Ron Mueck @ NGV

Mueck's work centralizes around surreal, life-like sculptures of varying scales. The mindblowingly, perfectly scuplted works parody the human form/condition through the employment of synthetic materials.
The standout elements of Mueck's work are of course, the electric emotion he seems to have captured and the overwhelming detail that he depicts. From the subtle sheen of the stretched skin, which is implied to hang rather slackly if positioned differently, of Dead Dad's chest, the barely noticeable wrinkles in the pantyhose which grasps in futility at the ankles of Two Women and the glassiness of the sculptures' eyes. Eyes that either whisper of scream a dialogue that their solidified mouths are unable to facilitate.
Furthermore, the perfectly placed pimples on the back of Wild Man convey to us an inherent humility that is a parody of our own.
Most of the sculptures convey to us moments of fear, grief, anxiousness, despair or untrust, and reassure us that we are not 'abnormal' and that these moments are what reminds us that we are, in fact, alive. Wild emotions cling to these moments of frightening heartbreak or loss and through this reflection, this unparralleled emotional interaction, we surrender ourselves to public scrutiny, just as the nude and helpless protagonists have. Mueck's work rips us from our air conditioned gallery environment and throws us back into 'reality' with the forcefulness of a silent thunderstorm. The blatant recognition of these moments as pinnacles to our being, or sense of self, urges us to adjust our perspective, even if only momentarily.
For these plastic beings portray to us an ephemeral urgency that is permanently frozen in time, and give us the opportunity to react, and speak, as if for them, when we next feel this, rather than live on, and die in silence.