In the Low Light | Trocadero Art Space | 2010
As you walk amid Aaron Martin’s recent body of work you half expect Steve Liebmann to step out from behind some corner and describe in chilling detail a murderous tale from the recent past. Be it Ivan Milat butchering backpackers or rampaging bikers ravaging innocent families, Martin’s objects and places could easily form the backdrop for a post-Underbelly docudrama outlining some dark chapter from Australia’s criminal history. A lone camping tent; a skull; a shadowy mass in an indistinct landscape – there’s a story of a late night encounter threaded between these works – a run-in with something unseen – a violent exchange on the edge of night that has orphaned personal belongings and left spaces devoid of life. But Liebmann isn’t there – there’s no one to explain what went wrong. The viewer is left to fill in the gaps and narrate this story his or herself. Perhaps the truth will never be known.
Michael Brennan, August 2010