This exhibition is an ideal size, enjoyable to wander through and should be seen by everyone.  It is thought provoking (without being too up itself), challenging (pushing the limits of my small brain) and worthwhile (without being worthy).  PICA is an ideal space for this type of art with its white sanatarium-type walls, hollow, eerie acoustics and a smattering of angst ridden art students chewing on their fingers being contemplative.

The exhibition shows the wealth of talent there is in Australia as these works would stand equal to their peers on an international stage.  All the visual art forms are represented, video, textiles, painting, sculpture and installations.  This is the first exhibition where I found a piece of video art that I actually got something out of. Flies meet death in sweet honey by Annukka Thwaites is, I assume, the last remnants of memory of an insect in its death throes.  The flowers swirling in the sunlight on the wall and the accompanying soundtrack is lamenting and beautiful.  In Surfeit: Prelude, Pearl Rasmussen has bought some old second-hand suits, cut them into geometric shapes and then sewn them with silvery thread, displaying them on the wall, asking us if all garments are made in such an intricate fashion.

Sculpture is also represented, in fact I almost stood on it mistaking it for a huge piece of matting in the centre of the lower floor.  James Vernau's Untitled is made of sand, in small centimetre discs, sixteen metres long and six metres wide.  When looked at from above, it is appreciated as much for its concept as for the diligence involved in composing it.  Another installation to grab the attention is that of Sherna Teperson entitled Some small truths where rubber boots are sliced up and made to look like palm fronds and tree ferns.

More traditional art forms are also shown.  Mark Threadgold's Baby One is a huge portrait of a newly born or infant in the womb, its veins blue and outstanding.  The baby reminded me of a Massive Attack video that I have seen going down similar lines.  Chris Lane's graphic design for a mind body spirit exhibition also caught the eye with its bracing visuals and hard edged execution.

The work I like the most is upstairs in the West End Gallery.  Anthony Kelly's Untitled is basically five empty packets of laundry detergent punctured with big holes and pinned up against the wall.  Just in front of this are three 'holey' laundry baskets mounted on heaps of piled washing powder.  It's witty, if you can describe laundry detergent as that, and a progression in pop art.

As with all contemporary art exhibitions, some of it still defies explanation and poses a question mark over what it is doing there, but it is still something that has to be seen and it is in stark contrast to the current Star exhibit at the WA Art Gallery.  It is more real and gutsy than any work by a white haired American could ever be.