Raw Ink Magazine - November 2011 by Raw Ink Magazine

raw

brisbane gold coast tweed coast

magazine

In this Issue: A look at the Comb 2high Festival

Issue 3, November 2011

www.rawinkmagazine.com

Analogue / Digital Creative Conference outing

THE RAW INK TEAM

Roxy Coppen

Graphic designer and editor. roxy@rawinkmagazine.com www.monkeywingdesigns.com

Ruth Dunn

Journalist. ruth@rawinkmagazine.com

Liana Turner

Journalist and photographer. liana@rawinkmagazine.com onlyverisimilitude.blogspot.com

Front Cover Graphic by

Roxy Coppen

Hi RIM Fans! This month we feel that this issue is bigger and better than ever! We’ve had so much work submitted to us and we feel very privileged to know that there are people who love us and want to contribute. We’d like to also introduce Loretta Lizzio, a very talented illustrator. We will hopefully have one of her drawings published in each issue, as well as work from our resident illustrator and artist Rebekah Dunn. Once again, if you know of any creative events happening in your local area, or would like to contribute to the magazine, feel free to send us an email to: roxy@rawinkmagazine.com Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on our Twitter-tweets. Look forward to seeing you next time. From,

The Raw Ink Team xx

www.rawinkmagazine.com www.facebook.com/rawinkmagazine.com www.twitter.com/rawinkmagazine.om

contents 5 Upcoming Events

Spots’ 40 ‘Seeing Ruth Dunn

Chat Corner with 9 Chit Maia Francesca Calci

Spirit’ Liana 48 ‘Community Turner

Ruth Dunn

Festival’ 18 ‘2high Ruth Dunn

Delights’ 50 ‘Handmade Liana Turner

Artspace’ 22 ‘Comb Liana Turner

Analogue / Digital’ 52 ‘Roxy Coppen

28 ‘Husky’ Liana Turner A Contrivercial Treat for 33 ‘Brisbane’ Ruth Dunn Legacy of 346 George 34 ‘The Street’ Ruth Dunn

upcoming events NOVEMBER 17th

Creat(ive)ure

is an exhibition for the graduating graphic design and photography students. Southbank Institue of Technology, C Block. 6-9:30pm www.sbit2011exhibition.com 24st

Toy Pixels

A showcase of work produced by the 2011 Diploma of Graphic Design graduates. The exhibition features a dynamic and engaging selection of work across the spectrum of Graphic Design media, such as publishing, illustration, visual identity, photographic, screen and web design Kingscliff TAFE, G Block 6-8pm www.kingscliffdesigns.com/ toypixels

Chit Chat Corner Maia with Francesca Calci ruth dunn

“

Maia Francesca Calci is a Brisbane based visual arts student currently in her last year at Queensland University of Technology. She recently exhibited at 2high Festival, and I caught up with her to discuss her work.

“

Okay so firstly, how has art impacted your life? I guess I’ll never know. My Dad fed my brother’s and sister’s and I on art from the beginning of time. Art is so embedded within the very structure of my DNA

it’s hard to say where the impact is, most probably on the right side of my frontal lobe, somewhere in the cerebral cortex. All I know is that I don’t know who I’d be without art. Actually I don’t really know who I am now. All I know is that I know nothing. Where do you seek inspiration? Inspiration comes from everywhere. It might be from something I’ve read or a conversation I’ve overheard. Sometimes I’ll see something

or smell something and it reminds me of something but I can’t quite pinpoint what, and inspiration will come from this blurred threshold of unknown nostalgia. “How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew” Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara wrote that during his motorcycle trip through South America. Music though, is definitely an oasis of inspiration during those days of the desert. Art and music are inseparable channels of expression for me.

Who are your favourite artists and what are the things you admire most about them? I have a few artists who I really relate to. I see aspects of my own journey explored through the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a graffiti artist who brought his work from the streets into the gallery world. His works have this tribalistic feel to them, almost as if it were an ancestral trait from his African heritage, carried through the subconscious lineage. He had a really confused sense of identity, being born mixed raced to migrant parents in America. I really identify with that search for self, also being born and raised here, my dad African and my mother Italian. Another artist that really opens my head is Bill Viola. He is one of the forefathers of Video Art’s emergence during the 1960s & 70s. His work explores concepts that travel parallel to my own interests, such as the meaning of human life, the questioning of organic connections between nature and physical existence, as well as the notion of dualism- the idea that you cannot understand what you’re looking at unless you know it’s opposite. I’ve always had admiration for artist’s such as George Gittoes and Kehinde Wiley, and a lot of musicians- Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Flying Lotus, J.Dilla and many more. How have you seen your work develop over time? I’ve come from the Second Dimension. A lot of my

The Car Wash Maia Calci Video Installation

earlier works were very 2D Based; drawing, painting, and photography, usually portraiture based and figurative linear explorations. I discovered video at art school and have since been working with the auditory/ visual experience. You work in various mediums including film, photography, drawing and paint. Do you have a particular medium you prefer to work in? I love all mediums. Different mediums speak to us at different junctures of our lives and reverberate with subjectivity. During this time in my life I see video as the allencompassing medium. Video art commands a powerful sensory, intellectual and emotional relationship with the viewer.

We live in the age of technology and our cultural conditioning and knowledge comes to us through instantaneous technological mediums. Video provides a perfect platform to present the voice of expression. Video is also a means for expressing the ‘inner-eye’ of the artist, which enables the viewer to witness an inner perception of external phenomena, these being thoughts, dreams, experiences, memories and feelings. Video as art really seeks to explore perceptual thresholds and to expand and in part to decipher conditioned expectations of looking at and experiencing art. You explore ideas of the perception of sound, nostalgia, ancestral memory, dreamscape abstractions,

and sub-conscious echoes of reality in your artworks. Why do these ideas strike a chord with you? Nice Musical pun. These ideas revolve around my fascination with the inner realm of self. All of these notions are relative to my own personal experiences as well as the empathetic notion in which all these concepts relate to us as an entity. There is the idea that we live in a world of everything and everything else. The ‘everything’ that we see and know and the ‘everything else’ being all of that which we cannot see and touch, calculate and conquer. The ‘everything else’ is the mystery that binds us all. That surrounds us as we continue our daily existences. These are the things that I want to explore in my own expeditions-derive my own

interpretations of the world and my own theories of all the big questions. Let’s chat about the work you have included in 2high Festival. It’s an installation/ projection called The Carwash, what is the idea behind this work? The Carwash is a three-minute video that explores the psychological journey one experiences when they are completely alone with their thoughts. It’s a look into the individual mind as the mind is essentially hidden away from the world outside. The video is a reflection of a person’s mental and spiritual journey into the mind. The reflection with the work is a reflection of humanity itself, and the human condition. The sounds of drips, classical music and the machinery

interweave and contrast growing to intense crescendos and then fade away. The Carwash is not so much about the carwash itself, but the abstract journey that proceeds within the static nature of waiting for the car to be washed. There is movement within and around but the viewer loses the sense that they have stayed stationary. So you mentioned The Car Wash is a reflection of humanity and the human condition; can you explain this for our readers? It is a reflection in the sense that everyone can identify with being alone with his or her own thoughts. Our woes and hopes. Our secrets, our dreams and our desires, what we have to do later, what’s for dinner etc. The Carwash

represents the human collective conscience and our collective experience. Exposing us to those unspoken words that roam free in the confines of our minds. We are all born and we all die. Everyone reflects upon himself and his life and this is where the reflection occurs. In abstracting this reflection into a visual I present the viewers with a distorted mirror in which they can contemplate themselves. What was the process behind developing this installation? The usual process of the development of my work is spontaneous. I don’t think too much before creating. I never plan a work. I usually have a seed of thought and I’ll let that grow through trial and error and let the work blossom of its own accord, that’s kind of how

Why did you choose to use a kaleidoscopic effect throughout the video? I rendered the video in a mirror effect to remove the viewer from familiarity. I wanted to push the experience away from the mundane quality of its actuality and convey the video in a new abstracted reality that represents the inner-journey rather than the external happening. I also used the effect to play with the notion of reflection- I’ve already unpacked this as the reflection of the collective human experience. I noticed as I was watching it that at times the silhouettes look almost like a Rorschach. Is this intentional? I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s an interesting interpretation of the work. It was my intention however for the car wash to open a dialogue of subjectivity. For the viewer to apply his or her own experiences and knowledge to the work and develop their own understanding and relationship with the

ambiguity that is The Carwash. Throughout the video I had the urge to see the end of the car wash, but you chose to end the video in the dark, as if we never come out the other side of it. Why did you choose to end it this way? I ended the video in dark for a number of reasons-mostly to do with the cycle of birth and death. We come from the dark and we return to dark. The passing of time is an eternal motion; it is a cycle of death, rebirth and evanescence. This is the great universal experience, the idea of continuity that is presented to the viewer as the video loops and begins all over again from darkness. Through this the undeniable truth of intransigence, comes to life and the law of ‘eternal return’ is presented for reflection. What’s next for you after 2high festival? After 2High? A continuation into the unknown. Hopefully I can carry on creating, searching and living a good life-poor and interesting.

“

The Carwash came into being. When I was filming my friend in his beat up Toyota in some carwash on the outskirts of The Gap I had no idea I would create what I have, and that it would become what it is today.

To check out more of Maia’s work head to: http://www. facebook.com/pages/ Maia/149478108403634

Ruth Dunn Photography by Roxy Coppen Raw Ink Magazine hit up 2high Festival at the end of last month to check out their mix of art, music and theatrical performances. 2high is an opportunity for young emerging and established artists in music, theatre and art to showcase their talent and welcome others into the world of their creativity. The experience of 2high was an intimate and intriguing one. Located in the Brisbane Powerhouse, the organisers had an amazing space to play around with, and part of the experience was navigating the powerhouse hoping you would find the performance or art you were looking for. As well as making use of intimate spaces, the experience of 2high was a welcoming, non-exclusive one from the outset,

with installations, performance art and bands playing outside in the Powerhouse Plaza. Venturing down into the dark Turbine studio, we came across a variety of multimedia art, installations and photography. In this space I came across Netal Lucas’ Silent Circus, a small room filled with quirky circus photographs. Taken from unusual and interesting angles, the photographs explored the culture of the circus and captured the character of the performers. The dim lights and somewhat eerie atmosphere of the Turbine studio created a powerful atmosphere for looking at Lucas’ black and white collection. After exploring some more we came across ‘The Graffiti Room’. Not knowing what to expect we found ourselves in a

dim lit room with fairy lights, walls covered in graffiti, and bean bags in front of a small stage. Shortly after we arrived Brisbane band Fushia took the stage. Usually playing high energy indie/dance/rock music, Fushia treated 2high festival goers to a more acoustic performance, though the high energy levels were still very evident. They performed a tight set of songs with a snappy combination of bass riffs, keyboard, acoustic guitar and vocals. Spanning from 1pm- 11pm, there was a lot to see with music pumping all day and a solid line up of theatrical performances. There was a variety of art, though it would have been great to see more of it, completely transforming the Powerhouse and making it the Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own. On a whole though, it was a great opportunity for people to come together and enjoy a snippet of Brisbaneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arts scene. Festivals like this are valuable for raising the profile of Brisbaneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural scene and bringing together a variety of music styles, theatrical performances and art, to the one place at the one time. In its 18th year of running, 2high facilitated a creative buzz that both artists and audience could be a part of.

Comb Artspace Liana Turner

Tucked away amongst a bustle of shops and underneath Neverland Bar, Coolangatta’s Comb Art Space is a refreshing escape from the humdrum of daily life, whilst providing a sensational taste of the Gold Coast’s emerging and established artists. It’s not what you’d expect from the typical art gallery – probably because there’s nothing at all generic about this little piece of splendour. Cozy and charming, Comb is small yet welcoming, and is quintessential of modern approaches to widening the accessibility of art. The gallery first opened its doors in Tweed

Heads in February, before relocating to the current venue in July. Functioning on the side as a takeaway coffee shop through the week, the gallery is a diverse niche for creative folks and general wanderers alike to take a moment and soak up the beauty and energy that emanates from the intricate displays of true talent. Curator Benjamin says “We provide a space for emerging artists and for artist development”. On Friday 4th November, Comb hosted its most recent exhibition, Gone at Dusk. The exhibition, free to the public, featured the works of eleven artists from the Gone at Dusk collective, a group committed to exhibiting a range of quality contemporary photography. The simple beauty and energy of the works lends a unique air to the space, transforming it into a unique hub of artistic connection. “The whole idea behind it is

that it’s an artist-run initiative,” says Benjamin, “not a commercial gallery”. The next confirmed exhibition, featuring the works of video installationist Dave Collier, will be held on Friday 2nd December. “We’re booked well into 2012,” says Benjamin, “with new exhibitions running every few weeks.” links: Comb: http://www.combspace.com Gone at Dusk Collective: http://goneatdusk. com

Creat(ive)ure is an exhibition for the graduating graphic design and photography students of Southbank Institute of Technology in Brisbane. The opening night is on November 17, held on campus in the C Block auditorium. It starts at 6pm, so if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the area, you should head down and check out the work of these aspiring designers and photographers.

Opening Evening: 17th November 6-9:30pm Please RSVP to sbit2011exhibition@gmail.com Sponsored by: AGDA, KW. Doggett Fine Paper, Twinings, Cornerstone Press, Bickfords, Uber, Ironlak, Crush City, Southbank Institute of Technology and Queensland Government.

Time Machine - Ruth Dunn

BOB DYLAN n

Dun kah

Reb By

On November 4th 1961 Bob Dylan made his concert hall debut at Carnegie Hall, New York City. Fifty people attended the concert paying two dollars for entry!

husky - Liana Turner

With spring swiftly passing us by and the promise of long summer days drawing near, a set of beautifully chilled-out tunes are perfect for whiling away one’s time. With rich harmonies, gorgeous melodies and perplexingly artful songwriting, the wondrous sounds of Melbourne four-piece Husky certainly fit the bill. Frontman Husky Gawenda believes “you shouldn’t notice the music or the art of it; you’re just transported to another place” and with their flawless musical creations, they’re certainly living up to this philosophy. Consisting of Gawenda on vocals and guitar, Gideon Preiss on keys and vocals, Evan Tweedie on bass and vocals and Luke Collins on

drums, Husky had gained widespread acclaim since the release of their debut album, Forever So. Prior to this, the band won the renowned Triple J Unearthed competition. The band, who draw upon classic pop influences such as The Doors, The Beach Boys, Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon, have had sold-out shows nationwide and have supported the likes of Devendra Banhart, Noah and the Whale, Kimbra, Jinja Safari and Gotye. The album, according to Gawenda, “recalls times gone by, dreams and people who are no longer in your life, but still exist in your memory”. Since its release last month, it had been received extremely well. To hear some of Husky’s tracks, head to www. triplejunearthed.com/HUSKY.

One of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most controversial art prizes has come to Brisbane! The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Art Museum is currently showing an exhibition of selected finalists from the 60th Blake Prize. The exhibition will include the 2011 winner Khaled Sabsabi, who was awarded the 2011 Blake Prize for Naqshbandi Greenacre Engagement, a video installation examining Islamic faith and prayer. The 60th Blake Prize exhibition is an opportunity for people to experience different religions through a variety of artistic mediums. Discussion around the Blake Prize has sometimes led to a contentious dialogue between art and religion, making its first visit to Brisbane in 10 years quite the treat. QUT Art museum is the only Queensland gallery the Prize will be seen at on its national tour. This is a great opportunity to see for yourself what all the fuss is about and experience the Blake Prize first hand. The 60th Blake Prize will be at QUT Art Museum until the 23 December. For more information check out www.artmuseum.qut. edu.au.

The

346 George Street Legacyof

Located on a site rich with history, Brisbane city’s cult-house cinema Tribal Theatre will be sold just one year after opening. Tribal Theatre brought life back to the old George Street cinema after the owners of a travel agency located in the building decided to make use of the cinemas. Before this the George Street site housed The Lyceum, opening as Brisbane’s first permanent picture theatre in 1906. Since its early days the theatre has been renamed Elite Theatre in 1920 and more recently in 1965 The Dendy. The cinemas had been out of use for 3 years and were steadily deteriorating before owners of

Tribal Travel worked to revive them. Bringing life back to an old theatre in a contemporary society, Tribal plays a variety of old and new films. It opened last year to bring an old fashioned movie experience to Brisbane, and regulars say it offers something special no other venues in Brisbane do. The unique experience of the theatre has been received well with attendance tripling in the last year. Co-manager Katie Robertson describes Tribal Theatre’s fans as loyal and lovely. So loyal in fact, that when the theatre’s popcorn machine broke, one of the fans offered to buy them a new one.

News of Tribal Theatre’s closure has been heartbreaking for regulars who value the unique mixture of films played by Tribal. Ben McCleay, a regular at Tribal theatre, says ‘everything they have played has been one of my favourite movies, just all of these amazing choices...They have been fantastic and I am addicted to coming here. I’m going to be very sad when they are gone’. The news of Tribal Theatre’s closure came after the owner of Tribal Travel and Tribal Theatre were forced to choose between their theatre and travel businesses, being unable to support both. In the end the owner decided to stick to what they know best and focus on the travel business. Katie Robertson and regulars of Tribal Theatre say its absence will leave a gap in Brisbane’s cultural scene. Over the time it has been running Tribal Theatre has set up an

identity and cultural presence in Brisbane unique unto itself. Tribal Theatre regular Joseph Rallos says ‘The thing I’ll miss most is the knowledge that you’ll always walk out of a cinema having seen a great film. I’ll never forget the time I finally saw Andy Warhol’s Vinyl- one of my friends walked out in disgust but the rest who stayed knew they were seeing something weird but special!’. The building will continue to house the travel business during the day, but the future of the cinema and the experience it offers hangs in the balance. Tribal Theatre’s final program will run until the 25th of November, and from there it will be an events venue available for hire.

Robertson says ‘I think the chances of someone stepping up and making use of the cinema is pretty good. People view it as a niche market and it’s definitely profitable… There’s definitely a market for it, it has shown to be successful…So who knows really, we can only hope…’. The tradition of this century old cinema now depends on whether someone will take this opportunity and step up to the mark to continue to bring this unique movie experience to Brisbane. The theatre has been going out with a bang, showing classics like Casablanca, The Room, The Woody Allen Classics, Amelie and Miyazaki films. Details of the final night are yet to be announced, but Robertson says they are planning something special. To check out the final program go to http://www.tribaltheatre.com.au/

seeing spot Yayoi Kusama ÂŠ Yayoi Kusama courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo

/ an Insight into

o Yayoi Kusama / Ruth Dunn

In light of the up coming exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art I discussed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama with Reuben Keehan, Curator of Contemporary Asian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery. 42

Just to give our readers a background, how did Kusama first develop an interest in art?

Kusama turned to drawing at a very young age. Notebooks exist from when she was around 10 years of age, and the drawings within them show a high degree of skill and imagination.

The other remarkable thing is that they feature a number of the motifs that came to dominate her work later in life, such as dots and flowers. She reports seeing these in hallucinations she experienced at the time, which she attributes to an unhappy family life. Art was very much a means of escape from the tensions in her home.

Yayoi Kusama Japan b. 1929 Flowers That Bloom at Midnight 2010 Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic, urethane paint Collection of the artist ©Yayoi Kusama, Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc. Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo

How has this interest evolved over time? Against her family’s wishes, she decided to devote her life to making art, and so she started by studying Nihonga, a fairly traditional style of Japanese painting, in Kyoto. Nevertheless, she had quite an experimental attitude, and was very interested

in the avant-garde art being produced in Europe and America, particularly surrealism and abstract expressionism. This willingness to experiment was most evident in the work that she produced in New York after she moved there in 1958. She stayed until 1973, and in those fifteen years

she was responsible for a bewildering array of innovations. After she returned to Japan, she turned her attention to poetry and literature, becoming a highly successful novelist while continuing to work as an artist. Then, after her “rediscovery” by the international art world, her productions grew

bigger and bolder. That intensity and ambition is something that is very much present in the work she’s produced ‘Look Now, See Forever’.

to have anticipated the prominence that installation art and the art market would have in the contemporary art we know today.

Just what kind of impact has Kusama had on the art world?

Kusama has not travelled an easy road, she has suffered from mental illness most of her life. How does this impact her artworks?

Kusama’s real impact is very difficult to gauge, as until very recently the art world tended to construct its histories around men. When she was “rediscovered” in the late 80s and early 90s, a number of critics commented that a major gap in art history was being filled. Certainly the impact of the work she made in the 50s, 60s and 70s was profoundly influential. She has long claimed that her ideas were stolen by artists like Andy Warhol and Claus Oldenburg. The question of who did what first is always a prickly one, but it is clear from the work she was making and who was looking at it that she was deeply involved in the development of just about everything of relevance in the 60s avant-garde: pop art, soft sculpture, concrete painting, minimalism, happenings, feminism, installation and performance art, among other things. She was a pioneer for women artists and non-Western artists as well, and she seems

In relation to her artwork, the impact of her illness has actually been quite positive. She finds art particularly therapeutic, and paints almost obsessively. Her work-rate and output is quite extraordinary, so she is capable of things that many other painters aren’t in terms of the pains she can take in executing her works. Her work is also highly idiosyncratic and instantly recognisable.

This month we will see parts of GoMA transformed and immersed in Kusama’s sculptures, paintings and film projections. What are the concepts and ideas behind ‘Look now, See Forever’?

We wanted to bring audiences up to date with what Kusama is doing now. Her work has been exhibited at Queensland Art Gallery since 1989, so our audience is already quite familiar with what she has done in the past. One major retrospec-

tive toured to Australia in 2009, and another very comprehensive survey has been put together by the Tate to do the rounds of major museums in Europe and America. The work in ‘Look Now, See Forever’ has all been produced in the last 2 years.

What is the process behind curating an exhibition like this?

It is important to involve the artist from the outset, and maintain very close contact with her throughout. The process is then one of conceptualising the scope and scale of the exhibition – what sort of space it will occupy, what sort of areas we want it to cover – and then of entering a long period of discussion with the artist of what to include and how it will be displayed. GoMA has a fantastic exhibition design team, so achieving a balance between audience experience and artistic intention has been a very pleasant process.

What are you most looking forward to in curating this exhibition?

I’m most looking forward to two things really: watching audiences engage with the work, which appeals on all sorts of levels; and contributing to ongoing discus-

Yayoi Kusama Japan b. 1929 Dots Obsession 2009 Mixed media Collection of the artist ÂŠYayoi Kusama, Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc. Courtesy of Victoria Miro Gallery, London / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo

sions about Kusama and her work.

Why did the gallery choose this exhibition as part of the 5th anniversary of the opening of GoMA?

Kusama is such a major figure in 20th and 21st century art, and her importance is underrated in my opinion. She is quite simply one of the most senior and significant artists working today. But she has also been a big part of QAG/GoMA’s exhibition and collection history, with an engagement that stretches back to the 1980s, even before the inception of the Asia Pacific Triennial. It’s a happy coincidence be-

tween a long institutional history and the fact that with all of the international interest, this is very much Kusama’s moment.

Sculptures included in ‘Look Now, See Forever’ will be plants, i.e. flowers, pumpkins etc. Why does Kusama have a strong interest in plants? The family business when Kusama was a child was in nursery wholesaling, and they had a large storehouse for local farmers. She has painted pumpkins since at least her time in Kyoto – during World War II, when Japan’s food supplies were disrupted, she had eaten them to the point of nausea. The flowers

appear even earlier, and they have always managed to find a place in her work. In the late 1960s for example they were very much part of the ‘flower-power’ symbolism of the times, while later they came to be read as potent symbols of desire, beauty and mortality.

Kusama has long used spots to cover her artworks, they appear fun, playful and bright, but there is more to this than decoration. Why does Kusama have an obsession with spots?

The spots are interesting – certainly they are a large part of her account of her childhood hal-

Yayoi Kusama Japan b. 1929 Reach Up to the Universe, Dotted Pumpkin 2010 Aluminium, paint ©Yayoi Kusama, Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc. Courtesy of Victoria Miro Gallery, London / Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo

lucinations, and by the mid-1960s they had very much become a signature device for Kusama, a kind of trademark. It’s interesting to think about them as the structural inverse of her earlier Infinity Net paintings – an updated example of which will be included in the show. In a sense, they are the negative space between the nets, and like the nets, they propose the idea of accumulating over time and expanding infinitely, going well beyond the canvas to cover all available surfaces. These ideas of accumulation and infinity, and a struggle with the limits of painting, are very much at the core of Kusama’s practice.

Kusama has said that she relies on her ‘own interior imagination’ when producing artworks, what are some other things that influence her practice? She has always been a very aware artist, always right up to date with developments in the art world, and with the relationship of her own work

to those developments. Her ambitious, obsessive approach to art extends even beyond her energy for art making, and certainly as a young woman she was very keen for her work to play a role in the development of art in general. She has stated in the past that art is something obscure she is still trying to define for herself, and that she is driven toward making this clearer.

It also makes me think about the role of the artist, the institution in which the work is shown, the relationship of the artist to the viewer, and my relationship to other viewers. It is very much an exploration of how we view the world, but what it seems to amplify is how people relate to one another.

Is the immersive nature of the installations designed to draw people into the artist’s own imagination and explore our own ways of viewing the world?

I hope that my choice of favourite keeps changing over time. That’s the privilege of visiting an exhibition again and again.

Kusama manages to engage audiences and involve them in her works quite effortlessly. This is as true of her happenings in the sixties as it is of her immersive installations today. One of the questions that arises out of the process of viewing her work is of what its limits are. The edges are quite difficult to define. Each viewer might be said to complete the work in their own special way.

What is your favourite work to be shown in ‘Look Now, See Forever’ and why?

Yayoi Kusama is one of today’s most significant and influential artists, her exhibition ‘Look Now, See Forever’ will be at the Gallery of Modern art from 19 November 2011 – 11 March 2012. For more information check out: http://qag.qld.gov.au/ exhibitions/coming_soon/ yayoi_kusama_look_ now,_see_forever

Community

Spirit

liana turner

Nestled in the Tweed Valley amongst wide expanses of cane fields, beneath the watchful gaze of an ancient mountain range, you might not expect to discover much more than a whole lot of greenery and blissful wildlife. There was quite a different perspective, however, for anyone who ventured there for Muwillumbah’s third annual Unity Festival, a celebration of cultural diversity through the colourful collaboration of a wide array of rich and unique cultures. The festival, held on Saturday 22nd October, saw the introduction of an abundance of new activities, including an interactive street theatre, children’s street parade, Chinese dragon, and a Native American performance. Meanwhile, many musical acts took place on the ANZ main stage. There was an array of activities which visitors could take part in, from drumming to henna tattoos and eyebrow threading. There were many market stalls displaying a wide variety of foods, clothes and

crafts. Indian dancers stunned audiences with their remarkably vibrant displays whilst upbeat music permeated across the showground. In conjunction with the festival was the inaugural Foodie Friday, held on Friday 21st October. This involved an assortment of international foods, including Dutch poffertjes, home-made ice cream and pies, cheese platters, North African Gypsey food, Indian, vegetarian and vegan cuisine, as well as sausages and kebabs containing crocodile, emu and camel. Present at Foodie Friday was a Michelin-trained chef, staff from Murwillumbahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restaurant The White Olive and a traditional French crepe-maker. The festival in its entirety was an inspirational means of supporting local food and creative industries, whilst encouraging and celebrating a love of cultural diversity within all aspects of life. Vibrant and beautiful facets of many ethnicities were explored in great depth and with immense passion, truly instilling the importance of rejoicing and preserving the uniqueness of all civilizations.Â

handmade delights liana turner

In.cube8er, established in 2007, is an exciting way for young Australian creative types to showcase and sell their work and a gallery-like environment. In.cube8er does not charge commissions – only the small fee for renting the gallery space. The four galleries can be found in The Valley in Brisbane, Geelong and Fitzroy in Melbourne and Mosman in Sydney. Essentially functioning as year-round marketstalls, each in.cube8er gallery is home to more than 90 of Australia’s top crafters. Everything they stock is 100% handmade and there is an insurmountable range of styles and applications to be found. In.cube8er is a superb opportunity for Australian crafters to establish a reputation within the craft community. Often featuring in publications such as Frankie magazine, the galleries are an unparalleled means of exposure and have been nominated for numerous awards for three years running. If you’re interested in displaying your work in one of the in.cube8er galleries, or simply wish to find out more, head to www. incube8er.com.au.

ANALOGUE

/CREATIVE DIGITAL CONFERENCE

GOLD COAST

2011 52

// by Roxy Coppen

A/D is a new creative conference on the east coast of Australia run by Matthew Haynes and the crew from The Various Artists. Their first ever conference was held on the Sunshine Coast this year, and they decided to spread the A/D love last month to the Gold Coast. With a great line up full of local and national speakers, everyone was excited, waiting in their seats as the pumping music worked up the crowd. Unfortunately, contemporary fine artist Troy Archer was unable to speak at the conference this year but we hope to see him back for the 2012 A/D!

First up were Byron Bay residents Craig Rochfort and Paul McNeil from Art Park. I had seen their artwork previously at the Byron art show SEE! a couple of months ago, so was interested to hear from them. They felt that there was a need for a contemporary art culture in Byron so they started up their own studio. Art Park essentially puts art on t-shirts - whether it be their own, or other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. They have asked artists such as Claudio Kirac, Monster Children and Reg Mombassa just to name a few. They had so much art coming their way, they decided to make a journal - a newspaper-like free publication. Their views on spreading art and creativity to the community were very motivating and I look forward to checking out their Byron studio!

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Claudio Kirac

Claudio Kirac, a Gold Coastian, hit the stage next with his adrenaline pumping video, show casing his personality and sense of fun. He told us about his life in a humorous story where he was a metaphorical swiss army knife and how he came to be working for billabong. He showed us a variety of work from photography, graffiti, drawings, fashion photography, fashion graphics and many more. Claudio is obviously very passionate about what he does and and very inspirational - my friend said that he was now her new idol.

Angus Gruzman, a hard partying designer and DJ, was up next. He told us his story of deciding he wanted to start his own record label, Bang Gang 12. He showed us a a few of his music album art and played us some music he produced under his label. Adam and Andy from SouthSouthWest, a small design studio in Melbourne, were next to the stand. Their simple yet effective designs and alternative views for inspiration was very refreshing. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very laid back, calming presentation made it very easy to soak up their work and stand in awe. They were generally the favourites of the day and were fun to talk to at the after party.

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SouthSouthWest

(From Left) Myself with Adam from South SouthWest and Louise Swales at the after party

Dare Jennings - simply a legend in the Australian fashion industry and motorcycle world. Dare rose to fame with the help of his hatred for generic surf clothing. He felt that Australia needed it’s own fashion identity and wanted to create an Australian version of the Hawaiian t-shirt. With the help of other artists, such as Reg Mombassa, he became part of the Mambo clothing team. Years later with the money he made from Mambo, he started is own custom-motocycle brand, Deus ex Machina. Deus is an interesting combination of motocyle and surf culture. He’s set up Deus stations around the world. A/D was a much more personal experience with only 400 people attending in the Robina Town Center cinemas. A brilliant show for it’s first year and very reasonably priced for the experience and a chance for more rural areas to experience a creative conference. We will definitely be going back next year!