The mythology of the Great Australian Dream allows us to believe that owning a home is a measure of success and stability. But as our city changes, as the population grows and property prices skyrocket, this Great Australian Dream faces an uncertain future. In Quarter acre, six Australian artists explore the contemporary shift in the nature of the Great Australian Dream within the context of the house, the home and the suburb.
As our city changes and our generation becomes aware that most of us will never own our own home, the divide between reality and the myth of the Great Australian Dream is growing. In Quarter acre, six Australian artists explore the changing nature of the Great Australian Dream and challenge its present existence through the locus of the suburb and the home. Howard Arkley explored this once attainable, romantic dream that was entrenched into our cultural sensibility—now, these artists layer this history with the present situation, where utopian ideals and reality collide to form a cultural dislocation.
Quarter Acre explores these Australian mythologies through concepts of the home and the suburb. The artists depict their uncertain futures and reflect on the shifts and changes that have occurred in their cities. They investigate feelings of nostalgia and futility, and construct imaginings of the future dream. These responses are woven together to create new concepts for the Australian dream within its contemporary, albeit uncertain state.