Christian Boltanksi: Chance | at Carriageworks, Sydney

Carriageworks, in association with Sydney Festival, presents Christian Boltanski: Chance. This marks the first time a major work by Boltanski has been presented in Australia. Responding to the architecture and scale of Carriageworks this immense and complex installation allows you to witness lives unfold, following the rhythm of births and deaths across the globe. Boltanski invites you to explore the idea that all human life is the result of chance. Christian Boltanski is acknowledged internationally as one of the most important artists of his generation. For over five decades he has made work that explores the unpredictable turns of life through the themes of memory, birth and death. Chance is an immense and complex installation comprised of three works; Wheel of Fortune, Last News From Humans, and Be New. Responding to the architecture and scale of Carriageworks, Boltanski invites visitors to interact with the work as they follow the rhythm of births and deaths across the globe. While the artist explores the idea that all human life is the result of chance, his work reminds us of our mortality, and ultimately affirms the continuum of life.

“We are a puzzle of all the people living before us: the chin of a grandfather and the eyes of a great-great uncle and the ears of a great-great grandmother.” — Christian Boltanski

Originally commissioned by the Institut Français for the French Pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, Chance has been reconfigured for presentation at Carriageworks. Image: Christian Boltanski, Chance, 2011. Installation view, Pavillon français, Venice Biennale, 2011. Photo: Didier Plowy. Coproduction: Institut français / Centre national des arts plastiques.