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34 35 ARTLINES 4 | 2020 FULL FACE Brian Robinson has likewise employed an array of personally significant symbols, including the Dhari, or headdress, that appears on the Torres Strait Islander flag, and the star constellation of Tagai that signifies the value of astronomy to his seafaring people. These icons appear alongside references to extraterrestrial life, prompting the question ‘are we alone in the universe?’ Robert Moore, who designs for custom motorcycle manufacturer Deus Ex Machina, has used his trademark geometric font to spell out an abstract version of the word ‘kindness’ — a motto for our troubled times. Through a process of painting and sanding, he has manipulated the finish of his helmet to evoke, as he describes, ‘a well-worn, warm and much loved piece’. 5 In a related vein, David Booth has covered his helmet with handcrafted stickers that conjure nostalgia for family road trips and which turn classic Australian advertisements on their head. The exhibition reflects a range of other approaches, some of them deeply personal. Archie Moore, whose late uncle Garry was ‘well-known for riding his bikes vast distances between towns west of Toowoomba’ and ‘would custom-make his own bikes from scrap pieces’, has created an homage. 6 Moore’s helmet features a spectacular set of cow horns reminiscent of the ones his uncle once used to individualise his own helmets, worn by the artist as a child. Similarly adding three- dimensional elements to her work, NELL has taken advantage of the helmet’s ovoid shape and taken it well beyond that form. In her typical iconoclastic style, she has embedded one of her hand-built ceramic eggs within the helmet’s womb-like interior and positioned it on a stool, creating an anthropomorphic sculpture Opposite from top David Booth (ghostpatrol) / My sticker collection 2020 / Courtesy: The artist and Hugo Michell Gallery / Photograph: Mark Lobo; and Monika Behrens / 13 2020 / Courtesy: The artist and Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney, and Finkelstein Gallery, Melbourne / Photograph: Document Photography evoking new life. Kate Beynon has transformed her helmet into a soft sculpture with a mantle sewn from stained and painted textiles. The artwork conjures Beynon’s ‘Blue Shaman Guardian’, which has figured in previous series, and was inspired in part by ‘stories of ancient Chinese Wu female shamans, who had ways of engaging with spirits through music and dance’. 7 Eric Bridgeman has made his helmet with his cousin Alison Wel, continuing his collaboration with family and friends from his maternal tribe, the Yuri Alaiku, from Papua New Guinea’s Simbu Province. Drawing on their shared heritage, the artists have embellished their artwork with a bilum headpiece, woven by Wel, and clan designs that evoke the ‘growth of hair patterns on the human skull’. 8 Several artists have engaged with ethical issues. eX de Medici has painted a brain on her helmet, alluding to its function in theatres of war. Having served as an official war artist, she is well-versed in the role that the headgear serves. The helmet is sometimes referred to as a ‘brain bucket’ because it shields the brain and, in catastrophic circumstances, contains its remains. TextaQueen has tapped into associations that the helmet shares with policing. The imagery and acronyms on their helmet relate to recent Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality and, more broadly, to grassroots movements that advocate for the defunding of law enforcement agencies in favour of services which prevent, resolve and address harm within communities. Brisbane-based artist Callum McGrath, whose layered artworks engage with queer culture and critique homophobia, has adorned his helmet with pink rhinestones. The iconography and wordplay that are a feature of his work refer, in turn, to homoerotic imagery in paintings by Australian artist Juan Davila, and to a series of text-based works that the late Australian artist David McDiarmid made in the 1990s to foreground the AIDS crisis. Together, these varied and inventive responses provide a striking and thought- provoking counterpoint to ‘The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire’ intended to expand the exhibition experience. Samantha Littley is Curator, Australian Art. ‘Full Face: Artists’ Helmets’ is in the GOMA Foyer Cabinet until 16 May 2021. Endnotes 1 The helmet’s aesthetic and conceptual potential has inspired numerous artists, including English sculptor Henry Moore (1898– 1986) and contemporary Australian artist Patricia Piccinini (b.1965). ‘Full Face’ was devised in response to such artistic precedents and a number of exhibitions within Australia and overseas that have seen artists personalise motorcycle helmets. These include ‘For the Love of Kids’, staged by Harley-Davidson in 2013 to mark the launch their Vintage Bar & Shield helmet, with the proceeds going to charity; ‘Twenty/20’, held in 2017 at Vandal Gallery in Redfern, Sydney, which raised funds for a Movember campaign; and See See Motorcycle’s annual ‘21 Helmets’ project that supports artists from the community of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. 2 Monika Behrens, artist statement, 31 July 2020. 3 Madeleine Kelly, email to the author, 23 September 2020. 4 Guan Wei, artist statement, 28 July 2020. 5 Robert Moore, artist statement, 6 August 2020. 6 Archie Moore, email to the author, 25 June 2020. 7 Kate Beynon, artist statement on Robe for the Blue Shaman Guardian 2020, Geelong Art Gallery, https://www.geelonggallery . org.au/whats-on/exhibitions/kate-beynon/robe-for-the-blue- shaman-guardian-2020, viewed 9 October 2020. 8 Eric Bridgeman, email to the author, 3 August 2020. ‘ Monika Behrens's 13 flowers pose a subtle challenge . . . subverting the concept of the rough/ tough biker ’