Time Trials

Fiona Amundsen’s hyper-realist photographic practice focuses intently on empty spaces, indicative of New Zealand landscapes. Her project at the Physics Room is an extension of her artist’s book ‘Time Trials’, in which Amundsen has documented empty speedways - noisy volatile sites caught in a rare moment of silence and solitude, devoid of the expected signifiers or activity.

This series of photographs have been executed using a strict methodology, emphasising similarities. The photograph’s formal structural factors are pronounced, directing attention away from the actual content of the photograph and towards the manner in which they have been executed. The formulaic approach devised by the artist results in a clear aesthetic across the series. Utilising controls such as uniform technical specifications, weather and composition has minimised the influence of chance in Amundsen’s photographs, establishing a realistic ‘objective’ documentation of the speedway sites and a ubiquity between them.

Reviews, Essays & Articles
Time Trials
The Physics Room Annual, 2003
Brennan, Stella.