2008
My Humvee (inversion therapy) is a full sized, highly detailed rendition of a M1025 HMMWV, more commonly known as a Humvee. The object, the contemporary version of the military jeep, is balanced on its nose and rendered in black painted plywood.
At first glance, the object’s blunt proportions and monochromatic surface lend it a sense of mournful monumentality. Looming almost 6 metres in height, its nature is obscured by its dark exterior, lending it a deceptively minimal elegance. However on closer inspection its vehicular features become more obvious, and the towering block resolves into an upturned jeep. The work is detailed, very accurate and actual size but produced using processes and materials that ‘perform’ the object rather than reproduce it.
Peter Hennessey is an artist whose experimental work is largely based on model making and revolves around an investigation into ‘objects that we all know well but only virtually, through media and can never have an actual physical experience of..’
My Humvee (inversion therapy) was commissioned by the Melbourne Art Foundation for Melbourne Art Fair 2008 and was donated to the University of Queensland Art Museum.
David Griggs’ Frog boy’s dissertation into a new karaoke cult, a full-scale circus tent, is crafted entirely from paintings on canvas. The imagery painted on the exterior side of the canvas tent is a collection of tough Holy Cross imagery that details blood lettings, crucifixions, portraiture and military security. Inside the circus tent a large floating video screen documents a performance by Griggs filmed in and around Manila featuring street dogs, gang members, street beggars, Halloween kids and tattooed locals and a fibreglass statue of Jesus Christ.
The work was inspired by fun fairs, carnivals/circuses/freak shows in the Philippines and a 21-year-old man who was a sideshow act at one of the carnivals: Frog Boy. The paintings covering the tent were painted from photographs Griggs took exploring the notion of people living on the edge like Frog Boy. Gang members, street kids, Halloween performers, prostitutes, and foreigners all have a place on the walls of the circus tent. The video work was inspired by an old man living in one of the slum areas in Manila who told Griggs that the people living in the slums do not need more money they need more faith.ย
David Griggs has a strong interest in exploring the darker side of humanity through the medium of photography, painting, video, sculpture and travel. In 2005 he undertook an Asialink Residency in Manila, Philippines. It was here that the artist’s interest in exploring marginalised and repressed communities provided inspiration for the Melbourne Art Fair 2008 Artist Commission.
David Griggs’ Frog boy’s dissertation into a new karaoke cult was commissioned by the Melbourne Art Foundation for Melbourne Art Fair 2008 and was donated to the Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane.
Peter Hennessey, My Humvee (Inversion therapy) 2008, (wood, automotive enamel paint and aluminium overall, 500 x 210 x 180 cm), installation view Melbourne Art Fair 2008. Image courtesy of the artist and Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne. 
David Griggs, Frog boy's dissertation into a new karaoke cult, 2008 (Commission by Melbourne Art Foundation and donated to the collection of the Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane) Image courtesy the artist and Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney. 