During the 1990s a number of initiatives have been undertaken in Western Australia which aim to improve the lot of the State's artists. The article examines three particular initiatives.
Article written with collaborator Shiralee Saul. Discusses the planned Futurama which was slated to start in 1996 as a 4-5 day event in Melbourne Victoria - organised by Installation Publication a partnership of 2 artist administrators.
Written with Lee Salomone exploring the utilisation of prominent billboards on the tram track in Adelaide for the term of one year at no cost for them to be used as public art spaces.
Artists collectives and access galleries do not just exist in big capital cities. It seems that wherever there is a community of artists and Artist Run Initiative will happen.
Artists are particularly vulnerable to economic downturn for two main reasons...the business cycle and the role of other jobs in a tight employment market.
The Premier of Victoria may claim that his government has opened Victoria for business, but it is the important role of local government and the Federal Government in developing arts training and facilities that is really making the running. Artists are no longer in their garrets but in front of pcs in their offices.
They may not have been characterised as 'artist run initiatives' but exhibition spaces run by artists have been around, in one form, or another for a long time.
Written with Shiralee Saul and Susan Fereday. How does an art object differ from a manufactured 'designer' commodity? Is the traditional status of the work of art undermined by repetition, reproduction and affordability? Are the qualities of fetish, uniqueness and authorial presence removed from or reinstated in the art multiple.