







A Leakage of Wholes (iterations)
Betty Russ
Gallery 4
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Popular culture uses speculative science fiction, fantasy and horror as a means to both ferment, and ignore, mounting eschatological terror. Within the context of imminent global catastrophe, speculation around plant consciousness and monstrous plants, as manifested in both philosophy and popular culture, is a site of productive tension concerning the vegetal, the more-than-human, and the future. Compelled by the unreal, unimaginable, the weird and eerie, queerness, and provocative ideas, experimental material investigations emerge of other possible worlds to describe these tensions.
While mining the polyvalent discourse of retro speculative science fiction as a site of research, the vegetal frequently emanates signs of what has been and what is to come. Weeds, or rather, plants supposedly out of place, have an immutable loquacity in the knowledge they hold of the capitalocene, and tell clairvoyant, veracious narratives of where we are headed.
Presented by Firstdraft in partnership with Metro Arts, Brisbane.

related exhibitions
We Tea is an immersive installation developed through Bu’s ongoing studio-based tea ceremony practice since 2022. Rooted in intimate gatherings with friends, family, and visitors, each session becomes a durational act of presence where the slow rituals of making and sharing tea quietly document shared time and space.
This exhibition responds to the idea of 'Digital Genocide,' a term coined by Muneera Bano, Principal Research Scientist in Ethics and AI at the CSIRO. It names a hidden violence: the systematic disappearance, distortion, and underrepresentation of cohorts of women in the data that feeds machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Join us from 6-8 pm, for the opening of four new exhibitions including 3 solo exhibitions by Sue Jo Wright, Jingwei Bu, Belinda Yee and a group exhibition with Mitchell Davis, David Horton and Martin John Oldfield.
‘Labyrinths of Signs’ is a textile installation body of work by Sue Jo Wright, which explores the journey of identity, belonging, and the discovery of community.
I Am Not My Father is a multigenerational collaboration exploring the complexities of fatherhood. Each artist brings personal experience—ranging from nurturing relationships to those shaped by absence, neglect, or trauma—into a shared conversation through textiles, sculpture, video, and an original score.
On the day following the opening exhibition, Jingwei Bu will present a one-on-one, silent tea ceremony retrial. This objectless performance invites individual audience members to enter the tea room and sit opposite the artist on a stack of A4 paper, still and present. Together, they share the quiet ritual and the passing of time, creating a space for reflection, intimacy, and presence.
Join us from 2-4pm on Saturday 23 August for artist talks with the August/September exhibitions, including Sue Jo Wright, Mitchell Davis, David Horton, Martin John Oldfield, Jingwei Bu and Belinda Yee.
- Posted in exhibition, 2023 Program
- Tagged Betty Russ, February 2023, A Leakage of Wholes (iterations)