The Thousands

Bianca Hester, Terri Bird and Scott Mitchell collaborate under the acronym OSW – Open Spatial Workshop. The word ‘workshop’ is a good clue – OSW’s projects are characterised by a highly visible process that takes place over intervals of time in the gallery or in urban spaces. Their work often seems to be in a state of perpetual becoming – experimental in the sense that neither you nor the artist knows for sure what the project will culminate in (if anything). This sets the work up for all sorts of easy and possibly valid criticism – “I don’t get it”, “Nothing happened” or “Who cares?”. It’s a time-based project though, so naturally you’ve gotta give it time. The idea of giving something time and attention in exchange for slow growth isn’t that popular – people would generally much prefer to hand over money for a quick fix.

And to be fair, OSW have gotten some pretty great results. In 2009 they ran the cheekily named west Brunswick Sculpture Triennial (wBST) in a series of backyards in Brunswick. In 2005 they won the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture with Groundings – a series of spinning circular panels covered in grass installed in the ground in Queen Victoria Gardens. Their upcoming project at the aEaf – Big Log Jam – works on the premise of cannibalising their past projects into a remixed history of their own achievements.