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The Conversation
The Conversation
Lisa A Williams, Associate Professor, School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney

Uncanny, curious and awesome: an expert in psychology breaks down what we feel in the face of Ron Mueck’s sculptures

NY Art Gallery of New South Wales the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Ron Mueck Woman with Sticks 2009 (detail), mixed media, 170 × 183 × 120 cm, Collection Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, acquired 2013 © Ron Mueck, photo: museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, the Netherlands, Antoine van Kaam

I recently experienced Ron Mueck: Encounter at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. I have no training in art appreciation or history, and I went with minimal prior knowledge about Mueck’s work or the pieces in the exhibit.

I had, however, heard his works are psychologically evocative. So I approached the experience with an open mind, and a social psychologist’s inquisitiveness.

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