Inside the darkened belly of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), the steel infrastructure of a motorcycle stunt ramp hovers like a silent witness. Traces of crystal ‘tears’ cover the surface, weighing down one strip of upright metal like tapestry. This is the cinematic set of Tina Stefanou’s You Can’t See Speed (2025), a video that captures the story of blind motorcycle mechanic and rider, Matthew Cassar, in her latest solo exhibition of the same name.
From blood-pumping footage of Cassar attempting motorcycle stunts to the quiet solitude of him sitting by a self-built fish tank, You Can’t See Speed is a cinematic roller-coaster that exemplifies as much wild courage as it does tenderness. It’s aesthetically direct in its beauty, yet also highly metaphorical, blending bespoke sound, installation and Cassar’s own voice to stir up the dust of representation, on and off screen.
Nearby the mammoth installation is a makeshift workstation that encourages knowledge exchange and interplay between the mechanic (Cassar) and the singer (Stefanou). It’s where old tyres become sculptural and the bubbling sound of unknown concoctions is music.
Videos dominate the majority of the show, framed by installations that seek to provide an access for interaction, rather than stationary viewing. For example, Field of Triggers: Agritemple (2025) invites viewers into a cubicle-like space surrounded by cotton sheets onto which frames of Stefanou’s films are projected, determined by an algorithmic program that strives to never deliver the same experience twice. It’s an innovative solution to a video-heavy exhibition without overloading it with screens.
For those who want a comprehensive view of the Greek Australian artist who’s been applauded for her films and spirit of co-authorship, time is an essential prerequisite. Fields of Triggers: Centipede (2025) includes six films, the longest of which running 330 minutes. In this case, having separate screens may be useful for those seeking a particular work, but it can be said that chance, or uncertainty, is an essential ingredient for the artist, who centres lived experiences, rather than scripted narratives, in rural/agricultural settings. This installation includes a bench that will send signals to alter what is displayed across the gallery when viewers sit on it, but it’s a more subtle and contextual feature than something entirely interactive.
Stefanou’s work with non-human collaborators is exemplified in a series of plaster casts of live equine hooves that stick out from ACCA’s pristine walls and ceiling – an eerie twist to art’s obsession with horses and its associations with power, class and masculinity. While mostly situated in the final room of the exhibition, the casts are scattered throughout the gallery space, including as the ‘legs’ of video-installation, Fields of Triggers: Centipede.
Read: Exhibition review: Top Arts 2025, The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Arguably, both the beginning and the crescendo of this show reside in the first gallery housing You Can’t See Speed, making the rest of the exhibition seem weaker by comparison. It is hoped that films such as Hym(e)nals (2022) and Horse Power (2019) (which won the artist the Schenberg Art Fellowship 2020 and was recently shown at Bundanon) will continue to get their own time to shine.
Tina Stefanou: You Can’t See Speed is on view at ACCA until 9 June; free.
