tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/mona-3463/articles
MONA – The Conversation
2023-10-03T19:05:01Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214550
2023-10-03T19:05:01Z
2023-10-03T19:05:01Z
In the depths of Hobart’s MONA, a volcano is stirring
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551600/original/file-20231003-25-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C24%2C8155%2C5432&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hrafntinna (Obsidian), 2021, Jónsi. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the darkness, a rumble. A sonorous boom. Deep within the subterranean caverns of MONA, a volcano stirs. This is Hrafntinna (Obsidian), an immersive installation by Icelandic artist and musician Jónsi.</p>
<p>While living in Los Angeles in 2021, pandemic restrictions prevented Jónsi (frontman of Sigur Rós) from experiencing firsthand the eruption of Fagradalsfjall, 40 km from his hometown of Reykjavik, Iceland. </p>
<p>Dormant for nearly 800 years, the volcano became a symbol of isolation for the artist, provoking a sense of disconnection with his homeland.</p>
<p>Inspired by this event, Hrafntinna (Obsidian) employs sensory triggers, sound and scent as vehicles for longing and connection across time and geographical distance.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-volcano-is-erupting-again-in-iceland-is-climate-change-causing-more-eruptions-187858">A volcano is erupting again in Iceland. Is climate change causing more eruptions?</a>
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<h2>To sense before seeing</h2>
<p>Stepping into the blackened space, we wait for a burst of light to linger long enough to guide our path into the centre of the room, where a circular wooden bench awaits. A dim, round light, like an open crater above, provides the only illumination. Its brightness and hue subtly shift in synchronicity with the sound – flickering and flashing during moments of intensity. </p>
<p>An almost 360-degree installation of nearly 200 speakers offers true immersion into a sonic structure of choral harmonies, ethereal and reverent, accompanied by machinic vibrations of tectonic shifts, and simmering pops and hisses. </p>
<p>The bench vibrates with the low frequencies of a hidden subwoofer, transmitting the sound into our bones. A smoky scent settles upon us. It is the earthen aroma of fossilised amber, extracted from ancient tree resin that has been buried for millennia.</p>
<p>The installation is deeply affecting, with eyes open or closed.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black room with many speakers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551602/original/file-20231003-21-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hrafntinna (Obsidian), 2021, Jónsi. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
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<p>Obsidian emerges from a growing wave of sensory-based works that signals a shift away from <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Downcast_Eyes/2aMwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=martin+jay+downcast+eyes&printsec=frontcover">ocularcentrism</a> (a prioritising of what we can see) within contemporary art and visual culture. </p>
<p>Rather than maintaining the primacy of sight, these works decentre the visual experience, instead creating affective encounters through sonic, tactile and olfactory elements. </p>
<p>Sight is often considered synonymous with our human objective reality. Understanding sensory experiences opens up the possibility of contemporary art that is firmly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.627">posthumanist</a>. </p>
<p>As Jónsi’s Obsidian shows (whether intentionally or incidentally), experiential and sensory works create new opportunities for understanding or knowing, and new possibilities for art to facilitate empathetic connections across great distances – and beyond the human.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A wall of speakers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551601/original/file-20231003-17-8gek3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hrafntinna (Obsidian), 2021, Jónsi. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
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<p>Through surround sound installation and vibration, Jónsi creates what composer <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/On_Sonic_Art/h2J9v3hx_FgC?hl=en">Trevor Wishart</a> might call a “virtual acoustic space” in which we can create an internal landscape. Here, we are deep inside the belly of a far away volcano, which neither the artist nor we have seen.</p>
<p>As I sit and feel the resonance of the work in my body, I am reminded of historian <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Staying_with_the_Trouble/QShEjwEACAAJ?hl=en">Donna Haraway</a>’s notion of “intimacy without proximity” as a “practice of caring without the neediness of touching”. </p>
<p>While Jónsi may have been motivated by a feeling of longing, perhaps, through the making process, he did (in some loopy material way) pull himself closer to the source of his desire.</p>
<h2>Transcending thresholds of time and place</h2>
<p>The smoky aroma combined with the sound is transporting – not only across distance, but through time. </p>
<p>The scent of fossilised amber conjures an ancient memory from the earth. The low frequency sounds evoke transcendence from human timescales into deep, geological time. </p>
<p>In a more intimately embodied way, this sense of primal knowing is also carried through the choral sections of the piece. When I spoke to Jónsi, he described the voice as “the very first instrument we had”: </p>
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<p>it touches on something deep within us all, without us knowing why. It makes us feel, somehow, something primitive.</p>
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<p>Sensorial triggers may transport us, but here, they are facilitated by raw emotion – through the yearning expressly conjured by exquisite vocal melodies, and by the throbbing bass rumbling of geological discontent.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551603/original/file-20231003-15-mildf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jónsi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
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<p>I stay in the space for two cycles of Obsidian’s 20-minute sound piece. The second time through, I lie down to feel the vibrations more intensely. </p>
<p>Looking up at the glowing light above me, I experience a shifting perspective, moving between looking into and out of the volcano’s interior. As the light extinguishes, I am brought to my body’s own interior, and an underlying, subtle feeling of familiarity.</p>
<p>During our interview, Jónsi commented on the similarities between Tasmania and Iceland: places where cities are surrounded by “intense, beautiful, and brutal nature”. Perhaps this plays a part in my sense of already-knowing. I recognise the relationship and have felt the same longing.</p>
<p>As a multi-sensory, immersive installation, Hrafntinna (Obsidian) is a transporting experience, but it is also a grounding one. In the dark, it shines a light on our inherent, embodied connection to place, and to the world.</p>
<p><em>Hrafntinna (Obsidian) is at MONA, Hobart, until April 1 2024.</em> </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/living-near-the-fire-500-million-people-worldwide-have-active-volcanoes-as-neighbors-206977">Living near the fire – 500 million people worldwide have active volcanoes as neighbors</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Foley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Pandemic restrictions prevented Jónsi (frontman of Sigur Rós) from experiencing firsthand the eruption of Fagradalsfjall, Iceland. He made this work in response.
Hannah Foley, PhD Candidate, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201388
2023-03-16T19:12:19Z
2023-03-16T19:12:19Z
Sexual exhibitionism, Riot Grrrl and climate change activism: 30 years of raging by Peaches, Bikini Kill and Björk, still going strong
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515643/original/file-20230315-22-aol773.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2044%2C1364&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Santiago Felipe/Perth Festival</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kathleen Hanna yells like she did in the 1990s, pushing the toxic male patriarchy out of the moshpit at Melbourne’s The Forum on the eve of International Women’s Day.</p>
<p>Hanna’s band Bikini Kill rampages through hits such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjS0R5BmYtg">Suck My Left One</a>, thrilling a happy, bopping crowd of parents with their teenaged children laced with a mixed gender of preppie and diehard punks, goths and curious spectators. </p>
<p>Across town at the Northcote Theatre the next day, Peaches comes out with a walking frame, wearing breast-shaped slippers with bright red erect nipples. </p>
<p>The popular sexual exhibitionist is still hoarsely rapping about abortion, and now the debate over the end of Roe vs Wade, with songs like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzdefT9nNOM">Boys Wanna Be Her</a>. She later wades into the beloved audience inside a large inflatable penis.</p>
<p>In Perth, a few days later, Björk’s echo-filled, childlike voice is as harrowing and powerful as ever.</p>
<p>These artists, all now aged in their 50s, are popular provocateurs, pulsating with rage. Feminism, ageism, sexism, transphobia, racism, capitalism and environmentalism are their musical agenda.</p>
<h2>Do-it-yourself ethos</h2>
<p>As Gen X, third-wave feminist icons, Peaches (Merrill Nisker), Bikini Kill and Björk grew up during the punk movements of the 1970s and ‘80s. </p>
<p>Based in Olympia in Washington State, Bikini Kill was part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_grrrl">Riot Grrrl</a> movement in the early 1990s, funnelling the do-it-yourself punk ethos into zines, songs like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOCWma5vOiQ">Rebel Girl</a>, and confrontational live shows.</p>
<p>Bikini Kill encouraged women and girls to start bands as a form of “<a href="https://bikinikill.com/about/">cultural resistance</a>”, challenging masculine toxicity long before <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Reporting-on-Sexual-Violence-in-the-MeToo-Era/Baker-Rodrigues/p/book/9781032115511?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtsCgBhDEARIsAE7RYh17gz-j49hVcVOkxPbOmppFnQc-YtekC7FKeqrtbO-1R72MtoEBIE4aAgKDEALw_wcB">#MeToo</a>. </p>
<p>During the 1990s in Canada, Nisker formed a Riot Grrrl band, Fancypants Hoodlum. </p>
<p>By 2000, aged 33 and recovering from cancer and a heartbreak, she renamed herself Peaches. Her solo electro-pop album The Teaches of Peaches became a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/mar/08/peaches-the-teaches-of-peaches-the-start">feminist classic</a>, with singles like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZz5nBc2_Bw">Lovertits</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515711/original/file-20230316-22-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Peaches, Mona Sessions at Mona, Mona Foma 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Foma</span></span>
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<p>Recording music since the age of 11 in Iceland, in 1992 Björk left <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFQPNApwJGU">The Sugarcubes</a>, the alternative rock band she co-formed in 1986. </p>
<p>Björk’s first solo album came out in 1993, with huge hits like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0mRIhK9seg">Human Behaviour</a> about the way humans act and interact. </p>
<p>Thirty years on, they are all still making music.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/harder-faster-louder-challenging-sexism-in-the-music-industry-58420">Harder, faster, louder: challenging sexism in the music industry</a>
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<h2>Women supporting each other</h2>
<p>Bikini Kill are killing it during their all-ages gigs at The Forum. </p>
<p>The Forum’s iconic roman statues look down from the ceiling. Lead singer Hanna wears a khaki green, girly dress with pink punky tights, backed up by Kathi Wilcox on bass and <a href="https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/bikini-kill-have-announced-their-first-australian-tour-in-25-years/">Sara Landeau</a> (from The Julie Ruin) on guitar. Drummer Vail is sick tonight, so Lauren Hammel from Victoria’s Tropical Fuck Storm is filling in. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515712/original/file-20230316-26-vqytnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Bikini Kill, Mona Sessions at Mona, Mona Foma 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Foma</span></span>
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<p>Hanna tells us she has “a gratitude journal” now, but remains Riot Grrrl-fuelled about the Trump era, rape, abortion, trans rights and Black Lives Matter.</p>
<p>She tells how during the 1990s audiences once spat in her face and threw things at the band on stage. These days they rarely do. </p>
<p>Hanna’s demeanour softens when a young female audience member gives her a carboard sign reading “Kathleen please draw my next next tattoo based on [the song] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWjCdLtx5t4">Feels Blind</a>”. </p>
<p>At Peaches’ performance, the eclectic crowd is enthusiastically cheering her on. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515713/original/file-20230316-20-hu3ken.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peaches, Mona Sessions at Mona, Mona Foma 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of the artist and Mona Foma</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Leaning towards us, Peaches asks what The Teaches of Peaches meant to everyone when it was released, “and what does it mean collectively together now?” The crowd cheers louder as if their favourite footy team has won the grand final. </p>
<p>Her encore <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rRIIWo_JeA">Fuck the Pain Away</a>, with Melbourne feminist punk singer Amy Taylor, has the floorboards of the colonial theatre thumping. </p>
<p>For Perth Festival, Björk is performing her sci-fi pop extravaganza Cornucopia in a purpose-built 5,000-seat stadium.</p>
<p>Presented only a few times globally, Cornucopia is Björk’s most elaborate performance to date. Based on her 2017 album Utopia, she <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/arts/music/bjork-cornucopia.html">has described</a> the show as “about females supporting each other”, our connection to Earth, and a plea to act on climate change.</p>
<p>In Perth, we have IMAX-sized visuals and a 54-channel surround system to garner an immersive multimedia experience in an Eden of bird sounds.</p>
<p>Argentinian filmmaker <a href="https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/bjork-cornucopia-perth-review-45402/">Lucrecia Martel</a> directs the futuristic screens of lush green plants, live organisms, expanding fungus and blooming blood red and pink-tinged flowers. </p>
<p>An 18-person Australian choir, <a href="https://voyces.com/about-us/our-story/">Voyces</a>, opens and closes the concerts. Björk is also joined on stage by harpist <a href="https://katiebuckleyharpist.com/about/">Katie Buckley</a> and the multi-talented <a href="https://www.sessionworkrecords.com/collections/manu-delago">Manu Delago</a> on the Aluphone percussion instrument, keyboards, other electronics and water drums. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaQfixl2Ss4">Body Memory</a>, the seven female flautists of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/viibraflutes/?hl=en">Viibra</a> are dressed in fairy costumes, circling Björk. A hula-hoop-like circular flute descends over Björk and down to the flautists, requiring four of them to play it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman plays the flute" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515654/original/file-20230316-2689-i6ezz2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The flautists play a circular flute surrounding Björk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Santiago Felipe/Perth Festival</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sound is spellbinding. </p>
<p>Two songs, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPr_D-b5v2Q&t=12s">Ovule</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FD2mUonh5s">Atopos</a> from her new album Fossora have their live global premiere at the concerts. They pay tribute to her mother, the Icelandic environmental activist <a href="https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/news/bjork-on-how-her-mothers-death-shaped-new-album-fossora-21625/">Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir</a>, who died in 2018.</p>
<p>Towards the end of the concert, a video of 20-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg looms before us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and we need to focus on equity. If the solutions in the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Much as Hanna and Wilcox from Bikini Kill said during their All About Women talks at the Sydney Opera House, Björk is optimistic in the young people advocating for change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bjork-digital-feminist-diva-helps-cure-our-wounds-in-a-visceral-sydney-show-60324">Björk, digital feminist diva, helps cure our wounds in a visceral Sydney show</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Changing the script</h2>
<p>When I heard Bikini Kill, Peaches and Bjork were performing almost in the same week, I grabbed tickets immediately. I scored a trifecta of my favourite female artists.</p>
<p>It had been many years since I saw them perform live. Seeing them this time was an empowering reminder that women in their 50s are still out there, oozing with vibrant creativity, worthiness and relevance.</p>
<p>We are about the same age: creative, rebellious youths who grew under the shadow of the boy’s club in the punk movement. </p>
<p>Their performances continue to challenge a male-dominated industry defined by fleeting talent, youthful beauty and voyeurism. </p>
<p>Their voices are stronger than ever. Their musicianship is tight, and the onstage antics are imaginative, playful, colourful and fun. Their messages are uplifting and clear, intelligent and thought provoking, now tinged with a softened version of empathetic rage about social injustice. </p>
<p>I have been seeing music gigs for more than 35 years, but these performances left me breathless. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-mona-foma-i-encountered-death-rituals-underwater-soundscapes-worship-and-transcendence-199868">At Mona Foma, I encountered death rituals, underwater soundscapes, worship – and transcendence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Jean Baker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Seeing these performances was an empowering reminder that women in their 50s are still out there, oozing with vibrant creativity, worthiness and relevance.
Andrea Jean Baker, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196035
2022-12-20T00:20:13Z
2022-12-20T00:20:13Z
Artist Tomás Saraceno wants to improve our knowledge about atmospheres – and arachnids
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501783/original/file-20221219-13-is3nbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C9%2C6544%2C4366&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How to entangle the universe in a spider/web?, 2022, Tomás Saraceno. Courtesy the artist with thanks to Arachnophilia, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Oceans of Air, the new exhibition at Hobart’s Mona, artist Tomás Saraceno imagines a future where humans become as sensitive to the environment as a spider in its web. He invites visitors to become participants in his multiple networks and projects. He aims to make us aware of our interconnections with each other and the world. </p>
<p>Held in the underground labyrinthine galleries of Mona, we are invited to reconsider the boundaries between natural and cultural worlds. </p>
<p>As we descend through Mona’s central staircases, the reflective sculptural orbs Aerocene 4 and 5 weave Mona’s architecture and collections into the Saraceno world. Stairs and artworks twist and turn in the reflections. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C10%2C6679%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C10%2C6679%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501759/original/file-20221219-25-j9r7xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aerocene 2.5, 4, and 5, 2018, Tomás Saraceno Courtesy the artist with the Aerocene Foundation, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Reminiscent of Escher’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher)">1923 Relativity lithograph</a>, the laws of gravity are confounded. The binding on the balloons could be tethering them to the building or preventing their fall, like eggs in a spider web.</p>
<p>Before entering the dark subterranean galleries, a photograph shows Saraceno floating below a fuel-free hot air balloon on the boundary between earth and sky. </p>
<h2>A multi-sensory experience</h2>
<p>Argentinean Tomás Saraceno is a Berlin-based artist, interested in collaborations with research institutes to further our collective knowledge around atmospheres and arachnids.</p>
<p>Submerging into dark gallery spaces may seem a strange phenomenon for an exhibition titled Oceans of Air, however Saraceno and Mona curators Emma Pike and Olivier Varenne have carefully orchestrated the experience. They play with beams of light and the twisting turns of the galleries to make participants slow down and engage in a multi-sensory experience.</p>
<p>Within one darkened room, we encounter Particular Matter(s), 2021, a single light beam travelling across space, landing as a moon formation on the felted wall. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501775/original/file-20221219-14-nzzq9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Particular Matter(s), 2021, Tomás Saraceno. Courtesy the artist, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Floating in this light beam (according to the guide), is cosmic dust, PM2.5 (particulate matter), stellar wind, air movement, kinaesthetic feedback and sonic waves. </p>
<p>In other words: the dust and atmospheric conditions present in the gallery today. </p>
<p>Adjacent is a photograph, NORAD 40983 (2015-059B), 2016 displaying the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Magellanic_Cloud">Large Magellanic Cloud</a>, one of the closest galaxies to our own Milky Way, with a line revealing the trail of a satellite. Saraceno encountered this image when visiting Bolivia’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni">Salar de Uyuni</a>, the world’s largest salt pan. </p>
<p>Here, the sky is reflected on a large salt flat. We become suspended in space, our bodies becoming insignificant matter. Standing between this photograph and the salt covered ground, we shift from godlike creatures scattering particles with our movements to an insignificant speck in the galaxy.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-expanding-universe-and-distant-stars-tips-on-how-to-experience-cosmology-from-your-backyard-90105">An expanding universe and distant stars: tips on how to experience cosmology from your backyard</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Fleetingly visible</h2>
<p>The images in We Do Not All Breathe the Same Air are presented in the format of moon charts revealing the natural rhythms of the solar system. </p>
<p>But instead of charting our solar system, these digital prints capture samples of air pollution collected from each state of Australia. The traces of pollutants are a physical reminder of what is invisible in this part of the world, but painfully obvious in cities like Mumbai. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501781/original/file-20221219-25-86sbgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We Do Not All Breathe the Same Air, 2022, Tomás Saraceno. Courtesy the artist, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Printed Matter(s) are exquisite images of cosmic dust invisible to the naked eye that surround us. They are printed with black carbon PM2.5 pollution extracted from the air in Mumbai on featherlight handmade paper. </p>
<p>Distantly spotlit, the images shift in and out of focus in response to currents of air. The invisible is made fleetingly visible, the insubstantial paper accentuating what is held in currents of air.</p>
<p>In Webs of At-tent(s)ion, 2022, Saraceno convincingly lays claim to the cultural activity of the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_2B5lyNt_o">More Than Human World</a>”: a phrase coined by the ecologist and philosopher David Abrams to include humans within a broader understanding of the natural world.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501777/original/file-20221219-21-pq96ta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Webs of At-tent(s)ion, 2022, Tomás Saraceno. Courtesy the artist with Arachnophilia, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles Photo Credit: Tomás Saraceno.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are presented with glass and metal frames containing exquisite spider web architectures. The constellations of webs were made from spiders invited by a thread to weave within the carbon-fibre frames provided in the space of the studio.</p>
<p>The resilience of the fully formed webs when preserved in glass boxes is made testament through surviving shipping from Saraceno’s Berlin studio. </p>
<p>These intricate universes are spotlit in the darkened gallery. Walking around these forms in the gallery reveals innovations in materials and forms undreamed of by humans.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-are-the-environmental-humanities-20040">Explainer: what are the environmental humanities?
</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>New ways of being</h2>
<p>The video Living at the bottom of the ocean of air takes us into the life of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_bell_spider">diving bell spider</a> who gathers a bubble of air to live under the surface of water. It is in keeping with the sensation of being in the subterranean depths of Mona where air has been trapped and circulated for our survival. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501774/original/file-20221219-11363-60ep0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Living at the bottom of the ocean of air, 2018, Tomás Saraceno, Courtesy the artist and Andersen’s, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles; Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genoa; neugerriemschneider, Berlin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Studio Tomás Saraceno and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the many rooms, we begin to realise the networks Saraceno has set up. He is weaving interconnections around the world using human technology to question itself, ask new questions and imagine new ways of being in the world.</p>
<p>Nearing the end of the exhibits we encounter Sounding the Air, 2022, which has threads of spider silk suspended between poles, inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)">ballooning</a> – where some spiders release threads to take flight on currents of air. As the threads here drift in the air, their physical undulations are translated by video into sound. </p>
<p>As we exit the exhibition and once again encounter the silver orbs floating in the Mona staircases, we connect again with Saraceno’s invitation to become explorers in sympathy with the rhythms of the earth.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Tomás Saraceno: Oceans of Air is at Mona, Hobart, until July 24.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Hogan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
This new exhibition at Hobart’s Mona captures Tomás Saraceno’s collaborations with research institutes.
Jan Hogan, Senior lecturer, School of Creative Arts & Media, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/186558
2022-08-22T20:01:25Z
2022-08-22T20:01:25Z
‘You get burnt together, you get wet together, you dance together’: how festivals transform lives – and landscapes
<p>Every year in lutruwita/Tasmania, <a href="https://www.triplem.com.au/story/dark-mofo-2022-figures-show-festival-was-a-success-202082">tens of thousands of people</a> journey to and meander through the island state and take in festivals such as <a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/">Dark Mofo</a>, <a href="https://cygnetfolkfestival.org/">Cygnet Folk Festival</a> or <a href="https://www.nayriniaragoodspirit.com/">Nayri Niara Good Spirit Festival</a>. </p>
<p>Part of the pull of this place and its cultural offerings are the landscapes in which such events are placed: picturesque mountain ranges and deep valleys; vast open paddocks and pristine bushlands; glistening coastlines; quirky city spaces.</p>
<p>As human geographers, we understand that festival landscapes are more than a party backdrop. They are not waiting, ready to greet us like some sort of environmental festival host. They have <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-deep-time-1440836">Deep Time</a> and layers of meaning.</p>
<p>But when they become spaces for creative adventures, these landscapes also have profound effects on how people experience festivals, affecting our sense of place, of ourselves and others. </p>
<p>Festivals come with specific boundaries – dates, gates or fences – and mark a period and place in which we experience <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02614360802127243">some shifting of social norms</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755458622000354#!">our research</a>, we wanted to explore how festivals affect people’s sense of place, self and other.</p>
<p>As Grace, an avid festival-goer, told us “social expectations that come with adulthood get removed at a festival.” </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t know what happens when you walk through the gate of a festival [..] you leave all that behind and you step into what feels like […] a more authentic version of yourself. Or at least a freer one.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Creating spaces</h2>
<p>A lot happens to make a festival landscape. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tents" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475049/original/file-20220720-18-55x92j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lot goes into forming a temporary community around a festival site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tanya Pro/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teams of staff and volunteers establish campsites, install rows of toilets that often are also composting works of art, build stages, lay kilometres of pipes and power chords and design paths, sculptures and dance floors. </p>
<p>These collective labours create a special atmosphere; serve basic needs for sleep, food, hydration, warmth and sanitation; invite journeying to and from; and foster relationships to places and sites via immersive experiences and hands-on engagements with the landscape itself, for itself.</p>
<p>Travis, a stage-builder and DJ, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>if you use what’s already there, then [the stage] blends in with that whole environment and ties in to how people see it and how people feel in it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Marion, a festival artist, spoke of her desire to show care and respect by creating work that “doesn’t impose and can […] naturally be reabsorbed” into the landscape. </p>
<p>She described how all of the rocks for a labyrinth at one event came from the festival site. Once, the sheep who lived there walked through on their usual path – destroying her installation. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-environmental-cost-of-abandoning-your-tent-at-a-music-festival-120198">The environmental cost of abandoning your tent at a music festival</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Transformative experiences</h2>
<p>When people attend festivals, they often attach themselves to the landscape and detach from their daily lives: they are looking for transformative experiences. </p>
<p>In lutruwita/Tasmania, festivals such as <a href="https://www.fractangular.com.au/">Fractangular</a> near Buckland and <a href="https://m.facebook.com/panamafestival">PANAMA</a> in the Lone Star Valley take place in more remote parts of the state. </p>
<p>Grace, from Hobart, told us that being in those landscapes taps into</p>
<blockquote>
<p>something that humans have done forever […] gather around sound and nature and just experience that and feel freedom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even when festivals are based in urban landscapes, the transformation of these spaces can evoke a sense of freedom. </p>
<p>For Ana, a festival organiser, creating thematic costumes is part of her own transformation. </p>
<p>At festivals she feels freedom to “wear ‘more out there’ things”.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If I was on the street just on a Wednesday I’d have to [explain my outfit] […] Whereas at a [street] festival[it] flies under the radar. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Body memories</h2>
<p>Festival landscapes have features conducive for meeting in place (think open spaces, play spaces, food and drink venues) and for separating out (think fences and signs). </p>
<p>Commingling at festivals can literally lead people to bump into each other, reaffirm old bonds and create new connections through shared experiences. </p>
<p>One artist, Marion, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you go and you camp, you get burnt together, you get wet together, you dance together. [It creates] an embrace for me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Festivals often linger in people’s memories, entwined with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-008-9222-0">bodily experiences</a>. People we spoke with talked about hearing birdsong and music, seeing the sun rise and fall over the hills and feeling grass under their dancing feet.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The galaxy at night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475051/original/file-20220720-17-4t8hrw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some festivals are held in remote parts of Tasmania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ken Cheung/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038514565835">one-off events</a> can be meaningful, revisiting festivals may have an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1440783318773531">especially powerful effect</a>. </p>
<p>Annual festival pilgrimages become cycles of anticipation, immersion and memory-making. This continuing relationship with a landscape also allows festival goers to observe how the environment is changing.</p>
<p>As festival organiser Lisa said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>since 2013 […] every summer our site just got drier and drier. 2020 was the driest year of all. There was no creek. There was just a stagnant puddle.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Writing new stories</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic led organisers and attendees to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-music-festivals-are-surviving-coronavirus-cancellations/a-54374343">rethink engagements with live events</a>. Many were cancelled; some were trialled online. </p>
<p>But after seasons of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-17/music-festivals-in-tasmania-after-coronavirus/12462076">cancellations</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/without-visiting-headliners-can-local-artists-save-our-festivals-154830">downscaling</a> and <a href="https://untv.theunconformity.com.au/">online events</a>, some festivals in lutruwita/Tasmania are back, attracting thousands of domestic and interstate visitors. </p>
<p>For those festivals that have disappeared, their traces remain in our countless individual and collective stories of the magic of festival landscapes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/without-visiting-headliners-can-local-artists-save-our-festivals-154830">Without visiting headliners, can local artists save our festivals?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Every year, tens of thousands travel to art events throughout Tasmania. These unique festival landscapes change the way we experience the world – and ourselves.
Amelie Katczynski, Research Assistant, Deakin University
Elaine Stratford, Professor, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences, University of Tasmania
Pauline Marsh, Social Researcher, Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/133439
2021-04-11T19:49:38Z
2021-04-11T19:49:38Z
If I could go anywhere: Japanese art island Chichu, a meditation and an education
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392168/original/file-20210329-19-gglinl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C30%2C1459%2C1032&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Time/Timeless/No Time (2004) by Walter De Maria</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/204536034/in/photolist-j5irm-pXapti-XGN46Z-j5gZ7-6MhW49-j5gX4-h1XegA-4pXwQt-7WrNRn-mYFKFZ-h1XrTm-2gbtRti-7Wv3By-7WrNEV-7WrNHH-iHnURT-6G2LeR-as3XwV-iHp91V-7Wv3gE-7WrNVc-iHrVQQ-iBLjiH-amr7P-iHrTJA-iHpRc3-GoP2FE-iHp9A2-iHrVVj-iHp964-iHopMM-7bQcHn-iHpa3p-6FuBr1-iHpSS7-iBLrxH-iBLsbg-iHrUoS-7nAigX-6EYKgu-8WgEoC-qfqnV9-quG8Xj-xdA3d2-mYFKCH-4oxddR-9aU1NR-4JU6jb-Xj5J55-mYFKx2">Todd Lappin/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/if-i-could-go-anywhere-102157">this series</a> we pay tribute to the art we wish could visit — and hope to see once travel restrictions are lifted.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://benesse-artsite.jp/en/art/chichu.html">The Chichu Art Museum</a> is located on the tiny island of Naoshima, off the southern coast of Japan, in the Kagawa district, reachable only by ferry.</p>
<p>A cross between Buddhist simplicity and Modernist brutalism, from an aerial view Chichu looks like a series of weirdly-shaped concrete pits cut into a gently sloping, grassy hill. </p>
<p>The architect, Tadao Ando, is known for his masterful control of natural light, and to walk through Chichu is to embark on a journey of discovery in which that most ignored element — daylight — is both a mode of transformation and an object of wonder in its own right.</p>
<p>Even before social distancing, Chichu limited the number of tickets sold. Once inside, there are restrictions on how many people can be inside certain rooms and sometimes, how long you can spend there. No photographs are permitted, and quietness is encouraged. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zl7yUk8Zxfw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Almost as good as being there … almost. A virtual tour of Chichu.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-travel-writing-from-the-home-134664">Great time to try: travel writing from the home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An epic canvas</h2>
<p>There are three artists on display at Chichu, the best-known being Claude Monet and his epic canvas, Water Lilies. The acquisition of this “grand decoration” painted, incredibly, when Monet was in his 70s and suffering from cataracts, was the prime catalyst for establishing the museum. </p>
<p>I had seen paintings from this series years before, in Britain’s morgue-like National Gallery. But in the warm, rounded rooms of Chichu, daylight spilling in from high, oblong windows, the paintings are a miraculous blending of form, colour and reverence for nature. They come alive in ways no viewing technology, however sophisticated, can enhance or emulate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vibrant water lily artwork by Monet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=197&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=197&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=197&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392172/original/file-20210329-21-1p8up9f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Claude Monet’s Water Lily Pond at Chichu Art Museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monet_Waterlilypond_1926.jpg">Wikimedia Commons/Chichu Art Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ando’s building organically relates to the artworks in every way — the colour of the walls, the tiles on the floor, the dark corridors that link rooms where each visual experience is unique not because it is “world class” but because the relationship being cultivated with visitors is a personal one. The Chichu Handbook reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To provide a better understanding of Monet’s large decorative work from a contemporary perspective, we selected artists Walter De Maria and James Turrell. Both have been referred to as ‘land artists’ for the work they created in vast desert regions and desolate natural settings … Whether outside, inside a room, or in the surrounding environment, all the works are specifically intended for these spaces … The spatial boundary between the real world and contemporary art is indistinct.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Galleries are gatherings of art organised according to the principles of the people who set them up. More than theatres or concert halls, where rapid changes in repertoire create a spirit of flux, they rarely lose a connection with their founders’ underlying philosophy. </p>
<p>All art is reflective of the moment in which it occurs. But galleries are compass points from which, as a society, we take our bearings. MOMA, GOMA, the Guggenheim, Bilbao, the Powerhouse, the Pompidou Centre, the Hermitage. The meaning of these collections is larger than their real estate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People from above in sparse concrete setting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392170/original/file-20210329-25-1840tqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visitors at Chichu are almost as carefully placed as the art itself.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chinnian/11626694444/in/photolist-9yiu3W-j5irm-pXapti-XGN46Z-j5gZ7-6MhW49-j5gX4-h1XegA-4pXwQt-7WrNRn-mYFKFZ-h1XrTm-2gbtRti-7Wv3By-7WrNEV-as3XwV-7WrNHH-iHnURT-6G2LeR-iHp91V-7Wv3gE-7WrNVc-iHrVQQ-iBLjiH-amr7P-iHrTJA-iHpRc3-GoP2FE-iHp9A2-iHrVVj-iHp964-iHopMM-7bQcHn-iHpa3p-6FuBr1-iHpSS7-iBLrxH-iBLsbg-iHrUoS-7nAigX-6EYKgu-8WgEoC-qfqnV9-quG8Xj-xdA3d2-mYFKCH-4oxddR-9aU1NR-4JU6jb-Xj5J55/">Chinnian/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hikikomori-artists-how-japans-extreme-recluses-find-creativity-and-self-discovery-in-isolation-155420">Hikikomori artists – how Japan's extreme recluses find creativity and self-discovery in isolation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Art amid nature</h2>
<p>What has given rise to Chichu’s powerful vision of art? The answer is, of course, a powerful vision of life; of what our lives could be. Ando writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Chichu … opened as a museum in pursuit of ‘a site to rethink the relationship between nature and people’ in July 2004. The establishment of the museum was a personal way of answering and realising a question that I withheld myself for many years — ‘what does it mean to live well?’ </p>
<p>As suggested by its name, <em>chichu</em> (underground), this museum is built below a slightly elevated hill that was once developed as a saltpan facing the Seto Inland Sea. Without destroying the beautiful natural scenery of the Island and seeking to create a site for dialogues of the mind, the museum is an expression of my belief that ‘art must exist amid nature’. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Couple sit on deck with Japan sea on horizon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392171/original/file-20210329-21-38jqug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The view from Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1612343281188-d6954aa692fa?ixid=MXwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHw%3D&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&auto=format&fit=crop&w=2534&q=80">Kaori/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A visit to Chichu is not a prescriptive experience. There is no overriding message, as there is with MONA or the Tate Modern, for which visitors must brace. Instead, there is light, space, and quiet. </p>
<p>There is scope to let the senses unfold, and an expansion of self that permits the mind to occupy a zone of potentially greater understanding. There is nothing clever about Chichu, and a tertiary degree in art history is not required to appreciate what it offers. To walk through the building is education enough. </p>
<p>Minus commentary and cameras, asked to buy a modestly priced ticket ahead of time, to wait, to be silent, the resulting “dialogue of the mind” is structured but open-ended. This is perhaps what artists mean when they talk about “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/culturalrights/pages/artisticfreedom.aspx">freedom within the form</a>”.</p>
<p>Truth, value and alternative ways of life are related concepts, reliant on each other. There is a truth to visiting the Chichu collection that is expressed also in its wooden furniture made from <a href="https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-species-3/tamo">shioji, a variety of Japanese ash</a>, its strange triangular courtyards, and its breathtaking view of the Seto Inland Sea. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-philosophy-is-an-ideal-travel-companion-for-adventurous-minds-131266">Why philosophy is an ideal travel companion for adventurous minds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>“To get the most enjoyment out of the works, the viewer should take a moment between each gallery to reflect on the lingering sensation before moving on to the next group of works”, says the handbook. </p>
<p>Zen Buddhist awareness of the transience of existence marries with a large scale public building in the Western democratic tradition to produce a purposeful, spiritual encounter not filled with dogmatic content. </p>
<p>If there was a preciousness to the Chichu Art Museum I didn’t feel it. It was a relaxed, well-appointed and functional place, rather like the Japanese Shinkansen train that brought me to the ferry terminal. Leaving, I felt lighter, as if something I did not need had been discretely removed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Meyrick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Chichu Art Museum, on the Japanese island of Naoshima, is a breathtaking place to rethink the relationship between nature and people.
Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157677
2021-03-24T03:29:40Z
2021-03-24T03:29:40Z
Dark Mofo doesn’t deserve our blood. Australia must invest in First Nations curators and artists
<p>“We want your blood,” declared Dark Mofo on Saturday. This was not a metaphorical call. This was <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-20/british-flag-indigenous-blood-santiago-sierra-dark-mofo/100018494#:%7E:text=Tasmanian%20Aboriginal%20Centre's%20Nala%20Mansell,Union%20Jack%2C%22%20she%20said">a literal request of First Nations Peoples</a> by Spanish artist Santiago Sierra.</p>
<p>The call-out was confronting — and probably set out what it intended to do: shock — but the white curators may not have counted on the level of Indigenous disgust, refusal and critique it prompted.</p>
<p>On Monday, Dark Mofo <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dark-mofo-criticised-after-requesting-first-nations-blood-for-abusive-re-traumatising-art-project">released a statement</a> defending the project, called Union Flag. By Tuesday afternoon, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/mar/23/we-made-a-mistake-dark-mofo-pulls-the-plug-on-deeply-harmful-indigenous-blood-work">it had been cancelled</a>.</p>
<p>The critical question is how this was allowed to be programmed in the first place? And what structures support white curators to speak of Black traumas? </p>
<p>Trawlwoolway and Plengarmairenner Pakana visual artist and dancer, Jam Graham Blair <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dark-mofo-cancels-controversial-first-nations-blood-art-project-after-days-of-backlash">led the call</a> on social media to denounce the project, and is now among those calling for artists to <a href="https://www.change.org/p/museum-of-old-and-new-art-blak-list-mona">boycott</a> MONA.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black text on red background reads: 'black list mona'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391311/original/file-20210324-13-1k42r8v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artists and curators such as Jam Graham Blair are now calling for a boycott of MONA until demands on organisational reforms are met.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.change.org/p/museum-of-old-and-new-art-blak-list-mona">James Tylor/change.org</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yorta-Yorta curator Kimberley Moulton described “the neo-colonial curatorial practice that haunts us”. Wardandi (Nyoongar) curator Clothilde Bullen reminded the art world “this is why we need far more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts workers and curators in senior leadership and director positions.” </p>
<p>As Noongar writer and researcher Cass Lynch <a href="https://overland.org.au/2021/03/asking-for-our-blood/">wrote for Overland</a>: “the proposed artwork betrays itself as hinging on violence against Indigenous bodies.”</p>
<p>More than ever, we need Black curators who work from community standpoints.</p>
<h2>A track record</h2>
<p>Aboriginal blood is still being spilt in acts of generational colonial violence at the hands of the police. In the 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, over 450 First Nations people have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/14/when-will-we-have-peace-grief-and-outrage-at-three-indigenous-deaths-in-custody-in-a-week">died in custody</a>.</p>
<p>As Aboriginal People, we know racism and white supremacy are not hidden in corners.
Indeed, MONA has a track record of unsettling practices and cancellations. In 2014, they pulled an Aboriginal DNA identity testing installation by Swiss artist Christoph Buchel after a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-25/mona-removes-aboriginal-dna-test-exhibit/5548838">similar outcry</a>.</p>
<p>Union Flag aimed to literally extract Aboriginal blood as an anthropological and biological specimen. Extracted to be used as paint without the bodies or sovereign voices it belongs to and within. </p>
<p>This is a deep triggering of the wounds caused by the exploitation done to and on the bodies of our Ancestors and Old People in the name of anthropology and science. Our remains are <a href="https://theconversation.com/museums-are-returning-indigenous-human-remains-but-progress-on-repatriating-objects-is-slow-67378">held in museums</a> in Australia and around the world. </p>
<p>This is unfinished business unaided by empty performances of decolonial consciousness.</p>
<p>We are taught by our Elders that our bodies and all they hold are sacred, from our hair to our sweat.</p>
<p>Capitalism and colonialism work hand in hand in the art world, dominated by privileged white Australians, directors, curators, wealthy board members and customers. Few white artists are able to contend with the violence of the ongoing colonial project without literally using or alluding to the blood of Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-tjanpi-desert-weavers-show-us-that-traditional-craft-is-art-30243">The Tjanpi Desert Weavers show us that traditional craft is art</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Resisting and contesting</h2>
<p>Aboriginal artists create work that is nuanced, complex, multi-layered and engaged with lived realities, the traumas caused by colonial violence and how to survive and thrive in spite of it.</p>
<p>Part of this is because of our abilities and skills to resist and contest the never-ended colonial project and all the tentacles of its violence. This violence that disturbs and unsettles us once again with the daily labour of responding to white peoples’ poorly constructed ideas.</p>
<p>MONA’s David Walsh <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-24/david-walsh-apology-over-mofo-blood-flag-controversy/100023988">has now apologised, saying</a> he “didn’t see the deeper consequences of this proposition” and Dark Mofo creative director Leigh Carmichael said he had “made a mistake” in commissioning Union Flag.</p>
<p>But Dark Mofo know better. In partnership with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the 2019 festival presented the work of Trawlwoolway artist Dr Julie Gough. Her 25-year career survey show, <a href="https://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/whats_on/newsselect/2019articles/julie_gough_tense_past">Tense Past</a>, showed her long engagement with art-making on the ongoing impact of colonisation on Tasmania’s First People.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/julie-goughs-tense-past-reminds-us-how-the-brutalities-of-colonial-settlement-are-still-felt-today-118923">Julie Gough's 'Tense Past' reminds us how the brutalities of colonial settlement are still felt today</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S3se-Ale64c?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Has lead curator Carmichael, who also sits on the board of the Australia Council, ensured he is complying with <a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-arts/">arts protocols</a> for using First Nations cultural and intellectual property? </p>
<p>This isn’t about mistakes. This is about the wilful decision making focused on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-21/five-times-mona-caused-controversy/8460440">shock tactics and sensationalism</a> that is part of the Dark Mofo brand.</p>
<p>Aboriginal curators and artists have been asking for positions of leadership and decision making for decades. If MONA, Dark Mofo, and indeed all of Australia’s arts institutions centred First Nations people in collaborative leadership and curatorial positions, festivals could still make work that engages without shock, and without contributing to ongoing colonial trauma.</p>
<p>The criticism of Union Flag was not about censorship, cancel culture or halting personal expression. It is about accountability and ethics. </p>
<p>To recognise and memorialise First Nations grief and loss caused by ongoing colonialism (not an historical past tense, as referred to by this project) requires sovereign Aboriginal led and self-determined decisions.</p>
<p>This work continues to be done by artists and academics, such as <a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/arts-in-daily-life/artist-stories/vicki-couzens/">Dr Vicki Couzens</a>’, <a href="https://theconversation.com/review-fiona-foleys-biting-the-clouds-is-a-visceral-look-at-opium-and-control-on-the-colonial-frontier-151748">Dr Fiona Foley</a>, <a href="https://www.djonmundine.com/">Djon Mundine</a> and many other Aboriginal community peoples, artists, activists, curators and educators. </p>
<p>Our peoples’ prior and informed consent is non-negotiable to making shared, collective projects.</p>
<p>We don’t need to see our blood to know we bleed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/review-fiona-foleys-biting-the-clouds-is-a-visceral-look-at-opium-and-control-on-the-colonial-frontier-151748">Review: Fiona Foley's Biting the Clouds is a visceral look at opium and control on the colonial frontier</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157677/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paola Balla does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Spanish artist Santiago Sierra’s request for the blood of First Nations’ people in a now cancelled artwork prompted widespread disgust. We need Black curators who work from community standpoints.
Paola Balla, Lecturer in Indigenous Education and Indigenous art, PhD Candidate, Victoria University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154830
2021-02-21T19:05:25Z
2021-02-21T19:05:25Z
Without visiting headliners, can local artists save our festivals?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385204/original/file-20210219-21-1dxer0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C12%2C2002%2C1352&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Implications, Mofo Sessions at MONA, MONA FOMA 2021</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/50871456968/in/album-72157717974502427/">MONA/Remi Chauvin</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After its early cancellation in 2020, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-19/monas-dark-mofo-winter-festival-returns-for-2021/13169474">Dark Mofo just announced June dates</a> for the festival this year, with “some trepidation” according to creative director Leigh Carmichael. Festival organisers said they hoped to create a program with international, national and local acts. </p>
<p>“There’s lots of risk, so it must really be worth doing,” said David Walsh, the owner of MONA, which hosts the festival. </p>
<p>Last year saw the sudden cancellation of arts festivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, events from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/world/coachella-music-festival-canceled.html">Coachella</a> to the <a href="https://themusicnetwork.com/festivals-covid-economic-loss/">Port Fairy Folk Festival</a> are being put on ice again. </p>
<p>Conversely, Tasmania’s <a href="https://mofo.net.au/">MONA FOMA</a> festival last month saw a “hyperlocal” approach to programming. Unable to draw headliners from around the world, local artists were front and centre — of the 352 artists involved, <a href="https://artsreview.com.au/mona-foma-announces-program-for-thirteenth-festival/">90% were Tasmanian</a>. </p>
<p>By most accounts, it was a success with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jan/18/mona-foma-2021-summer-festival-skimps-on-shock-and-awe-to-thrust-tasmanian-music-and-art-into-limelight">reviewers</a> and audiences. <a href="https://acousticlifeofsheds.bighart.org/">Big hArt’s Acoustic Life of Boatsheds</a>, which saw performers harness the history and function of waterside structures, was a highlight. MONA FOMA attracted an audience of over 35,000, with around 65% Tasmanian and 35% interstate visitors. Tickets were sold out within three hours of their release, according to organisers.</p>
<p>Could hyperlocal arts programming save Australia’s previously thriving festival scene? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drawing-inspiration-in-a-pandemic-breath-has-always-been-central-to-theatre-154371">Drawing inspiration in a pandemic — breath has always been central to theatre</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Promises and pitfalls</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.artshub.com.au/festival/news-article/news/festivals/gina-fairley/the-2021-arts-festivals-and-events-calendar-for-now-261680">festivals here</a> and around the world rethink their operations to adapt and continue during this pandemic, a variety of models have emerged. </p>
<p>The first was a shift to online offerings and live streamed events. Both the current <a href="https://www.perthfestival.com.au/">Perth Festival</a> and upcoming Adelaide Festival feature curated streaming offerings in their program — but have been careful to avoid <a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-it-away-for-free-why-the-performing-arts-risks-making-the-same-mistake-newspapers-did-139671">giving it away for free</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Person in gallery getting hug from rubber gloves on wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385193/original/file-20210219-22-1qe9inx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good Grief artist collective’s World of the Worlds at MONA FOMA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/50886737967/in/album-72157717974502427/">MONA/Jesse Hunniford</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second model saw festivals emphasise local artists. While the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/hail-mona-but-what-about-the-rest-of-tasmanian-art-18857">MONA effect</a>” might imbue this hyperlocal approach with a sense of novelty, it is worth noting Tasmania’s vibrant theatre-making culture was locally focused long before the pandemic struck. The island’s arts ecology can offer some important insights into the promises and pitfalls of major festivals focusing on the local.</p>
<p>The first promise is the capacity for festivals to engage deeply with people and place. This can, through a diversity of local voices, build a sense of community that is complex and multifaceted. An accidental choir formed by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-22/tasmanian-farm-workers-from-kiribati-form-choir/12998544">seasonal workers from Kiribati</a> who performed at MONA FOMA, for example, forced their inclusion into Tasmania’s cultural scene. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1350374311140286465"}"></div></p>
<p>Locally focused festivals can also provide vital support for small to medium companies and emerging artists. Unrelenting cuts in federal funding across the years, prior to COVID-19, have <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-3-in-4-australians-employed-in-the-creative-and-performing-arts-could-lose-their-jobs-136505">disproportionately hit small and medium arts organisations and individuals</a>. The federal rescue package for the arts — while welcome — is, as Julian Meyrick put it, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-the-care-economy-arts-and-culture-are-an-opportunity-missed-in-the-2020-21-budget-147558">a pimple to a pumpkin</a>” in terms of the scale of support the sector requires. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/latest-arts-windfalls-show-money-isnt-enough-we-need-transparency-154725">Latest arts windfalls show money isn't enough. We need transparency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Festivals could, like many <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-arts-funding-in-australia-is-falling-and-local-governments-are-picking-up-the-slack-124160">local governments</a>, help address the shortfall by funding creative development programs and commissioning new work.</p>
<p>While major festivals have large budgets, these are dependent on drawing audiences. Traditionally the model has been to bring in works of scale from overseas, although <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-major-summer-arts-festivals-reckoning-with-the-past-or-retreating-into-it-126829">this model is shifting</a>. </p>
<p>Without travel, bringing international acts is out the question, and drawing audiences from interstate remains fraught. Snap lockdowns forced Perth Festival to <a href="https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/piaf/perth-festival-program-pushed-back-another-fortnight-ng-b881788792z">reschedule hundreds of shows</a> and put the Adelaide Fringe on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/feb/11/adelaide-fringe-festival-on-tenterhooks-after-sa-closes-border-to-melbourne">tenterhooks</a>. Which is to point out that a local focus needs to consider both artists, and audiences. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CKaTinEr6Pk","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Growing local loyalty</h2>
<p>Tasmania’s theatre ecology is again instructive here. While brimming with amateur and community-based theatrical activity, growth in the professional sector has been stagnant. Despite a range of recent, and relatively generous <a href="https://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/arts/grants_and_loans/cultural_and_creative_industries_stimulus_package">COVID support measures from the state government</a>, funding remains in short supply. </p>
<p>The economic imperative to draw audiences means artistic innovation requires particular bravery. Or, of course, <a href="https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/mona-founder-david-walsh-says-the-museum-is-my-hotted-up-torana-20201120-p56gji">a large personal fortune</a> like that of MOMA founder David Walsh who explained his post-pandemic-shutdown plans to the Australian Financial Review late last year …</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ll mutate as the world mutates. I’m thinking local because local is all there is.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dancer in open air performance mid leap" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385196/original/file-20210219-18-t6o6iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stompin, All Expenses Paid, MONA FOMA 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/50846569176/in/album-72157717882968423/">MONA/Remi Chauvin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-moments-like-these-we-need-a-cultural-policy-141974">At moments like these, we need a cultural policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Audience development — to increase interest in, and appreciation of, the performing arts — is key to developing a local focus. </p>
<p>The elephant in this particular room, however, is the rationalisation of festival funding through tourism. Much state, city and council support hinges on the “multiplier effects” of culturally driven visitation. A 2018 <a href="https://www.create.nsw.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Economic-Value-of-Arts-Screen-and-Culture-2018-Report.pdf">Create NSW report</a> by KPMG estimates such “induced expenditure” in NSW in 2016 was $1.5 billion. </p>
<p>This rationale has driven the creation of bodies like Events Tasmania, and the 2015 <a href="https://www.eventstasmania.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/250588/Tasmania_Events_Strategy_Web.pdf">Tasmanian Government Events Strategy</a>, which awards funding for events on their capacity to bring and circulate visitors around the state. </p>
<p>A festival less travelled would be hard pressed to access this funding, despite delivering key elements of this policy — to foster artistic excellence and enrich community. Moreover, without significant investment to meet these policy aims, “locally” oriented festivals may lack the resources to guard themselves against insularity and parochialism.</p>
<p>Even prior to COVID, numerous festivals (Sydney, Perth, Ten Days) were already starting to give higher priority to local artists and stories. </p>
<p>One festival of particular note is <a href="https://theunconformity.com.au/">The Unconformity</a>, a small scale biennial festival that takes place in Tasmania’s wild north-west. Rather than shopping for shows on the arts market, the Unconformity brings in artists to engage with community and place through a range of residencies and projects. </p>
<p>This model has produced <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-unconformity-festival-embraces-the-power-and-peculiarity-of-tasmanias-wild-west-106147">remarkable works</a> of ambition and complexity, with strong participation from the local community. This is of course nothing new and harks back to the strong community focus of Australian arts festivals throughout the 1980s and 90s.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Performers inside pink light-filled enclosed stage" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385195/original/file-20210219-21-1sqjrzi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Faux Mo at MONA FOMA (try saying that six times very fast).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/50868390807/in/album-72157717974502427/">MONA/Remi Chauvin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the short term, audiences have proven keen to emerge from lockdown and return to festivals. MONA FOMA showed they can embrace the pivot to more local programming. </p>
<p>A renewed, ongoing focus on the local, with medium to long term commitment to developing audiences and artists across the nation might do more than save our festivals, it could help rebuild our arts industry in the wake of the pandemic. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/births-deaths-and-rituals-a-revamped-ten-days-on-the-island-explores-tasmanias-past-and-present-113745">Births, deaths and rituals: a revamped Ten Days on the Island explores Tasmania's past and present</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asher Warren receives funding from the Tasmanian Community Fund for his research project Living Room Musicals: Singing Local Stories. </span></em></p>
While big and small events on the 2021 arts calendar are still shifting or disappearing altogether, a sharper local focus could save the day.
Asher Warren, Lecturer, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/118580
2019-06-13T01:32:00Z
2019-06-13T01:32:00Z
Dark Mofo 2019: a journey through the inferno to robots and extinction
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279261/original/file-20190613-32317-150j2xv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mona Confessional 2016 – 19. The art unveiled for this year's Dark Mofo is a disturbing journey into our future.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Shiels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While <a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/">Dark Mofo’s</a> winter solstice events populate many above-ground sites across Hobart, its heart of darkness will always be the subterranean galleries of the Museum of Old and New Art. </p>
<p>The museum just got a lot bigger with the opening of a $27 million extension housing four major new artworks from renowned contemporary artists. The works – by Alfredo Jaar, Ai Weiwei, Oliver Beer and Christopher Townend – have been unveiled in time for this year’s festival, in conjunction with a new temporary installation by Berlin-based Simon Denny. </p>
<p>These new commissions contribute to an already impressive collection of art. The physicality of the newly excavated spaces adds a compelling dimension, and the new works offer immersive and interactive ways of engaging with some of the darker questions of our times. </p>
<p>The extension is called <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/siloam">Siloam</a>, after an ancient water channel built in Jerusalem. As visitors traverse its tunnels, hidden movement sensors activate Townend’s sound installation, Requiem for Vermin. Comprising 230 speakers, the composition has been configured to flood the senses with harmony and texture and trick the brain into hearing what is not there, like full orchestras, choirs, and piano and sounds from nature. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279020/original/file-20190611-32335-16zur4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Siloam, Mona’s new underground extension.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy Mona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Accessed via a tunnel and operating at a scale reminiscent of large caves in Vietnam and Cambodia, where temples were secreted to avoid the bombing raids of the American war, Ai Weiwei’s White House offers sanctuary from the visual and sensory bombardment.</p>
<p>The artist uses industrial paint to recuperate a Qing Dynasty home that was scheduled for demolition. This massive ready-made is supported on clear, crystal orbs that absorb and mirror the surroundings, offering a fluid, milky abstraction when viewed from above. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279031/original/file-20190612-32342-1q69cqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">White House, 2015 by Ai Weiwei.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy Mona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the tranquillity of this cavern, a staircase leads up to Alfredo Jaar’s immersive, experiential journey through hell, purgatory and heaven inspired by Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century poem The Divine Comedy.</p>
<p>The entrance is a portal of devil’s-cloak red – only ten people can enter at a time. There are strict protocols and instructions – an amalgam of performative ritual and briefing about the required behaviours – including a ban on speaking whilst inside the work.</p>
<p>Silently bonding, we are led into the first chamber, where the senses are activated via the ears, skin and eyes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-dantes-divine-comedy-84603">Guide to the Classics: Dante’s Divine Comedy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Heat, sound, light and silence are employed in a highly staged and meticulously directed experience, which according to Jaar, references a hell of our own making – that is climate change. </p>
<p>As we move through purgatory and on to paradise, the artist draws on his skills as filmmaker and architect to manage the combination of space and image for poignancy and impact. His careful modulation of media ensures this is much more than art as spectacle.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279021/original/file-20190611-32347-1i2gfyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Entrance to The Divine Comedy, 2019, by Alfredo Jaar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image courtesy of Mona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Divine Comedy offers us an opportunity to traverse the polarities of life and death, heaven and hell, sin and redemption. The latter is also a concern of Oliver Beer’s interactive sculpture, Mona Confessional, which creates a bridge between the interior and exterior of the building.</p>
<p>The internal sculpture is a soft, dark felt spiral like a giant ear canal; the external component a giant ear-trumpet in weathering steel. </p>
<p>On fumbling their way into the dimly-lit centre of the inner ear, the visitor encounters sounds spilling from the outside world and is invited to confess and reveal their innermost thoughts. </p>
<p>On the outside, another anonymous person listens to these thoughts. Neither party even knows where the other is located.</p>
<h2>A disturbing game</h2>
<p>Denny’s installation also uses interactivity and play. His concerns though, are less metaphysical, and more of a hard-edged critique of capitalism. Like Jaar, Denny warns of a climate change catastrophe of our own making.</p>
<p>Exhibited across three galleries, Denny’s works present an unsettling examination of the mining industry. It shows how technology is changing the nature of human labour, hastening species extinction and spawning a new industry of data collection. </p>
<p>Making use of the O (Mona’s mobile device that serves as a digital art guide), some parts of the exhibition are embedded with data that can be scanned by the device to reveal more content and information, in the form of videos and vignettes.</p>
<p>The spare and cavernous first room holds just one object, a cage that could be a bird aviary. On closer inspection, this unnervingly industrial object/sculpture reveals itself as the life-sized realisation of an actual patent drawing (owned by Amazon) of a cage. </p>
<p>Its purpose, if ever made, is to protect the body of a lone human sitting among robots in a fully-automated workspace. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279029/original/file-20190611-32342-1io0ipv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simon Denny, Amazon Worker Cage Patent (US 9,280,157 B2:</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Shiels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the wall of the same room we are introduced to videos of the endangered King Island Brown Thornbill. The reference to the canary in the coal mine is deliberate: the extinction of the Thornbill heralds the potential disappearance not just of the human worker, but of the human species. </p>
<p>The second room, by contrast, is a riot of movement and colour. At first glance the life-sized sculptures of industrial machinery look real under harsh artificial lights – it could be a trade show replete with exhibits and interactive screens. </p>
<p>We must focus our O devices on images of the endangered Thornbill to gather information about the rare metals being mined.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279022/original/file-20190611-32361-ywam8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simon Denny, Mine, 2019, installation view at Mona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford.
Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Denny has extended the game metaphor by turning the floor into an enlarged version of the classic Australian board game Squatter. Australia no longer rides on the sheep’s back but instead hitches a lift with the fully-automated, long-wall tunnel miner. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279028/original/file-20190611-32356-1598bsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simon Denny, Mine, 2019, installation view at Mona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Either way, the accumulated wealth is based on the same colonial legacy of dispossession: prospectors stake their claims just as the squatters settled “empty” land and called it “mine”. </p>
<p>Denny has even created a new board game for our current era. It’s called Extractor, and also serves as a catalogue for the show.</p>
<p>The final room offers a survey of work by other artists that also addresses the merging of the human and the technological to meet the contemporary demand for labour. But it is also a ruse to drive home the point that everyone is in on the game, including Mona. </p>
<p>At the end of the exhibition, it is revealed how the museum is tracking our behaviour and gathering our data through our use of their mobile device. In this context we are all players in the game.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/">Dark Mofo</a> is on until June 23. Simon Denny’s <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/exhibitions/mine">Mine</a> is at Mona until April 2020.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Shiels does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Mona’s new subterranean extension adds a compelling dimension to the art of Dark Mofo 2019. Upstairs, a series of interactive sculptures contemplates our automated future.
Julie Shiels, Lecturer - School of Art, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/115433
2019-04-22T20:21:29Z
2019-04-22T20:21:29Z
MONA’s Eat the Problem is possibly well-meaning but ultimately exquisitely elitist
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269461/original/file-20190416-147525-1y89qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Guests at the V.I.P Opening Feast, Eat The Problem.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/kirsha-s-portal/eat-the-problem">Eat the Problem</a>, Kirsha Kaechele’s latest MONA-based project, proposes that killing and consuming invasive species offers a more sustainable and ethical option than our current industrial farming practices. </p>
<p>In some ways, Kaechele’s work is a welcome contribution to a complex topic. We do need to imagine strategies to combat current and anticipated ecological crises. Art and playful speculations are valuable ways of inviting people to consider alternatives. </p>
<p>Still, while this premise offers a good starting point for critical discussion, the outcome comes across, in my view, as little more than an exquisitely designed elitist spectacle. It fails to take into consideration the complex realities this proposition entails and does not seem to recognise how the design and curatorial decisions draw attention to - but don’t challenge - the growing disparity between the rich and the poor.</p>
<p>As indicated on <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/kirsha-s-portal">Kirsha’s Portal</a> on the MONA website, Eat the Problem encompasses a book, exhibition, treatments and feasts. The book (a 544-page, hardcover volume) features essays, literary and visual works alongside provocative invasive species recipes with ingredients such as blackberries, cane toad, starfish, rabbit, horse, deer and camel. </p>
<p>There is even a recipe for human. And humans, after all, (albeit a select group) are the most invasive and destructive species on the planet. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269458/original/file-20190416-147518-hfttq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Possum, salt-baked vegetables, hazelnut, wild rice by Vince Trim Recipe from Eat the Problem by Kirsha Kaechele, Mona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo credit Rémi Chauvin Image courtesy Mona Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are authors from diverse cultural backgrounds, but the book noticeably capitalises on MONA’s intimate relationship with some of the world’s most recognisable artists and chefs. Contributors include culinary celebrities such as Heston Blumenthal, Tetsuya Wakuda and Shannon Bennett and superstars of the art and humanities worlds including James Turrell, Marina Abramović, Mike Parr and Germaine Greer.</p>
<p>While the impressive list of authors already guarantees readership interest, the publication itself is also absolutely beautiful. Organised into different color-coded sections graduating along the spectrum from white to black, each page is elegantly formatted. </p>
<p>Recipe pages are particularly stunning, with carefully crafted compositions that include bespoke plates and cutlery. At the entrance of the exhibition, I watched a museum visitor view a sample publication as an <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/invigilate">invigilator</a> gracefully turned the pages of the book while donning a pair of white gloves. While this may seem over the top, it is not unreasonable, as each book carries a hefty $277.77 price tag.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269440/original/file-20190416-147502-vwgyyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A page from the book.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: MONA/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of the artist and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The exhibition is equally opulent. The central feature is a 27-metre, custom designed, musical sculpture with accompanying performances and multi-course feasts. Inspired by director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100456/">Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Rainbow Thief</a> and described by Kaechele as the word’s largest Glockenspiel, the sound sculpture comprises a series of rainbow coloured rungs with aluminium bars that can be played. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269455/original/file-20190416-147511-krj7i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Grand Feasting Table or A New Musical invention, Eat the Problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The resulting sound is beautifully meditative and resonates sensually through the quiet, concrete interior of the exhibition space. Connecting with the project focus, the surface of each coloured step incorporates materials derived from invasive species. They include camel hump and deer fat, Wakame seaweed and Tapioca.</p>
<p>The artwork operates as a sculpture and performance object, but also doubles as a table during the feasts that feature an invasive species menu. In these feasts, each course is monochrome, coloured in harmony with the book and table. Feast participants are also required to dress in a specific colour, depending on their booking.</p>
<p>According to Kaechele, during a press interview, the ultimate aim of these events is to facilitate transformation. They invite participants to consider whether government-culled animals should be formally available for consumption and if personal hunting and cooking of invasive species is a more sustainable option than farmed produce. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269462/original/file-20190416-147511-qlm43w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grand Feast, Eat The Problem: The Red Course.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sunday lunchers become part of the artwork and can be watched by visitors as they enjoy their $222.22, three-colour meal. </p>
<p>At $666.66, grand feasters are afforded more privacy and can enjoy their nine-color, degustation menu in the evening when the museum is closed to the general public. Micro-tastings ($111.11) are available on select days during Dark Mofo.</p>
<p>The exhibition also includes a series of health treatments, some of which are performed on a giant, rainbow wheel cushion or the Glockenspiel artwork. Sunday morning “sound bath and energy sessions” are free and open to all museum visitors. Other <a href="https://mona.net.au/etp#treatments">treatments</a> must be booked and range from $80 for Yin Yoga sessions to $120 for “CranioSacral Therapy”. It seems, therefore, that the ultimate level of transformation and healing is largely dependent on your available budget.</p>
<p>The exhibition also features islands of picture book-like soft, sculptural works by American artist Elena Stonaker. On my visit, there was a beautiful, blonde, naked and playfully painted young woman gently nestled into the crevices of the giant forms. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/269443/original/file-20190416-147518-rieg7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soft sulptures: Big Mamas, Snake’s Belly, Elena Stonaker.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Incorporating human female figures, raindrops, flowers, skulls and a shamanic butterfly goddess, the installation evokes connections to transformation and a longing for a new, more utopian, female empowered Garden of Eden, in which humans and nature, life and death, are in perfect harmony. </p>
<p>Of course, all utopias are inherently flawed and the prospering of one species (or gender, ethnicity, class and culture) invariably comes at the expense of another.</p>
<h2>Echoes of The Satyricon</h2>
<p>Reflecting on the project, and particularly the act of watching an elite group of people enjoy spectacularly presented cuisine and wellness treatments, or even surveying a beautiful naked performer, I was reminded of <a href="https://aesf.art/projects/the_feast_of_trimalchio/">The Feast of Trimalchio</a> by Russian artist collective AES+F.</p>
<p>Drawing heavily on luxury fashion and advertising imagery, the work references the book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168214.The_Satyricon">The Satyricon</a> attributed to Roman courtier Petronius, a tale that, as the artists assert, “has become synonymous with wealth, luxury, gluttony and unbridled pleasure”. </p>
<p>Set in a lavish imaginary island resort populated by white clad “master” tourists and ethnic “servants”, the AES+F work presents a visually enthralling but thoroughly disturbing commentary on colonisation, contemporary consumerism and Western excess. </p>
<p>Eat the Problem makes connections to the opulent feasts described in Satyricon and like AES+F’s work employs a range of visual strategies used by advertising agencies and luxury brands - but this is seemingly without a deeper level of critical self awareness. </p>
<p>Viewed as a commercial design and branding exercise, the project is highly successful, exceptional even. The book and exhibition elements are uniformly seductive. I want to touch and own the book. I want to attend the sensuous, dress-up dinner party, feast on the finely crafted cuisine, marvel at my courage to eat the “controversial” ingredients and play music with the handcrafted dining implements. </p>
<p>I want to try all of the treatments and buy a custom-made emerald green cane toad leather purse (available in the “gift shop”). But the costs of doing so are well above my already fortunate monthly entertainment and accessory budget. </p>
<p>If anything, the project reinforces my understanding that leisure activities, fashion items and even thinking about sustainability and having a moral choice are a privilege that is not accessible to all. Poverty, as <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/profiles/staff/art/toby-juliff">my UTAS colleague Dr Toby Juliff</a> has pointed out, not only limits access to cultural activities and key resources including quality food, and health care, it also entails an “ethical impoverishment”. </p>
<p>While the beauty the various project components evoke could be viewed as a deliberate strategy to encourage critical reflection on the role of wealth and excess in the sustainability debate, I am not entirely convinced. Unlike, the dark foreboding and impending doom that accompanies the AES&F work, I cannot discern a moment in which the expectations of Eat the Problem audiences will be disrupted.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that any invasive species meal prepared by MONA head chef Vince Trim will be aesthetically delightful and delicious. Events will be fun and treatments relaxing. </p>
<p>Apart from the feral cat consommé - only unpleasant because we like our house cats - the practice of harvesting invasive species is not as controversial as Kaechele and Trim suggest. There is already a large collection of invasive species recipe books (although mostly from the US) and cane toad wallets are a regular feature in Queensland market stalls. </p>
<p>However, establishing a market for invasive organisms, might put pressure on maintaining their population rather than eradicating it. Transportation of these species could spread them further. (MONA had to import many of its invasive ingredients). The widespread uptake of hunting and killing invasive animals for personal consumption would also require additional instruction and management. This could mean that only people who can afford training programs and permits would be able to harvest from their local areas.</p>
<p>It is worth pointing out that this review focuses only on the Eat the Problem project without consideration of the many community-based food projects developed by Kaechele, (<a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/kirsha-s-portal/24-carrot-gardens-project">such as the 24 Carrot Gardens Projecy</a>), which teaches children around Hobart how to grow, harvest and cook healthy food. Viewed in relation to these, Eat the Problem, could be seen as a single, possibly transformative project, which effectively uses the familiar trappings of excess common to a target audience with the wealth and power to implement major change. </p>
<p>What I want to know is when will the more difficult conversations - about power, privilege and ethics, human responsibility and empathy for all species or the promises and pitfalls of the proposition - take place? </p>
<p>Perhaps there will be an uncomfortable moment when the experience will turn against participants, revealing their own complicity and role in the very approaches, systems and predicaments they wish to address.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Svenja J. Kratz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A new exhibition and book urging us to eat invasive species are beautiful but come across as little more than an exquisitely designed elitist spectacle.
Svenja J. Kratz, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/113745
2019-03-19T07:02:49Z
2019-03-19T07:02:49Z
Births, deaths and rituals: a revamped Ten Days on the Island explores Tasmania’s past and present
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264522/original/file-20190319-28512-1r8cyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Youth dance troupe Stompin performed their thought-provoking work Nowhere as part of this year's Ten Days on the Island.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacob Collings, Lusy Productions</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year marks the tenth biennial Tasmanian Arts festival Ten Days on the Island, and the first under new artistic director, Lindy Hume. Since it began in 2001, the festival has always been ambitious: seeking to showcase Tasmanian art, bring international works to the island, and at the same time be a festival for the whole of the state, rather than just the hub of Hobart. </p>
<p>Its challenge has only increased with Tasmania’s now burgeoning festival scene, which includes The Unconformity, Dark MOFO, and the Festival of Voices to name just a few. </p>
<p>It should come as no surprise then, that this year’s Ten Days adopted a new approach, moving from ten consecutive days to programming split up over three distinct weekends. The first two weekends took place in the state’s north west and north east respectively, with the festival due to conclude this weekend in the south.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-unconformity-festival-embraces-the-power-and-peculiarity-of-tasmanias-wild-west-106147">The Unconformity festival embraces the power and peculiarity of Tasmania's wild west</a>
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<p>This distribution of work across the state makes it a challenge for all but the most intrepid to see everything. With this in mind, I have focused on the festival’s first two weekends, but to summarise even these two weeks is a challenging task. </p>
<p>The diversity of work reflects the different regions of Tasmania – often proud of their isolation. While this creates a challenge in finding coherence, the work of these two weeks was notable for a number of key themes: belonging, life, death, and Tasmania’s colonial history.</p>
<h2>Stories of the island</h2>
<p>Ten Days officially began at dawn on March 8, on the beachfront at the Devonport surf life-saving club in the state’s north west, with <a href="http://tendays.org.au/2019/mapali/">Mapali – Dawn Gathering</a>.</p>
<p>Narrated by the commanding voice of Dave mangenner Gough, the ceremony began with a Welcome to Country that celebrated the local Aboriginal (palawa) communities, with the sweeping and smoking of the beach, the gathering of kelp to make water carriers, and the unbroken practice of crafting intricate shell necklaces. </p>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/314345445" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This year’s Ten Days on the Island festival is spread across three weekends and three parts of Tasmania.</span></figcaption>
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<p>A short time later, Jessie Pangas and Anne Morrison’s <a href="http://tendays.org.au/2019/here-she-is/">Here She Is </a> opened at Devonport’s Stewart St Gallery. There could have been no more fitting work to celebrate International Women’s Day. </p>
<p>A collaged, stitched and woven collection of stories and connections between women of the north west coast, Here She Is was built from audio recordings, participant submissions, archival materials and artistic responses to these materials. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264517/original/file-20190319-28499-a8c67h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Here She Is was the perfect work for International Women’s Day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Provided by Ten Days on the Island</span></span>
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<p>It is a dense work, constantly drawing you closer to make out handwriting and listen to stories. Yet evocative spaces open up between the fragments, pictures, and conversations, where just as much is left unsaid. This induces viewers to participate in the work through the addition of their own recollections, stories and mementos of the women in their lives.</p>
<p>Another hour’s drive along the north coast brought us just near the picturesque coastal township of Boat Harbour, for Big hArt’s <a href="http://tendays.org.au/2019/acoustic-life-of-sheds/">Acoustic Life of Sheds</a>, a series of intimate concerts held in sheds throughout the region.</p>
<p>It was a rather genteel and romantic affair, as we travelled from an industrial potato shed, to woodworker’s sanctuaries, a derelict grain silo, and a shearing shed. </p>
<p>In the shearing shed, a collaborative suite of songs written and performed by Lucky Oceans and Heath Cullen closed the tour. The songs were written from the perspective of nonhuman things: from the shed we were sitting in, to an artificial intelligence in the not too distant future. A delightful and masterful set, these voices were used to interrogate the more problematic foundations of our “shed-romanticism”: their footprints on the landscape and the consumption behind the junk that fills them.</p>
<p>But as an audience member, I longed for a little more breathing space. The pace left little time to engage with fellow patrons, the sheds, their owners and their histories.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264519/original/file-20190319-28492-lrbhaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Audiences for Acoustic Life of Sheds visited locations including an industrial potato shed, a derelict grain silo, and a shearing shed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Beth Sometimes</span></span>
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<p>The second weekend took place in the state’s north east. Tamar Island, just a short drive from Launceston, was the site for youth dance company Stompin’s ambitious new work, <a href="http://tendays.org.au/2019/nowhere/">Nowhere</a>. The work explores this island on an island, its colonial and pre-colonial history, and most poignantly, its future. </p>
<p>The young troupe built toward a mesmerising sequence that evoked the interplay of natural plant formations and wind patterns, leading to a penultimate gesture equal parts touching and devastating. As they broke away and wandered in single file from the island and into the sunset, Nowhere asked us what, and even who, will be left to applaud when our environment disappears? </p>
<p>Later that week, 40 minutes west of Launceston, I was ushered by a stage manager in blue scrubs to an upstairs room of Deloraine’s Empire Hotel, to see Robert Jarman’s new work <a href="http://tendays.org.au/2019/intimateepics/">The Protecting Veil</a>. </p>
<p>Delivered by Jarman in a matching set of blue scrubs, The Protecting Veil uses <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Poussin">Nicolas Poussin</a>’s second series of sacrament paintings as its structure. Jarman’s work takes inspiration and incorporates material from British writer, director and performer Neil Bartlett’s work, <a href="https://www.artangel.org.uk/project/the-seven-sacraments-of-nicolas-poussin/">The Seven Sacraments of Nicolas Poussin </a>. Bartlett’s work was first produced at The London Hospital, produced by Artangel, on July 1st, 1997.</p>
<p>Drawing on the rituals and figures depicted in these seven images, Jarman delivers an art history lecture of sorts, weaving in personal experience and contemporary politics, and reflecting on the ways that rituals structure our lives, from birth to death. </p>
<p>Guitarist David Malone shares the stage throughout. His musical interludes help build a certain feeling in the work, heightened by the room’s arrangement and the scrubs: the feeling of waiting in a hospital or funeral parlour. </p>
<p>The titular “protecting veil”, we learn, refers not just to the curtains that force viewers to contemplate Poussin’s seven paintings one at a time, but the curtains that surround patients, and the curtains which cover the glass in funeral viewing parlours. </p>
<p>The show warms up, literally and figuratively, as we reach the sacrament of communion (taken as a joyful tea break with jam rolls) before moving on toward death. When this moment arrives, the intimate audience dutifully obeys the request not to applaud, but our reverence – the ritual – seems a little forced. </p>
<p>Perhaps this is because of a scene I had witnessed just before the show began. Somewhat serendipitously, while waiting downstairs at the public bar of the hotel, I saw the Deloraine social club raise their glasses (and I mine) to a recently deceased member of the community. The collection of downstairs rituals were profoundly ordinary, but touching in their camaraderie – from the raffle held in her honour, to a ribald rendition of the folk song Old Grey Mare.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hail-mona-but-what-about-the-rest-of-tasmanian-art-18857">Hail MONA! But what about the rest of Tasmanian art?</a>
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<p>Finally, I visited <a href="http://tendays.org.au/2019/intimateepics/">Crime Scene</a>, a forensic-style installation in the Longford Town Hall by Anna Gibbs, Elizabeth Day, Julie Gough and Noelene Lucas. </p>
<p>Four video works are projected from inside onto each of the four walls. Each piece takes an instance of violence researched through colonial records, and attempts to present the evidence though an aesthetic lens. These pieces seek to draw our attention back to the deep scars of Tasmania’s history, not only between invading colonists and the Indigenous peoples, but also among the settlers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264521/original/file-20190319-28499-ua6idc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Crime Scene is an installation exploring colonial violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy the artists</span></span>
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<p>The simplicity of these works allows the researched accounts of this violence to cut through. In fact, they quite relentlessly confront the wounds that haunt Tasmania - wounds that <a href="https://griffithreview.com/articles/tasmanian-gothic/">Greg Lehman</a> notes must be properly addressed before they can begin to heal. </p>
<p>In moving their base of operations to Burnie, and embracing a more distributed Ten Days, the festival has broken away from the old. This new generation model offers a valuable example of how arts and culture might be curated for and by Tasmania’s diverse population, giving great voice to the north of the state. </p>
<p>Change is always difficult, but it is necessary as Tasmania becomes more and more globally connected. Ten Days on the Island serves a vital role in developing a diverse cultural sector (which is in many ways dominated by MONA and its festivals) and supporting the next generation of Tasmanian artists to speak not only to the island, but also to a national and international audience.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://tendays.org.au/">Ten Days on the Island</a> concludes March 24.</em></p>
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<p><em>Correction: this piece has been updated to note the original production details of Neil Bartlett’s work, The Seven Sacraments of Nicolas Poussin.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asher Warren does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Despite the diversity of art and performance on display at the tenth Ten Days on the Island festival, key themes emerge: life, death, and Tasmania’s colonial history.
Asher Warren, Lecturer, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/98003
2018-06-17T18:54:24Z
2018-06-17T18:54:24Z
Hobart’s poorer suburbs are missing out on the ‘MONA effect’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223299/original/file-20180615-32339-1924s2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most of MONA's interstate visitors go to the museum without stopping in the nearby suburbs. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ozmark17/33952082140/in/photolist-TJei9y-aG4KBv-AHszaG-b3uaHT-aFmEdR-aWGDPt-BEZhnn-UK8arY-9w9hoS-AHt3CY-aWGzHT-iRwody-aFPE5r-dc8ZxR-aWGBXi-dJ4zgj-bB9wZX-boeDHm-boeDLU-depywd-BCFhkC-aWGCSg-ghfA7t-iRuX61-dJ4B8J-aWGESc-9RNRTN-AHsAa7-aG3V6a-25kP8Aj-BxGpTX-VkoRhv-nkktGq-bB9F8e-AHsNKs-dc9dqJ-dNo4B2-aG1Zpg-bB9wAc-eaVCdd-depzks-BxGseP-9w69AB-iRtpx1-aWGzf2-B7tcB6-dJ4BZo-aG35jD-aG5u52-9RNRTG">Mark Pegrum/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Popular opinion has it that MONA, Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art, is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-08/mona-effect-ripples-out-to-regional-tasmania/9837626">transforming Tasmania</a>. That the state is no longer the poor and backward cousin, the economy is booming, and we are leaders in contemporary culture. </p>
<p>The buzz on the streets of Hobart during <a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/">this year’s Dark Mofo</a> is unwaning, despite being in its sixth iteration. A tendency to hibernate through Tasmania’s cold midwinter is now a time for vibrancy and a skinny dip – at least for tourists. </p>
<p>However contrary to hype around this “MONA effect”, the museum’s benefits do not seem to be being shared with <a href="https://profile.id.com.au/glenorchy/home">Glenorchy</a>, the municipality it is located in. Glenorchy is ranked eighth most disadvantaged out of 29 municipalities in the state and includes some of the most disadvantaged suburbs nationwide. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-goes-to-mona-peering-behind-the-flannelette-curtain-73369">Who goes to MONA? Peering behind the 'flannelette curtain'</a>
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<p>More generally, some local artists are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-09/mona-dark-mofo-seen-as-blessing-and-curse-for-local-creatives/9770904">struggling to maintain a place</a> as the MONA juggernaut rolls out its festivals, and its power and influence. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-03/home-prices-fall-in-cities-rise-in-the-regions/9612534">Hobart’s house prices</a> are rising faster than any other capital city, with increasing scrutiny on how <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-07/hobart-suburb-battery-point-quarantined-from-airbnb/9845976">visitor housing</a>, such as Airbnb, might be affecting prices. Tasmania is already <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/1055693/Tasmania-Report-Saul-Eslake-2017.pdf">economically polarised</a>. </p>
<p>Taking a snapshot of <a href="https://tourismtracer.com">tracking data</a> from 472 interstate and overseas tourists in 2016, we analysed where and how tourists travelled before and after they visited MONA. Most of the visitors to MONA were from New South Wales and Victoria. They also had <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-goes-to-mona-peering-behind-the-flannelette-curtain-73369">higher incomes and levels of education</a>. We found that these visitors tend to take the MONA ferry to and from the museum, or drive straight there and back with no stops. Without shopping in Glenorchy or visiting other parts of the municipality, almost no benefits are passed on to this area, whether these are direct economic benefits from shopping or accommodation, or indirect benefits from social interactions and cultural exchange.</p>
<p>In some respects, this is unsurprising. Tourists go to places that have amenities for tourists – such as Hobart’s waterfront. Tourism and art also tends to drive gentrification – an escalation of real estate prices as poor inner city suburbs and post-industrial sites are transformed into creative chic. This wouldn’t be a good outcome for places like Glenorchy, which many of Tasmania’s low income earners call home. These are places imbued with a sense of community that supports many in non-financial ways. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/incarceration-and-times-passing-are-eloquently-explored-at-dark-mofo-98164">Incarceration and time's passing are eloquently explored at Dark Mofo</a>
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<p>Not all of MONA’s visitors are high income earners with a university education. We also found that it is MONA’s lower socio-economic visitors who are most likely to stop in Glenorchy, to shop and visit family and friends. These are the tourists who could help extend MONA’s benefits into the places most in need, without destroying these communities. To boost the numbers of lower socio-economic tourists, Mona could extend its free museum entry for Tasmanians to all visitors with government concession cards. </p>
<p>But the limited responsibilities of private bodies such as MONA, means that it is governments’ role to distribute the benefits of tourism and economic growth. Tourism Tasmania spends <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/news/politics/tourism-tasmania-chief-james-cretan-says-marketing-spend-yields-sensational-results/news-story/a72685b7d5c72ec6c8f94d65b7b08e73">millions of dollars on marketing</a>. Directing this towards the lower socioeconomic tourist market could boost visitation to tourism icons and local shopping centres and communities. </p>
<p>More broadly, the government urgently needs to plan for how tourism growth translates into improved health care, education and job prospects. Tourism only matters if it sustains all Tasmanians, and without demonstrated overall improvement, the value of tourism is questionable. </p>
<p>MONA is held in high regard by most Tasmanians. The museum and biannual festivals are described as unprecedented acts of generosity on behalf of owner David Walsh. There is widespread support for MONA initiatives: it’s vision for <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-11/mona-waterfront-vision-to-take-three-decades/8109566">Macquarie Point</a> and <a href="https://mona.net.au/in-the-works/hotel">Hotel Mona</a>. </p>
<p>This goodwill is likely to fade if the MONA effect simply reinforces existing iniquities. To remain relevant, MONA’s presence in Tasmania needs go beyond development proposals and sensationalist art. Government must harness tourism for the benefit of all. High tourist numbers and spending are not ends in and of themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Booth receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DP170100096) and collaborates on Tourism Tracer, partly funded by Tasmanian Government (State Growth), Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and Federal Group. She previously worked on the 'Mona Effect' ARC Linkage (LP120200302 ). Kate is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia and sat on its Tasmanian Committee until December 2017. She also donates to planning- and environment-related non-government organisations.</span></em></p>
MONA could encourage more low-income visitors by making entry free for all concession card owners.
Kate Booth, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography and Planning, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/93427
2018-04-04T01:19:04Z
2018-04-04T01:19:04Z
Private collectors are saving Australian art, but they can’t do it on their own
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212075/original/file-20180326-188619-1elnekx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">‘The shape of things to come’, installation view at Buxton Contemporary, the University of Melbourne, March 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Christian Capurro.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Within the year, Melbourne will have two new contemporary art spaces. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-09/buxton-contemporary-melbournes-newest-art-gallery/9531494">Buxton Contemporary</a> opened in early March and the new wing of <a href="http://lyonhousemuseum.com.au/">Lyon Housemuseum</a> will launch in 2019. </p>
<p>These are just two of many acts of largesse that have made substantial private collections available to the Australian public over the past two decades. Since the Besen family established Tarra Warra Museum of Art in the Yarra Valley in 2003, there has been a steady flow of new galleries, including Sydney’s White Rabbit (2009) and Hobart’s MONA (2011). But will these gifts sustain contemporary art development in Australia as funding for artists continues to shrink?</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212074/original/file-20180326-188616-6m0v4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Howard Arkely’s Fabricated Rooms 1997-99 in first floor dining room.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Dianna Snape courtesy Lyon Housemuseum</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Some of these now public collections are housed in converted warehouses; others dwell in purpose-built museums designed by architects (Buxton Contemporary’s space, like MONA, was designed by Fender Katsaldis). The benefactors of these projects are not only establishing new spaces to present their collections. They are also providing the funds to keep the museums operational into the future.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-the-catalyst-arts-funding-mess-many-questions-remain-74848">After the Catalyst arts funding mess, many questions remain</a>
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<p>The back stories of these private collectors often combine a shared love of contemporary art, a wish to provide ongoing support to practising artists and a desire to share their collections with a wider audience. The how and the why diverge — the various players have differing interests and approaches to collecting. Eva and Marc Besen collect artworks they love; David Walsh acquires antiquities and contemporary work relating to sex and death; Judith Neilson’s White Rabbit is dedicated to contemporary Chinese art. </p>
<h2>Melbourne’s two new art spaces</h2>
<p>“The shape of things to come”, the inaugural survey exhibition at Buxton Contemporary, uses artworks from property developer Michael Buxton to bring into view the ways that artists reflect on and respond to society and politics. Curator Melissa Keys’ intention is to show how artists such as Mikala Dwyer, Mark Fusinato, Hany Armanious and Emily Floyd can be visionaries, storytellers, dissenters, seers, alchemists.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212071/original/file-20180326-188604-18xpb6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The shape of things to come’, installation view at Buxton Contemporary, the University of Melbourne, March 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Christian Capurro.</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Buxton’s generous gift to the University of Melbourne, which consists of a contemporary art collection, a new museum and operational funding, has been years in the making. In order to develop a holding of artworks of critical significance, Buxton moved beyond his own aesthetic knowledge and preferences and employed a committee of academics, historians and art experts to advise him. The university has been provided with an important educational resource thanks to the rigour with which Buxton conceived the space. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212078/original/file-20180326-188616-13r2p5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The shape of things to come’, installation view at Buxton Contemporary, the University of Melbourne, March 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Christian Capurro.</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Strategically situated between the NGV and the Victorian College of the Arts (which is being redeveloped), the Buxton project links Southbank cultural venues such as the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212073/original/file-20180326-188607-141lzat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rear sculpture garden with Emily Floyd’s WORKSHOP.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by John Gollings courtesy Lyon Housemuseum.</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>By contrast, Lyon Housemuseum is located in a quiet suburban street in the Melbourne suburb of Kew, and has a strong lineage to similar spaces like the Soane in London and Donald Judd’s house museum in New York. Architect Corbett Lyon and his wife Yueji still live in the house and are adding a new gallery space. Access to the purpose-built home is only on designated days via pre-booked tours. </p>
<p>Artworks by Howard Arkley, Brook Andrews, Callum Morton, Anne Zahalka, Rose Nolan, Caroline Rothwell and Patricia Piccinini can be found in the hallway, the living room, behind the dining room table, next to the kitchen and out in the garden. In some rooms, you feel like a guest in a private home, while others assert the formality and authority of a gallery. </p>
<p>Every room has a private and public function — Corbett’s home office is both a personal work space and living work space. The Housemuseum’s new dedicated public galleries will be adjacent to the Lyon’s existing home, an entirely different proposition that will be open to visitors six days a week.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212119/original/file-20180327-188628-1tl2bso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Entry hall and dining room stair.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photograph by Diane Snape courtesy Lyon Housemuseum</span></span>
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<p>In a bold exploration of subterranean histories, the Lyons commissioned Reko Rennie to <a href="http://www.art-almanac.com.au/reko-rennies-colossal-artwork-for-lyon-housemuseum/">paint the entire foundation of the new gallery</a>. Rennie characterises VISIBLE INVISIBLE as reverse camouflage intended to amplify his Aboriginal identity. This monumentally-scaled horizontal mural could (briefly) be seen from the road and passing trams. In a paradoxical gesture, two days after completion, it was engulfed by the footprint of the new building. When the museum is complete, only a small section of the painting will be visible from inside the gallery.</p>
<h2>Can philanthropists fix the funding gap?</h2>
<p>While the commitment private collectors make to support individual artists is substantial, new and old philanthropic projects do not ameliorate the deficit left by declining <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-did-the-coalition-cut-105-million-from-australia-council-funding-59531">government funding</a>. </p>
<p>In a relatively small country like Australia, funding for arts and cultural development is critical. But a large share of the public purse is committed to maintaining existing institutions. It leaves little for those actually engaged in the production of contemporary art.</p>
<p>The losers in the recent budget shakedown are individual artists. While generous tax deductions are available for collectors who donate art to public institutions through the Cultural Gift Program, this strategy is no substitute for government funding aimed at supporting innovation. </p>
<p>Private collectors continue to transform how Australians experience art. But their eyes can’t be everywhere, nor can their aesthetic knowledge and values encompass all contemporary innovation.</p>
<p>To maintain an exciting visual arts scene in this country, we also need to support emerging and established artists who are yet to capture the collectors’ attention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Shiels does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Philanthropists are creating new galleries to share their private collections with the Australian public. But these gifts do not ameliorate the deficit left by declining government arts fundings.
Julie Shiels, Lecturer - School of Art, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/90538
2018-01-25T01:28:49Z
2018-01-25T01:28:49Z
Mofo at MONA: operatic bodies, experimental encounters and expanded horizons
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203165/original/file-20180124-72618-2n98d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mezzo soprano Eve Klein performed two compositions while a medical laryngoscope, inserted into her throat, revealed the movement of her vocal chords.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jesse Hunniford</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Summer signals the start of festival season in Hobart including MONA FOMA – or Mofo for short - MONA’s contemporary music festival curated by Hobart local and alternative rocker, Brian Ritchie. </p>
<p>Since the establishment of Mofo in 2009, the event has steadily gained a reputation for delivering a confronting journey into the strange territories of contemporary music and art from across the globe. </p>
<p>This year was no different with a line-up that featured a diverse array of musical encounters from the deep, ethereal vocals of Tunisian songstress Emel Mathlouthi to the intense and jarring industrial death metal smash by Melbourne-based artist Harriet Kate Morgan, aka Military Position.</p>
<p>The art was similarly diverse featuring small, almost ad-hoc interventions such as the semi-roaming Duckpond and Jeffrey Blake show along with more refined and meditative installations scattered throughout the MONA site. </p>
<p>Given the nature of the festival, many of the chosen artworks had a musical connection and moved between, and across, art, design, performance and music. While diversity and the blurring of genres is a common thread, further reflection reveals a deeper connection between the works on display – they all embodied various forms of resistance, challenging or questioning mainstream systems and artistic traditions. </p>
<h2>Icky interiors for considered thought</h2>
<p>One of the must-see music/art works of the 2018 festival was Eve Klein’s Vocal Womb. As part of the work, the mezzo soprano opera singer performed two compositions while a medical laryngoscope, inserted into her throat, revealed the movement of her vocal chords in moist, pink, fleshy glory via a large-scale live video projection. </p>
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<span class="caption">Eve Klein and her vocal chords.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jesse Hunniford</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given this short description, it is not surprising that surface engagements with MOFO works often result in reviews that feature terms such as “wild”, “weird” and “wacky”. However, these descriptors undersell the experience and also undermine the deeper ideas and significance of the works showcased.</p>
<p>In Vocal Womb, revealing the icky interior workings of the human body is not a gimmick to shock or attract viewers. Rather, it forms part of a deeply considered engagement with the history and traditions of opera.</p>
<p>Klein asserts that traditional operatic training strives to erase the body and sensation from the performance, in an effort to create a flawless and unwavering vocal tone. Showcasing the singer’s bodily interior and including microphones that capture and incorporate the sounds of the artist’s heart, lung and intestines (which viewers can mix live into the performance composition) is an attempt to visibly and audibly integrate the body back into opera.</p>
<p>The use of medical devices and live body sounds also aims to explore how new technologies and experimental processes can transform and extend the potentials of classical music composition and operatic performance.</p>
<p>Other elements of the work including costume and gesture were developed to simultaneously reference and subvert the archetype of the diva and “damsel” associated with 18th and 19th century opera. Klein also wanted to draw attention to the lack of female opera composers and heroic women protagonists. </p>
<p>Clad in white undergarments reminiscent of 18th century dress, Klein was exposed, yet as composer and central character, she was also in control of the performance. By including texts by trans and feminist writers Quinn Eades and Virginia Barratt respectively, as the lyrics for her compositions, the work also drew attention to the experiences of marginalised bodies that need to be given a voice.</p>
<h2>Experimental music encounters</h2>
<p>While works like Klein’s advocate for the inclusion of diverse perspectives and an expansion of artistic traditions and tropes, other music/art works included in the festival created opportunities for viewers to connect with Australian experimental musical practices - historical and contemporary. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203163/original/file-20180124-72631-tcccr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rosalind Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MONA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Experiments in Freedom by Rosalind Hall and Michael Candy for example, introduced the viewer to the musical innovations of early 20th century Australian musician and composer Percy Grainger. Comprised of two sound machines, the works developed by the duo showcased Grainger’s “free music” concept, in which he sought to generate music free from human performer and traditional rules including set pitch, scale and structure.</p>
<p>Visitors were able to play the machines and create music by pulling and pushing a curved lever or winding a clear parchment with a score of abstract shapes. While the experience was fun, the work also opened the viewer to consider alternative ways of making music and how melodic and tonal elements could be generated from light, shape and form without the use of traditional music notation.</p>
<p>The Green Brain Cycle performance/installation developed by Michael Kieran Harvey, Arjun Von Caemmerer and Brigita Ozolins similarly created a space for the wider public to connect with Australian avant-garde musical composition.</p>
<p>The work takes inspiration from Frank Herbert’s 1966 futuristic ecological novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53727.The_Green_Brain">The Green Brain</a> in which insect intelligence evolves leading to a resistance against the devastating impact of humans on the biosphere.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203161/original/file-20180124-72609-krdy8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Green Brain Cycle was inspired by a Frank Herbert novel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jesse Hunniford</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By including this narrative anchor and integrating key passages from the book, (spoken in a strange techno-insect voice), the work provided an entry point for listeners to engage with the intense and seemingly discordant music of Harvey. Indeed, the quick movements, sharp clangs and odd mix of electronic sounds prompted imaginative visions of insect movement and debate. </p>
<p>The robe costumes and minimal set design comprised of poems in gold lettering, faux lawn, hundreds of small plastic insects, trees, shiny gold beanbags and a giant green glowing orb provided a good balance between the familiar, futuristic and otherworldly. More importantly, the installation created a comfortable listening atmosphere, which helped the audience relax into the performance. </p>
<p>No, Mofo is not your average music festival. It is an invitation for viewers to expand their understanding of art and music and consider alternative avenues and strategies for a more open and inclusive creative future. Bring on 2019, but let us steer clear of reducing the experience to the merely “weird”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Svenja J. Kratz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Listeners often describe the music presented at Tasmania’s Mofo festival as ‘weird’. But to do so sells the experience short.
Svenja J. Kratz, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/79345
2017-06-14T06:13:32Z
2017-06-14T06:13:32Z
Trepidation and delight: experiencing Dark Mofo with a three-year-old
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173553/original/file-20170613-12616-1n88rid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chris Levine's iy_project at Hobart's Dark Mofo</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dark Mofo/Lusy Productions, 2017 Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As usual, this year’s Dark Mofo has drawn a crowd of thousands from across Australia and the globe. Despite being known for its dark subject matter and evocative themes - this year it is Silence - the festival has become a family event and from dusk, the streets start to fill with a mass of rugged-up people of all ages, including small children.</p>
<p>This year, I am exploring the festival with a dear friend and her very excited three-year-old daughter, little A. As an inexperienced “child handler” and non-parent, I wonder: Is it possible to experience and enjoy art, particularly Dark Mofo art, with a little person?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173701/original/file-20170614-30107-1ou6a5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dark Park at Dark Mofo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dark Mofo/Lusy Productions, 2017 Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our adventure begins at the fringes with a trip to <a href="http://www.contemporaryarttasmania.org/exhibitions">Occasions at Contemporary Art Tasmania</a>. We are greeted with a drink and make our way into the main gallery space, which smells like fresh dirt. It is set up like a low-fi garden bar with potted plants, ottomans, geometric furniture and couches. The artist and host, Isabel Lewis, is DJing at a small booth creating an ambient soundscape of voice and synthesizer. We sit down, look around and share a quick “Is this it?” glance. Conscious of A’s limited attention span, we psychically agree to finish our drinks and make a respectful exit. Meanwhile, A runs off and starts climbing the furniture.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, she has explored most of the plants and surfaces and we can feel the window of entertainment closing fast. A boredom tantrum starts to build and we gather our belongings. As we move towards the exit, Isabel (the artist) intersects our departure and invites A to describe the scent that is being pumped out of a black box she is carrying that resembles a hard drive. “Outside”, A yells, “dirt and plants!” </p>
<p>The artist nods and tells us that the scent is her interpretation of a garden developed in collaboration with the Norwegian chemist Sissel Tolaas. The smell we had initially dismissed as simply soil, is this constructed scent.</p>
<p>We pay closer attention and note that the scent captures wet soil, freshly cut grass and the mingling of plant leaves, sunshine and moisture. As we sit together and talk, platters are passed around with fresh treats. Soon we are a little community, sitting together, eating, smelling each other’s hair (yes, indeed) and sharing stories about art and what it means to live a good life.</p>
<p>This is the work. Indeed, Occasions is not an installation, but rather the resulting social interactions and individual experiences created through the bringing together of different sensory elements: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Presented over three evenings, Occasions changes in response to the audience, featuring different scents, food, sound and performance.</p>
<p>The difficulty with this work is that it is largely dependent on the host to facilitate an entry point for impatient visitors (like us) wanting an immediate spectacle. However, given time and when understood as an encompassing experience, it draws attention to the importance of mindful engagement with our senses and the simple joy of being in, and sharing, an environment.</p>
<h2>Curiosities and laser</h2>
<p>The next day we start our art journey early after a recommendation to visit to <a href="http://www.clarenceartsandevents.net/events/dark-mofo-milan-milojevic-wunderkammerama/">Wunderkammerama by Milan Milojevic at Rosny Barn</a> on the Eastern Shore. Drawing on the idea of the Wunderkammer – 19th century cabinets of curiosity – this exhibition is an immediate win for all. </p>
<p>The exhibition draws on Luis Borges’ 1957 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16568.The_Book_of_Imaginary_Beings">Book of Imaginary Beings</a>. In it, a collection of objects and images of hybrid creatures and fantastical scenes create a storybook space that cleverly melds elements of scientific illustration and inquiry with myth and imagined worlds. The colourful and intensely detailed works, including paper constructions, digital prints, miniature sculptures and theatrically lit dioramas, are rendered all the more wonderful by the joy and amazement of A’s delighted and curious reaction to them.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part of the Wunderkammerama exhibition by Milan Milojevic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Natalie Mendham</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The intimacy of Wunderkammerama is contrasted by a subsequent visit to the immersive spectacle of Dark Park opposite the Centre for the Arts in Evans Street. As we enter, we are immediately drawn to Chris Levine’s large-scale laser installation iy-project, set to an ambient electronic soundtrack by Marco Perry and Robert Del Naja (of Massive Attack fame). </p>
<p>With a primary palette of neon red, pink, blue and purple and repeating lines and geometric patterns, the work has an 80s aesthetic that conjures links to Tron, Max Headroom and past imagined futures. Most of the crowd gathers between three LED-topped towers from which lasers and smoke emanate. Viewed from a distance, the work appears like a retro imagining of an alien landing in which the visitors communicate through the subtle interplay of light and sound.</p>
<p>An unfortunate consequence of the impressive scale and spectacle of the work is that the experiential elements are easily overlooked. Indeed, the movement of the eye across from tower to tower creates a residual sine-wave pattern effect. The interaction between smoke and laser also results in layers of clearly delineated clouds. There are moments, too, in which the sound is echoed in the coalescing shapes and shimmering threads of the laser.</p>
<h2>Sacred geometries</h2>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">iy_project - Chris Levine - Dark Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Lusy Productions, 2017 Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The work is also connected through laser light trails to an industrial shed at the back of the park. A series of red lights guide us to the site and we see the companion piece iy-project 136.1 Hz. This work is more intense. The soundtrack includes chanting and a rumbling bass that passes through the body, warming the chest with deep vibrations. Combined with three MONA cross signs, in succession through the space (two physical structures and one composed of shadow), the work has religious and transcendent undertones. </p>
<p>While viewing the work, a friend comments that Levine’s installations are, in fact, based on sacred geometries and meditation frequencies. These connections, like the subtleties of the previous work, are clearly lost on A, but watching her, laughing and trying to touch the strings of laser light, we are reminded that it is enough that art is felt and experienced individually.</p>
<p>We return to the entry area of Dark Park with the aim of seeing <a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/program/dark-park/artworks/alfredo-jaar-the-sound-of-silence">Alfredo Jaar’s Sound of Silence</a>. We practise being quiet (as requested) and make it past the huge facade of intense fluorescent light into the internal viewing chamber, before realising the work - both in subject matter and with moments of loud sound and flashing light - is a poor choice for a small child. Reflecting on the life of photojournalist Kevin Carter, it provides a deeply moving insight into the story behind one of the most iconic press images - the Pulitzer prize winning photograph <a href="http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/vulture-little-girl/">The vulture and the little girl</a> taken during the Sudanese famine - and the personal toll of witnessing human violence and suffering. </p>
<p>We leave and quickly follow up this intense encounter with a closing visit of Daniel Boyd’s Hello Darkness. Presented in another warehouse setting, Boyd’s work consists of a light installation and series of video projections. Dots are the connecting feature. The four video works, presented in pairs, are composed of black screens with transparent circles that simultaneously reveal and obscure underlying images. </p>
<p>I recall seeing Daniel Boyd’s Darker Shade of Dark as part of the 2012 Asia Pacific Triennial at The Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. At that time, I was captivated by his work, which, presented in darkness on crisp screens, created connections to constellations, stars, the passing of time and connected histories. In this instance, however, ambient light diffuses the image intensity and audience members position themselves between the projectors and the screen, dancing and allowing their bodies to be momentarily enveloped by dots. </p>
<p>While this configuration certainly enables a more playful experience of Boyd’s work, it changes from a more contemplative and profound reflection on interconnection and Aboriginal understandings of cosmology to a mere entertaining spectacle. A asks if she can play in front of the projector. Recalling the profundity of the earlier encounter, and conscious of the other people viewing the work, we encourage her to watch instead.</p>
<p>As it nears 7pm, the cold and crowd intensifies. It is time to go home. We still have a lot more to see: Death Masks, Winter Feast and Outposts, just to name a few. However, even these early experiences illustrate that while not all encounters are suitable for a small child, Dark Mofo is not just a festival for adults and late-night partygoers interested in the weird underbelly of contemporary art. </p>
<p>It is a family, and extended family affair, in which even sombre themes like Silence are an invitation to engage with a variety of viewpoints drawing attention to the value of connection, curiosity, mindfulness and reflection. Even the child-averse can find great joy in the company of a three-year-old, especially when the child highlights the wonder of intuitively experiencing art.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.darkmofo.net.au/">Dark Mofo </a> runs until June 21 in Hobart.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Svenja J. Kratz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Hobart’s Dark Mofo deals with plenty of challenging subjects but seeing it with a child can highlight the wonder of intuitively experiencing art.
Svenja J. Kratz, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/79329
2017-06-13T20:21:07Z
2017-06-13T20:21:07Z
The compulsion to create: ‘outsider art’ at MONA’s The Museum of Everything
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173500/original/file-20170613-32034-10dglu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Untitled (all), Hans-Jörg Georgi, 2010–15, Courtesy of The Museum of Everything</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Moorilla Gallery, Courtesy of Atelier Goldstein and The Museum of Everything (installation by Lutz Pillong)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Who is an artist and when does a fabricated object become art? The 200 individuals represented in <a href="http://www.musevery.com/#about">The Museum of Everything exhibition</a> at MONA in Hobart focus our attention on these questions. On the website they are described as “untrained, unintentional, undiscovered and unclassifiable artists of modern times”. <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/exhibitions/the-museum-of-everything/artists">They are</a> hermits, governesses, housewives, former miners, taxidermists and ex-soldiers, working in painting, sculpture, and an extraordinary range of other media.</p>
<p>While these people may “unintentionally” be making something we might want to describe as art, they are the most focused, driven and compulsive group of makers we are ever likely to encounter, and there is nothing that is unintended in the things they fabricate. Indeed they make these images and objects because they must depict in some form what is most important to them in their lives.</p>
<p>After an exhilarating journey through 30 rooms and many corridors of remarkable images and objects, these questions about the nature of art and the credentials of artists reach a critical mass. Finally, you arrive in a backyard courtyard, entered through a fly-wire screen door. Painted on the wall is a call-out for more people who might be included in some future exhibition. It asks, are you a self-taught or secret artist? Is your home your own personal gallery? Have you invented a private language? If so contact <a href="http://musevery.com.au/">The Museum of Everything</a>.</p>
<p>This last advertisement alerts us to the real conundrum of encountering so many unique individuals and creative practices, who likely never expected us to engage with the things they have made. If they are secret artists, who have developed a private language and wish to keep their activities to themselves, what are we doing prying into their work and their lives? </p>
<p>Can we even call what they make “art”, in the way we conventionally define it, if there is no intention to communicate with an audience?</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Untitled (all), Bogdan Zietek, 1970–2010, Courtesy of The Museum of Everything.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Moorilla Gallery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Outsiders, or just artists?</h2>
<p>Other writers have struggled to explain the remarkable work produced by men and women for whom the act of creation is fundamental to their existence. After the second world war, the French artist Jean Dubuffet coined the label <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/art-brut">art brut</a>, or raw art, to describe the amazing work he collected from individuals incarcerated in institutions or those that made art privately to fulfil a deep need. </p>
<p>In the 1970s, Roger Cardinal, a British academic, opted for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677583/">outsider art</a> as a more useful catch-all for artists working on the margins of the art world. Others have grouped the work of this army of practitioners under classifications such as naïve art, visionary art and folk art.</p>
<p>Whatever box we put them in, and none is entirely satisfactory, the artists whose works adorn the walls of MONA are clearly extraordinary. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173502/original/file-20170613-10208-11zlh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Courtesy of The Museum of Everything.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Moorilla Gallery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These objects have been removed from the homes, hospitals, and workshops where they were made. We are forced to make decisions about how to approach and read them and how to react after engaging with them. We must learn to lift the filters we normally have in place in an art gallery and really look hard at works that break rules, disrupt expectations and offer us insights into the lives of remarkable human beings.</p>
<h2>Creative lives</h2>
<p>Each of these artists has remade their world through a physical engagement with the tools of art, and because of that, we have a window into some extraordinary personal narratives. </p>
<p>There is <a href="http://officialhenrydarger.com/images/">Henry Darger</a> the hospital custodian from Chicago who returned home each evening to continue working on his manuscript, “The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion”. He is represented in the exhibition by a series of consecutive panels of drawings illustrating his magnum opus, a sprawling and tender series of traced images woven together with pencil and watercolour.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173501/original/file-20170613-603-gle73a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Untitled (all), Alikhan Abdollahi, c. 2010, Paper mache.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Moorilla Gallery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.adolfwoelfli.ch/index.php?c=e&level=3&sublevel=2">Adolf Wölfli</a> was disturbed and violent, living most of his life in the Waldau Clinic, a psychiatric hospital in Bern. He drew compulsively and like Darger set out to create a massive literary work, in his case a rambling autobiography that saw his gradual elevation to the Sainthood as “St Adolf II”. His dense, complicated and intense drawings in pencil fill the page, leaving no space inactive.</p>
<p>In 2007, I had the opportunity to meet <a href="https://theconversation.com/stan-hopewell-an-artist-facing-the-stars-and-reaching-the-unknown-28852">Stan Hopewell</a>, who is represented in this exhibition by his masterwork “The Last Supper”. The task appeared so great, so necessary and so profound that to embark on it Stan required divine guidance. When his wife Joyce became ill, Stan made a pact with his God that he would continue to write and paint to celebrate God’s Love while Joyce remained alive. </p>
<p>Over the next five years, he filled his house with paintings, which he believed were made with the assistance of an “an unseen Angel” and wrote pages upon pages of a stream-of-consciousness manifesto about his life and his beliefs. The day Joyce died, Stan stopped writing and painting. His fantastical works incorporate the events of his life, his family, his abiding faith and current events. They were agglomerations that evolved, each addition adding to the complexity and the scale of the work, incorporating angels with flapping wings, illuminated with lights and adorned with his wife’s knickknacks.</p>
<h2>Ambition and obsession</h2>
<p>Darger, Wölfli, and Hopewell are only three of the human stories from the vast array that lie behind the over 2,000 objects hung throughout the temporary gallery space of MONA. Of course, they add a dimension to our reading of the work, but it is also true that the imagery is so powerful, so disruptive, so fresh and confronting that it commands our attention. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173526/original/file-20170613-10193-n966c7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Untitled (all), Calvin and Ruby Black, 1955–1972, Courtesy of The Museum of Everything.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What makes this work so arresting is the urgency of its making. These are images and objects that had to be made, that could no longer be repressed. Whether intended for others or created for solitary contemplation, they have an intensity that draws us deep into their fabricated worlds.</p>
<p>Obsessive detail is a common stylistic trait. Scale and ambition are others. Hans-Jörg Georgi’s amazing flight of aircraft, designed for escape from an uninhabitable planet, spiral through the gallery space in a torrent of energy. Their fuselages, carefully constructed from cardboard and tape, are maniacally compulsive, showing each detail of the engines and propellers, the wing mechanisms, passenger decks and windows. Both prophetic and wildly funny, this work, like so many others in the exhibition, requires a shift in consciousness to fully absorb its significance.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1344&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173497/original/file-20170613-603-eydcxw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1344&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Untitled (all), Hans-Jörg Georgi, 2010–15, Courtesy of The Museum of Everything.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Moorilla Gallery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What better place to confront these works than in MONA, a space that has rethought the modern museum and helped us to re-imagine the experience of engaging with artworks? The works are set within rooms designed to create the sense of a slightly dilapidated home-museum: wallpapered, sporadically architraved, cluttered with objects and glass display cases.</p>
<p>It is James Brett, the founder of The Museum of Everything and curator of this show, whose guiding intelligence is everywhere present. Each room is themed. Carefully positioned works draw you through into the next room of wonders where new relationships and variations on old themes play out. </p>
<p>Like every passionate collection, the compulsion to overwhelm is never resisted, but strangely this leads to an insatiable appetite for more. This is most definitely an exhibition that both requires and demands multiple visits.</p>
<p>Which brings us back to those big questions: is it art, and should we be viewing it? Perhaps the best way to describe the individuals whose works fill the Museum of Everything is that they separately and as a group pose questions about the nature of art and challenge us to ponder what it means to be an artist. Significantly, through this process, they highlight the sense of our own humanity and showcase the qualities we ascribe to humanness. What could be more rewarding, inspiring and affirming?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Museum of Everything will showing at MONA until April 2 2018.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Snell is affiliated with University of WA Publishing who published his book, Hopewell: Facing the Stars, (photography Frances Andrijich), published by University of Western Australia Publishing, Perth, in 2013, ISBN 978-1-74258-513-0
</span></em></p>
MONA’s latest exhibition draws on the work of people - patients, housewives, hermits - who were compelled to create, raising age-old questions about how we define art.
Ted Snell, Professor, Chief Cultural Officer, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/73369
2017-05-01T20:06:20Z
2017-05-01T20:06:20Z
Who goes to MONA? Peering behind the ‘flannelette curtain’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165736/original/image-20170418-32700-1nbl00n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art: a must-see tourist destination, but for whom?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Cooch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“I’ve never been with so many <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10645578.2017.1297121">bogans</a> in my life. Aren’t they fantastic!” cried an enraptured guest at the 2011 opening of Hobart’s <a href="https://mona.net.au/">Museum of Old and New Art</a>.</p>
<p>The general opening party debauchery (despite rumours of an impending orgy) quickly faded. Alive and kicking, though, is the idea that the museum attracts a broad cross section of the community. </p>
<p>As multimillionaire founder and owner David Walsh has pointed out, MONA has been <a href="http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-from-the-pulpit-of-the-cult-of-mona/news-story/758faabe14f4dfc7eb1b934c5d2d3254">very generous</a> to Tasmania and Tasmanians. Recognition of this generosity feeds the widespread and often <a href="http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-cult-of-david-and-mona-must-come-to-an-end/news-story/0b21936f0d99e1e259e239f179e8a6c6">uncritical reception</a> to its art, events and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-11/mona-waterfront-vision-to-take-three-decades/8109566">development proposals</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161970/original/image-20170322-31217-eq5fyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visitors at MONA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/136315829@N03/32678853085/in/photolist-RMHEvt-cKEwe3-9QuLDh-RxS6Ad-BEYZBZ-BxG2K8-BxFTnr-s8JWUU-b3ubnD-dWzhiF-B7tjA6-AHyCtT-RHRFNh-BEZi2D-BvpyHC-B7t24x-AHyQR8-FgbGbQ-Bvpcz5-AHsLcG-B7t4Zx-b3tUFD-bB9AYH-cKKnuC-pQJvyk-RX9zPB-boeN6Y-eRRvQ6-BCEZ8w-B7sU3i-AHsDyb-BEZhnn-bomz4b-AHsJXh-bv9bcn-BdRxq5-B7t7yF-AHsEWb-AHsAa7-BxGpTX-dQcC9k-b3tUGR-BEZajK-bLFjdH-BxGade-BxFUP4-bpe6LJ-bB9F8e-dHEbjc-BxG6Le/">Steven Penton, Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Located within <a href="http://www.gcc.tas.gov.au/content/Glenorchy_Facts.GCC?ActiveID=1107">Glenorchy</a>, MONA is in one of the most disadvantaged municipalities in Tasmania. Entry to this <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-18/lonely-planet-names-three-tas-destinations-in-ultimate-travelist/6704278">must-see tourism destination</a> is free for locals (everyone else pays). Entertainment and novelty abound, with the building, exhibits and festivals entangling the weird and wonderful.</p>
<p>But Greater Hobart (in which Glenorchy sits) is a divided city. Most of the region’s arts and cultural activity occurs to the south of Glenorchy, in the more middle class and privileged Hobart municipality. The boundary between Hobart and Glenorchy is colloquially known as the <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/aus/word/map/search/word/North%20of%20the%20Flannel%20Curtain/Tasmania/">flannelette curtain</a>. (Before their appropriation by hipsters, “flannies” were worn by working class men.)</p>
<p>So who goes to MONA? A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10645578.2017.1297121">survey of 6,411 visitors</a> shows that, despite its geographical location, most are middle class, tertiary educated and hold highly skilled jobs. </p>
<p>Another survey of 188 Glenorchy residents shows that those who have visited MONA are more likely to be tertiary educated and in professional or managerial occupations. Levels of cultural engagement also matter: those who frequent other galleries and engage with local art initiatives such as the <a href="http://www.moonahartscentre.org.au/">Moonah Arts Centre</a> and <a href="http://gasp.org.au/">GASP!</a> are also more likely to visit MONA.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162101/original/image-20170322-25762-eyjek7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Loop System Quintet by Conrad Shawcross - a 2011 exhibition at MONA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/73014677@N05/6591702753/in/photolist-b3uczt-bB9FEK-b3uc4k-aFZzwM-boesD1-bv9b1x-BxFUP4-BxG6Le-iRwjrW-dQcBFH-9w8YB7-B7t9xa-BEZbRH-BdR1Wu-AHsxbm-BEZfkB-BdR1g1-BdQWoS-depxzP-BxGseP-AHyJJD-BEZcQM-qE6ofb-AHyXx4-boeE6s-dMEGcD-BEYYT4-qUmyWU-dHY8wP-BCF7HS-B7tcB6-r4ZpTv-dMLgiU-iRuaRS-bpe6dN-depwzf-depxFS-rtk4eu-B7sQRP-BdQU3E-iRvJ4Y-jY3NV3-Bvp6iN-depzks-BdRadQ-bB9wNB-AHyzyK-9RcSxi-qEcdVg-9vNefM">Fraser Mummery, Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even the free entry for locals does not necessarily break these familiar patterns. In an interview conducted as part of this research, local resident Brendan described how the cost of MONA’s food serves as a marker for economic and social exclusion:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They didn’t have prices up or anything, so I just said ‘we’ll have a meal’ and when they said the price, it was $68 something, and I went ‘What? Hang on, you’re trying to attract people here?’ And especially if you’re trying to attract people that belong here, there’s not that many with that kind of money … it’s just way too expensive … just not possible for a lot of people out here …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even if entry is free, the high costs of food, drink, and items in the gift shop, and other signs of the institution’s wealth can act to tell low socioeconomic visitors and those with lower cultural capital, that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.21133/full">these places are not for them</a>. Thus, the close ties between art and wealth are not easily denied.</p>
<p>A feeling of wonder and intrigue does draw some locals down into MONA’s gallery. Here, the deliberate move to make cultural institutions more entertaining becomes apparent. Once inside the museum, some report “switching channels” as they pass by art pieces as if they were watching TV. They do not feel bound to liking or understanding art on someone else’s terms.</p>
<p>As one interviewee, Terry advised:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The main thing when you do go is if there is anything that sort of makes you feel uncomfortable just move on because there’s so much to see.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Said another, Fran: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yeah, like TV.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>‘Not art’</h2>
<p>The explicit artwork at MONA was a cause for concern for many of the local residents we interviewed. For instance, this was part of an exchange about the show <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/general-collection/cunts-and-other-conversations-2008-11-greg-taylor-and-friends">Cunts…and Other Conversations</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dave: Why would they have a wall of the female thingamajigy? Why would they have a wall? That’s not art!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Later in the discussion:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Carol: I didn’t hear about that before I went in. I was gobsmacked, quite disturbed actually walking in a room and going…</p>
<p>Dave: Look at them. It wasn’t just one.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Being entertained or challenged at MONA does not necessarily bring about cultural and social change, and preconceptions can be reinforced rather than unsettled. </p>
<p>Most people interviewed were of the view that what is on display at MONA is not art. However, some people did report a “mind-broadening” experience in understanding how others think about art. This finding warrants further attention.</p>
<p>Still, there remains <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/102866302900324658?journalCode=gcul20">a persistent belief</a> in cultural research and practice that if you build it, curate it and exhibit it, cultural and social change is a fait accompli. This expectation is not supported by empirical research, here or overseas.</p>
<p>Without careful deliberation and planning, <a href="https://theconversation.com/david-walshs-mona-and-the-cultural-regeneration-of-hobart-15718">culture-led urban regeneration</a> can amount to nothing more than an <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09654310903230806?src=recsys">enhanced city image</a>. Though even this is not evident for Glenorchy. </p>
<p>Rather, as this study has found, MONA’s local legacy is more tempered. This is sobering thought for those pursuing (or leveraging) arts and culture for urban renewal and social transformation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Isabel Booth receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DP170100096). She is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia Tasmanian Division Committee, and collaborates on research partly funded by Tasmanian Government (State Growth), Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and Federal Group. </span></em></p>
The acclaimed Museum of Old and New Art is located in one of Tasmania’s most disadvantaged municipalities. But new research has found that locals have mixed feelings about the gallery.
Kate Booth, Lecturer in Human Geography (Planning), University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/76504
2017-04-21T04:50:31Z
2017-04-21T04:50:31Z
Dark Mofo’s slaughtered bull and the ethics of using animals in art
<p>In a <a href="https://mona.net.au/media/354501/dark-mofo-hermann-nitsch-press-release-and-statement-about-the-work-2017.pdf">three-hour show</a> scheduled at Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art in June, Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch plans to use the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-19/controversy-over-hermann-nitsch-dark-mofo-bloody-art-show/8452202?section=arts-culture">blood of a slaughtered bull</a> to explore ancient ritual and spiritual sacrifice. Nitsch is hoping to serve the meat of the animal to the audience at the Dark Mofo festival following the performance. </p>
<p>The plan has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-19/controversy-over-hermann-nitsch-dark-mofo-bloody-art-show/8452202?section=arts-culture">met with criticism</a> from animal rights activists, the RSPCA, and the broader community. But it is far from the first, or worst, use of animals for art and human satisfaction.</p>
<p>MONA founder David Walsh’s <a href="https://mona.net.au/blog/2017/04/rising-tide">defence of Nitsch’s work</a> in response to the controversy seems to be based on two ideas: the function of art is to raise challenging questions, and it’s legal for people to eat animals, suggesting hypocrisy in a willingness to eat them but reject their use in art. </p>
<p>Walsh is right, up to a point; but this “social role plus legality” defence has its limits. So how are we to navigate the ethical minefield of hurting or killing animals in the name of art? </p>
<h2>The (ab)uses of animals</h2>
<p>In his 2000 installation artwork, <a href="http://mbf.blogs.com/files/evaristti-helena.pdf">Helena, Chilean artist Marco Evarsitti</a> displayed 10 water-filled blenders, each containing a live goldfish, and invited visitors to push the on-button. And at least one visitor to Denmark’s Trapholt Art Museum pushed it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166213/original/file-20170421-20071-1j07n8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marco Evaristti’s Helena.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/malouette/425224808">malouette/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2013, meanwhile, Nicaraguan artist Guillermo Vargas tethered a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/mar/30/art.spain">stray dog</a>, without food and water, to a gallery wall. Vargas was, apparently, making a point about the plight of homeless people.</p>
<p>There is, importantly, a big difference between Evarsitti and Vargas’s works, and Nitsch’s. No animals will suffer in his show, which is called 150.Action, because we are assured the bull - which is earmarked for slaughter regardless - will be killed in accordance with humane Australian standards.</p>
<h2>For art’s sake?</h2>
<p>Whether it is a question of economics, gustatory gratification, or artistic impulse, using animals for human purposes requires making value judgements about the importance of their lives and well-being.</p>
<p>And however we dress it up, when we do things to animals that we wouldn’t do to human beings, we act in step with a hierarchical order of value first laid down in ancient Greece and taken up by the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/animals_1.shtml">Abrahamic religious traditions</a>.</p>
<p>It is true that Nitsch’s work draws attention to that tradition, but as Walsh has pointed out, Nitsch has been at it since the 1960s. Isn’t it about time that artists made their point about human domination without themselves asserting dominance over animals?</p>
<p>The problem with Nitsch’s work is an implicit value judgement: animals are an appropriate source for artistic materials. It is the presumption of human superiority behind such a judgement which has elicited the outrage of the animal protection community.</p>
<h2>A question of values</h2>
<p>The RSPCA <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/apr/19/bloody-dark-mofo-artwork-using-slaughtered-bull-crosses-the-line-rspca-says">responded</a> to Nitsch’s work by claiming it “fails to respect” animals. Failing to respect animals means treating them like objects or playthings to be manipulated for our purposes. Respecting them requires treating them in a way that acknowledges that they have a kind of value that is independent of their usefulness to humans.</p>
<p>As philosophers such as Peter Singer and <a href="http://tomregan.info/">Tom Regan</a> have pointed out, as rule of thumb we respect animals when we leave them be.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166211/original/file-20170421-20057-epg0z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An alternative to animal art? Body parts made from felt in work by Dutch artist Marjolein Dallinga in Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Hadley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Walsh is right to decry the hypocrisy of people who express outrage at Nitsch’s work yet continue to support the suffering and death of animals through their dietary choices.</p>
<p>Still, without expecting Nitsch and Walsh to be moral saints, I’d argue they have not drawn the line in a moral way. Yes, it might be legal to do what Nitsch is doing, and yes, people around the world eat animals, but legality does not equal morality. </p>
<p>One wonders what kind of performance art would’ve been acceptable in Nazi Germany, Apartheid South Africa or antebellum United States if we are supposed to read morality only from the laws of the land at a particular historical moment.</p>
<p>From an animal protection perspective, it is dispiriting when the choices of the supposedly edgy elements of artistic community fall in lock-step behind the mainstream society, which values animal lives as less than human. Far better to direct one’s creative energies producing works that don’t use animal blood as paint. </p>
<p>While Nitsch does not use a live animal, the concern is that 150.Action gives comfort to people who do because it reinforces a view of animals as ours to use.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Hadley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There is a history of mistreatment of animals in the name of art. But isn’t it about time artists made their point about human domination without themselves asserting dominance over beasts?
John Hadley, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Western Sydney University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/74833
2017-04-05T02:15:36Z
2017-04-05T02:15:36Z
Print your own masterpieces and digital pens – the brave new world of the museum
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161973/original/image-20170322-31219-11hhpt6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You can 'walk' through the Musée d’Orsay in Paris using the Google Arts & Culture platform.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Arts & Culture</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>People can now access much of Sydney’s Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ <a href="https://collection.maas.museum/">extensive collection online</a>. High-resolution images of more than 130,000 objects are available for viewing on a new, mobile-friendly collections website.</p>
<p>The Museum, which includes the Powerhouse Museum, is one of a host around the world making their collections and data available for free public use.</p>
<p>My research investigates the different ways – from digital pens to crowd-sourced exhibitions – museums are meeting their audiences’ changing expectations. </p>
<h2>Make your own path</h2>
<p>Bringing technology into museums allows patrons to move past traditional aids, like maps and audio guides, which dictate how to navigate an exhibition. Visitors are increasingly encouraged to roam, using a variety of sophisticated tools to create their own paths. </p>
<p>Take the Google Cultural Institute, which has an app that lets visitors in participating institutions see comprehensive information about any artwork by just holding up their phone. </p>
<p>Another intriguing example, at Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York, is the <a href="https://www.cooperhewitt.org/events/current-exhibitions/using-the-pen">digital pen</a>. Patrons can earmark their favourite objects, make notes and record impressions by using the pen on electronic tags and touch screens next to the displays. This is compiled into a personalised collection and can be accessed online with a unique code. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161959/original/image-20170322-31180-tl46hp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The digital pen can tag artwork or make notes on touch screens, to create an individually curated collection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cooper Hewitt Design Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Likewise, Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art has replaced traditional wall labels with <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/the-o">the O</a>, a tablet that tracks the holder’s on-site movement and provides useful information about nearby artefacts. </p>
<p>We’re likely to see the development of more devices – both mobile and wearable – that detect our surroundings and respond with flexible and highly relevant information. Apple is already moving into this space, with its recent patent for a mobile augmented reality system designed for museums. </p>
<h2>Print your own masterpieces</h2>
<p>A striking new development is the number of organisations embracing the principles of open access: making images of their public domain items available for free. </p>
<p>While theoretically, public domain images (where no copyright exists, generally some time after the death of the creator) are available to all, in practice supplying high quality images of entire collections is costly. Museums have traditionally sold these for a modest profit. </p>
<p>A notable case study is the Rijksmuseum, the Dutch national museum. In 2013 they made <a href="http://pro.europeana.eu/files/Europeana_Professional/Publications/Democratising%20the%20Rijksmuseum.pdf">around 150,000 images available to the public</a> in a <a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/rijksstudio">dedicated website</a>, including the masterpieces of van Gogh, Vermeer and Rembrandt. The museum urged people to download free high quality versions as posters, bed covers, or <a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio-award">other creative interpretations</a>. </p>
<p>The chair of the Europeana network, an organisation that helps museusms navigate public domain, has argued that the Rijksmuseum has made <em>more</em> money through <a href="https://medium.com/smk-open/open-access-can-never-be-bad-news-d33336aad382#.en73npogq">increased brand value, new partnerships, sponsors and donors</a>, than it did by selling image rights. </p>
<p>It’s hard to tell if any people chose not to physically go to to a museum because they could find pictures online. But the Rijksmuseum bet that increased familiarity would pique people’s interest in seeing the real thing, and it looks like the gamble is paying off. </p>
<p>All this connectivity opens up a new realm: crowd-sourced exhibitions. In 2014 The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Centre invited the public to participate in a <a href="http://smithsonianapa.org/life2014/">Day in the Life of an Asian Pacific America</a> exhibition. Professional and amateur photographers submitted over 2,000 photos, and curators picked a cross-section to showcase. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161952/original/image-20170322-16514-eih96r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lone figure views Snake by Australian artist Sidney Nolan during a 2015 ‘empty’ event at Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art. 30 Instagrammers across Australia were invited to capture and distribute images and footage to their followers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Andrew Drummond</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Displaying 100 million objects</h2>
<p>All of these initiatives are designed to help museums fulfil their basic function: to share their collections with the public. The difficulty of doing this conventionally becomes apparent when we look at the sheer quantity of items museums deal with. </p>
<p>Australia’s museums, galleries, archives and libraries contain a combined 100 million objects, and only 5% of them are <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/glaminnovationstudy/">on display at any one time</a>. Around 25% of this mass collection has been digitised, although not all of that is publicly available. </p>
<p>But this is changing, as the typical museum-goer’s habits shift and more collections are digitised. A fabulous starting point for audiences is <a href="https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/">Google Arts & Culture</a>, a digital platform that draws from 500 cultural institutions around the world. Audiences can actually “walk” – in a high-definition version of Street View – through statuary in the <a href="https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/u/0/streetview/mus%C3%A9e-d%E2%80%99orsay-paris/KQEnDge3UJkVmw?sv_h=272&sv_p=0&sv_pid=FjndSjvl55w81vbNYu5DfA&sv_lid=6004477680878644429&sv_lng=2.327089926444387&sv_lat=48.85968476784497&sv_z=1">Musée d’Orsay</a> or the portrait gallery of the <a href="https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/u/0/streetview/masp-museu-de-arte-de-s%C3%A3o-paulo-assis-chateaubriand/YgHyUAyv_g4cvg?sv_lng=-46.6559059650408&sv_lat=-23.56128777446271&sv_h=194.63106850050787&sv_p=-3.9224668723529703&sv_pid=OzBOr6rqwsYWN473wrw5rQ&sv_lid=15029704351325382912&sv_z=1">Museu de Arte de São Paulo</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162120/original/image-20170323-25779-12lhsy2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Walk through the picture gallery of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil’s first modern museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Arts & Culture</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These developments offer exciting new opportunities. But will museums remain places for community, history, art and culture? My prediction is that they will, but they face some hazards.</p>
<p>Facebook, for example, recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/mar/01/facebooks-ban-on-charles-blackman-nude-artwork-attacked-as-living-in-the-1950s">banned a 37-year-old Charles Blackman painting</a> that featured a naked woman because it violated its guidelines. In museums’ quest to becoming more sensory and agile, they will need to deal with the competing priorities of the digital companies they collaborate with.</p>
<p>Most museums are essentially non-commercial operations, receiving at least some public funding to fulfil a <a href="https://www.museumnext.com/insight/the-importance-of-and/">public mission.</a> In contrast, digital platforms are commercial entities that benefit from publicity and data mining, and have no commitment to artistic freedoms. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the museum of the future will have to balance the tension between using appealing new technology, forging partnerships with tech giants, and their fundamental role of protecting and revealing our culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Wilson-Barnao was previously a member of the International Council of Museums and is currently a member of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.</span></em></p>
Do you fancy a virtual stroll through the Musee D'Orsay or printing your very own Vermeer? Technology is transforming museums in a myriad of ways.
Dr Caroline Wilson-Barnao, Lecturer, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/68414
2016-11-08T19:04:13Z
2016-11-08T19:04:13Z
Scientists ponder the evolutionary urge to create - but where are the women?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144963/original/image-20161107-4669-165owj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Static No. 12 (seek stillness in movement), 2009–10</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/29800862425/">©Daniel Crooks. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How does art help us survive?</p>
<p>This is a question that clearly fascinates <a href="https://mona.net.au/">MONA</a> founder David Walsh. It is at the heart of the Hobart gallery’s new exhibition, <a href="https://mona.net.au/museum/exhibitions/on-the-origin-of-art/">On the Origin of Art</a>.</p>
<p>Refuting a purely cultural basis for art making, the show extends on ideas explored as part MONA’s 2013 exhibition, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/arts/stories/s3791902.htm">The Red Queen</a>. That show drew on scientific theories, particularly the work of evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen, to explore the adaptive and evolutionary advantages of art.</p>
<p>On the Origin of Art continues the conversation, but has taken a deliberately more scientifically rigorous curatorial and didactic approach.</p>
<p>Rather than a series of open ended artistic encounters dispersed through the gallery, as was the case with The Red Queen, the latest show consists of four clearly distinct exhibitions. In each of them, a guest curator - an expert within their scientific field – presents an argument regarding the evolutionary function of art. </p>
<p>You have <a href="http://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/steven-pinker">Professor Steven Pinker</a> (Psychology); <a href="http://www.changizi.com/">Dr Mark Changizi</a> (Theoretical Neurobiology); <a href="http://psych.unm.edu/people/faculty/profile/geoffrey-miller.html">Associate Professor Geoffrey Miller</a> (Evolutionary Biology) and <a href="http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/people/bboy001">Professor Brian Boyd</a> (English, with a background in literature and archaeology). The premise of the exhibition is, of course, already highly publicised, but how effectively do they address the question underlying this show?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144964/original/image-20161107-4676-p9l2po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Humanóides, 2001.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/29690439335/in/album-72157672744408442/">©Ernesto Neto</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As with all new MONA events, there is an aura of excitement and anticipation in the building as I make my way to the exhibition. On arrival, I grab an “O” (a customised interactive didactic device) and am presented with four impressive entryways. Marked only by cryptic letters that resemble alien hieroglyphics, they seem to promise some form of revelation or insight beyond their dark thresholds.</p>
<p>I choose randomly and, as I enter, the O lights up to reveal which guest curator I have selected. It’s Geoffrey Miller. After identifying the curator, I am presented with the option of listening to a short introduction that outlines the overarching hypothesis underpinning his curatorial decisions. </p>
<p>In this instance, Miller argues that art making is fundamentally linked to the display of biological fitness and sexual selection. </p>
<p>Each artwork has been carefully selected to support his argument and links to a short voice recording on the O that expands his position. For example, Miller’s opening work, The Centrifugal Soul – a magnificent zoetrope and new commission by Mat Collishaw consisting of blooming flowers and mating displays of various bird species – introduces the concept of sexual selection. It is a cracker lead-in and cleverly seduces the viewer with the power of aesthetic display.</p>
<p>As I move through the exhibition, Miller furthers his proposition with reference to mate choice and signalling systems commenting on markers of virility/fertility, sexual ornamentation and genetic fitness.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144965/original/image-20161107-4711-1t7uqjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anne Marie (Iguana), 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/29718226661/in/album-72157672744408442/">©Ryan McGinley. Courtesy of the artist and team (gallery, inc.), New York</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The accompanying works range from the obvious fertility statues to more ambiguous works that reference the idea of art as an “extended phenotype”. This is a proposition that relates back to Richard Dawkins’ assertion that an organism’s observable genetic traits can manifest externally though particular social markers and behaviours (think clothing, courtship behaviours and the colourful structures of bowerbirds).</p>
<p>The subsequent mini-exhibitions follow a similar format. Each scientist-curator identifies his particular position and uses the selected works to support this hypothesis. </p>
<p>Steven Pinker takes the position that art is, in essence, a “pleasure technology” and by-product of adaptations that relate more directly to survival.</p>
<p>Mark Changizi, on the other hand, draws attention to cultural selection and the way art essentially “harnesses” elements from nature and reflects our obsession with ourselves. </p>
<p>Finally, Brian Boyd uses the concept of “art as play with pattern” to comment on the role of artistic patterning and play in place making, social cohesion, status and knowledge transmission.</p>
<h2>Stepping back from the seduction</h2>
<p>As I engage with the exhibition, it is hard not to be seduced by the slick presentation and impressive array of significant works brought together for it.</p>
<p>After all, it is not every day that you get to see works by Yayoi Kusama, Cindy Sherman, Marc Quinn, Pierre-August Renoir as well as a Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa and archaeological treasures previously only encountered in art history books.</p>
<p>Indeed, I have to take a deep breath and step back, away from my felt response, which is one of wonder and awe, to examine more critically what is at play.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144967/original/image-20161107-4704-12jhnxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Daft Dank Space, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/29800867015/in/album-72157672744408442/">©Aaron Curry. Courtesy of Almin Rech and David Kordansky Gallery</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you are like me, the immediate observation is the lack of a female scientist’s perspective. This omission, Jane Clark, senior research curator at MONA, assures me was not intended. Rather, it was a result of interest, timing and the hesitation of many of the female scientists the gallery approached to declare themselves expert enough to address the biological and evolutionary origins of art. </p>
<p>This statement signals the concerning issue that certain voices, through embedded social and cultural norms, are most comfortable assuming a position of authority and consequently tend to dominate discussions. </p>
<p>Indeed, to my mind the show presents an overwhelmingly male Western scientific perspective and draws attention to the under-representation of women and people of colour within the senior ranks of scientific and academic institutions. </p>
<p>The didactic narrative and conservative display of many cultural artefacts that echo the traditions of archaeological museums also reference the problematic colonising and othering practices of Western culture.</p>
<p>The curatorial team are, of course, no slouches and have anticipated this precise criticism. An article in the catalogue by MONA senior writer and research curator Elizabeth Pearce addresses some of the issues of difference and representation with reference to key thinkers including postcolonial theorist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Said">Edward Said</a> and feminist theorist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Butler">Judith Butler</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1250&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1250&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144968/original/image-20161107-4694-1rcb9ys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1250&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unwritten #8, 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/29399425020/in/album-72157672744408442/">©Vernon Ah Kee</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the inclusion of Pearce’s response, I still find the lack of diversity unsettling. However, it is only deeply problematic if this exhibition operates as a full stop. </p>
<p>I certainly don’t think this is the case and see this exhibition rather as an ellipsis … an ongoing conversation and invitation to start to move beyond the prevailing cultural explanation for why humans are compelled to make art. </p>
<p>It could perhaps be seen as Volume 1: Dominant Western Scientific Perspectives On the Origin of Art. Viewed in this way the relatively conservative display mechanisms and logical structure of the exhibition complement the premise. </p>
<p>Indeed, each mini-exhibition operates very effectively as a visual essay taking the viewer through the scientist-curator’s argument, prompting consideration of how art making may indeed have an evolutionary and biological foundation.</p>
<p>Some arguments are, as you’d expect, flawed or partial. For example, Miller acknowledges that his theory of “art to attract mates” does not adequately explain some contemporary art practices. </p>
<p>In the catalogue essay and short O recordings accompanying his exhibition, Boyd takes this criticism further, pointing out that many professional artists are in fact reproductively less successful than their non-artist counterparts. He also argues that Miller fails to account for religious art and other creative and artistic rituals that do not obviously serve a sexual purpose. </p>
<p>This dialogue works well to encourage the viewer to consider the strengths, weaknesses, intersections and oversights within each argument and determine their own position.</p>
<p>But as you can start to imagine from my description, the volume of information the viewer is encouraged to take in is overwhelming, and really requires a few visits to fully absorb and mull over.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/144971/original/image-20161107-4669-ytfnbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aures rubri cuniculorum, capita fetarum musum, palpebrae vaccae (Beet-dyed Rabbit Ears, Heads of Baby Mice and Cows’ Eyelashes), 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/29508444050/in/album-72157672744408442/">©Heide Hatry. Courtesy of the artist and Stux+Haller Gallery</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the Origin of Art does not provide a definitive answer to the question of why humans make art. Rather, it quite successfully extends the existing dialogue to suggest a complex intertwining of evolution, biology and cultural practices. </p>
<p>The collection and diversity of works on display is exceptional and it is very difficult not to respond positively to the overall experience and bombardment of thought provoking ideas. </p>
<p>Yes, the MONA team has come through yet again and produced something pretty spectacular. I just hope Volume 2 – perhaps a combination of philosophy and science - will be a reality. </p>
<p>And let’s hope it draws together a more diverse array of voices in which theoretical ideas manifest in a range of contrasting experiential, experimental and less didactic ways.</p>
<p>Oh, and David and team, if you’re reading this, for Volume 2, in the spirit of opportunity can I put forward my request that you consider including a response by feminist theorist and Darwinian scholar Professor Elizabeth Grosz?</p>
<p><em>On the Origin of Art will show at MONA until April 17.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68414/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Svenja J. Kratz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A new exhibition at MONA, curated by scientists, explores the biological and evolutionary origins of art. The show is spectacular - but it offers an overwhelmingly male perspective.
Svenja J. Kratz, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/60852
2016-06-14T03:05:07Z
2016-06-14T03:05:07Z
Dark Mofo and the affective power of a creative storm
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126441/original/image-20160614-18068-haityg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Visitors take in Cameron Robbins' Field Lines at the Museum of Old and New Art.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Remi Chauvin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the week leading up to Hobart’s Dark Mofo winter festival, I picture myself exploring events in a layered pupae of thermals, scarf, coat and gloves, still shivering, but awed by a spectacle of fire, light and unimaginable, dark, sensory wonder. </p>
<p>As a result, my start to the festival – a trip to Willow Court (a former mental institution) at New Norfolk to see Mike Parr’s Asylum and Entry by Mirror Only with a friend – is punctuated by a series of disappointments. It’s not cold enough; I barely need gloves. The MONA ferry is cancelled, due to debris from the torrential rain a week before, and the replacement bus smells slightly musty – like dank carpet. This would be somewhat in the spirit of Dark Mofo if the bus fabric was black and not a hideous swirl of primary colours, complete with bright blue window curtains. We laugh. We don’t feel “dark”. </p>
<p>When we arrive on site, we stand near some fire pits and receive instructions. We are confused, but follow the crowd. Strange pale faces peer from some of the windows in the building above. Linger. And are gone. </p>
<p>Eventually, we break away and start exploring the site. We stand at an entrance to one of the buildings, the threshold marked by a the intense scent of possum urine and faeces. The abandoned interior is decrepit and damp. A few small mirrors sit on narrow ledges and in odd corners. We see videos of Parr’s intense body mutilation and endurance performances through windows and projected onto walls. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126432/original/image-20160614-29229-1g5kmut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mike Parr, Aslyum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Rémi Chauvin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In another building, there is a sea of pale green broken glass. We move on – a possum runs, terrified, through an empty hallway framed by the heavy doors to the old patient cells. There’s a sense of unease, but it’s somehow all too familiar, almost expected. Indeed, the experience reminds me of Parr’s work installed at Cockatoo Island for the 2008 Sydney Biennale. At the time, it was a standout, resonating with me for days after the encounter. This time, the similarity almost bores me.</p>
<p>More buildings, more rooms. The smell of human and animal waste seems ever present. As we walk, I become increasingly captivated by different arrangements, from piles of archived objects to a more formal display of one of Parr’s prints.
They conjure feelings of desperation and a struggle for control. There are various colourful plastic hand held mirrors, which conjure a nostalgia to childhood, loss of innocence and the traumas of youth. There are vintage bathroom mirrors, broken car mirrors, travel and vanity mirrors and an abundance of shards. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126442/original/image-20160614-29205-1k9aill.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mike Parr, Aslyum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Rémi Chauvin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These mirrors register visitors in the present, but they are also conduits to another time, standing in for the people that once occupied this space: the damaged and discarded. –The space feels increasingly haunted through these objects that amplify the surrounds, capturing glimpses of feet and bodies. It is the sound of vomit accompanying one of Parr’s video works that breaks through my final resistance. I am overcome with the involuntary sensations of disgust, horror, sadness, grief and profound compassion for the voiceless and forgotten patients at Willow Court. </p>
<p>We complete our encounter with Parr’s 72 hour endurance performance Entry by Mirror Only. A single room is well lit and inside we see Parr seated at a table, drawing. His hand moves gracefully, repetitively across the page. The rest of his body is still, even his eyes seem to remain motionless. In the cell there is a mattress with a neatly folded blanket. A crowd stand around watching him. </p>
<p>Dressed in striped pyjamas, drawing fixedly, he becomes the patient. Further within the building, a large room is lit to reveal a series of disturbing self-portraits composed of heavy black lines. The image of Parr, as patient, is complete and the performance, becomes a moving homage to the artist’s late brother who suffered from mental health issues for much of his life. I am moved, I feel the complexity of this site within me. We leave, my early disappointments forgotten, looking forward to the next Dark Mofo encounter.</p>
<h2>Storms and Shakespeare</h2>
<p>The following evening, another friend in tow, we visit Tempest at The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The show, curated by Juliana Engberg, references violent storms and the Shakespearean play of the same name. This time, I am open and no longer mapping disappointments. </p>
<p>As we move into the exhibition, I start to note how expertly the journey has been crafted. The collections of artwork, objects and natural history specimens create a rich narrative linked to the perils and wonder of discovery and the story of The Tempest. We are about to set sail and the start to the journey is marked by Tacida Dean’s video How to Put a Boat in a Bottle. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126447/original/image-20160614-17209-1ven6cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ship Model, 1800s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the next room, a central table displays an abundance of intricate model boats. Many are composed of the familiar wood, thread and fabric. However, others are more magical and strange, composed of shell and bone. In the rear projection space, Fiona Tan’s Nellie depicts a young girl dressed in 17th century garb. The print of the wallpaper and her dress are the same – white and blue, reminiscent of Delft Blue china, but composed of tropical imagery including exotic birds, monkeys and palms. </p>
<p>She sits alone in a large house and the matching patterns make her body, at times, disappear into the walls. While Tan’s work originally referenced the story of Corneila van Rijn (Rembrandt’s illegitimate daughter) and Tan’s own experience of displacement from Indonesia to Amsterdam, in the context of the show, the connections are extended and link to the character Miranda in The Tempest: a young girl, controlled and trapped on an island between two worlds.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126444/original/image-20160614-29229-1d1vktz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fiona Tan, A Lapse of Memory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy the artist and Frith St Gallery, London</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the still ships in harbour, we move into the storm. David Stephenson’s Star Drawings conjure connections to navigation and destiny while on the opposite wall, a massive drawing of lightning, by Tacida Dean – When First I Raised the Tempest, No.17599 – extends the full length of the gallery. A series of paintings of ships, a love letter and a room-size painting of Prospero’s Island extend the narrative. </p>
<p>The exhibition creates a space that speaks about much more than the story of The Tempest. It explores issues of power and colonialism and the relationship between humans and the natural world.</p>
<p>Indeed, this exhibition, like Mike Parr’s installation and performance, must be experienced. Through the richness of the curatorial layering, it invites each viewer to draw on their own unique background and experiences to inform the overall reading. This is a show that requires time, and should ideally be experienced twice. </p>
<h2>The flow of the wind</h2>
<p>By Saturday, I feel a little overwhelmed, but we are determined to see the opening of Cameron Robbins and Ryoji Ikeda’s work at MONA. On entry to Cameron Robbins’ Field Lines (main image), we are confronted by an impressive sculptural machine, tall and skeletal with odd horizontal funnels. It reminds me of Jean Tinguely’s kinetic drawing sculptures, but the context is yet to emerge.</p>
<p>In the next room, I see a series of long exposure photographs capturing the movement of light in bright red-orange bleeding lines, and I begin to make the connection between these images and the strange machine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126425/original/image-20160614-17209-ljgvrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cameron Robbins, Field Lines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Rémi Chauvin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My initial instinct to link Robbins’ machines to the work of Tinguley was indeed appropriate. His sculptures are not simply strange aesthetic objects, but carefully crafted and honed to capture the immaterial flows and subtle invisible forces around us. Indeed, the light drawings create shapes that speak of the flow of the wind. </p>
<p>In the rooms that follow, this dialogue is extended through the presentation of many more machines and the intricate drawings, patterns and movement created by wind, tide, energy and magnetic force. While the images and machines are spectacular, it is the subtlety of each individual line and impeccable balance presented in the construction of the sculptures that ultimately draws me in.</p>
<p>The work is not simply about visualising wind or the in-out flow of tides. No. This work is about revealing some of the scientific magic that exists all around us, the complexity of interconnection between systems, chaos and order. It provides a glimpse at an understanding that extends beyond words, and must simply be felt as an immaterial, almost spiritual force. </p>
<p>While the bulk of the exhibition consists of various sculpture-machines and drawings, the experience is complemented by the addition of video and a large installation. It creates a range of sensory engagements that further the connections and speak of the value of curiosity, observation and exploration. </p>
<h2>Entering the control centre of the universe</h2>
<p>The work of Robbins is superbly complemented by a visit to Ryoji Ikeda’s Supersymmetry. At the entrance, we are told that there will be darkness and strobe effects. This announcement creates expectations that are then immediately exceeded. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126434/original/image-20160614-29229-e7ocnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ryoji Ikeda’s Supersymmetry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Rémi Chauvin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ryoji’s work is spectacular. Conceived while on residency at the Centre for Nuclear Research in Geneva, a research centre renowned for experimental particle physics, Supersymmetry immediately creates links to the movement of particles. </p>
<p>The space is black, lit initially by the light emitted from three low, square structures containing a glowing white screen. Ball bearings move in patterns across the intensely lit surface. They form pooling and flocking patterns as they travel. A low whirring sound accompanies their movement. Incredibly, the smooth, glowing surface appears immobile. After a few minutes, what seems like a scanning layer appears and moves across the surface of the structure. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/126436/original/image-20160614-29209-135ktva.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ryoji Ikeda, Supersymmetry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mona/Rémi Chauvin</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first appears to record the location of the ball bearings, the second seems to map time, while the third records arrangements. The use of strobe effects enhances the sense of scanning. At one point, all movement ceases and the bearings form different shapes near the centre of the screen. While the full function and details remain unclear, there is a definite sense of rigid and precise data collection. The matched timing of each structure is impeccable. </p>
<p>The second component of the installation only enhances the experience. A long row of projections and screens appears to be gathering real-time data from the three “experiment” structures. We see the ball bearings move, then images of clusters of particles, like an expanding universe – I get associations of cosmic forces, light speed, time travel and intricate connections between matter and the invisible forces that control it’s movement and trajectory.</p>
<p>I feel like I have entered into the control centre of the universe. </p>
<p>As though there is no god, just a series of computers, mapping and controlling the fate of every particle, creating patterns and systems that appear open, but follow distinct rules.</p>
<p>I stand for a while and try to take it all in. After watching the spectacle cycle through, I decide, this space is perhaps not the control centre, but an obsessive, never ending experiment to find this elusive space and finally understand the meaning of life and nature of the universe. </p>
<p>As I stand there, I realise that I cannot do this work justice. In the curatorial notes, the work is described as “a total visual and aural immersion into nature’s innermost reality”. A big call, that one. But, you know, I have to agree. This is not to be missed. </p>
<p>After just a few days of engaging with some of the headlining artworks at this year’s Dark MOFO, I understand that this festival is not about darkness or horror.</p>
<p>Rather, it is about engaging in new experiences that capitalise on the power of art to expand horizons and take us into new worlds of understanding and possibility.</p>
<p>While some work, like Mike Parr’s haunting Asylum, will require the viewer confront the darker terrains of human experience and the troubling institutional policies of the past (and present), the curatorial teams have delivered an astounding and deeply affecting program that moves seamlessly between science, spirituality and magic and captures the beauty and danger of a raging storm. </p>
<p>The only thing I can say for sure, is that Dark Mofo is best experienced in person and, preferably, without the baggage of expectation.</p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p><em>Tempest is at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery until November 20.</em></p>
<p><em>Cameron Robbins’ Field Lines is at MONA until August 29.</em></p>
<p><em>Supersymmetry is part of MONA’s permanent, evolving collection and will be on display for at least 12 months. https://darkmofo.net.au/lineup/supersymmetry-ryoji-ikeda/</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60852/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Svenja J. Kratz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Hobart’s winter festival explores darkness, storms and the very nature of the universe, with artwork performed in an asylum; echoing the elements and conceived while on a residency at Geneva’s Centre for Nuclear Research.
Svenja J. Kratz, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Creative Practice, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/43242
2015-06-15T01:58:17Z
2015-06-15T01:58:17Z
Excavating Marina Abramović’s Private Archaeology – review
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84965/original/image-20150615-1973-15ai82r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The work, while personal, forms a lasting sense of introspection for the spectator as well.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Dark Mofo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Among the many acts and events at this year’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-the-dark-gets-in-why-dark-mofo-lightens-a-crowded-calendar-40080">Dark Mofo festival</a>, currently showing in Tasmania, is the exhibition <a href="http://darkmofo.net.au/program/marina-abramovic/private-archaeology-opening/">Private Archaeology</a> by Serbian, New York-based performance artist, Marina Abramović.</p>
<p>Listed as one of Time Magazine’s <a href="http://time.com/70823/marina-abramovic-2014-time-100/">most influential people</a> of 2014, Abramović is a pioneer of performance art, primarily when it comes to audience participation. Private Archaeology is Abramović’s first show in Australia for 17 years. </p>
<p>Strangely, as a collection of Abramović’s works from 1975 to the present, it isn’t a retrospective. It should be viewed instead for what it is: a collection by MONA’s senior curators, Nicole Durling and Olivier Varenne, that demonstrates the warrior seeker spirit of Abramović, developed over the last 40 years. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84953/original/image-20150614-1952-1my89u3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marina Abramović: Private Archaeology, Dark Mofo 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/16943995309/in/album-72157651505029051/">Images courtesy of Dark Mofo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Abramović is neither feminist nor political artist, believing the pain associated with endurance can be the door to self-knowledge. Walking with Abramović through the many doorways Durling and Varenne have scattered throughout nine galleries in the basement of MONA – art collector David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania – is anything but painful. </p>
<p>It provides the opportunity to partake in a personal excavation of Abramović’s life, which not only reveals much about the artist – it forms a lasting sense of introspection for the spectator as well.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84951/original/image-20150614-1944-wp4y8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marina Abramović: Private Archaeology, Dark Mofo 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/16943995309/in/album-72157651505029051/">Images courtesy of Dark Mofo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For those who travel to see the exhibition – and people will (and should) flock from all over the country to see it – there will be a polarisation over the validity of some of this work. </p>
<p>Abramović is a superstar, whether she pretends to like it or not, and spending a considerable amount of time in the exhibition engaging with the iconic image of the artist is not nearly as interesting as engaging with works where the artist is less present. </p>
<p>Literal images of Abramović are pleasantly absent from <a href="http://www.mai-hudson.org/terra-comunal-content/2015/3/19/2-and-hours-of-me">The Chamber of Silence</a> (2015), Gallery Six; <a href="http://www.li-ma.nl/site/catalogue/art/marina-abramovic/at-the-waterfall/7590">At The Waterfall</a> (2003), Gallery Seven; <a href="http://terracomunal.sescsp.org.br/en/marina-abramovic/transitory-objects">Transitory Objects</a> (1989-2015), Gallery Eight; and <a href="http://observer.com/2014/12/absurd-and-elegant-counting-grains-of-rice-with-marina-abramovic-at-design-miami/">Counting The Rice</a> (2015), Gallery Nine. For me this allowed the work to stand on its own. </p>
<p>At The Waterfall is a sound and video avalanche of 108 separate male and female Buddhist monks captured over five years as Abramović travelled alone throughout India.</p>
<p>On first glance it would seem quiet, peaceful and contemplative; but it is a confronting and brutal affront to the senses – especially after the experience of The Chamber of Silence in Gallery Six, where viewers sit in deck chairs wearing noise cancelling headphones, looking out through a large window into the peace and tranquillity of the MONA grounds; a random bunny even trotted through the landscape on my viewings as if released on cue by a stagehand from the wings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84957/original/image-20150615-1932-uvix7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black Dragon, Marina Abramović: Private Archaeology, Dark Mofo, 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/18760428751/in/album-72157654574526731/">Image courtesy of Dark Mofo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Transitory Objects is a collection of objects central to experiencing the Abramović method, an obscure mode of performance-led self discovery, developed over the last 30 years as part of her solo work. </p>
<p>In Transitory Objects the audience engages with meditative practices as part of the viewing experience. For my viewing this was enlivened by the presence of student performers from the Theatre program at the Tasmanian College of the Arts (of which I’m the current head of department) who demonstrated the various modes of participation with these objects of transition. </p>
<p>The objects are in fact many smaller works including: <a href="https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/cgjzopE/rxxEpGj">White/Red Dragon</a> (1989/90), <a href="http://www.artnet.com/usernet/awc/awc_workdetail.asp?aid=424588417&gid=424588417&cid=114189&wid=424883503&page=1">Inner Sky</a> (1991 and 2015), and <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artwork/marina-abramovic-chair-for-human-use-with-chair-for-spirit-use">Chair for Human Use with Chair for Spirit Use</a> (2012).</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84958/original/image-20150615-1962-1jp0c2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Red Dragon, Marina Abramović: Private Archaeology, Dark Mofo, 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/18760428751/in/album-72157654574526731/">Image courtesy of Dark Mofo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each Object is made from a variety of precious minerals, metals and timber. All have emerged in response to Abramović’s experiences climbing and walking the Great Wall in China, where the materials used are those encountered along the way. </p>
<p>In this work Abramović presents “tools for a method”. These transitory objects ask the viewer to physically touch, rest and sit on or against them, thereby literally becoming tools for meditative transformation.</p>
<p>In Gallery Nine we enter the MAI, the <a href="http://www.mai-hudson.org/">Marina Abramović Institute</a>, which “encourages participation and challenges modes of seeing the world”. On a 25-metre-long table – with all personal valuables secured in lockers, wearing monogrammed white lab coats and ear muffs – Abramović’s training regime for a better humanity commences through the simplest task of counting grain in silence.<br>
Counting the Rice asks the visitor to separate, count and record piles of rice and lentils in a search for stillness and peace. This work heralds a new focus for Abramović, where “rules of participation” are now central to the viewing experience. </p>
<p>Artist and work are inseparable, and for Abramović, who doesn’t use a studio and makes through the act of living, her life literally is the work. </p>
<p>While I both understand and find this approach strangely attractive and admirable, it feels as if we’ve arrived at a point where Abramović’s art and life now need to separate. </p>
<p>I gained a truer sense of how the artist interacts with the world when able to read her work sans icon and brand. </p>
<p>I think Abramović would appreciate that. </p>
<p><br></p>
<p><em>Marina Abramović, Private Archaeology, curated by Nicole Durling and Olivier Varenne, is presented as part of Dark MOFO at MONA Tasmania, until October 5. Details <a href="http://darkmofo.net.au/program/marina-abramovic/">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43242/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Delbridge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
This collection of Marina Abramović’s works from 1975 to the present isn’t a retrospective. It offers a chance to consider the supremely artist-centric art as something separate to its creator.
Matt Delbridge, Head of Theatre, TCotA, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/40080
2015-06-03T04:27:17Z
2015-06-03T04:27:17Z
Where the dark gets in: why Dark Mofo lightens a crowded calendar
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83767/original/image-20150603-22081-1xzllyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">So cold it's hot ... The Winter Feast crowd fan the flames at Dark MOFO 2014.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MONA/Rémi Chauvin Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art,</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For more than a quarter of a century, South Australia proclaimed itself the “Festival State”. The Adelaide Festival of Arts and the Adelaide Writers’ Week both have strong pedigrees, and have set the bar for similar festivals around Australia. It appears that Tasmania is now taking its turn, with the increasingly popular <a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/">Dark Mofo</a>, kicking off on June 12. </p>
<p>Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin are all home to annual arts festivals, while Tasmania has its biannual Tasmanian International Arts Festival (Ten Days on the Island rebranded), Australia’s only state-wide international arts festival. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83328/original/image-20150529-12375-2b9xvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antony and the Johnsons will headline Dark Mofo 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/16376693883/in/album-72157651505029051/">Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo 2015</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All the major capital cities now host annual writers’ festivals, with food, film and music festivals also flooding our calendars. The “Festival State” moniker is redundant; Australia is now the “Festival Country”.</p>
<p>With audiences already sated, a new festival has to serve something special if it’s going to attract an audience. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If it’s good, people will come back for another helping.</p>
<p>In Hobart, people are already virtually queuing for their third helping of art collector and Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) owner <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/february/1366597433/richard-flanagan/gambler">David Walsh’s</a> Dark Mofo, which coincides with the opening of MONA’s latest major exhibition, <a href="http://darkmofo.net.au/program/marina-abramovic/private-archaeology-opening/">Marina Abramovic’s Private Archaeology</a>. </p>
<p>Pre-sale tickets for two concerts featuring Antony and the Johnsons with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra sold out in just three hours. That’s a big change for Hobart. Likewise, pre-sale tickets for the five-night Winter Feast of food, fire and music were quickly snapped up, and several other events have already sold out. </p>
<p>The wintry sibling of MONA’s highly successful <a href="https://www.mona.net.au/what%27s-on/festivals">Mofo summer festival</a> of music and art curated by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/29/brian-ritchie-violent-femmes-never-really-cared-about-being-famous">Brian Ritchie</a>, Dark Mofo, curated by <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/wish/leigh-carmichael-creative-director-dark-mofo-arts-festival-hobart/story-e6frg8io-1226658732666">Leigh Carmichael</a>, has clearly struck a chord with Tasmanians, and increasingly with others.</p>
<h2>Breathing life into the darker places</h2>
<p>Over 11 days, from June 12 to the winter solstice climax on June 22, audiences will have the opportunity to see artists from around the world bringing some unlikely venues to life. </p>
<p>The biggest international acts include Antony and the Johnsons, American rock spiritualist King Dude, the American doom metal outfit Pallbearer, and the British indie art-pop collective The Irrepressibles, who will be performing at the historic Odeon Theatre. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83329/original/image-20150529-12349-jqcb9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/17083469555/in/album-72157651505029051/">Rémi Chauvin/ Image courtesy of Dark Mofo 2015</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dark Mofo has each year enticed festival-goers into little-known venues and rarely visited parts of the city, and it again looks set to attract people in their thousands away from their cosy hearths and out into the wintry nights.</p>
<p>In St David’s Cathedral there is a midnight performance by Belgian cellist, composer, and singer Helen Gillet. The Rabble theatre company will offer a cosmic, theatrical take on Virginia Woolf’s Orlando at the Theatre Royal. </p>
<p>And the old Mercury building will be taken over by Patricia Piccinini and Peter Hennessey’s The Shadows Coming. </p>
<h2>The allure of the disturbing</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83332/original/image-20150529-12363-3g0qpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anthony McCall installation, Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/16809100928/in/album-72157651505029051/">Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo 2015</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dark Mofo Films includes the world premiere of Foxtel’s <a href="http://darkmofo.net.au/program/the-kettering-incident/">The Kettering Incident</a>, shot entirely in Tasmania, alongside a line-up of Nordic darkness and two films by British director Ben Wheatley. </p>
<p>This year the usually inaccessible Macquarie Point harbour-front site will be unlocked and opened up to the public. The vast, industrial precinct, dubbed the Dark Park, is likely to be an attraction in itself. </p>
<p>But it will be brought to eerie life by two installations by the avant-garde artist Anthony McCall, the light show Solid Light Works, and the fire performance Landscape for Fire, and by Fire Organ, a massive structure created by Dutch chemo-acoustic engineer and sound artist Bastiaan Maris.</p>
<p>Nightly for 10 nights McCall’s Night Ship will sail up the Derwent River from Tinderbox to the city harbour, at regular intervals directing its powerful searchlight onto the shore. You will see it coming, and you will hear it coming.</p>
<p>The success of Dark Mofo is partly down to the way it pushes boundaries and offers people new experiences every year. It’s due in no small part to the brilliant vision of its Creative Director, Leigh Carmichael, supported, of course, by David Walsh, and both the State government and the Hobart City Council.</p>
<p>It is also due to its setting.</p>
<h2>The gothic state</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83330/original/image-20150529-12363-1hde9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marina Abramović.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/16516075095/in/album-72157651505029051/">Image courtesy of Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hobart is Australia’s darkest capital city. Dark Mofo tunes in to the dark aesthetic borne of the state’s isolated geography and troubled colonial past. </p>
<p>It embraces the Tasmanian gothic that permeates the creative industries and is the cornerstone of our tourism industry — from Roger Scholes’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/48474/The-Tale-of-Ruby-Rose/overview">The Tale of Ruby Rose</a>, to – of course – David Walsh’s MONA, to the <a href="http://www.femalefactory.org.au/">Female Factories</a> that bear witness to the horrors of our convict history. </p>
<p>Winter festivals are thick on the ground. Dark Mofo works where others are less successful not only because it adopts this aesthetic of darkness, but because of the way Hobart, the place and the people, adopts the event. </p>
<p>It’s not just that Leigh Carmichael has made great use of some unusual locations, but because the distance between them is never too great, and with so many people moving around the waterfront, the party atmosphere encompasses the whole area transforming it into one big de-facto art space. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83331/original/image-20150529-12331-z149ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mid Winter Fest runs as part of Dark Mofo in the Huon Valley, Tasmania.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67221831@N08/16810009059/in/album-72157651505029051/">Image courtesy of the Huon Valley Mid Winter Fest and Dark Mofo 2015</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This isn’t true of similar events in larger capital cities here or elsewhere. My experience of Paris’s celebrated all-night arts festival, <a href="http://www.timeout.com/paris/en/nuit-blanche">Nuit Blanche</a>, last October was that the festival fever fizzled during the lengthy treks between sets of curated installations.</p>
<p>The Nuit Blanche concept has been around for about three decades now, and it continues to gather pace. In 2013 Melbourne followed cities such as St Petersburg and Helsinki with a highly successful <a href="http://whitenightmelbourne.com.au/">White Night</a> event, which has run again both years since. And there are many other winter festivals around Australia.</p>
<p>By replacing the light with the dark, Carmichael and company have made Dark Mofo different. </p>
<p>As Leonard Cohen tells us, there is a crack in everything. In Hobart, that’s how the dark gets in, and it seems that’s what people want.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><em>Dark Mofo runs from June 12 to 22. Details <a href="https://darkmofo.net.au/">here</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40080/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ralph Crane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
We’re not short on festivals in Australia, so new events need to make their presence felt. What’s the secret of Dark Mofo, which is about to enjoy its third outing?
Ralph Crane, Professor and Head of English, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/28184
2014-06-25T06:26:09Z
2014-06-25T06:26:09Z
Acconci’s design for Hobart is an idea about an idea about …
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51978/original/c3h7whv9-1403575384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Future Hobart is an enticement to think laterally about pragmatic issues of city design.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/edgetas/9147875242/">Tone Edge</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At <a href="http://darkmofo.net.au/">Dark MOFO</a> last week, the City of Hobart joined forces with the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) to commission New York artist/ landscape architect <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/1529">Vito Acconci</a> to create <a href="http://www.darkmofo.net.au/program/future-hobart-2014-vito-acconci/">an architectural prototype</a> for bridging connections between previously discrete aspects of Hobart.</p>
<p>Representatives from the Brooklyn-based <a href="http://acconci.com/">Acconci Studio</a> were introduced to six sites. They elected to address ways of connecting Hobart’s city centre to Queens Domain, a large urban park containing 200 hectares including Government House, the Botanical Gardens and significant aboriginal sites – as well as the Hobart Cenotaph (the state’s war memorial) and the Soldiers Memorial Avenue, which have been disconnected by major highways (below).</p>
<p>Acconci Studio’s scheme is more a provocation than a proposal; it’s an idea about an idea for a “bridge” which is not necessarily intended to be built. Still, it can help us understand how to connect places in a city in a manner that transcends a purely pragmatic economic engineering solution. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51880/original/wk6zrv8n-1403499713.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Future Hobart 2014: Acconci Studio, concept designs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MONA, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The changing face of Hobart</h2>
<p>In a place that has endured ongoing economic recession, where change has been generally been understood as negative or reductive, the locals can be very resistant to new ideas – even when they may lead to exciting new opportunities. </p>
<p>This has been the case in Tasmania, which has been in a recession since apple exports fell dramatically in the 1970s and other industries of hydro, mining and forestry declined in production and/or employment.</p>
<p>But in the year 2000 the tide began to change. A shift in the property markets occurred as interstate investors began to realise you could buy a house in Tasmania for less than the price of an outhouse in a suburban backyard on the mainland. “Economic refugees” began to arrive in droves. They had turned the tide on ongoing outward migration by 2003. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51885/original/nbs6rtfc-1403501582.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dark MOFO 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eugen Naiman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An influx of people has led to an increase in opportunities – and the state is beginning to find ways to imagine a new future via strategic initiatives for arts and culture. Over the last five years MONA has been transforming the life of the city. </p>
<p>Two years before the museum opened in 2011, MONA launched the inaugural Festival of Music and Art (MONA FOMA, or MOFO for short). Since then MONA has been showing the city how it can be transformed into a place of vibrant life, bolstering tourism while providing a fantastic series of cultural events for the locals.</p>
<p>The City of Hobart capitalised on the positive response to MOFO, developing a strategic initiative for arts and culture, <a href="http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Community/Arts_and_Culture/Cultural_Development/Creative_Hobart">Creative Hobart</a>, which highlights the potential for the city as a “platform for cultural expression and creative participation”. </p>
<p>This included commissioning Acconci Studio to provide speculative ideas for the city.</p>
<h2>So, how does Acconci’s proposal stack up?</h2>
<p>Acconci’s design proposition is based on the aspiration to “free or liberate persons”, creating multiple choices through walkways leading in different directions. This provides a matrix of discovery in which, according to design notes, the lines of history “wind and wave, you can’t see them all at once but you know they’re there”.</p>
<p>The mesh-like bridge (below) provides a labyrinthine crucible that takes people across the highway. It is complemented by a structured landscape of lights and trees that arc around the cenotaph, providing a contrast to its linear formality.</p>
<p>Acconci’s project is an enticement to think laterally about pragmatic issues of city design. This is beautifully described in a poem by Maria Acconci, which suggests a direct poetic connection between the Cenotaph and the bridge and highlights ideas of memory and experience. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51861/original/5kbd69wh-1403492685.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Future Hobart 2014: Acconci Studio, concept designs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MONA, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, the main way that the public was able to access these ideas was via a public forum and exhibition presented during Dark MOFO last week. Both of these options offered an abstract and obtuse introduction to the project – and failed to communicate the potential of Acconci’s proposal or provide an understanding of his approach or previous work. </p>
<p>On reflection, one wonders if it’s necessary to build a physical bridge over the road. In reality this would alter the approach into the city, as the dimension of a bridge needed to span the six-lane highway would create a large structure that would mask the broad landscape vista towards Mt Wellington, a key characteristic of the approach to the city.</p>
<p>Perhaps the basket-like structure could take form on an adjacent site, spanning between the Domain and the nearby aquatic centre, providing a lookout back towards the Cenotaph. This would highlight the connections made by the lines of light and trees inscribed within the Cenotaph site. </p>
<p>The physical connection between the Domain and the Cenotaph could be made on the ground, linking under the highway in a manner that extends the picturesque movement that currently characterises the site. </p>
<p>It’s not clear how far this project has been developed in terms of the formal commissioning. Currently Acconci Studio’s project is just the beginning, a thread of an idea. It could take many forms or simply act to inspire broader conceptual approaches to understanding how to shape the city in a way that celebrates place, both from the past and present, as well as into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28184/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Norrie is the founder of the Regional Urban Studies Laboratory (RUSL), a design research project, which works with explores local urban issues with local councils in Tasmania. This includes a collaborative research project with the City of Hobart which speculates on future urban proposals for the city.</span></em></p>
At Dark MOFO last week, the City of Hobart joined forces with the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) to commission New York artist/ landscape architect Vito Acconci to create an architectural prototype for…
Helen Norrie, Lecturer, School of Architecture and Design, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/24286
2014-03-14T01:28:40Z
2014-03-14T01:28:40Z
The curious business-speak of Tasmanian arts policy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43892/original/k3rdh7d9-1394756432.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The "intangible benefits" of arts are absent from the policy documents of the three main parties. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/petahopkins/8660662375/sizes/o/">(Mural by Hobart artist Robert O'Connor). petahopkins</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This Saturday’s Tasmanian election is the first since Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (<a href="https://www.mona.net.au/">MONA</a>) opened on January 21 2011, and it’s no surprise that the creative arts and industries have featured heavily in conversations about Tasmania’s future. </p>
<p>But the discussion is too often centred on the economic benefits of Tasmania’s supposed “<a href="https://theconversation.com/hail-mona-but-what-about-the-rest-of-tasmanian-art-18857">cultural renaissance</a>”, rather than the societal or other intangible benefits, and the arts policies released by the state’s three major political parties (Australian Labor Party, Liberal Party of Australia and Australian Greens) reflect this shallow and diversionary attitude. </p>
<p>Quite frankly, they’re uninspiring, disappointing and bordering on the absurd.</p>
<p>The three policies are remarkably alike in their language in that the creative arts are discussed in terms of economic investment and employment. In fact, the creative arts are identified as the creative “industry” or “economy,” suggesting that professions with measurable economic outcomes, such as advertising and architecture, are the focus of the policies, rather than areas such as the visual arts and craft, theatre and music. </p>
<p>It reflects the dilemma politicians face when trying to balance praise of MONA’s contribution to the Tasmanian economy, with a reluctance to contribute public funds to the creative arts, particularly those with no quantifiable outcome.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43894/original/wdmqjnx5-1394756728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MONA, Hobart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">majorleague</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Greens <a href="http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/Mar11_Creative%20Industries_N%20McKim_0.pdf">refer to</a> the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/go-on-then-what-are-the-creative-industries-18958">creative industries</a>” in terms of the sector’s “economic value,” promising that “investment” will “boost Tasmania’s economy and grow local jobs and businesses”. </p>
<p>The Liberal Party similarly <a href="http://www.tas.liberal.org.au/sites/default/files/policy/Creative%20Industries.pdf">promises</a> to “grow further jobs in the industry,” acknowledging the arts’ growing role in the state’s “job and business market”. Its plan refers to investment schemes, job generation and innovation, but only in general terms. </p>
<p>Labor at least introduces <a href="http://taslabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Cultural-and-Creative-Industries-Policy.pdf">its plan</a> by referring to the social impact of the arts, as well as economic contributions. It also briefly acknowledges the difference between, for instance, the visual arts and advertising, both of which sit under the umbrella of the “creative industries” (according to <a href="http://taslabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Cultural-and-Creative-Industries-Policy.pdf">the document</a>), but demand different levels of support and have very different outcomes. Still, the language of business dominates.</p>
<h2>Business buzzwords</h2>
<p>Of course, in a state that holds the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-13/abs-unemployment-jobs-figures-february/5317902">highest unemployment rate</a> in Australia, job creation and growth are key election issues; so it makes sense that the economic benefits of the sector are sold. But this approach also reflects a growing tendency to discuss the creative arts and industries in terms of economic benefit alone, as well as a change in language that means the arts is discussed in “business speak”. </p>
<p>The recent <a href="http://www.arts.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/80478/TAAB_New_Arts_Investment_Models_Directions_Paper.pdf">New Arts Investment Models</a> directions paper released by the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board argues “the language of government funding needs to change from one of subsidy to one of investment,” and that grants should be replaced with an “investment system” with a focus on “outcomes” rather than “process and outputs”. </p>
<p>The paper’s not exactly clear on the distinction between a grant and an “investment system”, but nonetheless it sounds impressive. The terms creative “hub” or “precinct” are equally as popular. The buzzwords represent a bureaucratic desire for a measurement and control, and are at odds with the natural formation of cultural activity.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=760&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43890/original/gc8fpfq9-1394756154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">~ wryonedwards ~</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of content, the big winner tomorrow will be the self-appointed “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TasmanianCreativeIndustriesCouncil">Tasmanian Creative Industries Council</a>” (TCIC), to which Labor and Liberal have each promised A$200,000, and the Greens A$1,106,000. Not bad for a group that uses a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TasmanianCreativeIndustriesCouncil">Facebook page</a> for a website. They are, according to this page, “an alliance of artists and creative professionals with the shared aim to connect, promote and grow Tasmania’s creative industries”.</p>
<p>Each plan acknowledges the early stages of this organisation, and while I believe that a peak body for the arts in Tasmania is crucial, it’s unclear as to who or what the group actually is at the moment, let alone who they will eventually represent. </p>
<p>There is little reference to support for individuals in the documents, which is disappointing when you consider that most creative arts businesses in Australia are non-employing, according to a recent <a href="http://www.creativeinnovation.net.au/business/ciic-resources/creative-economy/#intro">research report</a> by the government’s Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC).</p>
<p>So, to the individual parties’ plans:</p>
<h2>The Liberals</h2>
<p>The Liberal Party’s plan is the least generous, pledging a mere A$450,000 in new projects over four years. To put this into context, the party plans to spend more <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/final-week-of-election-sweetners/5311248?section=tas">renaming a Tasmanian highway</a>. </p>
<p>The money will be split three ways: firstly, the TCIC will receive funding with the explicit aim of developing a strategic plan to “grow jobs and investment”. Funding will also go to <a href="http://www.detached.com.au/home.php">Detached</a>, a private cultural organisation that <a href="http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/a-new-creative-hub-breathes-life-into-old-mercury-building/story-fnj4f7k1-1226723158499">recently bought</a>the former Mercury newspaper building in Hobart with the intention of turning it into a “cultural hub”. </p>
<p>Although the financial contribution is minor, it is great to see at least one of the parties acknowledging and supporting this promising new development. Lastly, the document notes the reduction in the Arts Tasmania grants budget under Labor, and promises to increase it “as government finances improve” (which roughly translates as “don’t count on it”).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43891/original/5mtwchfh-1394756243.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">craabus</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Labor</h2>
<p>Labor’s plan is the most detailed, which is understandable considering they’re currently in power. The plan is not surprising or exciting, and the A$900,000 promised should be compared to the party’s announcement promising to spend <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/final-week-of-election-sweetners/5311248?section=tas">A$8 million on yet another indoor sport complex</a>. </p>
<p>Again, the “cultural hub” is mentioned, although in this case the money will be spent subsidising office rental for early career practitioners. Affordable work-space is a major problem for many creative practitioners; but it’s not just restricted to the first five years of their career – as Labor’s plan suggests – and it would be nice to see an expanded strategy. Additionally, the use of the word “office” rather than, say, “studio” again uses the language of business, suggesting a prioritisation of those sections of the “creative industry” that have measurable economic outcomes.</p>
<p>Events and festivals will also receive more funding under Labor. The A$6 million will not go far between the <a href="http://www.eventstasmania.com/">growing number of festivals</a> in the state, but nonetheless it’s a sensible investment considering the success of events such as <a href="http://www.mona.net.au/mona-foma">MONA FOMA</a>, <a href="http://darkmofo.net.au/">Dark MOFO</a> and the <a href="http://www.hobartbaroque.com.au/">Hobart Baroque Festival</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, the party emphasises support (although no actual money) for the continuing <a href="http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/">Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery</a> (TMAG) development – something glaringly missing from both the Liberal and Greens party plans. The A$170 million refurbishment is entering stage two, having finished the A$30 million stage one in March last year, and until the refurbishment is complete, the floor space of the museum is relatively limited.</p>
<h2>The Greens</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/Mar11_Creative%20Industries_N%20McKim_0.pdf">Greens plan</a> is by far the most ambitious but least practical. Under the party’s policy, more than A$12 million will go to the arts – towards the TCIC mentioned above, as well as developing a series of creative hubs, payroll tax relief for creative businesses, funding for new festivals (as opposed to underfunded existing ones), and a series of grants largely aimed at the film and video game industries. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43895/original/xz54dcxs-1394757022.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guggenheim, Bilbao.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EEPaul</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The creative hub strategy is probably the most interesting, promising an audit of underused government buildings that can be easily modified to accommodate cultural activities and work spaces. Importantly, the plan specifies that these spaces will be managed by collectives rather than government, giving artists and creative professionals a greater level of autonomy than Labor’s rental subsidy scheme.</p>
<p>Any sensible aspects of the Greens’ plan are eclipsed by the party’s unbelievably absurd idea to coax the <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/guggenheim-foundation">Guggenheim Foundation</a> into building a museum in Hobart. Never mind that the relatively small city already has MONA, the largest private museum in the southern hemisphere. </p>
<p>The document states: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a Guggenheim would be a sister museum to MONA, and make Hobart one of the must-visit cultural destinations on the planet.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Which, of course, has largely already occurred due to MONA alone. Some A$100,000 will be spent on a “high-end mission to visit Guggenheim” – conjuring up a Land of Oz-style adventure. Surely a simple email would be more sensible, and the money could be spent on a modest art project instead. </p>
<p>The most disappointing aspect of this harebrained idea is that the Greens have completely ignored the TMAG. Why support a massive new museum when the state’s public institution is in dire need of funds? The Guggenheim museums are excellent, but they are hardly embedded in the local community, whereas the TMAG by definition is bound to support and reflect the state’s history and culture.</p>
<p>Talk is cheap, and all three parties’ plans are heavy on the language of business, but thin on practical policy and financial assistance. Thankfully, the community they claim to support is more creative than the policy writers.</p>
<p><br>
<em>Are you an academic or researcher working on arts policy? Contact the <a href="mailto:pau.dalgarno@theconversation.edu.au">Arts + Culture editor</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Hawthorne works at MONA as an invigilator. She is a member of Contemporary Art Tasmania and the National Association for the Visual Arts. She is a board member of Constance ARI. </span></em></p>
This Saturday’s Tasmanian election is the first since Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) opened on January 21 2011, and it’s no surprise that the creative arts and industries have featured heavily…
Lucy Hawthorne, Sessional Academic, Art and Design Theory, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/18857
2013-10-27T10:32:01Z
2013-10-27T10:32:01Z
Hail MONA! But what about the rest of Tasmanian art?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33728/original/jz53x4y2-1382661418.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Museum of Old and New Art isn't the be-all and end-all.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Boardman/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Another article about Hobart popped up in my Facebook feed recently. Writing about <a href="http://www.mona.net.au/">MONA</a> (Museum of Old and New Art), the author used the all-too-familiar phrase: “Tasmania’s cultural renaissance.” </p>
<p>“The Bilbao effect”, “Hobart’s cultural renewal” or, to use the words of one recent Conversation writer, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/david-walshs-mona-and-the-cultural-regeneration-of-hobart-15718">cultural regeneration</a>”, are other popular ways to describe the supposed effect of MONA’s 2011 opening on Tasmania’s art scene and economy. We are assured Tasmania, once a “cultural backwater”, is being saved from itself.</p>
<p>Interestingly, such phrases are almost always used by visitors to the state – although a group of Tasmanian academics is already involved in an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project, <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/social-sciences/research/hacru/current-research-and-projects">Creating the Bilbao Effect: MONA and the Social and Cultural Coordinates of Urban Regeneration Through Arts Tourism</a>.</p>
<p>For local artists, this renaissance has coincided with a significant reduction in local art spaces. You have to wonder whether Tasmanian leaders and policy makers are getting complacent and a little lazy in MONA’s wake. MONA is privately funded by <a href="http://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2010/december/1360112582/amanda-lohrey/high-priest">David Walsh</a>, and showcases antiquities and contemporary art predominantly from his own collection – which means the lucrative increase in tourist numbers, jobs and worldwide attention has essentially cost the state nothing. </p>
<p>But Tasmania can’t rely on MONA alone. If the museum <em>has</em> triggered a “Bilbao effect”, Hobart needs to ensure it doesn’t suffer the entire cycle. The supposed cultural and financial revolution experienced by the Spanish city of Bilbao following the 1997 opening of the Frank Gehry-designed <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao">Guggenheim Museum</a> led to an initial boom but visitor numbers to the museum have since dropped off. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33622/original/cyjyrj7m-1382573020.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">jmiguel.rodriguez</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tourists to Hobart frequently ask me where they can see work by local artists – and it’s getting harder to give them suggestions. </p>
<p>Last year, Hobart City Council’s <a href="http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Seamless_Test/Arts_and_Culture/Carnegie_Gallery">Carnegie Gallery</a> closed following a <a href="http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Community/Arts_and_Culture/Cultural_Development">cultural strategy review</a>. Other galleries to have closed in the last five years include Criterion Gallery, 6a, The Salamanca Collection, Goulburn Street Gallery, and the Fine Arts Gallery at the University of Tasmania’s Sandy Bay campus. </p>
<p>Additionally, two key art spaces have lost state funding – the <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/plimsoll">Plimsoll Gallery</a> and, from January, Hobart’s only artist-run initiative (ARI), <a href="http://constanceari.org/">Constance ARI</a>.</p>
<h2>Open and shut cases</h2>
<p>It’s not only tourists who are interested in Tasmania’s art offering. An Australia Council for the Arts 2010 <a href="http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/resources/reports_and_publications/subjects/audiences_and_cultural_participation/arts_participation_research_more_than_bums_on_seats">research project</a> found Tasmanians had significantly higher participation levels in the visual arts and crafts than any other state or territory in Australia. </p>
<p>In other words, Tasmanians themselves are interested in art. What’s more, the study was released prior to MONA’s opening, so those figures are pre-“renaissance”.</p>
<p>The galleries mentioned above didn’t just close for funding reasons. 6a, another ARI, had run its course, and as with most ARIs it’s assumed another gallery will rise to take its place. Criterion Gallery’s closure was attributed to the economic downturn. The Fine Arts Gallery was, admittedly, housed in a less than ideal space. </p>
<p>But it’s the Carnegie’s closure last December, as well as Arts Tasmania’s de-funding of the Plimsoll Gallery from 2013 onwards and Constance ARI from January 2014, that will have the greatest impact. The Carnegie was the only space in Hobart that catered for local mid- and late-career artists. Its termination has left a significant gap. </p>
<p>The closure was a result of the council’s new <a href="http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Community/Arts_and_Culture">cultural strategy</a>, which emphasises the role of the council as a “facilitator” rather than a “provider”. </p>
<p>The problem is, there was little consultation with the visual arts community when developing the plan. The state’s key contemporary visual arts organisation, <a href="http://www.contemporaryarttasmania.org/">Contemporary Art Tasmania</a>, was not consulted, nor was the council’s own arts advisory committee. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33659/original/t4t23syr-1382582030.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Revellers at the MONA FOMA festival.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jellibat/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’m not arguing a facilitator role for councils is necessarily a bad idea; in fact, I think the council already does an excellent job of facilitating visual art projects, particularly those of a temporary public nature. But the gallery played a key role in the city’s visual art scene, and it will be missed.</p>
<p>Still, the question arises: why should we fund a gallery? Why should the council, the government, the public – or in MONA’s case, an individual – fund an art gallery?</p>
<p>For a start, the opening of MONA has brought a large number of visitors to the state, from cashed-up New Yorkers to Melbourne hipsters. They are interested in art and culture, and the city needs to make the most of that. </p>
<p>The Tasmanian government understands the boon that is cultural tourism. As much as I loathe using purely economic arguments to justify art, it’s a useful way to present a more tangible argument for the benefits of public funding. </p>
<p>Additionally, art spaces are community spaces. They give artists an opportunity to share their creative output, and it’s important to have a variety of spaces in which to do so. Galleries are not just about the artists, but community development and education, as well as social and cultural enrichment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33654/original/nnfg8sh2-1382580944.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pauline Mak/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, I don’t want to give the impression there are no art spaces left. <a href="http://www.salarts.org.au/">Salamanca Arts Centre</a> maintains a variety of accessible spaces, the <a href="http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/">Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery</a> is undergoing significant renovations, and <a href="http://www.contemporaryarttasmania.org/">Contemporary Art Tasmania</a> hosts curated exhibitions throughout the year. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/plimsoll/exhibition/current-exhibitions2/current-exhibitions3/the-plimsoll-inquiry">Plimsoll Inquiry</a> – a seven-week art and research project – will come to a close on November 2, and has attracted hundreds of community members. One of its aims is to explore the role and relevance of the art gallery in the 21st century, and the project’s success so far in engaging the community seems to stem from its inclusive yet experimental nature.</p>
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<p>Clarence and Glenorchy councils both run thriving contemporary art spaces. Clarence’s Rosny Barn and Schoolhouse Gallery hosts both professional and community art exhibitions and a number of excellent design shows, and the <a href="gasp.org.au/">Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park (GASP)</a> has showcased a number of significant temporary public art projects by artists such as <a href="http://www.johnbuckleygallery.com/de-clario-artist-menu">Domenico De Clario</a> and <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artists/bios/9884">Susan Philipsz</a>, as well as building a permanent collection. </p>
<p>A group of University of Tasmania students are setting up The Arts Factory in South Hobart following a successful <a href="http://www.pozible.com/project/28183">crowdfunding campaign</a>. While Constance ARI will lose government funding from January, the board is drawing up a strategy to maintain the space without the financial support.</p>
<h2>Variety is the spice</h2>
<p>The Hobart art scene is in a state of flux – and perhaps these changes will ultimately deliver positive results. But funding bodies, government agencies and the public must recognise the arts community needs a variety of exhibition spaces, whether they’re commercial or not-for-profit, sited in public spaces or discrete white cubes, catering to local emerging artists or well-known interstate practitioners. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://galileo.rice.edu/gal/medici.html">Medici family</a> may have been a player in the development of the Italian Renaissance, but the changes were not due to their patronage alone. </p>
<p>If Hobart really is to have its “cultural renaissance” there must be a range of opportunities for artists and the interested public to experience and participate in the best the city has to offer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Hawthorne is board member of Constance ARI, a former Plimsoll Gallery committee member, and worked as an invigilator at MONA from 2011-13.</span></em></p>
Another article about Hobart popped up in my Facebook feed recently. Writing about MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), the author used the all-too-familiar phrase: “Tasmania’s cultural renaissance.” “The…
Lucy Hawthorne, Sessional Academic, Art and Design Theory, University of Tasmania
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