection.
Architect John Wardle writes in his catalogue essay, ‘We can imagine….time for consideration and contemplation, as form and detail were selected in response to function, available cash, skill and ambition. Ingenuity is so often the defining characteristic of the craft of assembly of these ageing structures. Ross Brewin’s images provide evidence of this, illuminating a loss of the culture of rural construction. The inclination to build purposefully when done by one’s own hand exposes the processes, skills, ambitions and vagaries of the circumstance of human endeavour.”
Morning Peninsula Regional Gallery
Location: Civic Reserve, Dunns Road, Mornington
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm
Exhibition admission fees: $4 adults / $2 concession
