PICA Guide August–December 2016
AUGUST – DECEMBER
Contents 2-3
Radical Ecologies
12-13
31 July – 4 September
Project Xan jedda Productions 8 – 19 November
4-5
Trigger Warning Steamworks Arts
14-15
19 & 20 August
When Happiness Ruled Pip & Pop 12 November – 24 December
6-7
The Curtain Breathed Deeply Justene Williams
16-21
Artists in Residence
22-23
Spark_Lab Learning Program
17 September – 30 October
24-25
Support PICA
New Owner The Last Great Hunt
26-27
Accessibility
28
PICA Thanks
17 September – 30 October
8-9
10-11
Be Polite Gordon Bennett
1 – 16 October
Photo: Toni Wilkinson
1
EXHIBITION
Radical Ecologies 31 July – 4 September Central Galleries & Screen Space 10am – 5pm, Tues – Sun FREE Sensorial and highly experimental, Radical Ecologies is an exhibition that asks us to question our complex relationships with our own bodies, each other and the natural world. You are invited to decipher a romance novel rewritten by termites, lay down with bees, locate a complex olfactory landscape and listen to whispered ecosexual confessions. Featuring new work by Western Australian artists practicing at the sharpest edge of contemporary practice, Radical Ecologies acknowledges our continued environmental dystopia and in response offers a range of therapeutic experiences Artists: Matt Aitken & Noel Nannup, Nathan Beard, Mike Bianco, Tim Burns, The ‘Cene, Andrew Christie, Cat Jones, Rose Megirian, Rebecca Orchard, Peter & Molly, Perdita Phillips, Pony Express, Mei Saraswati, Stelarc, and Katie West. – PICA Salon Vernissage 2016 Radical Ecologies launches at the PICA Salon Vernissage, the flagship event for PICA’s award-winning donor program, on Saturday 30 July. An art, design and planet lover’s dream, the Vernissage features a truly avant-garde line up of artistic, environmental, olfactory, sonic and culinary encounters. To attend see pica.org.au or contact Development Manager Jo Malone: philanthropy@pica.org.au or 9228 6306
AUDIO DESCRIBED TOUR Saturday 20 August, 11am See page 32 for details
Pony Express, Ecoporn Pinup, 2016. Photo: Matt Sav
A Nocturnal Affair Friday 5 August, 5 – 9pm Explore Radical Ecologies after dark with special live performances! FREE Event
3
PERFORMANCE
Photo: Gibson Nolte
Trigger Warning Steamworks Arts
Presented by PICA and Performing Lines WA
Fri 19 & Sat 20 August, 8pm PICA Performance Space Duration: 60 mins FREE Pre-show talk Sat 20 August, 6pm Part noise concert, part improvised performance, Trigger Warning is a fearless new sonic study into the mind and body of a woman who survived the horrors of war. In a world defined by our obsession with security and terrorism, why do we turn a blind eye to the 65 million displaced people in the world who seek our protection? Fuelled with unpredictability and raw energy, this live and loud encounter written and directed by Sally Richardson brings together renowned performer Hayley McElhinney (The Babadook, Sydney Theatre Company’s War of the Roses, Mother Courage and her Children) with composer and new music pioneer Dr Cat Hope, and Lighting Designer Joe Lui. Trigger Warning is an experience that demands to be seen and heard. Suitable for ages 15+ Writer/Director: Sally Richardson Composer/Sound Artist: Cat Hope Performer: Hayley McElhinney Lighting Designer/Mixing: Joe Lui Dramaturg: Francesca Smith Movement Director: Laura Boynes Produced by: Performing Lines WA
TICKETS Full: $30 Member: $25 Concession: $20 BOOKINGS: pica.org.au / 9228 6300 or in person at PICA reception 5
EXHIBITION
The Curtain Breathed Deeply Justene Williams
17 September – 30 October Opening Friday 16 September, 6.30pm Central Galleries 10am – 5pm, Tues – Sun FREE The Curtain Breathed Deeply presents an immersive collection of video and sculptural work by artist Justene Williams. This, Williams largest and most ambitious undertaking to date sees the artist use found objects and waste materials to create dazzling theatrical environments, seducing visitors through a variety of hypnotizing sets and ‘performative’ video installations. Williams takes inspiration from many sources including memories of her father’s wrecking yard, her childhood training in dance and her experiences constructing elaborate retail window displays as well as early twentieth century avant-garde art and theatre, and contemporary pop culture. Williams blends ritualistic references from Shamanism, Voodoo and Modernist primitivism with art historical giants — Picasso, Leger, Klein, Flavin and Kahlo — and a range of pop culture influences including hip hop, Milli Vanilli and A Chorus Line. An Artspace exhibition toured by Museums & Galleries of NSW Justene Williams, The Joy of Life After Matisse/Madonna/Marcel, 2014. Courtesy the artist and Sarah Cottier Gallery.
7
EXHIBITION
Be Polite
Gordon Bennett 17 September – 30 October Opening Friday 16 September, 6.30pm West End Gallery 10am – 5pm, Tues – Sun FREE Be Polite is an exhibition of largely unseen works on paper by one of Australia’s most visionary and critical artists, Gordon Bennett (1955–2014). On tour from the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane, this curated selection of Bennett’s works on paper comprises drawing, painting, watercolour, poetry, and essays from the early 1990s through to the early 2000s. Though rarely seen in exhibition contexts, Bennett’s drawing and script form the foundation of his practice. Paper is the site where imagery, words, and ideas often found their first expression before being combined into the large-scale conceptual paintings for which Bennett is known. Despite their relatively small scale, works in Be Polite embrace rich layers of Western and Australian Indigenous art history and contemporary politics, an approach Bennett played a leading role in developing throughout the 1980s and continued to explore in his successful career. Gordon Bennett: Be Polite has been produced by the IMA and curated by Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh. The accompanying catalogue is co-published by the IMA and Sternberg Press. Gordon Bennett, Study for Possession Island, 1991. Oil, acrylic and gouache on illustration board, 65 x 100cm. Collection: Wavell State High School, Brisbane. Photography: John O’Brien. © The Estate of Gordon Bennett.
9
PERFORMANCE
New Owner
The Last Great Hunt Presented by PICA and the 2016 AWESOME Festival
1 – 16 October PICA Performance Space Duration: 60 mins Days & times vary, see pica.org.au From the creators of international smash hits The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer and It’s Dark Outside comes a sensitive new show about loss and friendship, told through a dog’s eyes. Bernie is a boisterous puppy waiting to be chosen from the animal shelter. Mabel is a lonely widow, trying to fill the hole in her heart. The day they find each other is the beginning of a profound friendship - but Mabel is old, and Bernie is young – and suddenly alone. In their trademark style of puppetry and animation, New Owner takes us on a heartbreakingly joyful adventure into the world of a dog. Suitable for ages 7+ Creator/Performers: Tim Watts, Arielle Gray
TICKETS: Standard: $15 Family of four: $52 Groups (8+): $12 BOOKINGS: pica.org.au / 9228 6300 or in person at PICA reception
Photo: Igaki Photo Studio
11
PERFORMANCE
Project Xan
jedda Productions Presented by PICA and jedda Productions
8 – 19 November, 7:30pm PICA Performance Space Duration: 70 mins Matinees: Friday 11 & Wednesday 16 November, 11am and Saturday 19 November, 1pm ‘she was behaving like a slut…’ Set in a rink-side courtroom, and oscillating between now and 1981, Project Xan examines the events of one dark night that changed a young girl’s life forever. With Xan Fraser’s story at its heart, this riveting work interrogates the perilous injustices behind rape culture and victim blaming. Featuring Xan herself on stage, Project Xan is a powerful performance documentary: a potent mosaic of live action, courtroom transcript, news articles, vox-pop and personal testimony, all set to a pulsating score. Suitable for ages 15+ Ensemble: Hellie Turner, Xan Fraser, Siobhan Dow-Hall, Marko Jovanovic, Daisy Coyle Consultant/Dramaturg: Dr David Williams Producer: Shane Colquhoun Composer/Sound: Ash Gibson Greig Lighting Design: Chris Donnelly AV Design/Construction: Nancy Jones (Bluemoon Productions) Design Coordinator: Tessa Darcey Design Consultant: Lawrie Cullen-Tait
TICKETS: Standard: $30 Concession: $20 Members: $25 Schools: $15 BOOKINGS: pica.org.au / 9228 6300 or in person at PICA reception
13
EXHIBITION
When Happiness Ruled Pip & Pop 12 November – 24 December Opening Friday 11 November, 6.30pm Central Galleries 10am – 5pm, Tues – Sun FREE Pip & Pop is obsessed with representations of paradise, illusion and wish-fulfilment described in folk tales, mythologies and cinema. Her wonderfully immersive and colour-saturated dreamscapes draw wide inspiration from the edible fantasy world of Cockaigne, platform video games and Japanese stories of spirits residing within objects and nature. This is a long-awaited hometown solo exhibition for Pip & Pop, a Perth artist whose pleasure aesthetic has charged imaginations nationally and internationally for over a decade. Installed within the Central Galleries, this expansive body of work utilises the artist’s first time forays into kinetic sculpture. The result is a magically animated and kaleidoscopic landscape in which mountains can move and objects become possessed.
Pip & Pop, Rainbow Dream, 2016. Photo: Ones Production
15
Artists in Residence
2 August – 4 September Open studio night: Tuesday 23 August
David Atwood, Don’t leave stones unturned (detail), 2016. Photo courtesy the artist.
Lia McKnight, Filament, (detail) 2016. Photo courtesy the artist.
David Attwood (WA)
Lia McKnight (WA)
David Attwood is a Perth based artist interested in the creative potential of irreverence. During his PICA residency he will take the process of consecration as a starting point for the development of new work. Through his use of the readymade and references to the history of conceptual art, Attwood will look at the potential of consecration to critique notions of skill and labour within contemporary art practice.
Expanding on a new direction in her practice, Perth based artist Lia McKnight delves into the intriguing space between waking and dreaming exploring domestic spaces and the subconscious. Evocations of the bedroom as a site of sleep, love, loss and the erotic are investigated in this body of work. During her PICA residency notions of ritual, intimacy and the uncanny will be articulated through sculpture, drawing, textiles and installation.
Kimberley Pace (WA) Kimberley Pace investigates the in-between conditions of the corporeal body. The Perth based artist employs a multidisciplinary studio approach involving garment, object, body, performance and sound.
Above and Page Right: Kimberley Pace, Ooze (details), 2016. Photo: Danielle Fusco.
Finding that the body is unfixed, permeable and penetrable, Pace will use her residency to explore how the viewer’s gaze contributes to these ambiguous thresholds of the body. She asks, how do the indefinable margins of the body simultaneously entice and repel us?
17
Artists in Residence
20 September – 30 October Open studio night: Tuesday 18 October
Above: Amy Perejuan-Capone, The Reykjavik Collection, 2014. Photo: Dean Turner. Page Right: Amy Perejuan-Capone, Skogafoss, 2015.
Melanie Jane Taylor, The Most Picturesque Scene That I Could Find (Tree tops covered with parasitic plants, sunset, Italy), 2013.
Amy Perejuan-Capone (Horse on Toast) (WA)
Melanie Jane Taylor (VIC) All The Gardens I Could Find
This residency will see Perth artist and designer Amy Perejuan-Capone examine the ‘cabinet’ from the point of view of the ‘Wunderkammer’ (cabinet of curiosities or ‘memory theatre’) and how this relates to the power and agency of objects. Interested in exploring how this is relevant to the spectrum between hoarding and collecting, her project will produce a wunderkammer that is the result of her prolonged engagement with museum spaces, PICA, personal collections/ hoards, trade-shows, trainspotters, and Fremantle Harbour with the intention of provoking a kind of object-empathy in the audience.
During her residency at PICA, Melanie will concentrate on developing a comprehensive cataloguing system for all the material in her personal photographic archive related to gardens. Drawing on photographs that depict a wide range of historical and contemporary gardens worldwide, she will consider the slippages between traditional classification systems and subjective, intuitive interpretations. Guiding this process are the central questions ‘how do we manage the endless quantity of images?’ and ‘how does the archiving process create meaning from the disorder?’
Welcome Collective (WA)
Welcome Collective, Tea Vessel Series; Blackened Vessel on Pedestal, 2015. Photo courtesy the artist.
Through the manipulation of found video footage and the creation of concrete structures The Welcome Collective (Aaron Prior and Hannah Purvey-Tyrer) will rebuild failed utopian monuments. Beginning with the billowing dust and concrete rubble left behind after a building’s ruination, The Welcome Collective explores concrete’s brutal aesthetic and iconic significance in both wholeness and destruction.
19
Artists in Residence
15 November – 24 December Open studio night: Tuesday 13 December
Alice Dittmar, als I-IV-I, 2013. Image courtesy the artist.
Tom Blake, The Dark Thing Inside the Day (still), 2016. Image courtesy the artist.
Alice Dittmar (DE)
Tom Blake (WA)
Berlin based artist Alice Dittmar’s artistic practice investigates areas of migration, ornamentation, landscape, texture, and their alliances in transcultural contexts.
Utilising isolated moments as potential sites for contemplation, Tom Blake’s practice invites thought and discussion about the broader networks and frameworks in which we live. During his PICA residency, Tom will continue his exploration of apophenia (the tendency to perceive meaningfulness in random imagery) while developing a body of work exploring unnoticed physical interactions that can occur between people across time, technology and space.
Her PICA residency project Becoming temporary (2012) / becoming permanent (2013) will involve the production of two artist books that document her experience of becoming a permanent resident of Australia.
Luisa Hansal (VIC) insideout
Above: Luisa Hansal, When your world gets turned upside down (homesick/lovesick), 2015. Page Right: Luisa Hansal, I wasn't ready, 2015. Images courtesy the artist.
Currently undertaking her master’s degree in Melbourne, Perth artist Luisa Hansal will return to WA for her PICA residency project. Working figuratively with painting, photography, sculpture and installation, her practice is an ongoing exploration and analysis of her ‘lifeworld’, dealing with the reoccurring themes of love, sex and selfidentification. Her residency project insideout will see her develop a series of works that challenge how people think and feel about emotions. Referring to personal experiences, the project will dissolve the distinction between the artist’s private life and artistic practice
21
E D U C AT I O N
Spark_Lab Learning Program About Spark_Lab
Radical Ecologies
Spark_Lab brings students, teachers and the community up close and personal with contemporary artists, dancers, theatre makers, musicians and other innovators across a wide range of disciplines through an exciting program of events, activities and online resources.
31 July – 4 September
PICA is committed to presenting a program of art and ideas that engages, excites and educates. Its specifically tailored Spark_Lab program features guided exhibition tours and performances, artist-led workshops and residencies, education kits and online resources. With a dedicated Education Studio located in PICA’s historic building in the Perth Cultural Centre, Spark_Lab introduces new ways for teachers and students to talk about and engage with art. Spark_Lab engages Primary and Secondary students as well as community groups in crosscurricular activities that support academic achievements by helping them to think creatively, practice leadership, and develop innovation skills.
BOOKINGS Booking are essential for all learning programs. For more details see pica.org.au/learn email education@pica.org.au or call (08) 9228 6300.
Photo: Jacqueline Warrick
Tours & School Workshops Tuesday 9 August – Friday 26 August Special National Science Weekend Workshops (free) Saturday 13 August Weekend Workshops for Kids Saturday 27 August Professional Learning for Artists & Educators Saturday 6 August Gordon Bennett and Justene Williams 17 September - 30 October Tours & School Workshops Tuesday 11 October – Friday 28 October School Holiday Workshops for Kids Tuesday 27 September and Thursday 29 September, Tuesday 4 and Thursday 6 October. Professional Learning for Artists & Educators Saturday 15 October
Pip & Pop 12 November - 24 December Tours & School Workshops Tuesday 22 November – Wednesday 14 December School Holiday Workshops for Kids Saturday 17 December and Tuesday 20 December Professional Learning for Artists & Educators Saturday 26 November
23
SUPPORT
Take your love of art to the next level. We invite you to explore contemporary art with PICA in radical new ways. Join us at bespoke after hours arts events where you will meet artists and like-minded art lovers. PICA donors make a significant difference to our cultural landscape. Donor programs include: ART1000 $1,200 Art Ambassador $2,500 Director’s Circle $5,500 Commissioner $10,000 Art Pledge Minimise the impact on your budget and maximise the impact on contemporary art by making a monthly or fortnightly pledge to one of PICA’s exciting new donor programs. See pica.org.au/support or contact Development Manager Jo Malone philanthropy@pica.org.au or call 9228 6300 to find out more.
Photo: Toni Wilkinson
25
ACCESSIBILITY
Accessibility Wheelchair Access All gallery spaces are wheelchair accessible. Wheelchair bookings can be made for all PICA performances. Please book over the phone or in person at PICA so that Front of House can make note of your requirements. Wheelchair accessible toilets are available. ACROD Parking General & ACROD car parking is available within the Perth Cultural Centre precinct. The closest ACROD accessible car parks with lift access to the Cultural Centre are the Cultural Centre and State Library car parks. Companion Card The Companion Card admits carers to shows as complimentary guests. Holders of this card are welcome to attend any performance presented by PICA. All companion card bookings must be made over the phone or in person at PICA.
Audio Description – PICA is partnering with DADAA to offer Audio Description services for selected exhibitions and performances through the Access All Arts program. Audio Description enhances live performance and visual art for people who are blind or vision impaired. An Audio Describer delivers a verbal description of the visual elements via a personal headset. Upcoming events Radical Ecologies Audio Described Tour Saturday 20 August, 2pm | FREE Performances Audio description services will be offered during seasons of: The Last Great Hunt: New Owner jedda Productions: Project Xan See pica.org.au for session times BOOKINGS
Audio description bookings can be made via email info@pica.org.au by phone 9228 6300 or in person at PICA.Bookings are essential and must be made at least seven days in advance.
Hatched National Graduate Show 2016, Photo: Toni Wilkinson
27
PARTNERS
PICA Thanks Government Partners
PICA’s ongoing programs are primarily supported by an investment from the State of Western Australia through the Department of Culture and the Arts in association with Lotterywest, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. PICA is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.
Principal Education Partner
Partner School
Education Partners
Supporting Partner
Automotive Partner
Beverage Sponsors
Presenting Partners
WA
PICA Salon 2016 Sponsors
Media Partner
Acknowledgments PICA thanks its members, donors and sponsors for their generosity and ongoing support. Trigger Warning is a Performing Lines WA production. Trigger Warning has been supported by the Government of Western Australian through the Department of Culture and the Arts and has received development support through the Australian Cultural Fund, and Stages WA. Justene Williams: The Curtain Breathed Deeply has been developed through a Catalyst: Katherine Hannay Visual Arts Commission. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. Gordon Bennett: Be Polite is supported by Arts Queensland and Visions of Australia, Department of Communications and the Arts. Thanks to The Estate of Gordon Bennett, IMA Directors and exhibition curators Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh, IMA staff, Milani Gallery, Brisbane and Sutton Gallery, Melbourne. jedda Productions: Project Xan has been supported by LOFT, an initiative of The Blue Room Theatre, supported by the State Government through the Department of Culture and the Arts. Pip & Pop: When Happiness Ruled has been supported by the Government of Western Australian through the Department of Culture and the Arts. Audio Description services have been made available through the Access All Arts Program. Access All Arts offers Audio Description services and Access Tours for people who are blind and vision impaired to a range of Perth’s major theatre venues and outdoor festivals. Access All Arts is led by DADAA with funding from the Disability Services Commission and the Department for Culture and the Arts. VisAbility supports Access All Arts through an informal partnership that offers general advice, access to the blind and vision impaired community and communications support. Access2Arts is the program’s Audio Describer training partner. Funding for the project is administered by WALGA.
Cover Image: Rose Megirian, Great Worth, 2016. Photo: Bo Wong.
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GETTING HERE PICA is easily accessed via public transport and by car. There is a pedestrian overpass from the Perth train station and PICA is a two minute walk away. Transperth’s free Blue CAT buses also provide the closest pick-up and drop-off points for PICA located on Beaufort St. General & ACROD car parking is available within the Perth Cultural Centre precinct. For more information visit the PICA website or Transperth website. AC