July 8 - 28, 2023

Immersive opening weekend: Saturday, July 8, 6-8pm, and Sunday, July 9, 12-4pm

Free entry

You can find Make|Shift at The Mill Exhibition Space,
located at 154 Angas St, Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide).
The exhibition will run July 8-28. The Exhibition Space will be open:
Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm
Saturday-Sunday July 15-16 and 22-23, 4:30pm-7pm.

The Mill presents Make|Shift, an immersive and experimental exhibition of projection art as part of Illuminate Adelaide. The exhibition features digital image and projection based work by six South Australian multidisciplinary artists; Larrakia man James Alberts, Ray Harris, Sarah Neville, Liam Somerville, Inneke Taal and Tanya Voges, with Margie Medlin as Artistic & Curatorial Facilitator.

Working across dance, performance, visual arts, installation and experimental media the exhibition explores digital and virtual spaces. Make|Shift aims to create a space for the artists to experiment with ways of making and shifting time, place and space. Make|Shift artists are supported by artistic mentorship from illuminart’s Cindi Drennan, and Tim Gruchy.

Make|Shift invited artists to explore their approach to formal notions of screen-media in an art gallery context. We invited each other to provoke the boundaries and traditions of photography, the moving image, sculpture, performance, and interaction within screen technologies. In workshops and practice-led discussions, across the gallery, we explored the interstices and intermeshing of these forms.
As a group we mapped the gallery space as series of sites and surfaces. Projecting along the right angles, adjacent walls, corridors and crevasse of the galleries the moving images to create encounters that dominate the built environment, like geographers, our survey explores the shifting terrains of space, memory, story, and image. The exhibition asks how can cinematic ephemera interact with/in the gallery.
-Margie Medlin
Spirit Shelf
On a domestic shelf filled with jars, books and plastic, spirit shelf nods to preserved animals floating in flammable liquid on shelves in museums. But by projecting live animals filmed going about their daily life Spirit shelf speaks to extinction, cruelty, indifference humans have for the other inhabitants of the earth, through our use, abuse, denial, consumption, greed and destruction.
Much as we are slowly destroying our home, we are rapidly affecting those who innocently live and try to survive and adapt around us. While we treat them with very little regard or relevance, much like the mundane inanimate objects in our pantry or office. Or token special items we hold in higher regard, a much-loved book or pet cat, while others become our endless mass of the unwanted.
Ray Harris is an Adelaide artist working in video, performance and installation exploring the psychological complexities and struggles of the self. She is also a curator, advocate and initiator of projects and studios. Ray is committed to furthering the SA arts through participation, support, spaces and opportunities. She has a Master’s degree from UNI SA has won several grants and awards and has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally including: the Samstag Museum, AEAF, Adelaide Festival Hugo Michell Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Casula Powerhouse, Brenda May Gallery, Pirimid Sanat and Istanbul Contemporary Art Fair (Turkey) and SEEAF Art Festival (South Korea). Her work is held in The Borusan Collection and Project 4L- Elgiz Museum Collection, Turkey and private collections in Australia and has featured in publications such as Artlink, Art Collector, Broadsheet, Real time, and ETC magazine Canada. Ray led, curated (2 co-curated) and managed 3 group exhibitions and performance events at Holy Rollers, and Led, initiated, developed and executed Neoteric, a 20 mid-career SA group exhibition with 20 writers in Adelaide Festival, 2022. Ray was a co-director of FELTspace ARI from 2010 to 15, the co-founder of Peer studios, founder and director of Holy Rollers Studios, Prospect and now The Third Level Studios in the Adelaide CBD.
T = I/I0 Transmittance
T = I/I0 Transmittance is a daylight simulator that explores the amount of light energy that glass absorbs, scatters, or reflects. The installation is constructed of glass and light, projecting weather as shadow for personal reflection on winter-time ambience in enclosed spaces. In a speculative future world, where underground/ weatherproof living is normal, identifying the psychological importance of dappled light as light fairies on walls will connect with us with seasonal shifts to enhance quality of life.
Sarah Neville is an Australian choreographer and scenario designer who devises new media performance, instigates inter-disciplinary practices and invests in multi-platform processes and production outcomes. Sarah has created work for Adelaide Festival and Fringe, Ausdance Choreolab, Dance House, Australian Choreographic Centre, ADT’s Ignition season, Strut Dance, Link Dance Company (WAAPA) Vitalstatistix, MOD UniSA and the Venice Biennale 2019. In 2021 Sarah was awarded an Arts SA Fellowship to create dance for virtual reality experiences. In 2022, Sarah received a PhD from Deakin University/ Coventry University researching embodied participation in immersive digital environments. Sarah was an intern at the research centre for interactive and virtual environments (IVE) at UniSA and has presented at Siggraph, Technart and the 7th MoCo Conference. Sarah is currently an adjunct research fellow at UniSA Creative/ IVE.
marine_digital_conservation_SA_2023.exe
marine_digital_conservation_SA_2023.exe, looks toward the inevitable digital future where we may live on a lifeless, artificial planet with only poor digital representations of the extinct species we have destroyed. Wouldn't it be so much better if we preserved the real thing instead?
All over the world climate change caused by human hands under western capitalism has already made an enormous impact on the extinction of biodiversity of flora and fauna. If we continue on this path, which we show no meaningful signs of slowing down, soon there will be nothing left other than us humans and the livestock we like to consume. Millions of years of evolution annihilated for the sake of short-term corporate profits.
As a society we have chosen not to stop our unsustainable consumption practices but to instead poorly digitise these living natural beauties before they are lost forever. Some chilling examples include the last remains of the extinct thylacine - 80 seconds of black and white film footage and a handful of pelts. Or the island digitisation project of Tuvalu, a Pacific Nation which will soon be underwater due to rising sea levels who are creating a virtual replica in a desperate effort to preserve their cultural heritage.
Liam Somerville is a video artist and cinematographer living and working on unceded Kaurna Country in South Australia. After completing a Bachelor of Digital Media Arts from University of South Australia in 2010 Liam went on to form CAPITAL WASTE PICTURES where he has created and collaborated on music videos, video installations, feature films, documentaries, television commercials, VR games, dome projections and live visual experiences. Their digital works often circulate around inputting the beautiful imperfections of the human experience into the digital space to create cyborg interactions through the use of interactive sensors and motion capture. This can be witnessed in ESCHATECH VR, a post-human VR experience created in Unreal Engine with the assistance of Flinders University's 2021 Assemblage Artist in Residence Program. Other residencies such as with Cinematic Experiments with Margie Medlin at The Mill, Adelaide (2021) and Morphos Digital Dome Artist in Residence (2016) with Denver Arts +Tech Advancement in Denver, CO have all been beneficial for his continual visual exploration of the moving digital image.
As a cinematographer Liam has credits including feature music doco The Angels: Kickin’ Down the Door (2022) directed by Madeline Parry which opened the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival, Video Nasty: The Making of Ribspreader (2020) directed by Matthew Bate and Liam Somerville and Yer Old Faither (2020) directed by Heather Croall.
A series of self-credits (as object; as site; as drama)
I am considering the cross-over of theatricality behind the gallery (white-cube) and the theatre (black-box) as corresponding spaces at The Mill. Each are make-shift spaces that house processes of rehearsal, editing, experimentation, and production.
I am moved by the invitation embedded in rehearsal processes. Impulse, improvisation, and the slow reflexive consideration of the space to be dressed for performance or exhibition as what activates a site and makes it responsive. The plurality of these bodily-spatial dialogue holds a state of becoming that I find precious, a series of vital passing moments that gather over time to form a multi-faceted whole.
I also wish to interrogate the inextricable act of self-crediting that goes into making and viewing art.
Through multiple modes of deconstruction, the collapsed rolling credits and truss as figures in space; the projection of the infinite gallery architecture reflecting itself and those who pass through in delay; and the illumination of an empty blacked-out performance space, I seek to promote the embodiment of these processes with the act of anticipation and viewing.
The before the event.
Inneke Taal’s sculptural practice utilises multi-media installation and performative practices as a way of considering subtle embodied experiences and spatial relationships. Taal has a particular interest in reflecting the making and receiving of artwork as a subject in her work, as well as producing site-responsive works. With a focus on process-based modes of production, Taal seeks to interrupt common modes of presentation, and interrogate linear narrative and logic, using a range of media including found objects, paper, moving image, text, and sound. The role of video and projection have become central mediums in her practice to explore the agency of the body, the lens, and site. Inneke completed a Bachelor of Visual Art Honours in 2019 following a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2018, at Adelaide Central School of Art. She has a background working for performing arts organisations after completing a Bachelor of Arts Double Major in Linguistics and Drama in 2006 at Deakin University, Melbourne. Inneke received an Adelaide Fringe Festival Weekly Award for Art & Design in 2022 for her solo show ‘Site Interrupted’ at Sauerbier House and is a recipient of The Anne and Gordon SAMSTAG International Visual Arts Scholarship 2023 - 2024.
With/In
With/In illustrates the relationship of the body to space, between the bodies of performer and witness and to itself as a kinaesthetic exploration. The interplay of the projected figure within the installation and architecture invites the viewer to consider their own sense of physicality as they are moved with and in the space. The experimental projection techniques show a study of the dance artist’s process informed by movement scores demonstrating elements of contemporary dance linage. Unlike viewing an ephemeral performance With/In offers an interactive glimpse into the ever-evolving practice of the artist’s signature choreographic process and only exists with the presence of the audiences’ movements.
Interdisciplinary artist Tanya Voges brings her experience in dance, drawing, community engagement and dance film making to make multimedia performance works, live dance pieces and dance for screen. A 2004 graduate of Victorian College of the Arts, Tanya is currently back at the University of Melbourne undertaking a Master’s in Dance Movement Therapy. The cross over between arts and health has been a common theme in the community engagement works Tanya has created in recent years especially as Artist in Residence at Flinders Medical Centre Arts-in-Health (2020 & 2021) where she developed Drawn to Movement and Dance for Tender Times particularly with the patient experience in mind. Other residencies have been through Australian Dance Theatre (2021), The Mill (2020) and Guildhouse/SA Museum Tracing the Anthropocene (2020), Critical Path (2014), BigCI(2014) and Bundanon (2011 & 2013). Recent collaborations with Artist Louise Flaherty and Musician Belinda Gehlert have led to participatory performances in the Parklands (2020), Adelaide Botanic Gardens (2021 Nature Fest), Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens (2022 Fringe) and a new work for Lobethal Bushland Park (April 2023 Fabrik). As an advocate for dance for all ages Tanya facilitates choreography, contemporary dance and improvisation for Adelaide Festival Centre, Tafe SA, Restless Dance Theatre, Flinders Medical Centre and Carclew.
James Alberts, aka Jimblah, is a Larrakia Brother who specialises in activating community & using the power of creative space to bring about healing, joy, and play where Community and Country are concerned. James is a music producer, vocalist, photographer & cinematographer, and utilises Song & Story to help uplift and transform Community for the better, and has close to 20 years of experience working within the First Nations sector, in particular youth spaces, all across the Country.
Artistic & Curatorial Facilitator:
Margie Medlin’s practice tracks in a linage of expanded cinema, her interdisciplinary projects explore interrelationships between movement, devised spaces, and media technologies. Throughout her practice, she has continued to experiment and forge new ground aesthetically, collaboratively, and technically. Her media artwork has been exhibited extensively including in India, the USA, Cuba, Australia, Germany, the UK, Japan, and Finland. As an educator, Margie was the director of Critical Path, centre for choreographic research in Sydney from 2007-2015.
Artistic Mentorship and Professional Development:
Tim Gruchy’s extensive career spans the exploration and composition of immersive and interactive multimedia through installation, music and performance, whilst redefining its role and challenging the delineations between cultural sectors. He has exhibited multimedia works, photography, video, music and performance since the early 1980s on 5 continents as well as his larger expressions in the public art arenas. His installations and performances feature in many international and Australasian institutions, festivals and public spaces including IlluminateADL 2021, Future Intelligence Shanghai 2019, WOMAD (2018/7), Wenzhou Bienalle (2016), Dak’ Art Dakar (2016), Auckland Arts Festival (2015 & 2009), New Zealand Arts Festival (2014), SCOUT Auckland (2012), Biennale of Sydney (2012) (collaboration), Beijing 798 (2011), Shanghai Expo (2010), 2nd Asian Art BIennial Taiwan (2009), Melbourne International Arts Festival (2009), Adelaide Festival (1986-2008), and Sydney Festival (2004). Theatre and opera credits include ‘AIDA’; Sydney Opera House and touring Australia (2009-2013), ‘Ainadamar’, Adelaide Festival (2008);The Leningrad Symphony (2006). His visual designs have featured in works by Opera Australia, OzOpera, Sydney Theatre Company, Australian Dance Theatre, Auckland Philamonia Orchestra and Mau. He is an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of South Australia, and was Art Director and Distinguished Professor of the Digital Art Department, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts from 2018 – 2021. His research has extended into areas of interactivity, the human computer interface, performative interactives, having established dedicated labs at QUT in Brisbane and SAFA in Shanghai. He is represented by Kronenberg Mais Wright Gallery in Sydney. He has lectured and facilitated workshops in video art and interactive digital design at creative institutions around the world including Shanghai; Future University of Hakodate (Japan); National Institute of Dramatic Art (Sydney); University of Technology Sydney; Te Papa (New Zealand) and Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane). He has also been extensively involved in museum design and various projects at the intersection of architecture and multimedia. www.grup.tv
Cindi Drennan/Illuminart is an Australian multimedia artist and artistic director, specialising in projection art, with a passion for community building at the heart of her practice. Cindi is the founder and director of illuminart, bringing a wealth of experience and passion for the artform, and leadership to the projects. Architectural Projection and Projection arts projects directed by Cindi include Luminous Hall for UWA 2013; award winning No Boundaries Project in 2012; award winning Port Inhabited for Port Festival 2011; RED on Sydney Opera House for World Aids Day 2011; Fractured Heart for ARIAS and VIVID 2011-2012; The Ribbon for the Regional Centre of Culture program in Murray Bridge SA 2010, and Landed for the National Regional Arts Conference in Launceston, 2010, and Harts Mill Inhabited and Promise in 2009. Cindi’s multi-disciplinary background encompasses over 25 years experience in filmmaking, illustration, animation, community arts & interactive media. Cindi founded Illuminart in 2007, a South Australian arts company that integrates community consultation and engagement within high quality projection arts, architectural projection and audiovisual storytelling. Prior to this Cindi’s creative leadership roles included Tesseract Research Laboratories 1997-2004, The Electric Canvas 2004-2006, and also team leadership roles at the Institute for Interactive Multimedia (UTS) and Unlimited Energee 1993-1997. Cindi’s accomplishments include contributing projection art for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, DOHA opening ceremony and Singapore National Day; directing several short films and television commercials; directing two experimental AV theatre projects (Alpha Release at p-space, and Sprocket at The Studio Sydney Opera House); pioneering VJing and projection mapping in Australia.
Make|Shift is part of The Mill’s Expand program, a responsive process and development program, with interest in challenging artists to explore interdisciplinary, site-specific and audience-focused new work.
Expand supports artists to explore different modes of collaborating and encourages peer-learning. It enables risk taking, experimentation and freedom of expression in the creation and realisation of new works. Expand invites audiences to not only appreciate, but actively participate in the practice of art-making through artists talks, Q&A’s and public workshops.
The exhibition has been developed through Expand’s Cinematic Experiments: Projection Techniques and Technologies program.
The Mill has two entrances, the main entrance on the corner of Angas and Gunson Street and an accessible entrance further down Angas Street.
Unfortunately, the main entrance is not accessible, as it has a small step from the pavement.
Both doors are locked from the outside, there is a doorbell on the main door that will alert The Mill team you would like to come into the building.
A member of The Mill team sit in the foyer Monday to Friday and can assist you with access to our wheelchair accessible entrance.
The Mill has concrete flooring throughout with no internal steps and a disability toilet on site.
Read more in-depth information on our accessibility web page.
If you have questions or would like to talk to one of The Mill team contact us via email

Expand: Make|Shift Exhibition

July 8 - 28, 2023

Visiting the exhibition

Curatorial Statement

Ray Harris

Sarah Neville

Liam Somerville AKA CAPITAL WASTE

Inneke Taal

Tanya Voges

About the Creative Team

About the program

Accessibility