Running on the Smell of an Oily Rag borrows from the commonly used Australian idiom which suggests a frugality of resources, money and fuel. To run on the smell of an oily rag here, is instead to contemplate burning out, but also burn outs, self care, but also self preservation through performed actions, shared oral histories and remote control cars.

Looking to Australian car culture, gender identity and the wellness industry, this project utilises the almost ritualised practices of vinyl wrapping and hydro-dipping as a point of departure, to explore what it means to operate with exceptional fuel efficiency, even in the face of adversity. Additionally it opens up a roller-door, inviting you in to discuss the ways in which we can resist the exhaustion and exploitative nature of our contemporary era, and how we can move beyond surviving on nothing more than the smell of an oily rag.

ABOUT THIS ARTIST
Grace Connors is an artist and curator living in Boorloo (Perth, Western Australia). She completed her Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) in 2016, and her practice draws from film studies and performance. Connors is presently co-founder and Deputy Chairperson of Cool Change Contemporary, and was previously Exhibitions Volunteer at Success Arts and Exhibitions Manager
at Moana Project Space. She has curated offsite exhibitions for Hobiennale in 2017 and Symbiotica’s Unhallowed Arts Festival in 2018. Additionally, she has presented papers at Revelation Film Festival Academic Conference in 2018, UWA Gender Diversity in Music and Art Conference 2019, and had her performance work featured in Frieze Magazine in 2017.