Before this post a little disclaimer – I am not a big fan of video art. I am not sure whether this is a repressed memory from childhood or whether something happened just after I watched one (like The Ring) but I have never been an avid fan.

So when preparing for a visit to Cockatoo Island and noticing the large number of video artworks on offer I was a little apprehensive.  However with a beautiful (but cold!) ferry ride I was feeling a little more positive about viewing these works in such a new and exciting location. My expectations were completely surpassed as the video works were nearly all placed in contexts that really added to them and developed the concepts rather than merely providing a dark room.

There were a few especially outstanding works which really engaged with and were part of the construction of the Island. Mark Boulos’s work, All That is Solid Melts into Air (2008), was one of the Island’s more emotionally engaging and experiential works. The size of the screens and the volume of sound coming from them was particularly overwhelming. The violence and chaos which was reflected in both the jungles of Nigeria and the western stock-room floor was truly spectacular and was in sharp contrast to Mark himself who seemed very kind and well-spoken when discussing his work.

Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave (2002), was an equally emotional experience through which I sat through the entirety of (a bigger shock to me than you I am sure). I had studied this work at university but had never seen the video. This work is a recreation of a battle between mine workers and police in the North of England in 1984 – if you have ever watched Billy Elliot , think of Billy’s Dad and this is the typical person involved in recreating this battle. Rediscovering an event at the height of the Thatcher Era in England, this work expresses its important in English history and the pain but also healing that come from understanding a ‘battle’ from a variety of perspectives.

The artists which have received a lot media attention did not disappoint either with the arts hot-shots TV Moore’s Escape Carnival (2008) and Shaun Gladwell’s Ghost Rider (2008) very much living up to hype that been associated with these artists, TV Moore’s work was a surprising and mesmerising addition to the tunnel at Cockatoo Island and Shaun Gladwell’s sculptural works really added to his typical street video presentation.

On other end of the spectrum establishment artists were also very well placed. Mike Parr’s ‘MIRROR/ARSE,’ a series of 17 works presented in a building on the edge of the Island was a visual and sensory experience. The violence in these works although sometimes uncomfortable and a bit of a “house of horrors” as my companion to Island joked, the installation is outstanding and is an effective exhibition in itself. The much anticipated work by William Kentridge, What Will Come (Has Already Come) (2007) was very popular with audiences and I am not me, the horse is not mine (2008) was the epitome of the way in which video can enhance a physical space and engage viewers. And in the end the sun sets on my irrational dislike of video art.

Edith Moss is young Sydney writer and has written articles for a number of national and local arts publications. Edith’s main area of interest is contemporary art, design and architecture, she seeks to write about these areas for a broad audience and make contemporary art more open to the public.