Primavera '09 hosts a multitude of interdisciplinary works, one of the most provocative works being that of Christopher LG Hill - Clique. The installation work features a collection of centrally facing chairs derived from the MCA storeroom, the works of other artists and various other sources. Sitting amidst the chairs are precisely ordered piles "junk". Also present within the installation is Hill's recent thesis Never work, all art is problematic.
Challenging the object value systems and consumer driven society we perpetuate, Hill also questions the level of interaction the gallery space and it's staff have upon a work (significant in this case, the work having utilized a number of the chairs). In a larger sense, Hill questions the nature and structuring of the art institution globally; to what extent is art of any use if it is not universally accepted? In which case, why make art?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Broken Homes: Andrew MacKenzie
Art & Politics: Raquel Ormella
I reviewed Raquel Ormella's Artspace exhibition for our assignment but thought I would talk about some of her other works currently on show at the MCA as part of Making It New: Focus on Australian Contemporary Art. I'm worried this will become a slogan comprises 9 fabric banners, each hand appliqued with text on both sides. On one side of each banner the text describes people of strong political convictions, while on the other Ormella expresses her insecurities about her own activism, wondering "Is it enough?". The stitching that shows through from the other side quite cleverly expresses the idea of a thought that plays on the back of the mind coming to the surface; something that one can't quite shake. Ormella is examining the role that political beliefs play in shaping personal identity. The hand sewn works reference protest banners, their craftmanship particularly bringing to mind the protests of the suffragette movement.
Raquel Ormella
I’m worried this will become a slogan 1999–2009
double-sided banners, sewn wool and felt
9 banners, sizes various
I’m worried this will become a slogan 1999–2009
double-sided banners, sewn wool and felt
9 banners, sizes various
Art and Politics
Satire always brings out interesting caricatures!
This work has combined 'American Gothic' by Grant Wood, and caricatures of Rudd and Julia Gillard, with a kangaroo in the background so people know it's in Australia if they're not aware who our prim minister is.
The roles in 'American Gothic' are the traditional roles of men and women. The pitchfork in the mans hand representing hard labour, the floral print and flowers behind the woman's shoulder suggest fragility and domesticity.
This satire can therefor be read as Rudd and the labour party being hard on Australians, and Gillard in the role of the old made or spinster speaks for itself. The kangaroo which has replaced the flowers can be taken two ways, as a pest for farmers or the Australian national emblem representing Australia.
Art & Its Institutions: PIE
spat+loogie (Kat Barron and Lara Thoms) are a Sydney(ish)-based duo who's performance work, PIE, is showing as part of Primavera 2009 at the MCA. In the work, members of the public are invited to sit down with an artist or curator over a piece of pie and enter into a dialogue about art . A "menu" of conversation pieces is provided which topics such as the Shaun Gladwell-referencing "Is skateboarding art if you slow it down?". At the end of the conversation the participant may then share the pie with the art professional or throw it in their face.
The work examines the dynamic between those working within the art world and the public. The curators and artists are put in a position in which they must explain themselves to a wider audience or risk a humiliating pie in the face. The onus is on them to prove themselves to the audience.
A friend of mine recently participated in the work as an artist and was disappointed that the member of the public asked to participate did not engage in the work at all. She didn't want to eat the pie or throw it, was worried about missing a bus, did not want to hear about the work or discuss art in general, and in the end the artist just asked her what her star sign was. He said she was not judgmental or dismissive, just not interested.
Art & Audience
Late last year I was part of a group show at Firstdraft Gallery called Obliteration. The premise of the show was
to explore the physical and emotional continuum created through loss of self. The works exhibited are situated between self and non-self, dissolving boundaries between artist, audience and curator.
The work I showed was called Collective Heights and at the opening was simply a line drawn on the wall marking my height with my name written next to it and a sharpie hanging on a piece of string. The audience then added themselves to the chart completing the work. The intention was to explore the show's premise of obliteration of the self by creating a work in which the audience's participation completes the work as a whole, but also completely overwhelms the mark-making gesture of the artist.
Collective Heights 2008 (installation view)
Collective Heights 2008
Photographs courtesy Beatrix Curren
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Art and Architecture
Selfridges is a shopping centre in Birmingham designed by Future Systems. The building as a whole looks pretty ugly, however when you're up close the aluminium discs are amazing to look at! The buildings structure has an organic flow, flaring out at the top and base of the building whilst being drawn in at the middle. The reflective capabilities of the domes gives the building a sense of life and colour.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
art & architecture...a family story
As many of you may know, my father is German, thus all of my fathers family and friends are overseas. A family friend of ours was an architect and artist, Heinz Radner. He passed away in 2004. I remember visiting him and his wife Margarite at their house in switzerland, my brother and i helped Heinz ( and their great big german shepard) build and paint a birdhouse in the garden. Their house was that of truely artistic sensability, everything was something, even the garbage bins were painted or mosaiced.
But Heinz, he was of couse an archictect by proffession, he designed and built hotels through switzerland and germany. But at heart his artistic side could not be ignored or hiden, not even in his profession, every single design that was subsequently constructed had his own signiture. A stain glass window. Each one unique in design. In fact the last stain glass window that he made is at his house with his wife, as far as i know i believe it is the french doors that lead out to the garden. I wish i had photos or something to show of his work, because this man, his work was truely amazing, and although his "real job" was that of an architect, i believe that the creativity and pull of a true artist always shines through regardless of whether one is accepted or known as a practicing artist... if i have the chance to get to germany, hopefully next year, i will be documenting Heinz's works...
But Heinz, he was of couse an archictect by proffession, he designed and built hotels through switzerland and germany. But at heart his artistic side could not be ignored or hiden, not even in his profession, every single design that was subsequently constructed had his own signiture. A stain glass window. Each one unique in design. In fact the last stain glass window that he made is at his house with his wife, as far as i know i believe it is the french doors that lead out to the garden. I wish i had photos or something to show of his work, because this man, his work was truely amazing, and although his "real job" was that of an architect, i believe that the creativity and pull of a true artist always shines through regardless of whether one is accepted or known as a practicing artist... if i have the chance to get to germany, hopefully next year, i will be documenting Heinz's works...
Art & Globalism - Allan Sekula
Globalism and industrilisation are key factors in the society that we live in, so intertwined with the progression of society and technology, of corse many of these themes become related and lines blurred. For the artist that explore these area's, such as Allan Sekula, it seems it is a concern that never ends, as with his exhibition of the "fish story" project, he presented this work as an ongoing work in progress. The "fish story" refers to maritime industry and its causes and effects, both industraly and environmentaly. With over 100 photos and writen documentation, it seems that much as time is an issue that consumes artists, so too do the areas that relate to the world in which we live and the ever growing and changing environment that is so clearly inescapable to our sensability.
ps... very sorry but it would seem that all my technical devices are s**ting themselves thus not allowing me to post images...if i could fix it i would...honestly far too close to re-decorating with a hammer! sorry.
ps... very sorry but it would seem that all my technical devices are s**ting themselves thus not allowing me to post images...if i could fix it i would...honestly far too close to re-decorating with a hammer! sorry.
Art & Spirituality – Gordon Matta-Clark’s Descending Steps for Batan (1977)
The work of Gordon Matta-Clark appears perhaps more obviously suited to discussion in the context of Art & Architecture. Descending Steps for Batan is a performance/document carried out by Matta-Clark in 1977 in response to the suicide of his brother, Sebastian Matta, a painter who suffered from mental illness. For the duration of the exhibition, Matta-Clarke dug into the ground beneath the gallery floor, carving out a rudimentary flight of descending stairs. The dirt steps led downward but nowhere in particular, their final destination arbitrarily decided by the end of the exhibition period. Afterwards the hole was filled in. Descending Steps is one of my favourite of Matta-Clark’s works. Often it seems that much of what is described as spiritual in art exists on a grand, all encompassing scale. Matta-Clark’s simple work describes overwhelming loss and guilt, and I feel it is just as effective. To me, this hole in the floor speaks of transcendence.
Figure 1: Gordon Matta-Clark, Descending Steps for Batan (1977), Cibachrome 40 x 30 in.
Collaborative artists: Stelarc and Nina Sellars
This collaboration titled blender, was first on exhibit in 2005 at the melbourne meat market gallery. The work consists of a large 1.6 meter high blender with a dome industrial casing.
inside the plastic dome is the conntents of both artists liposuction surgery which they both undertook specifically for the work. every few minutes blender churns the contents of the dome mizzing both artists fat blood and leftovers together.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Art and the Audience- Olafur Eliasson
I thought it appropriate to talk about Olafur Eliasson for art and the audience, seeing as his works are coming to the MCA!
I particularly love the Weather Project.
The weather project was installed at the London's Tate Modern in 2003 as part of the popular Unilever series. The installation filled the open space of the gallery's Turbine Hall.
Eliasson used humidifiers to create a fine mist in the air via a mixture of sugar and water, as well as a semi-circular disc made up of hundreds of monochromatic lamps which radiated single frequency yellow light. The ceiling of the hall was covered with a huge mirror, in which visitors could see themselves as tiny black shadows against a mass of orange light. Many visitors responded to this exhibition by lying on their backs and waving their hands and legs. The work reportedly attracted two million visitors, many of whom were repeat customers.
I suspect that seeing something like this would be life changing. Not only does Eliasson literally include the audiences image (through the mirror on the roof) but he almost makes the viewer transcend or rise above themself with this synthetic creation.
I cant wait to see his exhibition!
Mitsuru Koba- Art and its Audience
I stumbled across this artist,on a Scapbooking website!! He shaped and polished river stones collected from dried beds, in apparently site specific bundles. Recently he installed driftwood dinosaur skeletons on causeways around inlets in Japan, the layers of uncovered earth provide a readymade "white cube" and he really puts a haunt into it. I identify with this collection/hording, site specificity/ love of animals.
REVIEW Due DATE
I am happy to extend the due date till Friday morning - I will call by the Studio class at 10am SHARP.
Alternatively - if your review is complete - tomorrow it is!
A.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
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