Atong Atem

Atong Atems practice spans across many disciplines, such including photography, writing and theory. It is through these disciplines which she demonstrates the influence of her identity as a third culture kid – this describing her position as a person who’s been raised in a different culture to that of their parents and has had that culture influence their cultural identity greatly. Furthermore, it is through this which Atem has built the basis of her practice on.

Atems identity as a third culture kid is prominently evident in her practice; however, as she tries to “remove” her cultural identity from her works she continues to find her works being used as a representation of her “blackness”. Thus, it is through her experimentation in her ethnographic photography series which she primarily portrays the global view of Africans and “Blackness”. It is through this which she explores her idea of how colonialism is the representation of postcolonialism which in turn portrays the dehumanisation of “black” bodies and culture. Correspondingly, Atem further explores the idea of dehumanisation as she spoke about the representation of Africans and “Blackness” as a race that is “less” evolved. In turn, Atem was able to explore the how her role as a third culture child has greatly influenced her role in the coloured society. It is through this which she explored the ethical complications which accompanied her role as a “spokesperson” for the coloured. Consequently, it was due to these automated responsibilities as a coloured person which forced her into a position in which she began self-portraiture – it is through utilising this which she tried to remove such responsibilities, as well as the ethical problems which surround art. 

Anne O’Hair

Anne O’Hair is a curator at the National Gallery, and as a result presented a lecture on Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. It was through this which O’Hair spoke about their works (in particularly about the “Aveux Non Avenus”) and the controversies surrounding these artists. Furthermore, O’Hair explained that these artists particularly Claude Cahun did not gain any recognition for their works till after their deaths, and it was through the lecture which O’Hair was able to explore the reason behind this. It is also through the study of “Aveux Non Avenus” which demonstrates Cahuns role as an aesthetician, journalist, photographer and writer; from this the audience gains insight to which aspect of the self Cahun explores.

Furthermore, Cahuns “Aveux Non Avenus” (also translated to “Cancelled Confessions”) had been placed under aesthetic criticism by many critics; however, she was also recognised as an associate of the surrealists by other critics during the 1920s and 1930s. The title of the book itself may suggest that the cause of Cahun questioning the idea of identity be that she, herself was criticised due to her identity as a queer woman (this was not particularly accepted during her time). Thus, it was through this work which Cahun raised and questioned the ideas about identity and realism. Moreover, the ideas raised and questioned in this collection of poetry and photomontage has demonstrated the artists personal struggle with identity – this is evident in her “other self” also known as Lucy Schwads, does not make many appearances in any of her autoportraits, this further portrays her struggle with identity as the portraits consists of different “characters”. However, it is due to this which Cahun is able to demonstrate and create aesthetic productions and as a result assisted her in furthering her surrealist works. Thus, Cahuns “Aveux non Avenus” provides insights to her ideals on her aspect of the self.

   References:

Anderson, C. 2005, Que me veux-tu?/ What do you want of me?: Claude Cahun's Autoportraits and the Process of Gender Identification, Project Muse. viewed 28 May 2017, <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/501892/pdf>.

Claude Cahun in collaboration with Marcel Moore Aveux non avenus frontispiece | Art Blart 2017, Artblart.com. viewed 28 May 2017, <https://artblart.com/tag/claude-cahun-in-collaboration-with-marcel-moore-aveux-non-avenus-frontispiece/>.

Muth, S. 2017, Disavowals (Aveux non Avenus) by Claude Cahun, Susan de Muth. viewed 28 May 2017, <https://susandemuth.com/translations/disavowals-aveux-non-avenus-by-claude-cahun/>. 

Bianca Hester

Bianca Hester is an artist who is trained in sculpting, and as a result has laid a foundation to how some of her works are created. However, the process in creating Hesters work has been influenced through her interest in ecology and thus has impacted the result of each project. It is also through this which demonstrates Hesters use of her multidisciplinary mediums; such mediums include performative art, installations, material experimenting, propositions and writing. These are generally the foundation of Hesters works.

As Hesters practice tend to build on the foundation of exploring how material, social and ecological forces interact (Dr Bianca Hester | UNSW Art & Design, 2017); it can be compared to Nancy Holts practice especially when comparing the Hesters “Fashioning Discontinuities” and Holts “Sun Tunnels”. In comparing the two pieces – a strong juxtaposition in the artists’ works is evident as Hesters piece is an intervention placed in an inhabited area, whereas Holts work is displayed in a remote area [though people are free to visit the installation and interact with it (however, quoting Nancy Holt “…leave everything the way you found it.”) (UMFA: Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 2017)]. In contrast to Holt, Hester’s “Fashioning Discontinuities” portrays how people interact with the intervention as she utilises different means of documentation such as photography and video. It is through filming which Hester is able to capture the idea of movements materialising momentarily. Also from this she can document what is happening with the hoops as well as how people interact with it. Thus, it was through Hesters project for the 19th Biannale which she could study the interaction between materials, society and ecology.

Reference:

Dr Bianca Hester | UNSW Art & Design 2017, Artdesign.unsw.edu.au. viewed 27 May 2017, <https://www.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/about-us/our-staff/dr-bianca-hester>.

UMFA: Utah Museum of Fine Arts 2017, Umfa.utah.edu. viewed 27 May 2017, <http://umfa.utah.edu/suntunnels_selfguide>.

Benjamin Chadbond

Benjamin Chadbond is a photographer whose work revolves less around photography and more so around curating as well as shedding light onto the broader spectrum of art photography existing in Australia and New Zealand. Chadbond spoke about the Mnemosyne Atlas by German art historian Aby Warburg. It was through this which he explained how he as well as many other artists draws inspiration from Warburgs final work.

Aby Warburg created the Mnemosyne Atlas in attempt to map the “afterlife of antiquity” and as an inspiration he took photos of random things from his everyday life and it was then carefully organised (with some pictures he drew, and newspaper/magazine clippings) into sixty-three panels covered in a sheet of black cloth each. It was through this which he could create a historical documentation of the period after the period (the renaissance) he thought of as a great age. From this complex documentation, many artists can draw inspiration. As the Mnemosyne Atlas itself is a visually stimulating piece, it allows the images compete with one another and as a result the strong juxtaposition between the ideas which each image holds produces new ideas. It is also because of this which portrays how the Atlas is a constant reminder that visual thoughts can carry meaning and as a result awake memories (Curator,2017). Thus, this demonstrates the impact which Warburgs Mnemosyne Atlas has on artists, which allow them to ultimately create unique works of art.

Reference list:

Curator. (2017). Things that inspire us: Aby Warburg – Mnemosyne Atlas. [online] Available at: http://curator.co/things-that-inspire-us-aby-warburg-mnemosyne-atlas/ [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Johnson, C. (2016). About the Mnemosyne Atlas | Mnemosyne. [online] Warburg.library.cornell.edu. Available at: https://warburg.library.cornell.edu/about [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Kingsartistrun.org.au. (2017). KINGS › Artists › Benjamin Chadbond. [online] Available at: http://www.kingsartistrun.org.au/artists/benjamin-chadbond/ [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Tryhardmagazine.com. (2017). About - Try Hard Magazine. [online] Available at: http://tryhardmagazine.com/about [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Utspsm.com. (2017). UTS PSM » Benjamin Chadbond. [online] Available at: http://utspsm.com/blog/archives/tag/benjamin-chadbond [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Izabela Pluto

IIzabela Pluta’s lecture explored the ideas of nostalgia throughout all of her works. This was strongly presented through her work on the credenza. A credenza is generally a large display cabinet which displays things like China pieces and other things of the like. The credenza demonstrated nostalgia as it was a representation of different heritages; this also including Plutas. However it was also through this project of the credenza which Pluta deemed a failure as it did not have any feelings to it. The credenza project is actually a large photograph of an actually credenza, and so it was through this which lacked the proper 

Biljana Jancic

Biljana Jancic is a installation based artist who have worked with pipes and industrial spaces to create her works. The project Script 2015 was installed in an industrial space. The project played with the idea of extending the space provided through reflections. This was cleverly done through the use of filling the spave with water and using its reflective attributes like that of a mirror. It was through this idea whichvreally peaked my interest in Jancic’s works. Jancic’s clever use if the industrial space allowed her to create an intervention which included the already existing pipes left from the remaining toilet. It is through this project which really emphasised the industrial aspects of the space. However at the same time, I felt as though the space itself became a piece of art this is due to the picturesque quality of the art work and also how nicely it could be photographed also interested me. As Jancic described yhat the use of water was a form of extending the space through the reflection (as mentioned previously).

Jess Olivieri: An interdisciplinary artist (DRAFT)

Last nights guest speaker was Jess Olivieri; a cofounder of parachutes for ladies and practicing artist. Parachutes for ladies is an ongoing series utilising different mediums to demonstrate the investigation of the ‘effect of crowds on group behaviour’ (Rees, 2010). This 3 year project with Parachutes for Ladies similarly demonstrates how her practice sits on the juncture of live performance, this is further shown through her project on the “white horse”. Olivieri is an interdisciplinary artist whose  practice includes investigating social and cultural factors influencing how public spaces are inhabited, this is also demonstrated through her work on the “white horse project”. 

Olivieri’s presentation consisted of her describing the chronological order in which she took to complete the “white horse” project. It was through this which she talked about the 3 stages which were completed in the process of researching the “white horse”. 

Interestingly enough, she explained that she first came across the white horse in a random google search. It was through her curiosity which sparked her motivation to find out more about the origin of it. Personally, this made me feel rather flabbergasted at the thought that the project wasn’t something that arose through careful planning and prior research.

What and how did it happen (how was it presented)

-PowerPoint -Talked about one project and how it happened.

Ideas I liked:

- #colonialcrap; conversation created As a result of the White horse project. It is through this which showed me that even if I think I’m being “culturally aware” others may not think likewise. -being uncomfortable or critical about your own work