Prosody of a Pulse Rate

2012

unfired clay, wheat grain, grass

(amongst several in situ interventions, part of the solo exhibition titled ‘Circa’ at Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne)

Kallat and his assistant produced a suite of life-size sleeping dogs with sprouting seeds embedded in their contours. The impermanence of unfired clay is rendered porous and textured. In different states of repose, these somnolent street dogs are part animal, part-landscape inscribed with verdant wheat. A sculpted, living organism is preserved within the museum. The title includes “prosody’ continuing Kallat’s linguistic intonation of speech and utterance while sleep includes a slower pulse rate. These dogs have found refuge within the museum in a remarkably tender gesture for discarded animals whose existence is about survival. We are also reminded of the adage: let sleeping dogs lie.

Natalie King (excerpt from the essay: An Evolving Narrative in 8 Acts, Circa, Ian Potter Museum)