Dave Hullfish Bailey's 'Elevator': An Exhibition Exploring Social Structures & Industrial Metaphors

This exhibition by Dave Hullfish Bailey explores the industrial mechanisms of grain storage and their metaphorical potential for societal structures. It examines instability, conflict, and the re-configuration of communities in the wake of disasters, using video, drawings, and sculptures.

Dave Hullfish Bailey's exhibition 'Elevator' delves into the industrial processes of storing grain in large silos, examining how this interface between agriculture and machinery can serve as a metaphor for societal structures. The exhibition draws parallels between the instability of dust, an unintended byproduct of agricultural and industrial processes, and the potential for social decay with revolutionary implications, likening a dust explosion to a moment of lost control. Bailey's work references the temporary suspension and disorganization of social structures following disasters like terror attacks or natural events, and the subsequent re-configuration of communities beyond conventional boundaries. In the Secession's gallery, Bailey presents works that reflect on these concepts. A video in the cross-raum documents the work of grain loaders at Vienna's Alberner Hafen, highlighting the granular structure of individual components mirroring individuals within a group, and how friction can lead to explosive potential. The exhibition also includes drawings and sculptures featuring 'unintended combinations' of everyday language, science, and theory, representing new social structures that can form after a collapse. The historical context of the Secession building itself, having been temporarily repurposed as a grain silo during WWII and symbolizing the Secessionists' break from established artistic societies, adds an ironic and resonant layer to Bailey's exploration of societal and architectural re-formation.

Visitors can access ticketing information via a link to eventjet.at. The Secession is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. General museum admission information is available via a link to 'Informationen & Tickets'. The page does not specify if tickets are for the exhibition specifically or general admission, or list prices or booking requirements directly on the exhibition page itself, but directs users to a ticketing platform.