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Exhibition Gallery GuideExperimenta Under the Radar16 June - 28 August 2006 INTRODUCTIONby Marta Ruperez, Curator (New Media) FACT is proud to celebrate Experimenta's 20 years by hosting their largest media arts show outside Australia. Thanks to the capacity of media art to cross geographic boundaries, UK audiences have the opportunity to delve into the minds of artists based on the other side of the world. Experimenta Media Arts is Australia's leading contemporary arts organisation dedicated to commissioning, exhibiting and promoting media art in a way that is engaging and accessible. Since its inception in 1986, Experimenta has developed a worldwide reputation for fostering creativity that extends the aesthetic and conceptual potential of new art forms, and its exhibitions have been the launching pad for many Australian contemporary artists. Experimenta Under the Radar presents a selection of the best contemporary Australian new media from the Experimenta House of Tomorrow and Experimenta Vanishing Point exhibitions. All the works on display represent a moment of maturity in the use of these new technology tools; like traditional brushes and colours in painting, they are the instruments with which artists communicate a great variety of thoughts. Experimenta's history holds an astonishing resemblance to FACT's: an agency dedicated to the commission of artist's film and video that presents a biennial festival for the celebration of these and other works. The advancement of technology, together with the growing popularity, understanding and access to these new tools, offered artists unlimited new possibilities of discovery, play and communication. These new art forms find support in organizations like FACT and Experimenta. Through their imaginative exhibitions, inspiring critical thought and engaging programming, both organizations have become channels through which these new creations are communicated for the amazement and delight of audiences across the globe. GALLERY 1Expecting
Van Sowerwine, Isobel Knowles and Liam Fennessy The artists' stop-motion animations, interactive installations and photographs are characterised by their dark approach to childhood. The interactivity in Expecting occurs through a teddy bear. By squeezing the bear, visitors cause Charlotte to give birth to a tiny child on screen. The users' good intentions inexorably lead to an uneasy situation. Cross-Reference Craig Walsh Walsh's hyper-real interventions alter our surroundings, integrating elements from our fantasies and nightmares. In Cross-Reference, gigantic faces look in at the 'shrunken' viewers in Gallery 1. The footage for this projection was filmed using a miniature camera hidden inside a model of a building into which people would peer. The Shy Picture Narinda Reeders and David MacLeod Multimedia, performance and audience psychology are at the heart of The Shy Picture. Using motion-sensing software, the characters in this 'family' portrait flee when looked at. Reeders and MacLeod present a new take on the subject of voyeurism and the relation between the work and its audience. Train No. 8 Daniel Crooks In Train No. 8, Daniel Crooks uses his signature 'timeslice' technique to offer an unexpected ride through a London urban landscape. In his experiments, Crooks will divide digital footage into segments of time; when reconstructed the segments offer a distorted version of reality where time, space and motion appear on the same plane. ZiZi the Afffectionate Couch Stephen Barras, Linda Davy and Kerry Richens ZiZi is a charming but, peculiar-looking, furry sofa that reacts to users' presence in unexpected ways. As in Op Shop, in Gallery 2, the artists seek to develop very immediate and intuitive interfaces that will eventually be integrated into our everyday household environments. Pataphysical Man Shaun Gladwell In his video pieces Shaun Gladwell offers hypnotising renderings of certain human figures: skateboarders, rollerbladers, bike riders, breakdancers, etc. With the possibilities offered by digital video - here inversion and slow motion - the artist analyses the position of these bodies in nature, their relation with the elements and the effect of physics and gravity on them. Similar historical endeavours to understand the symmetry and harmony of the human body and its place in the world can be seen in the theories of Leonardo Da Vinci and Le Corbusier. The title of the work however, refers to the science of the absurd.* Technology is used to render nonsensical an image of perfection in nature. * At the end of the XIXth Century, Alfred Jarry defined Pataphysics as ³the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments: in Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, II, viii. GALLERY 2Dislocation
Alex Davies Reality and perception are also altered and challenged by Alex Davies. Looking into any of the portals visitors will encounter a closed-circuit image of themselves in the gallery. Pre-recorded footage is then superimposed onto this real time experience. The visitor will see himself surrounded by people and events that happened at another moment in time. Again technology defies space-time continuum and what we've learnt about the laws of nature House II: The Great Artesian Basin, Pennsylvania, USA 2003 David Haines and Joyce Hinterding In this 'video painting' Haines and Hinterding juxtapose opposing concepts to unsettle the viewer in a similar way to Surrealism. A solid house, symbol of permanence and firmness, becomes the source of a continuous flow, threatening any pre-conceptions of safety and stability. Op Shop Stephen Barrass In this interactive environment audiences use their voices and sounds to make projected objects fall and shatter; as the noise from the audience increases, so does the installation's reaction. Op Shop (the Australian name for a junk shop) enables the visitor to communicate with the virtual realm, without a keyboard or a mouse. MEDIA LOUNGEVirsual - The Digital Rocking Horse
Steven Mieszelewicz, Nimrod Weis and Asaf Weis (ENESS) Virsual is the ultimate gaming interface; it acts as a bridge between the physical world of the player and the virtual environment of the game. Motion sensors activate the 3D landscapes that the user can ride through. ENESS are specialists in the design of user interfaces, multimedia production and gaming. Panopticon Tan Teck Weng Panopticon gives the user the illusion of manipulating a remote environment that is controlled by surveillance cameras. WengÕs experience with user interfaces and gaming leads him to analyse audience's behaviour in a technology and power driven world. Credits:
GALLERY 1 - Ground Floor
Expecting 2003* Van Sowerwine, Isobel Knowles and Liam Fennessy Cross-Reference 2004 Craig Walsh The Shy Picture 2005* Narinda Reeders and David MacLeod Train No. 8 2005* Daniel Crooks ZiZi the Afffectionate Couch 2003 Stephen Barrass, Linda Davy and Kerry Richens Pataphysical Man 2005* Shaun Gladwell Courtesy of the artist and Sherman Galleries, Sydney GALLERY 2 - 1st Floor Dislocation 2005* Alex Davies Op Shop 1999-2002 Stephen Barrass MEDIA LOUNGE - Ground Floor Virsual - The Digital Rocking Horse 2003* Steven Mieszelewicz, Nimrod Weis and Asaf Weis (ENESS) Panopticon 2002 Tan Teck Weng All works courtesy of the artist, except otherwise stated *An Experimenta New Visions Commission Undergrowth - Australian Arts UK 2006 is an initiative of the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the Australian International Cultural Council, an initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This project is a two-year Australian contemporary arts promotion program in the United Kingdom in 2005 and 2006.
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RELATED EVENTS:
Saturday Workshop for young people (14 - 17 year olds)
Saturday 17 June 1.00pm - 4.00pm Event information In Conversation with Experimenta Wednesday 14 June 6.30pm - 8.30pm Event information Artist's Choice Films Sleeper (PG) Thursday 20 July The Jetsons (PG) Monday 07 and Tuesday 08 August FREE Group Tours FACT offers FREE group tours of exhibitions and the building. Tours must be booked in advance. Please contact Laura Yates
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