BARI Festival

Lightening Field, Kellie O'Dempsey, Megan White & Luke Jaaniste.

I finally got to attend a performance drawing by Kellie O'Dempsey! After learning about performance works all semester it was great to finally see one in person. Lightning Field was a collaborative performance work involving a visual artist, a butoh artist and a sonic artist. I went in to the performance with an open mind, unsure of what was to come. 

All of the artists created work based off the energy and movements of the others. The outcome of the work was unknown at the beginning but slowly evolved. The energy in the room could be felt as the artists worked together. The colours helped establish certain moods and the whole work felt as if we had been transported into a different world.

The whole performance was an ephemeral creation. The light works that were created, disappeared by the end of the performance, and the drawings that were created with the ink were destroyed during the performance.

I have realised over this semester that seeing performance works are more interesting to me than creating my own. The energy and enjoyment you get from seeing a performance in person is so different to seeing its documentation in a gallery afterwards.

Week #13 - Interview with Kellie O'Dempsey

In this interview Anita and I talked to Kellie O'Dempsey a performance and installation artist from Brisbane. We focused on her studio space, her career path and her interactions with the audience and collaborators during her performances. 

Anh's Brush With Fame

I have recently been watching an ABC show called Anh's Brush With Fame. In this show Anh Do interviews celebrities and while they talkhe paints their portrait. Anh is an exceptional painter that was a finalist for the Archibald Prize in 2014. His painting style is unique and he is able to portray personalities. Anh's interview style is casual and friendly, and he is able to navigate his way through some difficult topics with his guests. 

Lightning Field: A Sonic-Body-Drawing Performance Experiment

Lightening Field, Kellie O'Dempsey, Megan White & Luke Jaaniste.

I finally got to attend a performance drawing by Kellie O'Dempsey! After learning about performance works all semester it was great to finally see one in person. Lightning Field was a collaborative performance work involving a visual artist, a butoh artist and a sonic artist. I went in to the performance with an open mind, unsure of what was to come. 

All of the artists created work based off the energy and movements of the others. The outcome of the work was unknown at the beginning but slowly evolved. The energy in the room could be felt as the artists worked together. The colours helped establish certain moods and the whole work felt as if we had been transported into a different world.

The whole performance was an ephemeral creation. The light works that were created, disappeared by the end of the performance, and the drawings that were created with the ink were destroyed during the performance.

Week #12 - Artist Studios

What would the benefits be of working in a venue with a large number of activities and other artists’ studios?

Working in a venue would be ideal for networking and creating work. There would be constant inspiration and feedback available to artists while they create work. It can be great to be fully immersed in the art world. 

What would the disadvantages be?

Potentially feeling crowded and overwhelmed by events and people. Possible restrictions in space for exhibiting and creating work. 

What would suit the way you work?

I need to be able to work in my own time, I am a night owl and prefer to work through the night. I also like to work on multiple projects at once - I will have one in parts in the garage and others waiting upstairs on my easel. I don't know how I would work being surrounded by people all the time, I need space and music to create work. 

Week #11 - Simryn Gill

Simryn Gill: Sweet Chariot

"Simryn Gill (1959–) has developed a distinctive oeuvre that encompasses an array of media and processes, including drawing, installation and photography.

The series of large black and white photographs, Sweet Chariot (2015), depicts the Strait of Malacca, taken from a fishing boat in the vicinity of the artist’s studio in Malaysia. The title is derived from the African American spiritual “Swing low, sweet chariot”. It conveys a longing for home, which might be earthly or heavenly.

The new series of relief prints Pressing In (2016) was developed with Melbourne printmaker Trent Walter. They are impressions taken off the surfaces of machine-shaped and hand-wrought timbers washed onto the same coast. Various paper types are used, from a catalogue of butterflies, the locations of stars, the moral development of children, industrial design practice, and wage rolls and ledgers.

An earlier sculptural work Four atlases of the world and one of stars (2009) pulps and reconstitutes into spheres a flattened version of knowledge and classification. Resonances with texts and their role in shaping and triggering but also limiting ideas, play out in this exhibition, where bound objects and those adrift reveal complex global relations at a particular stage in time."

Simryn Gill is an Australian artist that works over a variety of mediums. Her work is very earthly and connects people to objects and places. Gill also represented Australian in the 2013 Venice Biennale. 

Week #11 - Biennales

Biennales are exciting art exhibitions that occur every two years and showcase new work. The most well known of these is the Venice Biennale. 

Great resource for Biennales around the world: http://www.biennialfoundation.org/biennial-map/

------------Follow Up Questions---------------

Name five Biennales or Biennials that will be occurring in 2017:

-The Venice Biennale: Italy (57th)

-La Biennale de Montréal: Canada

-Biennale de Paris

-London Art Biennale

-Documenta: Kassel

What are some of the characteristics of Biennales?

Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. Biennales are site-specific events that focuses on the here and now and the everyday. 

What have you found out about the Venice Biennale? (Make 5 points)

-The first Venice Biennale was held in 1895.

-It began as a celebration for Italian Art, it is now an exhibition of international artworks.

-It now has an attendance of over 500 000 visitors.

-The 51st edition of the Biennale opened in June 2005 and was curated, for the first time, by two women.

-In 1972, for the first time a theme was adopted by the Biennale, called "Opera o comportamento" ("Work or Behaviour").

Simryn Gill at the 2013 Venice Biennale