The forthcoming exhibition Slumped Dreams brings together the distinctive photographic visions of Nicholas Hubicki, Kelvin Skewes, and Damien Laing, exploring the complex textures of urban life and the often unseen infrastructures that shape it. Opening on Friday, 6 June at 3553 in Collingwood, the show runs until Sunday, 14 June, offering viewers a thought-provoking glimpse into Melbourne’s inner and outer cityscapes.
Slumped Dreams draws on ideas articulated by urban theorist Thomas Sieverts in Cities without Cities, focusing on the “in-between” — those overlooked urban spaces characterised by absence, discontinuity, and emergent life forms. This fractal richness of urban existence is powerfully captured across the works of the three artists.
Nicholas Hubicki’s unsettling photographs depict the ‘new community’ emerging along Melbourne’s V/Line serviced west. Vinyl billboards, fading and rotting like stale bread, prefigure the erection of sound barriers that will sever this community from the congested arterial roads connecting suburbia to the city core. His images resonate with a sense of loss and isolation amid rapid urban transformation.
Damien Laing’s series focuses on places of worship, revealing the layered complexity of modernity’s blurred boundaries between centre and periphery, and the global versus the local. His photographs speak to the diversity and dynamism of contemporary communities navigating identity and belonging within urban margins.
Kelvin Skewes presents sumptuous images of the channelised Moonee Ponds Creek, a symbolic “shadow” landscape beneath concrete freeway structures and an increasingly market-driven society. His work examines the hidden forms of life and habitation that thrive within these overlooked urban corridors.
The exhibition title, Slumped Dreams, alludes to the slump test used in construction—a trial of concrete’s suitability before it sets. In a metaphorical sense, these photographs serve as an evaluation of the worlds we have built, and the promises these infrastructures hold or fail to keep.
- Nicholas Hubicki is the 2023 recipient of the State Library of Victoria’s George Baldessin award and residency, winner of the 2022 Pool Collective grant, and has exhibited internationally, including at the Contemporary Art Platform in Kuwait City and the Munich Stadtmuseum. His work explores the interplay between constructed and natural worlds, drawing from landscape, entropy, architecture, botany, and geology.
- Kelvin Skewes is a photographic artist and photobook maker focused on man-altered landscapes and their inhabitants. He was an honourable mention recipient in the Bowness Photography Prize and runner-up in the Australian Photo Book of the Year Award. His recent projects document Melbourne’s suburban and urban waterways.
- Damien Laing is an urban planner and artist working at the intersection of public space and cultural values. He runs the public art practice telos and is involved with the experimental filmmaking collective Artist Film Workshop. His photographic work explores urban life and identity with a focus on social and spatial configurations.
- Professor David Nichols specialises in urban planning history and theory, with publications on Australian urban history and cultural heritage. His insights will contextualise the exhibition’s exploration of urban environments during the artist talk and walk.
Slumped Dreams invites Melbourne audiences to reflect on the fractured, complex realities of urban life through the eyes of three perceptive artists. The exhibition promises a rich, layered experience that resonates deeply with contemporary discussions about cities, communities, and the spaces in-between.
Artist Talk and Walk
On Sunday, 15 June, visitors can join an artist talk and guided walk with Professor David Nichols, a noted urban planning historian. The walk will start at Macaulay Station and follow the Moonee Ponds Creek through Flemington’s high-rise public housing and Kensington’s Build-to-Rent developments, concluding at Bonehead Brewery before returning to the station. The walk, approximately one hour, will offer an immersive exploration of the exhibition’s themes in situ. In case of poor weather, the talk will be held indoors at 3553.
Exhibition Details
Slumped Dreams
Dates: 6–14 June 2025
Location: 3553, 35-53 Emma St, Collingwood, VIC
Opening Night: Friday, 6 June, 6pm–9pm
Opening Hours:
- Saturday 7 June: 10am–4pm
- Wednesday 11 June: 10am–4pm
- Thursday 12 June: 10am–4pm
- Friday 13 June: 10am–4pm
- Saturday 14 June: 10am–4pm
