The book, the poet, the artist and the breakthrough

As a container of information in text form, the book is designed in a linear fashion to move the reader along line by line. Many artists seek to break this convention and direct the reader/viewer into a more exploratory realm, as is true of the work of Jan Davis. This article leads the reader (in a somewhat linear sense) through Davis seven-volume artist book simply titled SOLOMON a journey developed out of the artists concern with the operation of space in visual imagery and her interest in writing.

More from this Issue

Tom Muller > Gold Standard Art

This article discusses the artistic practice of Tom Muller - one concerned with both elegance of appearance and versatility of application. It is argued here that his astringent imagery is surely the art of our times not only in terms of its subject matter but its ease of distribution. Two works closely examined are Mullers 2006 piece 'Gold Card' in which the artist offered an edition of 24 carat gold credit cards and 'World Passport' (2000 present), considered to be two of Mullers most accomplished works because of the tension between their formalist pleasures and their real time operation.

Jasmin Stephens

Michael Callaghan: a survey

Michael Callaghan: A survey 1967 -2006 1 December 2006 - 21 January 2007 Manly Art Gallery 2 - 24 March 2007 Tin Sheds, University of Sydney 5 May- 24 June 2007 Wollongong City Gallery

Joanna Mendelssohn

Unreadable Writing

This brief article offers insight into a form of writing or drawing that Henri Michaux has termed asemic and which is the subject of interest for Tim Gaze, editor of Asemic magazine, published in Adelaide. As stated by Michaux Most people make asemic writing at some time, possibly when testing a new pen. They tend to have no fixed meaning. Their meaning is open. To explore the nature of asemic writing visit http://www. typisart.com.

Richard Tipping

Word as Image: Islamic calligraphy in contemporary art

In the broadest terms calligraphy can be seen as a prescriptive form of drawing and in this liberated sense an artist is free to investigate its role as both message and ornament. This article looks at the nature of Islamic calligraphy via the works of two very different artists working in Australia today Iranian born Hossein Valamanesh and Naeem Rana of Pakistan. With the significance of language and the written word in Islamic culture it is hardly surprising that visual artists have in recent decades turned to it as the source of cultural and political potency.

Sarah Thomas

APT5

5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT5) Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art Brisbane 2 December - 27 May 2007

Timothy Morrell

The Other APT

Raw Space Galleries
99 Melbourne St, South Brisbane
28 November 2006 - 23 January 2007

Djon Mundine

RAPT

Rapt! 20 Contemporary Artists from Japan Nobuya Hoki, Tomoaki Ishihara, Yuki Kimura Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) Clayton, Victoria 6 Sept - 18 November 2006

Olivia Poloni

Editorial

Richard Tipping looks at the role of text and language from an historical and contemporary context, covering areas of interest such as recent technological advancements, graffiti culture and going as far back as 46,000 years to briefly discuss some of the oldest found examples of Indigenous cave art in the south of Australia. Along the way he looks to medieval and ancient Phoenician developments, Clement Greenbergs promotion of painting as a purely optical experience, one in which text has no place except as another kind of surface, the role of Dada in claiming the relationship between word and image and discusses other important figures such as Duchamp, Brancusi, Stephane Mallarme, Christopher Brennan, Picasso, Braque, Kurt Schwitters, Charles Olson, Alex Selenitsch, Allan Riddell, Rosalie Gascoigne and many others.

Richard Tipping

Hiraki Sawa

Hiraki Sawa New Media Gallery, Level 3 National Gallery of Victoria International Melbourne 7 July - 3 December 2006

Anna Zagala

Vivienne Binns survey at TMAG, curator: Merryn Gates

The Tasmanian School of Art in collaboration with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery have created an exhibition focused on the phenomenon of the solo survey, using the work of Vivienne Binns to open a space for conversation about the personal aspirations of the artist and the broader role of curator and institution. Through the complex layering of this exhibition the artist and curator entice the viewer to engage more directly with the trials and joys of the artist's struggle. By engaging a museum-style presentation, Vivienne Binns becomes a contextual display marking milestones, thoughts, actions, protests, interactions, people, places, discisions and emotional responses that accumulate to give meaning to current choices.

Jane Deeth

Ann Newmarch

Anticipation Ann Newmarch Prospect Gallery Adelaide 5 - 26 November 2006

Ian Hamilton

Review: Visible Language magazine on Fluxus

Review of two special issues of Visible Language magazine Vol 39 no 3 'Fluxus and Legacy' (2005) and Vol 40 no 1 'Fluxus after Fluxus' (2006), guest- edited by Ken Friedman and Owen Smith. The publications evaluate the ongoing life of Fluxus as an idea including what Nicolas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics owes to it. Fluxus 'scores' by Alison Knowles, Yoko Ono, and Vuc Cosic.

Norie Neumark

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