Dark Mofo + Rosny Farm present Nexus: Totality by Wona Bae + Charlie Lawler

Nexus: Totality is a meditation on balance and time, on the unseen forces that shape the universe
through relation rather than singularity. At its heart lies the ancient principle of yin and yang (음양),
a cornerstone of Korean philosophy, where dualities, such as light and dark, life and death, order
and chaos, are not opposites, but mirrors, continuously folding into one another.

At this critical moment of ecological crisis, the work reflects on humanity’s interaction with the
ecosystems they inhabit. Through the lens of opposing temporal scales, it strives to understand
the vastness of deep geological time in relation to the fleeting nature of human timescales.
At one end Nexus: Totality is shaped by the silhouette of a stone from the boulder fields of
kunanyi/Mount Wellington. The other resolves into a perfect circle, a recurring motif in Bae and
Lawler’s work, symbolising harmony and the cyclical nature of life. Between these forms, the
sculpture unfolds in a slow, deliberate sequence. Like a capillary wave tracing the subtle
exchange between forces. It is a study in causality, in attunement, in the balance that underlies all
living things.

The soundscape for Nexus: Totality reveals the invisible electromagnetic landscape of the boulder
on kunanyi, composed from a series of field recordings taken at the site. It uncovers the unseen
interactions between human-made and naturally occurring electromagnetic resonances.
As the viewer circles the sculpture, form begins to blur, individual rings dissolve into a singular,
collapsing space and perception inward. What was once front becomes back; what seemed
outside reveals itself as inside. From one vantage, the edge holds the weight of stone, the centre
a perfect void. Yet with each step, the roles quietly reverse in a shifting dialogue.

Visit the boulder that inspired this work! On the Lenah Valley Track on kunanyi, walk from the springs and walk north for approximately 30 – 35 minutes. The boulder is on the left side of the track, just past the Shoobridge track turn off. Latitude: 42° 53′ 51.15″ S Longitude: 147° 14′ 54.072″ E

Wona Bae (South Korea) and Charlie Lawler (Australia) are an artist duo. Their collaborative
practice explores the complex interconnected relationships between humans and the ecosystems
they inhabit. Bae and Lawler are interested in discourse surrounding environmental debate,
interrogating the contradictory logics embedded within social, political and ecological structures.
Through installation, sculpture, data, video and archival media, their work traverses a line of
inquiry spanning past, present, and future ecologies. Seeking to re-contextualise humans evolving
relationship with the natural world. Bae and Lawler’s immersive installations deconstruct familiar
forms, recasting natural systems and data, searching for new ways of making sense of the world.