in the loop may 1: quick picks

opal vapour, jade dewi tyas tunggal, mobile states

Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal, Opal Vapour photo Paula van Beek

The Mobile States touring alliance continues to join the dots across the country adding new partners every year. First up for 2013, travelling to eight venues—north, south, east and west—is Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal’s Opal Vapour, a dance and video work made in collaboration with singer/composer Ria Soemardjo and lighting designer Paula van Beek. Opal Vapour has been developed between Australia and Indonesia and explores elements of Javanese Wayang Kulit shadow puppetry and performance rituals.
Mobile States Tour: Vitalstatistix, Adelaide, May 8-12; Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, May 15-18; Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, May 22-25; Centre of Contemporary Arts, Cairns, May 28-29; Mackay Entertainment Centre, May 31-June 1; Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, June 5-8; Canberra Street Theatre,?June 14-15; Blacktown Arts Centre,?June 19-22; http://performinglines.org.au/productions/opal-vapour/; http://opalvapour.com.au/

gemeinboeck & saunders, velonaki, ingram, artspace

Mari Velonaki, The Woman and the Snowman, 2009-present, production image courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery

As ISEA2013 draws nearer Sydneysiders might find the city increasingly overrun by robots—Artspace’s ISEA-satellite exhibition marks the advent of the invasion. Petra Gemeinboeck and Rob Saunders will literally infest the gallery walls with playfully destructive robots while New Zealand artist Simon Ingram’s robots will engage in repainting it. Mari Velonaki will take a philosophical approach exploring the concept of the ‘uncanny valley,’ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley ] pitting one of Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro humanoid robots against a snowman. (See RT111 and RT93.)
ISEA satellite exhibition, Artspace, Sydney, May 2-June 16; http://www.artspace.org.au/gallery_upcoming.php

composition to movement festival, creative practice lab, unsw

Alister Spence and Nalina Wait, Composition to Movement Festival, Creative Practice Lab, UNSW photo Paul Matthews

As part of Vivid Sydney, the Creative Practice Lab at the University of New South Wales is producing a mini-festival focusing on collaboration, in particular the relationship between dance and music. The three day event includes a key note lecture by Ross Harley (the new Dean of CoFA); a concert by the Australia Ensemble featuring a new collaboration between choreographer Sue Healey and composer John Peterson; a day of workshops in which you can watch the collaborative process in action; and a final presentation of explorations by dancer Nalina Wait with pianist Alister Spence and saxophonist Sandy Evans, and choreographer-dancer Martin del Amo with sound artists Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey.
UNSW: Creative Practice Lab, School of Arts & Media: Composition to Movement Festival, Io Myers Studio, Clancy Auditorium and various UNSW venues, Sydney, May 24-26, part of Vivid Sydney
http://sam.arts.unsw.edu.au/c2m/

eve and eve, rebecca agnew, 24hr art

Eve and Eve (video still, 2012) stop-animation courtesy the artist

In a set constructed from fruitcake and jelly (amongst other things), Rebecca Agnew has created a stop motion animation, Eve and Eve, telling the tale of two women in paradise. There is the inevitable downfall, paradise is lost and somehow a suicide bomber becomes involved. The mysteries of this painstakingly constructed work will be revealed at 24HR Art in an exhibition suite which also includes pieces by Agnieszka Golda & Martin Johnson, Mark Daniel and Gareth Jenkins. Check out Agnew’s website for some captivating images and video clips.
Eve and Eve, Rebecca Agnew, 24HR Art, Darwin, May 3; http://www.24hrart.org.au/

r&j, expressions dance company, national tour

Samantha Mitchell, Jack Ziesing, R&J, Natalie Weir/Expressions Dance Company photo Fiona Cullen

R&J is a re-interpretation of Shakespeare’s famous love story choreographed by Expressions Dance Company director Natalie Weir. After a successful premiere performance in 2011 and a South Australian outing, the show is now in the middle of an 18-venue regional tour of Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Weir approaches the tale using three stories set in different eras to convey the universality of the romantic narrative. Music is composed by John Babbage and has been recorded by Topology.
Expressions Dance Company and Queensland Performing Arts Centre: R&J, choreographer Natalie Weir; various venues; April 26-June 8; check website for venue information http://www.expressionsdancecompany.org.au/rj-tour-2013/rj-tour-2013/

living in the ruins of the 21st century, uts gallery

Buckminster Fuller’s Anne’s Taj Mahal on fire, Montreal, 20 May 1976, from Cabinet Issue 32, Fire Courtesy Cabinet

Teaming up with the über cool New York magazine Cabinet, curators Adam Jasper and Holly Williams are presenting a contemporary wunderkammer that draws “together objects from art, science and ethnography in a celebration of the profound and the mundane” (website). The exhibition includes works by over 20 Australian and international artists including Tracey Moffatt, David Haines & Joyce Hinterding, the Institute of Critical Zoologists, Jaki Middleton & David Lawrey and Alex Gawronski as well as objects on loan from The Macleay Museum, MONA and Leipzig’s Stasi Museum. The exhibition will be contextualised by a reading room of Cabinet publications claimed to be the only complete collection in Australia, offering different thematic trajectories through the exhibition.
Living in the ruins of the 21st Century, UTS Gallery, Sydney, until May 17; http://livingintheruins.net; http://www.art.uts.edu.au/gallery/current/current.html

friday nights, metro arts

Hanako, Caroline Dunphy, part of Metro Arts May Friday Nights image SYC Studios

In Brisbane, Metro Arts’ Friday Night program fully embraces the current cultural focus on audience engagement. Once a month audiences are invited to sample all the creative activities, at various stages of development, inhabiting the building. The May instalment offers a sneak peek of physical performer Caroline Dunphy’s collaboration with Shane Thompson Architects titled Hanako, “a theatrical, cinematic and sensory experience inspired by Hanjo, a modern Noh play written by Yukio Mishima” (press release); Exist’s Cold Metal, inspired by “the theatre of black Metal music” (press release) featuring Stasis Duo and Alrey Batol; and The Psychology Project, by dancer Liesel Zink and psychology researcher Rohan Kapitany (see RT109); Anastasia Booth’s exhibition Crude Tools, Feeble Actions and lots more.
Friday Night: May, Metro Arts, Brisbane, May 3; full program available here; www.metroarts.com.au

hatched & digital now, pica

Shan Turner-Carroll, Shan, from the series Primal Crown, 2012, The Doctor Harold Schenberg Art Prize winner, Hatched, PICA courtesy the artist

Photographer Shan Turner-Carroll has been announced as the winner of The Doctor Harold Schenberg Art Prize, part of PICA’s Hatched: National Graduate Show which features 37 artists from 20 art schools across Australia. As part of the public program Associate Professor Michele Wilson will present Digital Now, an illustrated lecture drawing on her research exploring “engagements with and through technologies and how these influence our understanding of ourselves, our social relations and social practices” (website).
Hatched: National Graduate Show 2013, PICA, Perth, until June 9, digital Now, May 8, http://www.pica.org.au/

natalie abbott, physical fractals, pact

Natalie Abbott, Sarah Aitken, Physical Fractals photo Ponch Hawkes

One of several impressive works by emerging choreographers in Dance Massive 2013 was Natalie Abbott’s Physical Fractals. Varia Karipoff wrote “The performance…messes with our personal sense of gravity and our concept of space” (see DM feature). Physical Fractals is particular interesting for its integration of live sound manipulated by Daniel Arnott. Sydney audiences now get a chance to experience this work at PACT Centre for Emerging Artists. Complimenting the season will be the second installment of PACT’s Saturday Sessions, an informal discussion series about experimental practice, this time focusing on "dance and daily choreographies.”
Natalie Abbott, Physical Fractals, dancers Natalie Abbott, Rebecca Jensen PACT, Erskineville, May 1-10; Saturday Session #2, May 4, 5-6.30pm; http://www.pact.net.au/2013/04/month-of-dance/

no child, nilaja sun, theatre works

Nilaja Sun, No Child photo Carol Rosegg

2012 Melbourne International Art Festival audiences appreciated US writer-performer Nilaja Sun’s No Child so much that she’s decided to do a return season, this time at Theatreworks. No Child draws on Sun’s experiences as a drama teacher in some of New York's toughest schools, “depict[ing] the battle-ground that US public education has become” (press release). You can see a promo of Sun’s super energetic and entertaining performance here.
No Child, Nilaja Sun, Theatreworks, Melbourne, May 7-26,
http://www.theatreworks.org.au/whatson/event/?id=136

shadowlife, bendigo art gallery

Fiona Foley, The Oyster Fisherman I, 2011, digital print on paper courtesy of the artist, Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane, and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne

Curated by Natalie King and Djon Mundine, Shadowlife explores the “spirit” of photography as implied by the Arnhem Land Djambarrpuyngu word “Wungguli.” It features provocative work by nine leading Australian Aboriginal artists (and one non-indigenous collaborator)—Vernon Ah Kee, Bindi Cole, Brenda L Croft, Destiny Deacon & Virginia Fraser, Fiona Foley, Gary Lee, Michael Riley, Ivan Sen and Christian Thompson. Shadowlife aims to “embrace moving image and photography with all its directness, theatricality and immediacy by confronting stereotypes and acting out scenarios” (press release). Co-presented by Asialink the exhibition will also tour internationally.
Shadowlife, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, until July 28; http://www.bendigoartgallery.com.au/Exhibitions/Current_Exhibitions/Shadowlife

uta uber kool ja, army of love, judith wright centre

Uta Uber Kool Ja photo Jeremy Drape

Experiencing the decadent pleasures of Uta and George as part of Fringe World, Astrid Francis wrote: “With dress-ups, dancing, party games and more spandex than this side of 1985 has seen, Uta celebrates the launch of her remixed single. The guests revel in the sheer hedonism that is Uta—a blend of Eddie and Pats with a touch of Marianne Faithfull” (RT114). Now Brisbane audiences are invited to the exclusive party taking place in the Judith Wright Centre’s studio apartments!
Uta Uber Kool Ja, Army of Love, Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane, May 8-18; http://judithwrightcentre.com/event/uta_uber_kool_ja

RealTime issue #114 April-May 2013 pg. web

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