Now featuring at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the Somewhere Other exhibition was displayed as part of last year’s Biennale, which comprised works of architects and artists from all over the world and was curated by Irish architects, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.

Architects were asked to draw inspiration from the broader social and cultural contexts in which architecture functions under the theme, ‘Freespace’.

Crafted by Melbourne- and Sydney-based firm, John Wardle Architects, in collaboration with a team of artists and designers, Somewhere Other continues to explore the theme of last year’s Biennale in Melbourne this year.   

John Wardle told Il Globo that the work aims to evoke curiosity and joy within its Melbourne viewers, just like it did in Venice.

“The work was created as a long lens between Venice and Australia, but the installation stands to explore ideas of space, wherever that might be,” he said.

“We hope visitors are intrigued by the combination of media we have incorporated … When first seeing it or walking through it, regardless of where the installation is located or where they are from.”

The project invites visitors to walk through five different “portals” built within a larger, timber and steel structure in which they can watch a series of short films produced by independent Milan-based filmmakers, Coco and Maximilian, originally from Melbourne.

John Wardle Architects collaborated with Australian-born artist, Natasha Johns-Messenger, who works with large-scale architectural and optical installations.

Johns-Messenger said that hardly any artistic spaces could live up to the “monumental awe” of the Biennale’s 13th-century art and exhibition space that once stood as a series of armories and shipyards.

But the local artist said the arrival of Somewhere Other in Melbourne will entice art lovers nonetheless.  

“I think each new context will allow new readings of the work, which is essentially an autonomous sculptural form,” she said.

“[The viewers’] perceptual awareness is challenged … There is a definite shift in the senses.”

While she sees art and architecture as being different from one another, Johns-Messenger said the installation produced in collaboration with John Wardle Architects was artistic because they both deal with functionality of space.

“I see art and architecture as different, in simple terms, because of architecture’s core functionality, whereas my work, particularly my use of mirrors, disrupts space, counter-acting functionality,” she added.

“I believe great architecture like John’s is artful, especially when the form, materiality and function are working in unison.”

Johns-Messenger studied Fine Art at RMIT University with a major in painting, which is where she said her interest in working with and developing spaces began.

“Spaces that have whole-body seeing and immediate space are at the core of my artistic investigations,” she said.

Somewhere Other will be on display at the NGV, in Melbourne’s CBD, until July 28, 2019.

Visit the NGV’s website for more information.