I was impressed with Adolf Luther's 3D glass works at the NSW Art Gallery. I wondered why his work wasn't given better coverage in the catalogue. Also Jesus Rafael Soto's 'Blue Black and Red Triptych'. I know these works are kind of old fashioned, now, but I'm really interested in the way they act directly on the mind.
I went to Cockatoo Island, but only a few of the works impressed me there. There seemed to be too many video installations, mostly boring. There was one, that I found interesting - William Kentridge's "I am not me, the horse is not mine". I really, really liked that one. It fit the installation space with it's peeling brick walls perfectly and was all around me.
I thought the buildings and machinery on the island were more interesting and impressive and made better sculptures than much of the art!
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Yes cockatoo Island as an art venue is truely spectacular. I also loved William Kentridge's work. Surrounded by different video installation all playing at once in an abandoned warehouse space. The soundtrack was also great and the sound carried very well in that space. I felt like I was on the chain gang in the 20's.
Yes - Aldolf Luther's works were very clever and absolutely fascinating. I could've stood there for ages moving around, watching the reflections change (and probably looking like a bit of an idiot).
As for why they weren't given as much coverage as other things... perhaps it's because that sort of aesthetic has passed into the realm of design? As in... you'll often see new aesthetics developed in the art world, and they become popular and used various places until they've lost their impact through overuse. Or something like that.
As for Cockatoo Island, I'm not sure I agree. The works there I didn't see as being separate from the island (the last line of your post seems to say that they should be considered apart from one another), but as very deliberately incorporating and becoming part of the island (except for perhaps a couple of the video works, come to think of it - but where else could they find ample space to display that many?). I know some of the artists actually camped out on the island while they were working, in order to get a feel of it while they were developing their works, so I think the island and the art are intended as one in the same most of the time.
Also, just the fact that it's so different to other exhibition spaces makes me like it more as a venue - it seems so much more organic than places like the AGNSW or MCA. I keep thinking of the work on C. Island like a fungus that grows there, taking part of the island to feed itself.
And, again, I'll have to stop myself before I go on another tangent.
I was suprised to see so many video works too, especially because I went expecting to see artworks that are chosen to please a huge cross section of the general public, each work I viewed I would hear someone comment on the 'movies' lack of coherant story line.
I'm not sure wether I'm commenting on the amount of video art or peoples misconceptions about viedeo art, who knows.
YES - It does seem there are many many misconceptions surrounding video art / installation.
It is a medium in its infancy, comparatively - and so open to interpretation/comparison/and invention. Which other medium is so open to possibilities (perhaps I am biased).
In terms of public reception - 'moving images' when presented on a screen are often considered 'movies' or films and therefore often read that way... it is up to the individual artist to shake it up and mess with the viewers pre-conceived notions of projection n reception!
How can this be done?
Taking someone like Bill Viola who both works in video and is popular and accepted as an artist as a case study, perhaps one solution could be the creation of immersive works, where an experience is created that is so overwhelming that a need for plot is forgotten? Or even the way he so self-consciously references aesthetics that are already aligned with what art is in people's minds?
Then again, I suppose a lot of his works have a narrative too... but it's impossible to know if this is the reason so many people feel comfortable with it, or if it's even a contributing factor.
We went to Cockatoo Island yesterday for concepts and we were told that a lot of the works that were there were made without the artists even seeing the venue. So maybe that's why a lot of them didn't seem to quite fit with the atmosphere. The building that Parr's works were in was wonderful. I loved the bathroom, with the cigerette butts everywhere, doors strewn all over the place and the buckets on the ground. I wonder how much of that was created and how much of it was found?
I loved the building with Parr's works too - the claustrophobic, run-down feel set off the works nicely. You sort of peered around corners with a morbid curiosity, wondering what you'd find next and aware that it mightn't exactly be... pleasant.
Also, I absolutely adored the room with the Menzies quote on the wall - "the more you see of contemporary art in other parts of the world the more proud of Australian art you become... none of our leading artists produce freak pictures and our landscapes show the sunshine and sweep of the Australian scene". It was just sort of scribbled on with a permanent marker, and in the corner there was a speaker projecting the audio from one of the films in another room (heavy breathing - it may have been one of the ones with his face being sewn) - it made me smile.
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