An App-titude for Dependency

There’s so much I want to like about the 2012 National New Media Art Award. In terms of the brief, each artist has executed their work in diverse and intriguing ways. The notion of an exhibition featuring new technologies is appealing to masses; even the complex reasoning behind each work should be understandable to everybody on some level. And yet, despite this and despite my intense faith in the Gallery of Modern Art, the New Media Award simply doesn’t hit the mark. 

The unfortunate thing about technology, no matter how wonderful and exciting, is that it fails – it’s problematic. Nothing could drive this point home further than Kirsty Boyle’s Tree Ceremony, an apparently profound and intricate exemplar of robotics and traditional Japanese craftsmanship which had, quite conveniently, decided to break down. Though it may have only been nonoperational for the period of my visit, it left me feeling more than a little disappointed and apprehensive of what was to come. Not even the poignant explanation of Boyle’s unique training in the Japanese doll-making technique Karakuri Ningyo could amend the malfunction. Without movement, Boyle’s work lost all sense of her exploration of the “cultural and societal aspects of robotics” (QAG/GoMA, 2012), becoming little more than a pretty toy next to bonsai. Despite this initial frustration, I steeled my mind back into an open state, ready for whatever the Award had to throw at me. George Poonkhin Khut’s winning piece Distillery: Waveforming was next in line.

Initially created as a tool for relaxation to help children undergoing intense medical treatment, Poonkhin Khut’s work certainly represents innovation and ground-breaking technology. Distillery: Waveforming consists of a custom program designed to read a person’s heart rate and produce a biofeedback of the information in a visual form. The stools provided for interaction with the work were all filled, several visitors entranced by the rotating colours and patterns displayed. I was almost mesmerised myself until my eyes trailed downwards and met with what was, unmistakably, an iPad. Unfortunately for Poonkhin Khut, the programming of Distillery: Waveforming into an iPad application demolished any sense of serenity and appreciation I originally felt for the piece. There’s something about it that disconcerts me and leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The inclusion of the iPad serves only to remind me of the incessant commercialisation and dependency on technology wreaking havoc on Western society. Distillery: Waveforming is, ultimately, nothing more than an advertisement serving to further a corporation already harvesting millions of dollars per year, and a firm encouragement of the current societal mentality that every menial task in life can be realized through the use of a digital device, or the statement ‘there’s an app for that’. The dependency on these products is frightening – and in terms of Poonkhin Khut’s convenient reasoning behind his winning work – it is my belief that children should be learning mental relaxation techniques that can be used anywhere, anytime without any reliance on technology which may or may not malfunction. 

Entering the main exhibition space I was immediately confronted by an unremitting discordance of music and sound. A moment of composure later I moved to admire Ian Haig’s Some Thing. The sculptural representation of internal organs, sinew and tissue – all mingled together in a familiar yet alien form – is visually interesting, tangible and enticing, yet, above all, utterly confusing. Why was it in an exhibition regarding New Media and technology? It was then I realised Some Thing has an accompanying soundtrack and intermittent robotics which cause the sculpture to appear alive.  Despite my best attempts I couldn’t hear a single guttural sound of Haig’s audio track due to unidentifiable noise emanating from other works. Furthermore, I found the almost non-existent movement of the piece distracting and unnecessary. However, without the robotics and sound, would Haig’s piece even qualify as a work of New Media? 

Passing by a wall I didn’t realise was an artwork, containing apparently intelligent robots that appear to do little more than poke holes through plaster and look at people, I was next apprehended by Ross Manning’s installation of power cords, plugs and coloured fluorescent lights. Memories of high school physics lessons came to mind as I read Manning’s statement. His installation, part of a series titled Spectra, deals with additive colour mixing – which “is at the centre of digital image reproduction, employed in all camera, screen and projection based technologies, as well as film-based colour photography” (QAG/GoMA, 2012) (Not exactly new media, but let’s not digress). I had to squint in order to prevent blindness as somebody beside me uttered “Ohh, that’s cool!” It was cool, it was sort of pretty, but it also hurt my eyes so I moved on to the only non-audio/visual piece of the entire show, Leah Heiss’s Polarity. 

I attempted to focus on the subtlety of Leah Heiss’s Polarity but was bombarded by competing noises from Karen Casey’s Dream Zone and Robin Fox’s CRT: h’ommage to Léon Theremin. Fox’s work – though an impressive display of Theremin technology – is an audio nightmare for unsuspecting viewers both outside and in. Heiss explores “the connection between art, design and science” (QAG/GoMA, 2012) through the use of nanotechnology. Polarity’s soft undulating movement may very well have been hypnotising in any other circumstance, examining, as Heiss intended, the “relationship between person and artefact” (QAG/GoMA, 2012). However, with discordance assaulting my senses from every direction, I soon lost interest and moved on.

Disappointingly, the exhibition on a whole is a cacophony of noise, light and sound which only serves to dampen the effect of individual pieces. In order for a group show exploring new media technologies to be successful, the curating must be flawless. Unfortunately, given the space the Award was assigned, this was quite impossible. One wonders whether or not this was due to a lack of faith in the exhibition. If not, perhaps next year’s New Media Art Award will answer the problems of this year’s. Somehow, I doubt it – though I wait in hope that I’ll be proven wrong.

The New Media Art Award runs from the 3^rd August to the 4^th November at the Gallery of Modern Art – admission is free. Visit at your peril.

Lauren Ryan

 

QAG/GoMA 2012, Kirsty Boyle, viewed 26 September 2012, <http://qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/national_new_media_art_award_2012/artists/kirsty_boyle>

QAG/GoMA 2012, Ross Manning, viewed 26 September 2012, <http://qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/national_new_media_art_award_2012/artists/ross_manning>

QAG/GoMA 2012, Leah Heiss, viewed 26 September 2012, <http://qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/national_new_media_art_award_2012/artists/leah_heiss>

Delight in Diversity

It has certainly been a grand year for the Churchie Emerging Art Exhibition, with 2012 marking not only the 25th year of the prestigious prize, but also aligning with the founding school’s 100^th anniversary.  The Churchie stands as one of the longest running prizes of its kind in Australia and, with $15, 000 up for grabs, this year’s finalists haven’t pulled any stops. The exhibition, on display at Griffith University Art Gallery (GUAG), provides a holistic and thought-provoking glimpse into the ever evolving Australian contemporary art scene – through the eyes of our young emerging artists. A pleasing diversity of mediums, styles and approaches make for an engaging display. Courtney Coombs’ stimulating Speak Up captures the viewer upon entrance to the exhibition, displaying a question of eternal open-endedness, “What do you want from me?”, on a lurid vinyl banner.  Coombs’ work stirs a certain discomfort, mingled with empathy, within – before all sense is arrested by the inescapable bombardment that is Heath Franco’s Your Door.

                                 Courtney Coombs, 'Speak Up', Mixed Media Installation.

 Franco’s gaudy yet mesmerising video installation proves deserving as the winner of this year’s Churchie prize. The repetitive, insistent audio track is the first element one notices, drawing the viewer into a psychotic world of Franco’s devising. Themes often considered banal and commonplace are stretched beyond the viewer’s imagination through the outlet of a suburban home. Garish colours and recurrent phrases shift the normality of suburbia into an otherworld – guiding the viewer to consider what really occurs behind closed doors. Entrancing and estranging at the same time, Your Door is a kaleidoscopic adventure through a world of obscurity and familiarity. Franco’s piece clearly sets the standard for the remainder of the exhibition, which proves as rewarding as previous years – a result of the fine quality and diversity of the entrants, as well as the keen eye of GUAG Director Simon Wright.

Next in view is Alison Hill’s spirited and thoroughly dominating painting The Aardvark in the Room. Hill’s work conveys quaint domesticity and is of a more traditional composition, yet throws the viewer a curveball with the absurd inclusion of the relatively plaintive anteater.  Hill delicately provokes contemplation of the nature of conventional thought – subtly hinted through her twist on the proverbial elephant. The Aardvark in the Room segues nicely from Franco’s abstract video installation into a flowing exemplar of the exhibition’s sheer diversity. There are two sculptural pieces to observe, the eerie A Shine for Algernon: Instance #2 by Svenja Kratz and Nathan Corum’s The Sixth Threshold, before one is consumed by the exquisite drawings of Robbie Karmel and High Commendation winner Sam Cranstoun. Executed with precision, Karmel’s series of four free flowing portraits is an impressive display of ambidexterity, where Cranstoun’s Coronation (in two parts), presents a playful and humorous insight into the relational tensions between high and low culture. Within the context of the Churchie Prize, where so often new media technologies are referenced, it is refreshing to see young artists exploring the inherent beauty within fine graphite work.

                                 Alison Hill, 'The Aardvark in the Room', Oil on Plywood.

 

A series of abstract paintings the likes of Adam Lee’s Strange Fire and Dord Burrough’s dissonant Your own imaginary death lead the viewer into the cleverly positioned audio-visual section of the exhibition, featuring Ray Harris’, Liam O’Brian’s and Claire Robertson’s respective video installations – each working interdependently. Particular mention must be made to the adjacent piece by Brown Council. The group deliver again, in a similar fashion to their recent work Performance Fee displayed the Gallery of Modern Art, with their video installation Remembering Barbara Cleveland: Act 1. Cleveland, a late Australian performance artist, is paid homage through the re-enactment of an original text. Brown Council explore the very nature of performance and existence itself – offering provoking statements which make hyperaware the viewer of his or her own body and existence.

The placement of Kenzee Patterson’s Macarthur Square, a cast Styrofoam box, between O’Brian’s and Robertson’s video pieces creates a humorous dialogue amidst the works. One can almost believe that Patterson’s sculpture consists of the packaging of a misplaced television screen. This sense of humour is carried on through the untitled works entered by Greatest Hits, and finally Bob Singh’s intriguing sculptural entry I should have asked for a stunt double. Singh, who takes the famous final words of celebrity personalities and has them transformed into a material object, challenges the notion of ephemerality of the spoken word. 

Wright has presented a commendable show, conquering the task of curating a group exhibition with expert precision. A balance of sound and light provides comfortable viewing of each finalist’s piece, while still maintaining a sense of fluidity and unity. The inclusion of didactic essays offers invaluable insight into the mindset of these young emerging artists, allowing the viewer to feel connected and informed.

The 25^th Churchie Emerging Art Exhibition will be open at Griffith University Art Gallery until 8 September 2012, Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 4pm. Don’t miss this insightful glimpse into the future of the Australian art scene.

Lauren Ryan