Making Sense of Tragedy Through Art

Sydney Art Exchange Have a Mask 23 January 2020

Arriving at Articulate project space, in Leichhardt Sydney yesterday for ELECTIVE AFFINITIES was more than a little confronting. We were offered respirators to wear in the art gallery, by very serious people in while overalls. While this brought Coronavirus to mind, it was part of an performance piece about the recent bush-fires. We were asked to wear the respirators for as long as we felt comfortable, then hang them on one of the hooks in the gallery. This was a thought provoking, and unsettling experience, like all good art.

Not Everyday Art

Greetings from the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, where the director Jane Cush, Director, has just opened the exhibition "Janet Dawson with Merrick Fry - Their Everyday". The exhibition is on until 7 March 2015.

On one level, the works of Janet Dawson and Merrick Fry couldn't be more different; one friend lives in the country, the other in the city but on another, they are both dealing with the found materials of their Everyday and finding renewed beauty in what others might dismiss.  Janet exquisitely draws out the beauty of a dead hare, a beetroot or a scattering of apples.  Merrick's domestic-scale sculptures are constructed from the disowned or vintage glass and plastic ware discarded by our consumer-driven society.

Work by Janet Dawson and Merrick Fry is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Merrick Fry also has a current installation in the SMART Research Building at the University of Wollongong and is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.

Cold War Radar as Art in Sydney

Murray Fredericks Greenland Project  is on exhibition at Annandale Galleries in Sydney until 8 November 2014. These are large scale photographic prints on canvas of stark landscapes of the Greenland ice sheet, which look like paintings. There are also scenes of the USA's Cold War era Dye-3 Distant Early Warning Radar Station. This looks like the fictional Severnaya satellite ground station in the James Bond film "Goldeneye".

The gallery also has a spellbinding video installation "Topophilia" with video and sound of the Borealis.

 There was also a documentary film made about the Dye-3 station: "Nothing On Earth".

Ecofestival Sydney Inner West Spring Festival Today

Greetings from the Footprints Ecofestival  in Sydney's inner west. This spring festival started at 11am today and is on until 3pm.There is the Eco-Annandale Art Exhibition in White Creek Cottage, a  pedal powered Footprints Film Festival and Footprints Clothing Swap.

I am reminded of the play Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth, which opened Thursday night at the New Theater in Sydney. The play takes place during a spring festival, much like the one on today.

Donald Friend's Love Me Sailor Returns to Bathurst

Greetings from the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, where the Mayor has just opened the latest exhibition by Merrick Fry. The Mayor mentioned that the gallery had recently purchased  Love Me Sailor by Donald Friend (1949?). This was painted at, and of, the former gold-field, Hill End near Bathurst.

Bathurst Art and Learning

Greetings from Bathurst NSW. After meandering through the Blue Mountains, with raisin toast and coffee from the buffet car, the 7:10am XPT train arrived from Sydney on tim. I am here for the opening of the Merrick Fry exhibition at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. Before then I thought I would visit the Charles Sturt University (CSU), to look at their new

Master of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation).

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Sally Gabori Art Opening in Canberra

Greetings from the Australian National University, in Canberra where "Sally Gabori 2005 – 2012: This is my Land, this is my Sea. This is who I am" opened this evening at the Drill Hall Gallery. If visiting the gallery, don't miss Sidney Noland's spectacular "Riverbend". This nine panel work is the largest and least know of the artist's Ned Kelly series.

Toulouse-Lautrec: Paris and the Moulin Rouge

Last night I attended a special showing of the exhibition "Toulouse-Lautrec: Paris and the Moulin Rouge" at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. In keeping with the evening's theme of 1890's Paris, I dressed in a top-hat, cravat, with cane. The exhibition is arranged chronologically with the best kept to last: Lautrec's posters.

New Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art Building

The new Museum of Contemporary Art building has opened in Sydney. The best part of the new building is the MCA Cafe and Sculpture Terrace on the fourth floor, with views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Rocks, the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay. The Menu includes "Mulloway with Quinoa, Broad Bean & Preserved Lemon Salad". The cafe has one of the great gallery cafe views of the world, comparable with the clock tower cafe in Musee D'orsay, Paris.

The new building also has an extensive education facility called the "National Centre for Creative Learning" and a small library. Unfortunately the learning centre and library appear to being still fitted out.

The most disappointing part of the building are the galleries in the old section. These have a sterile and claustrophobic feel. Some of the blinds are up, showing harbor and city views, which helps relieve the oppressive feel of the galleries.

Passion, Power and Politics at the Carriageworks Sydney

Bronwyn Bancroft talked on Saturday at the exhibition of her art "Passion, Power and Politics" at the Carriageworks Sydney. Bancroft is completing a PhD on issues of art for an Aboriginal woman. She mentioned the racism she faced studying art in Canberra.

The art on display ranges from photography and paining to fashion (including a video of first Australian fashion designer invited to show her work painted designs on cloth in Paris).

You may see some of my own work on display in the exhibition: the plinth on which one work was displayed was painted the same dark gray as the floor and adjacent to a bright projector, so it was not easy to see. Two people, a few minutes apart tripped over the plinth. So, with the approval of the staff, I folded two dozen of the exhibition cards (well worth picking up in the foyer) and placed these around the edge of the plinth to make it visible.

ps: Unfortunately it can be very difficult to obtain information about the Carriageworks, due to the poor quality of the web site. But it is well worth a visit.

Shakespeare on Sydney Harbour

Last week I attended the Sydney Shakespeare Festival. (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until 12 February 2012). Performances of Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew are on the same outdoor stage in Bicentennial Park (West) on the Sydney foreshore. The stage set is minimal, with the skyline of Sydney providing the backdrop. The players walk out from the stage and to the audience for a theater in the round experience. Pick a seat close to the stage; it can be hard to hear, with the actors having to compete with traffic and aircraft (on the night I went a thunderstorm added to the atmosphere of Hamlet). Bring a picnic rung as you site on the grass and something warm to wrap up in (it gets chilly with the breeze off Sydney harbor). Bring something to eat and drink. The easiest way to arrive is on the Sydney Light Rail (get off at the Jubilee Park Station, walk down to the canal, alongside north towards the harbor and then across the bridge to the gazebo where the performances are held.

International Electronic Art in Canberra via Istanbul

Tracey Meziane Benson and David Broker talked about their visit to the Istanbul Biennale and ISEA Odyssey at Gorman House Art Centre, this evening.

The ISEA exhibition. and the Istanbul Biennial were held recently. Photos from the art exhibition at Cumhuriyet Art Gallery (Taksim Cumhuriyet Sanat Galerisi) were shown.

But the interesting gallery building upstaged the art. It must be very difficult to have any exhibition in Istanbul which is not upstaged by the cityscape (like trying to display a sculpture next to Sydney harbor). The building was originally a water reservoir (cistern) built in the 1700s.

Tracey's paper "Remotely Connected Remotely Creative: Leapfrogging Digital Divide" is available:

What does locative media from remote Australian Indigenous communities look like? How does access to 3G mobile phones impact communications? What media is being created on these devices?

This paper discusses some of the strategies being used in remote Australia to leapfrog the digital divide; scoping the potential to introduce tools that encourage creative development and collaborative cultural engagement focused on skill sharing.

For more İstanbul, see my "Istanbul by Public Transport".

ISEA Odyssey Talk in Canberra

Tracey Meziane Benson and David Broker will speak on their visit to the Istanbul Biennale and ISEA Odyssey at the CCAS Gallery, Gorman House Art Centre, 6pm, 9 November 2011.

First up, they will take you on a virtual tour of Uncontainable, the exhibition of the ISEA exhibition. and the Istanbul Biennial.

Tracey's paper "Remotely Connected Remotely Creative: Leapfrogging Digital Divide" is available:

What does locative media from remote Australian Indigenous communities look like? How does access to 3G mobile phones impact communications? What media is being created on these devices?

This paper discusses some of the strategies being used in remote Australia to leapfrog the digital divide; scoping the potential to introduce tools that encourage creative development and collaborative cultural engagement focused on skill sharing.

For more İstanbul, see my "Istanbul by Public Transport".

David Malouf on Jeffery Smart

Greetings from the University of Sydney, where David Malouf, author of Ransom: A Novel, is talking about the work of Jeffery Smart. The exhibition "Jeffrey Smart: Unspoke" is at the Unviersity of Sydney until 27 November 2011. An excellent 12 page exhibition catalog) is available for download and on paper. Mark Ledbury, Power Professor of Art History and Visual Culture, started by asking about the portrait of David Malouf, which depicts the author as a gas pipe worker.

Jeffery Smart's paintings of urban landscapes, often emphasizing transport (with buses, trains and trucks) often feature anonymous small figures. Malouf claimed that Smart had a classical training but deliberately went against it. However, his works appear to display the use of the ‘Golden Ratio’.

Smart was arts critic "Phidias" in the ABC children's radio series The Argonauts Club from 1951. The Argonauts are associated with the story of Troy, the subject of Malouf's book Ransom.

Revitalizing Regional Australia With the Arts

Greetings from Digital Culture Public Sphere, in Sydney, where Simon Crean, Minister for the Arts, started his talk by using the example of revitalization of the Newcastle city center through the arts. The Minister released a National Cultural Policy discussion paper 11 August 2011 and input is invited from the community.

The Minister mentioned the Bangarra Dance Comany's recent performance of "Belong" (which I attended at the Sydney Opera House). At the other cultural extreme, the Minister mentioned Baz Luhrmann's 3D filming of The Great Gatsby. He pointed out that this involves digital technicians, as well as traditional film production staff.

Modernity in German art 1910–37

The NSW Art Gallery's "The mad square: modernity in German art 1910–37" features work by Beckmann, Dix, Grosz, Höch and Lissitzky. along with performances of inter-war music. As well as paintings and political posters there are some sculptures, and some furniture from the Bauhaus.

Last night was a a private viewing followed by an evening of Weimar-style music with "Pierrot Lunaire and Berlin cabaret songs". The Cabaret started with a recreation of Marlene Dietrich's Gorilla suit striptease (although this is from the film "Blonde Venus" made after "The Blue Angel", which made her name). The NSW Gallery could not quite capture the decadence of a Berlin nightclub, particularly as management had banned red wine during the interval as it might stain the floor tiles in the foyer.

The exhibition is arranged into:

1. Expressionism in Berlin
2. WWI and the revolution
3. Dada
4. Bauhaus
5. Constructivism
6. Metropolis
7. New Objectivity
8. Power and 'degenerate' art

There is also an excellent shop at the end of the exhibition, with objects for sale including a chromed Zeppelin sculpture.

The exhibition move to the National Gallery of Victoria in late November. The dark themes of the exhibition clash with the sparkling blue of Sydney's sky and harbor and might better suite the more European atmosphere of Melbourne.

Also there is a display of "Bauhaus International: Neues Bauen International 1927/2002" at Sydney College of the Arts. This is aptly located in Callan Park, which is the center of planning controversy, with the use of the billions of dollars of real-estate of a Hospital for the Insane, being decided by a government appointed trust.

The Bauhaus was at the centre of a a movement in social architecture, which has carried on to the present day. In 2002 the students and staff of the current "Bauhaus Dessau" visited Sydney and worked on a project to plan an area of Sydney's inner west . During the visit I give the Bauhaus students a seminar on ICT and architecture. The students produced "serve.city 3rd trimester" with 22 pages of master planning ideas for linking Sydney's inner west to the CBD with ICT (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, 2002, ISBN 3-936796-04-1).

Canberra International Music Festival and the Griffins

The 17th Canberra International Music Festival runs from, 11-22 May 2011. The program is emphasises Schubert. It also commemorates the work of Canberra's original architects: Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. The conference program features a series of remarkable graphics, overlaying the plan of Canberra, with mystical symbols.

The Griffins were invovled in anthroposophy . There have been some attempts to suggest that the plan for Canberra, with its triangles, circles and pyramids were embedded with secret religious symbolism.

Concerts large and small take us physically to iconic places - from the Great Hall at Parliament House to The Fitters’ workshop in Kingston. Join us on a enthralling and uplifting tour of our National Capital as you experience 34 concerts in 11 days: May 11th – 22nd, 2011. This year’s program features artists such as Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and his equally talented brother Jaakko Kuusisto, pianist Pascal Rogé, violinist Lara St John, conductors Brett Weymark, John Harding and Roland Peelman and the Song Company, the Danish String Quartet, and the Bowed Piano Ensemble. We are extending our Amazing Space series of concerts to include two on mountain tops – which we are calling the Amphitheatre of Hills series. The festival will triumphantly conclude with the world’s finest vocal ensemble – Finland’s Rajaton We will also present 45 World and Australian premieres including the Lost Gallipoli Sonata of Frederick Septimus Kelly which we recently found in Florence as well as commissioned works by Peter Sculthorpe, Elena Kats-Chernin and 2011 composer in residence Graeme Koehne. ...

Gallery of Modern Art Queensland

The Gallery of Modern Art Queensland (GOMA) proved an entertaining place to spend a half a day. The gallery is part of the Brisbane South Bank cultural precienct, next to the Queensland State Library. The venue was lively with many groups of school chldren interacting with modern artworks, such as a slippery slide (Carsten Holler's Left/Right Slide, 2010) and building buildings with Lego. Other works of interest were Zhoux Iahn's Utopian Theatre (2006), Arlo Mountford's The Folly (2007-08) and Julian Opie's People Walking (2008).

GoMA runs an excellent talk series in conjunction with ABC Radio, Thursday fortnights, with the next 14 April, for "Future Tense". I attended 31 Match "Science: How are Health and the environment linked in the 21 Century ..." for "Australia Talks". Unfortunately I could not find a usable web site for the talks from either GoMA or the ABC. Like many cultural institutions, GOMA has a website (which I now can't find) where style has triumphed over substance: as a result it is very difficult to find any useful information. The ABC has good information on the past talks, but not upcoming ones.

Julius Caesar Meets The 300

The production of Julius Caesar at the New Theatre in Sydney last night reminded me of the movie 300 retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. Caesar had sufficient gravitas for a Royal Shakespeare production. But Brutus and the conspirators spent much of the performance bare chested showing off their impressive abs. They seemed to think that shouting was necessary for projecting strong emotions. The actor playing Mark Anthony (I have no idea who the actors were, as the New Theatre web site doesn't say) appeared to be channeling Viggo Mortensen's interpretation of Aragorn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.

To complete the Mediterranean theme the Matee Middle Eastern Restaurant provided an excellent feast.

Better Science Through Art

Dr Richard P. Gabriel, Distinguished Engineer, IBM research, will speak on "Better Science Through Art", 7 December 2010, 12.30-1.30pm at the Australian National University in Canberra. He will also be speaking with Dr Guy Steele on "50 in 50: 50 Programming Languages in 50 Years", 9 December 2010.

Public Lecture

Better science through art

Common wisdom says that science and art are entirely different beasts; moreover, a similar source of wisdom tells us that science is valuable to society while art is a luxury. Why else would schools drop art from their curricula over the past 20 years? But artists and scientists approach their work in similar if not identical ways, and if you want to be a better scientist, maybe you should try to become a better artist.

Dr Richard P. Gabriel gained his PhD from Stanford University in 1981 and has also completed a Master of Fine Arts (Creative Writing-poetry) from Warren Wilson College in 1998. He is also a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. Dr Gabriel is a distinguished engineer conducting programming language and software engineering research at IBM Research. He is the author of five books on various topics including Lisp benchmarking, software and patterns, creative writing, a poetry collection and software development. He was the first person after Donald Knuth to write a comprehensive TeX macro set and he played lead guitar in a rock 'n' roll band for 20 years.

Speaker: Dr Richard P. Gabriel

Venue: The Finkel Lecture Theatre, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Garran Road

Date: Tuesday, 7 December 2010

Time: 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Enquiries: Heather McEwen on 6125 6601, ANU Events on 6125 4144