This study explores the notion of multi-modality of the 2012 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art called Parallel Collisions. Using systemic-functional grammar (SFG) as a framework for the study, the project analyses the integration and construction of various semiotic resources by observing the ‘representational, interactive and organisational meanings’ (Ravelli, 2006) embedded within the context of the exhibition as a system and a system in use.

 

The study interprets the use of language, other materials and spatial resources synthesized across the art exhibition as potential meanings integrated as a whole with the main aim to reflect on the potential meaning-making patterns produced through the choices made by the exhibit-maker as a coherent whole within the spatial design of Parallel Collisions.

 

The focus of this study had been motivated by my experience as a postgraduate student in the Discipline of Applied Linguistics. Through the course of my study, I had developed a particular interest in multi-modality and the verbal and visual forms of communications, drawn from multiple resources as social semiotics, which contribute to the meaning of art.

 

Hence contemporary art exhibitions constructed from the interplay of various art collections from emerging artists, articulated in a three-dimensional space by the institution and exhibit-makers, with the purpose to communicate and engage with its audiences essentially became another area that fascinated me.