Two video artists William Mansfield and William Lamson whose recent works pay homage to the 'poetics of the banal' and the history of durational practice.
In Audrey Lams Under Development (2007), two detectives investigating a murder seek answers in an ominous, half-built structure. Close attention to the lush, inky compositions reveals the frozen temporality of a Brisbane landmark: the film records the historic erection of the Gallery of Modern Art.
Using the work of two current Antipodean artists, Amy-Jo Jory and David Pledger, Melbourne-based Kate Sandford explores the place of suburbia in our consciousness and the way that even though real suburbia has changed, some representations of it have stayed the same.
An edited version of a lecture by Laurence Simmons, Associate Professor in the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies at the University of Auckland, given in association with Daniel Crooks' exhibition everywhere instantly curated by Justin Paton at the Christchurch Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu in 2008. Simmons links Crooks' work to Walter Benjamin's Angel of History and the experiments of Etienne-Jules Marey, the inventor of chronophotography.
In this article Djon Mundine poses a prolific and detailed insight into the world of art in relation to what art is, how can it be judged and as a re-occurring theme, the alleged honesty in contemporary art. Mundine predominately focuses on Aboriginal art and the political, ethical and criterial implications modern society imposes on it. That is to say what can be deemed an honest work of art that expresses the artists intentions but also allows the artwork to speak for itself. Mundine talks about indigenous artwork and how it was viewed by the original colinisers of Australia. Particularly how the colinisers set down criteria towards what a valuable artwork was. Further elaborating on competitions whereby artworks are judged in accordance to rules that pose more questions in relation to what an honest or pure artwork is. Mundine cites several quotations that portray interesting examples that reinforce his argument towards modern day criticism and objectivity. The final message being to what extent can any one person be declared appropriated to criticising artwork and judging its authenticity, quality and honesty. Mundine states that we should only hope for honesty in today's artwork irrespective of its outside marketed criticism. All in all Mundine presents the reader with an insightful article that will leave you questioning the integrity of today's critical approach to fine art.
Melentie Pandilovski's article is adapted from a paper he gave at the ISEA conference in Singapore in 2008. He writes about interactions between the arts, science and technology through looking at the work of British artist Lei Cox's work Teleportation Experiment.
Life. Death. Thereafter was at Silvershot Gallery in Melbourne from 16 September 29 November 2008. Melbourne-based curator Mark Feary produced a relatively new exhibition model, three separate, distinct, but thematically entwined shows, running end to end for eighteen days each showing the work of Kate Just, Steve Carr, Patricia Piccinini, Paolo Canevari, Rob McLeish, Ronnie van Hout, Jesper Just, Jason Greig, Sally Blenheim and Blair Trethowan.