online e-dition july 3

in the loop – july 3

realtime's advance word

Dara Gill Untitled (Survey with stones) 2011

safARI

SafARI is dedicated to presenting the work of emerging and unrepresented artists and has been the unofficial fringe event of the Biennale of Sydney since 2004. This year’s manifestation, under the guiding hands of Danielle Robson and Nina Stromqvist, lives up to its name with a range of activities that ask the viewer to be venturesome in their pursuit of art. The annual walk (the safari) around the various spaces took place on June 23, and the weekend of June 30 saw Bus Projects’ mobile performance space roaming around the inner city. However tracking down the main exhibition venues (open until July 15) also requires a sense of adventure.

ALASKA projects is an ARI that is currently inhabiting an undercover car park in Kings Cross. The artists exhibiting are: Chris Bennie presenting an intimate study of the car park in his local Brisbane shopping mall; Dara Gill who is exploring anxiety through handmade instruments inspired by medieval tools intended to recreate the sounds of hell; and Drew Pettifer whose video work explores sexuality and human connection. Pettifer’s provocative paste-ups are also dotted around the city focusing on the history of gay activism.

Drew Pettifer Untitled (Billboard #1) 2012

safARI has also teamed up with the Rocks Pop Up Project to use several of their spaces. At 13 Cambridge Street you’ll find Kurt Sorensen’s photographic portraits of people now living who are thought to be related to characters from the The Rocks circa 1850; and Julia Henderson’s site specific assemblages drawing on “architectural elements, imperfections and found objects” (press release). At 75 1/2 George Street you might discover Tega Brain’s interactive odorific art; or chat with Jodie Whalen who has undertaken the daunting task of living in the gallery for the duration of the exhibition. Here you’ll also find sound artist Julian Day’s keyboard installation exploring the eternal music of the drone. (See coverage of Day & Luke Jaaniste’s Super Critical Mass as part of Aurora.)

But if you can’t make it to the physical locations you can always check out the ‘studio visit’ video interviews with all 16 artists on the safARI website.
safARI, directors Danielle Robson and Nina Stromqvist, artists Clark Beaumont, Chris Bennie, Tega Brain, Julian Day, Dara Gill, Julie Henderson, Julia Holden, Huw Lewis, Daniel McKewen, Rachel Park, Drew Pettifer, Kurt Sorensen, Adele Varcoe, Jodie Whalen and Elizabeth Willing; various venues, June 22-July 15, http://safari.org.au/

the reginald 2012 program

Rachelle Hickson, Kiruna Stamell, Benjamin Hancock, James Berlyn & Nalina Wait, Sue Healey's Variant photo Heidrun Löhr

In 2011 the downstairs theatre at the Seymour Centre in Sydney was rebranded The Reginald. (Luckily philanthropist Everest Reginald York Seymour, after whom the whole centre and the two main theatres are named, had one middle name remaining!) With the rebranding came a re-invigoration of the program and the 2011 season was well received. Recently Tim Jones, Seymour Centre Artistic Director, has announced the 2012 program which will feature five quite different works over the next five months.

The season starts with choreographer Sue Healey’s latest piece Variant continues her exploration of the diversity of the human form. (See RealTimeDance for a full profile of Healey’s works.) During the Sydney Fringe, The Reginald will host Damian Callinan’s comedy The Merger, telling the tale of a country football coach who recruits local asylum seekers to make up player numbers. October sees director Kate Gaul take on the music theatre work Myths and Hymns by Tony Award winner Adam Guettel, described as “jazz meets opera meets gospel meets R&B meets music comedy and beyond” (website). Deborah Thomson’s My Private Parts: An Inside View of Fertilisation—a hit at last year’s Sydney Fringe—is a satirical musical work about the IVF experience. The season ends on a slightly darker note with Peter Grahan and Adelaide group five.point.one’s presentation of Daniel Keene’s The Share, in which street kids Sugar and Tex plan a heist of the local drug dealer, which, as you might imagine, can only end badly.
Reginald Season, The Seymour Centre, July-Dec, http://sydney.edu.au/seymour/

the reef, tura new music & aco

The Reef is a unique project that sees the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Tura New Music team up to present a national tour from Darwin to Perth through the Kimberley, Pilbara, Gascoyne and Mid West regions of Western Australia, ending at Sydney Opera House. The centrepiece of the program is a work for strings, didgeridoo and slide guitar composed by Iain Grandage in collaboration with Indigenous musician Mark Atkins and the ACO's Richard Tognetti. It also features a film by Jon Frank and Mick Sowry with surfing legend Derek Hynd. The work was devised during a residency at Gnaraloo in the Gascoyne region and is said to take inspiration from the Ningaloo coast while “simultaneously exploring the interconnectedness of pure surfing and music” (website). Other works in the concert, performed by the compact ACO2 ensemble, will include George Crumb’s Black Angels as well as songs by Broome’s Steve Pigrum arranged by Graindage.
The Reef, Darwin July 5, Kununurra July 7, Broome July 11, Port Hedland July 12, Carnavon July 14, Geraldton July 15, Perth July 18, Sydney July 23; for more info http://reeftour.tura.com.au/

opportunities

ian potter moving image commission with acmi

The Ian Potter Trust and ACMI have developed a significant partnership to commission major moving image-based artworks. The project will commission one work every year for 10 years from mid-career Australian artists and is valued at $100,000 per annum. The works will be presented at ACMI and become part of the Ian Potter Collection. Selected works may also become part of the ACMI collection to sit alongside those of major international artists such as Mona Hatoum, Bill Viola and Tony Oursler. The commissions will be selected from an open call to mid-career Australian artists living here or overseas. More details will be announced in late July. http://www.ianpotterculturaltrust.org.au/

qut digital asscociates program

The Block, QUT

QUT Creative Industries Precinct is offering media artists the opportunity to research and develop work for exhibition at The Block, an exhibition space tailored to the digital arts. There are two exhibition packages to choose from which include subsidised access to The Block along with curatorial and technical support involving R&D sessions with QUT staff. The first round of applications closes July 15, with a second round due Feb 1, 2013. www.ciprecinct.qut.edu.au/dap

congratulations

Adelaide artist Jason Sweeney has been named as one of the five winners of the TED City2.0 awards. Sweeney’s Stereopublic project seeks to use crowd sourcing technologies to create maps of quiet spaces in urban environments. Sweeney hopes this will increase the “sonic health” of our cities, particularly for the “recluses” and those with “disabilities, like autism and schizophrenia, who crave less sensory stimuli” (website). Sweeney will be using the $10,000 prize money along with a Creative Australia grant to complete the project, collaborating with Martin Potter, Nick Crowther, Amy Milhinch and the programming/design team at Freerange Future. The outcome will be an online space for web and mobile devices where participants can build up a database, via geo location, of favourite quiet spaces. http://www.thecity2.org/stories/41

RealTime issue #109 June-July 2012 pg. web

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