Work in Flanagan Art Prize, Ballarat

I have a piece in the Flanagan Art Prize exhibition, St Patrick's College, Ballarat. The judge this year is well-known Melbourne artist Euan Heng. Information at http://www.stpats.vic.edu.au/en/students-parents-staff/music-and-performing-arts/flanagan-art-exhibition/.

Opening: Friday 21st August 2015, 7pm. Entry by ticket, available via the web page above.

Exhibition: Open on 22, 23, 29, 30 August, 11am - 4pm. Free entry.

Location: Old Collegians' Pavilion, at the rear of St Patrick's College, 1431 Sturt Street Ballarat, VIC 3350

Goodbye Dreamweaver

It had to happen.  I got a new Mac desktop computer (iMac) with a new operating system (OS X 10.10 Yosemite), and I couldn't install Adobe Creative Suite 5 on it.  I'm not sure what the problem is, there do seem to be some problems with CS5 and OS X 10.10, or maybe the CDs are no longer completely readable, or both.  Anyway I can't install it.

So now I have to deal with Adobe's subscription plan, Creative Cloud.  Of the programs in the current offering, I do use Lightroom quite a lot.  So I rather reluctantly signed up for the Lightroom + Photoshop bundle at $120 a year.  I do also use Photoshop, but only basic features, and I could replace it with something else, but the only way to get Lightroom is in the bundle with Photoshop.

The other Adobe program I use is Dreamweaver, their website editor and manager.  Again I only use the most basic features (I am trying to simplify my site, not complicate it), and a subscription is going to cost me $240 per year.  Goodbye Dreamweaver!  (And I'm not going down the Adobe Muse route.)

What I need to replace Dreamweaver is a plain text editor that is adapted for HTML and an FTP client.  I have been using the TextWrangler editor (http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/) for some time.  I think it would do what I need, but it has a "big brother" BBEdit (about $60 AUD, one-off purchase) that has more features specifically for HTML; I will  probably buy BBEdit.

TextWrangler already has some FTP facilities, but I may go with the (free) FileZilla FTP client, which has the split-panel display I am used to from Dreamweaver.  The TextWrangler FTP facilities seem more adapted to downloading files from a remote site, but I am creating files locally and uploading them.

The only problem with FileZilla (as with many other free programs) is that of finding the right place to download it from.  Download.com, CNet.com and now SourceForge.net have become notorious for loading up installers with what is now termed crapware: search bars that take over your browser and other junk that nobody wants and that can be hard to get rid of.  With SourceForge the developers of the software may get a little money if someone downloads the extra junk, but the all-round damage to reputation is considerable.   Moral: download from the developer's website, which is what I did with FileZilla.

New work at Anita Traverso

I have new work in Anita Traverso Gallery, Richmond (Melbourne), for their first Salon season of 2015. This is from a new project called Nanocosm.  The exhibition runs until 25 April.

Anita Traverso Gallery
7 Albert St, Richmond, VIC 3121
Tel: (03) 9428 7557
Web: http://www.anitatraversogallery.com.au
Gallery hours: Wed-Sat 11-5.

Icons in Ballarat

The exhibition EIKON: Icons of the Orthodox Christian World has just opened at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.  This is another ground-breaking "Made in Ballarat" exhibition, and has come about because the Gallery's Director, Gordon Morrison, has long had a passionate interest in icons, transmitted from his Polish grandmother.  I understand it is the first exhibition of Orthodox icons in Australia.  Many of the icons have come from the collection of retired Australian diplomat John McCarthy in Sydney, though some have come from the National Gallery of Victoria and the Temple Gallery in London.  There is a splendid catalogue, also produced by the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

The icons do not function as artworks in the way that we normally understand; rather they are aids to prayer and devotion, "windows on heaven" according to the exhibition text.  The aesthetic qualities, although at times striking, are secondary.

Yesterday was a special day at the Gallery.  As well as the exhibition there were two ancillary events, the first of which was a talk by Sir Richard Temple, icon expert and founder and director of the Temple Gallery, a specialist dealer in icons.  He had come to Ballarat for the opening of the exhibition.  Sir Richard gave an introduction to icons, going back to their pre-history in the days when Christianity was a underground movement in the Roman Empire; a fascinating exposition.  The icons follow strict rules as to subject matter and composition, and the characteristics of the prophets and saints and their associated symbolism; changes have occurred over time, but the continuity of the tradition is remarkable.

The second event was the showing of a film, Living Prayer in Christianity, a documentary about the life of Orthodox Christian monasteries in locations including Egypt, Mount Athos and Russia.  Sir Richard Temple was a consultant on the film, and icons and the practice of painting icons featured in the the film, not surprisingly, as icons are so important in Orthodox worship.  General release of the film has been held up, but thanks to Sir Richard we were able to have what amounted to a private screening.

The exhibition continues until 26th January.

Art binge - Part 2 (of 2)

 

At the end of my last post I was looking at the Incinerator Gallery at Moonee Ponds.  At Screen Space I had been told that they had curated a video program at the Art Fair, including a video by Peter Daverington.  I had looked briefly at the videos at the Art Fair and not seen any that interested me, but I then realised that there were several video sessions and the one I would be interested in was on in the afternoon.  So I went back to the Art Fair.

Back to the Art Fair

I did see the Daverington video.  It starts off in a very abstract-geometric fashion and eventually introduces synthetic scenery (which seems to be a theme of today).  I have seen it before, but it was well worth a second look.

Presentation: most of the videos were shown on flat-panel displays with headphones; one was projected at a large scale with sound through speakers.  Unfortunately the sound for this video included quite loud synthetic noises meant to represent the clucking of a hen, which made it hard to hear any subtle sounds that might be coming through the headphones.

There was also a space set up as a proper theatrette, showing (in the afternoon) a video by Baden Pailthorpe  about drone warfare in Afghanistan.  Certainly the darker space, seats, a proper screen and multi-channel sound system made a difference (though one of the speakers had a problem).  The bare mountain scenery in Pailthorpe ’s video also appeared to be synthetic, but unlike the Piccinini piece the whole thing was an overt techno-fantasy about something that ought to be a techno-fantasy but is all too real.

Globelight at the Abbotsford Convent

The last instalment of my weekend art binge was a visit to Abbotsford Convent, in the opposite direction from Moonee Ponds (and a moderate hike from Victoria Park station).  By now it was dark, so I was able to see the various works to best advantage, especially the outdoor sculptures.

Outdoor sculpture by Sean Diamond

 

Among the outdoor works an  intriguing piece was a pendulum by James Tapscott, the organiser of the festival.  This was a globe that swung freely over a satellite dish,  The colour of the light inside the globe could be controlled and affected a sensor hidden in the dish, which controlled the generation of sounds.

Among the works inside buildings the most spectacular was Orb, a large disk with lights forming vertical stripes that turned on and off in various patterns.  There was a sonic component to this work also.

There were a couple of interesting video projection ideas.  One work had two projectors aimed at a considerable number of hanging gauze panels; not a new idea, but well done.  Another had what must have been a small screen at the bottom of a long triangular tube: looking down it produced a dazzling kaleidoscope effect.  Kaleidoscopes were a sub-theme of the weekend: apart from the Perpetual Light Machine there was a work in the Art Fair that made a similar use of mirrors, though it didn’t have a screen inside it.

A projection by Kate Geck

 

The last thing I saw was the audio-visual performance by Abre Ojos (Scott Baker).  This used three video projectors: as well as the main screen there were two more pointing at the ceiling showing a separate video feed, all being controlled in real time by Scott.

Globelight has another major component , a month-long exhibition at Anita Traverso Gallery in Richmond, which I had seen on an earlier visit to Melbourne.

On Sunday I went home!

Art organisations

My little art binge of a day and a bit sampled quite a few types of art organisation.  One high-end public gallery - ACCA.  One municipal gallery, with its brief to show local artists and to bring art from other places to the local populace  - Moonee Ponds Incinerator Gallery.  One very commercial Art Fair, though to its credit it did offer a bit of space to non-profits and the like.  One not-for-profit space, which I assume survives on grants and voluntary labour - Screen Space.  And one festival, which has come about largely because of the vision, energy and huge personal input of one person, James Tapscott – Globelight.