Time
Issue 29:1 | March 2009
Edited by Stephanie Britton.
This issue channels ideas around art and time. These include theorisation of the Aboriginal Dreamtime, micro-time, deep time, and duration itself as a subject of art. There are many dimensions to the interrogation of time, including the timelines around environmental challenges, interrogations of time as a medium of art, and the rectifications of postcolonialism in Australia among the ethical dilemmas.
In this issue
dreamTime
An analysis of Aboriginal conceptions of time and its similarity to the ideas of modern physics, science fiction, and those of artists such as Monet, Cézanne, Picasso, Breton, Klein and Richter, and philosophers such as Nietzsche, Heidegger, Benjamin, Deleuze and Derrida. They too have sought to feel and know spacetime in the pressing and intimate way that Aborigines do.
Daniel Crooks: the future of the past
An edited version of a lecture by Laurence Simmons, Associate Professor in the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies at the University of Auckland, given in association with Daniel Crooks' exhibition everywhere instantly curated by Justin Paton at the Christchurch Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu in 2008. Simmons links Crooks' work to Walter Benjamin's Angel of History and the experiments of Etienne-Jules Marey, the inventor of chronophotography.
About visual imagery, intuition, and teleportation
Melentie Pandilovski's article is adapted from a paper he gave at the ISEA conference in Singapore in 2008. He writes about interactions between the arts, science and technology through looking at the work of British artist Lei Cox's work Teleportation Experiment.
Joe Felber: Moments of time
Joe Felber's art practice is interdisciplinary and acquisitive, absorbing, assembling, composing and de-composing, playing and re-playing elements from a vast collection of fragments collected across the world in cities and art galleries.
Atomic Clock: microtime of the molecular and good old-fashioned molar beer
The responses of digital artists David Haines, Jon Hunter and Pete Newman to the molecular scale on which our world is now micromanaged are contrasted with the work of the late Jon Wah whose work stopped time with a saddhu-like discipline of the will. Jon Wah died in August 2008, aged 27. A posthumous retrospective was held for him at Serial Space, Chippendale, Sydney, 8-18 December 2008.
Life and times: Eternal wake in three chapters
Life. Death. Thereafter was at Silvershot Gallery in Melbourne from 16 September 29 November 2008. Melbourne-based curator Mark Feary produced a relatively new exhibition model, three separate, distinct, but thematically entwined shows, running end to end for eighteen days each showing the work of Kate Just, Steve Carr, Patricia Piccinini, Paolo Canevari, Rob McLeish, Ronnie van Hout, Jesper Just, Jason Greig, Sally Blenheim and Blair Trethowan.
On talking walls
Recent sound and electronic media work by two Tasmanian artists Scot Cotterell and Matt Warren remaster images and sounds from older technology to make a past-present present.
Enduring duration
Two video artists William Mansfield and William Lamson whose recent works pay homage to the 'poetics of the banal' and the history of durational practice.
Crystalline signs of the small and poetic
In Audrey Lams Under Development (2007), two detectives investigating a murder seek answers in an ominous, half-built structure. Close attention to the lush, inky compositions reveals the frozen temporality of a Brisbane landmark: the film records the historic erection of the Gallery of Modern Art.
Time and motion studies: Twin strategies
Gabriella and Silvana Mangano undertake their art as a shared style of communication between siblings. Now showing at MUMA (Monash University Museum of Art) their collaborative work embraces intimacy and repetition in performance, drawing, video, sound and installation.
OK with my decay: Encounters with chronology
Susan Milne, Izabela Pluta, Annie Hogan and Hannah Bertram work with the idea of the theatre of decline set within the grounds of the domestic environment.
Ghost in the backyard
Using the work of two current Antipodean artists, Amy-Jo Jory and David Pledger, Melbourne-based Kate Sandford explores the place of suburbia in our consciousness and the way that even though real suburbia has changed, some representations of it have stayed the same.
Keep your eyes on the prize: Hold on, Aboriginal art competitions, ethical dilemmas and mining companies
In this article Djon Mundine poses a prolific and detailed insight into the world of art in relation to what art is, how can it be judged and as a re-occurring theme, the alleged honesty in contemporary art. Mundine predominately focuses on Aboriginal art and the political, ethical and criterial implications modern society imposes on it. That is to say what can be deemed an honest work of art that expresses the artists intentions but also allows the artwork to speak for itself. Mundine talks about indigenous artwork and how it was viewed by the original colinisers of Australia. Particularly how the colinisers set down criteria towards what a valuable artwork was. Further elaborating on competitions whereby artworks are judged in accordance to rules that pose more questions in relation to what an honest or pure artwork is. Mundine cites several quotations that portray interesting examples that reinforce his argument towards modern day criticism and objectivity. The final message being to what extent can any one person be declared appropriated to criticising artwork and judging its authenticity, quality and honesty. Mundine states that we should only hope for honesty in today's artwork irrespective of its outside marketed criticism. All in all Mundine presents the reader with an insightful article that will leave you questioning the integrity of today's critical approach to fine art.
Jeffrey Smart: The question of portraiture
Jeffrey Smart: the question of portraiture, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 4 March - 13 April, 2009.
Avoiding myth and message: Australian artists and the literary world
avoiding myth and message: Australia artist and the literary world, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 7 April 12 July 2009, curator: Glenn Barkley.
Contemporary Australia: Optimism
Contemporary Australia: Optimism Curatorial Manager: Julie Ewington Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 15 November 2008 22 February 2009
Open Air: Portraits in the landscape
Open Air: Portraits in the landscape Curators: Wally Caruana, Michael Desmond, Andrew Sayers National Portrait Gallery (NPG) 4 December 2008 1 March 2009
Rosalie Gascoigne
Rosalie Gascoigne The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia 19 December 2008 15 March 2009 Curator: Kelly Gelatly
Patricia Piccinini: Related Individuals
Patricia Piccinini: Related Individuals Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney 12 November 6 December 2008
Discord: Art from MONA
Discord: Art from MONA Curator: Nicole Durling 9 January 1 February 2009 Salamanca Arts Centre and various locations
Silver Artrage 25
Silver Artrage 25 Curators: Andrew Gaynor, Marcus Canning Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) 18 October 21 November 2008
Gooch's Utopia: collected works from the Central Desert
Goochs Utopia: collected works from the Central Desert Curator: Fiona Salmon Flinders University Art Museum 3 October 23 November 2008 Riddoch Art Gallery 5 December 2008 8 February 2009
Lockhart River 'Old Girls'
Lockhart River Old Girls Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane 26 November 20 December 2008
Girls, Girls, Girls
Girls, Girls, Girls Carlton Hotel, Melbourne Curators: Lyndal Walker, Nat Thomas 23 October 8 November 2008
Better Places
Better Places Curator: Melissa Keys Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) 4 December 2008 1 February 2009
The Christmas Tree Bucket: Trent Parke's Family Album
The Christmas Tree Bucket: Trent Parkes Family Album Australian Centre for Photography 21 November 2008 24 January 2009
Brook's way with kinds, categories and memes
The Awful Truth About What Art Is by Donald Brook, published by Artlink 2008 RRP $38.50 Reviewed by Lucas Ihlein The Awful Truth About What Art Is can be ordered online at www.artlink.com.au
