See also Acc. nos 2004.181a and 2004.181g.

The gift is the narrative key and centrepiece of Michael Stevenson's installation Argonauts of the Timor Sea (Acc. no. 2004.181a-g). Stevenson has been described as an 'anthropologist of the avant-garde'. He enjoys trawling through obscure and curious moments in history and thoroughly researching and re-configuring them to discover readings that history has missed. With a combination of acerbic wit, technical skill and critical perspective, Stevenson's projects conflate particular events, objects and histories into a strange yet convincing amalgam of truth and fiction. Detailed research and verifiable truths merge with fraud and fakery to produce works that are both 'reconstruction' and fanciful scenario. As author Robert Leonard has said: 'Stevenson's displays explore historical incidents that are stranger than fiction. His tales are so obscure and bizarre that one might naturally question their authenticity. Indeed Stevenson deliberately plays off the mockumentary and other hoax genres. He goes for stories that never found a place in capital 'H' History, yet redeems them as unlikely keys to the big picture.'(1)

This work, related to Stevenson's project Argonauts of the Timor Sea (2004), is a collection of 'pseudo-artefacts' inspired by canonical Australian artist Ian Fairweather's intrepid journey across the Timor Sea from Darwin to Roti in 1952. Reconstructed specifically for 'The 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art', Queensland Art Gallery (2006-07), Stevenson's raft is an imaginative replica of Fairweather's precarious and fragile vessel.(2) As no photographs of the raft exists, Stevenson based his re-creation on a rough drawing made by an observer and published descriptions, perching his replicated raft on top of piles of National Geographic magazines (Fairweather's preferred reading).(3)

Through The gift Stevenson draws attention to various debates and histories, including the origins of the Polynesian race and non-monetary, pre-capitalist economies based on barter and exchange. As an object, the raft also alludes to the movement of people in opposite directions to Fairweather's voyage, both historically and in present times - from colonial voyages of discovery, to the more recent perilous boat journeys by asylum seekers.

1. Leonard, Robert. Michael Stevenson: Gift horse, in The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Seear, Lynne and Raffel, Suhanya (eds). Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 2006, p.222.

2. The raft was originally made for the installation Argonauts of Timor Sea in 2004, and was exhibited at Darren Knight Gallery in Sydney.

3. In Michael Stevenson: Gift horse, p.222, Robert Leonard describes Fairweather's journey.