Momentary Force

Nick Hackett, Paper Slump 1, 2015, rust and coke dust on paper

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WOT Studios

8 Weirs Lane
North Melbourne 3051

1-6 September
Tue-Sun 11am-4pm

Opening Wed 2 September, 6-8pm

Momentary Force deconstructs and subverts our understanding of processes of making found within a blacksmithing practice. It draws attention to, and comments on, our reliance and exploitation of materials within contemporary society by presenting ironwork in an unfamiliar format. Nick Hackett highlights the ephemeral quality of steel, which generally is perceived as enduring though, in fact, has an impermanent nature. Mary Hackett reveals the agencies found within a blacksmithing practice by focusing on water and gravity, forces that are relied upon when making. Together they persuade the viewer that there is more to blacksmithing than a balustrade or decorative ironwork.

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Artist Mary Hackett, Nick Hackett

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Mary Hackett, Vapour, 2015, Mild steel, stainless steel, tap, plastic and electric hot plate 2.5m high

Nick Hackett, Unmade 2, 2015, wrought iron

About the Artists

Mary Hackett is a current Fine Art PhD candidate at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology where she is investigating the forces involved in blacksmithing processes through sculptural practices.  Hackett completed a Master of Fine Art with distinction in 2011, was granted a Master of Fine Art Graduate Award and placed on the Vice-Chancellor’s List for Academic Excellence in that year.  She is a founder and the coordinator of Blacksmith Doris, a blacksmithing group for women, and teaches silversmithing at Melbourne Polytechnic.   In 2014 Hackett presented Gravity Wins at the The Art of Research2014 Helsinki conference.


Nick Hackett is a Melbourne based blacksmith artist. Nick moved to Melbourne in 1989 having completed undergraduate studies in metalsmithing at UTAS School of Art, Launceston. Since 1990 he and his partner Mary have operated an art based metalwork business concentrating on decorative architectural ironwork and public art commissions. As President of Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria), Nick plays a role in the shaping and direction of blacksmithing practice in Victoria. Nick completed a Master of Arts, Art in Public Space at RMIT University in 2014. His research project “Unmaking”now forms the basis of his parallel contemporary art practice.