‘REVERSE ARCHAEOLOGIES’ takes as one of its essential creative and analytic inspirations the Japanese artist Genpei Asagawa’s term for useless architecture—“Mukei Jutaku.” The term “Mukei” means “non-form” or “formless,” while “Jutaku” means “housing” or “architecture.” Therefore, “Mukei Jutaku” can be translated as “formless architecture” or “non-form architecture.” Asagawa coined this term to describe a movement in Japanese architecture that emphasises the creation of unconventional, often whimsical structures that prioritise artistic expression and experimentation over functionality and practicality.

In addition to coining the term “Mukei Jutaku” for useless architecture, Genpei Asagawa also introduced the concept of “Thomassons” in the realm of sculpture. The term refers to abandoned or obsolete architectural elements that continue to exist in a state of neglect or disrepair but have been repurposed as sculptural objects in their own right.

As well as making an analysis of formless architecture, the artists in this exhibition also investigate the concept in the realm of sculpture—examining architectural sites, materials, and objects to which function remains ambiguous. Through speculative and creative development, the works in this exhibition aim to provide practical insights into the complex relationships between old and new architectural technologies, sculptural processes, space, time, and memory.

The object ontologies informing the artists' works manifest as both high- and low-tech artefacts and forms, developing in response to the architectural features of the Tin Sheds Gallery, the University, and other related urban and regional contexts of Sydney and beyond. Responding to the notion of ‘Site / Context & Materiality’,¹ new bodies of work have emerged, along with critical research and collaborative dialogues—bringing into alignment and expanding on the long mutual influence between art and architecture.²

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Notes: ‘Site / Context & Materiality’ is a 3 point research model developed to interpret site specific artworks in Hogan’s Doctoral Paper ‘Survival Aesthetics’, 2020
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‘Architectural Fragmentation and Memorial Structures in Post Monumental Discourse’ – Expands – ‘Mutual Spatial and Material Influence between art & architecture’ - Reframing – ‘Historical Material + Artifacts encoded with layers of Meaning’.

¹ ‘Site / Context & Materiality’ is a 3 point research model developed to interpret site specific artworks in Hogan’s Doctoral Paper ‘Survival Aesthetics’, 2020.
² ‘Architectural Fragmentation and Memorial Structures in Post Monumental Discourse’ – Expands – ‘Mutual Spatial and Material Influence between ‘art & architecture’ - Reframing – ‘Historical Material + Artifacts encoded with layers of Meaning’. Notes on ‘Reverse Archaeologies’ courtesy of the artists: Hogan, Heidrich, Bourke & Newby, 2023