SPARK_LAB EDUCATION NOTES

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1 SPARK_LAB EDUCATION NOTES

2 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 2 CONTENTS From The Curator 3 Artists Pages 4-38 Activities Glossary Image Credits 44 Hatched: National Graduate Show 2015 is an exciting exhibition showcasing the best tertiary graduates from all around Australia. Their work spans a vast array of mediums and thematic concerns and is an ideal exhibition for secondary visual arts students, as well as students across other subject areas. The notes are provided online so that you may distribute the notes to other teachers and students with ease. You may photocopy sections of notes or ask students to print them out themselves. The notes are aimed at senior secondary students, however you can modify these notes, the questions and activities for students as you see fit for your particular students, to best suit their needs. If any of your students submit written answers and/or art work of a high standard in response to the artwork or the suggested questions and activities, please forward a copy to: Melissa McGrath Education Programs Curator PICA GPO Box P1221 Perth, WA, 6844 or education@pica.org.au We are always looking for outstanding examples of student work that has been sparked by our exhibition content. PLEASE NOTE All images used in the Education Notes are reproduced with the artists permission.

3 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 3 FROM THE CURATOR Thirty-five of Australia s recent top graduates have infiltrated the PICA building, occupying every space conceivable for this year s Hatched National Graduate Show. This year s Hatched artists tackle everything from spirituality, ritual, fading customs and the place of religion to ecological awareness and the potential of sentimental value, as a means of confronting topical issues in the 21st century. gallery walls, whilst a video of a tumbling meteorite speaks of the global impact of human activity on the environment. PICA s annual Hatched exhibition offers a unique national profiling opportunity and a critical platform for the next generation of Australian artists. - Nadia Johnson Narrative based works lead us through enigmatic and immersive experiences in which our path is lit by cartoon-like doodles rendered in neon, or where we find ourselves in hyper-real worlds full of mythical figures and botanical installations. Reams of ordered, translucent bands of yellow stretch from floor to ceiling, slicing up the central gallery space, whilst the constant yapping of 35 mechanised robotic dogs creates a neurotic soundscape as they sketch out a wild, automated drawing with their felt-tipped paws. On the first floor, performative endurance video works transport us into a private cinematic space and invite us to dance away in solitude. Just around the corner one thousand intricately cut paper skeletons scale the

4 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 4 Rachel Schenberg has a background in architecture, and has directed her investigations of space to the realm of fine art in order to tease out ideas about how space can affect the viewer/ inhabitant in an innate manner. This exploration is examined through physicalizing, containing and making accessible sensations and the seemingly intangible within a given space, the introduction of new materials and objects within the space, along with their relation to the viewer. Filling closed membranes with concentrations of air until they vibrate, taut, she has used the medium of air to explore ways to engage with and create tension in space and form. The form of her works for Hatched have developed out of a series of experiments with materials, spaces and scale, testing each element s balance and tension. Her body of work encompasses meditations on particular shapes, such as the solid object with a cutaway, circular hole - awaiting to be filled by a membrane, which extends the internal space of the object into the external space of the room. and Julia Dault approach their work with consideration of the unseen phenomena and forces between objects and the viewer, and the relationship between seeing, imagining and reality that informs Schenberg s work. Ultimately Schenberg hopes for active responses in thought and imagination so that the work can continue to exist in the mind of the viewer. The work aims to have the potential to affect and resonate into the future through consideration of internal strain of dichotomies sustaining each other from the pull of uncertainty; awareness of absence; and simultaneous lightness and solidity. Do you consider the air inside the inflated vessels as part of the internal air of the work, or external air of the space? What do you think happens when the fans are turned off? Do you think the works can still exist? Why/why not? Architecture; Intangible; Dichotomy The writings of Giles Deleuze have been a large influence on Schenberg s work; he speaks of cinema putting movement not just in the image viewed, but also within the mind of the viewer. She sees the moving air concentrated within the clear vessels of her work as a means of communicating on an instinctive level and allowing ideas to continue moving in the mind. Similarly, Navid Nuur, Lee Ufan

5 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 5 Elena Tory-Henderson interested in public art and intervening in existing spaces. Originally training as a painter, she sees her traditional training as a very important foundation for how she practices now, as it gives her the means of creating her own visual language. She works mainly in spatial and siteresponsive installation, concerned with the role of material and site as collaborative components in art making. Tory-Henderson s work for Hatched is part of a series that follows a process of making formal choices based on the site of display and nature of found/ everyday materials, such as string, fishing line, tape, fabric, cardboard, wood, dowel, carpet, plastic or paint. Her interest in these materials is based around their capacity to emulate the formal and aesthetic characteristics of drawing and painting. These colour and linear properties, being pre-made, gesture to concepts outside the formal, separating Tory-Henderson s practice from traditional production. By choosing these materials there is an element of self-denial of her role as an artist, and abandonment of tropes of self-expression and control over the art-object, allowing the exploration of alternate positions. reliance on the direction of materials in the art-making process by the Minimalist and Post-Minimalist movements as well being inspired by the use of colour and architectural space by contemporary artists Jessica Stockholder and Fred Sandback. This work is not created to express a particular idea or statement about the artist s observation of the world, it is instead part of an ongoing investigation of ideas related to art-making and art history. This installation draws you attention to the relationships between its material components, construction and placement within the architectural space. What does the presence of this work within the gallery space draw your attention to? How does it relate to the space? What do the materials and form of this work remind you of? Installation; Material; Site; Formal; Chance Kurt Schwitters approach to the creation of his assemblages, incorporating a sense of play and surrender to material relations is similar to the motivation for Tory-Henderson s practice. She has taken heed of the incorporation of chance (or intuition) and

6 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 6 Dan McDonnell explores the tangible nature of materials and colour through his studio-based practice of abstract painting. Through his gestural works created with his hands rather than a paintbrush, he emphasises both the physical body and the conventions surrounding painting. Embracing unforseen outcomes, McDonnell works and reworks each painting to the point that its formal characteristics resonate with him. Ten Steins Licht builds upon a history of Pop Art, Neo-Geo and Simulationism. Artists who work with the canvas on the ground such as Peter Halley and Yves Klien have influenced McDonnell s practice. McDonnell encourages open-ended dialogue with this series, reflective of his interest in how the representation of the fold can act as a model for associative thinking and the Deleuzian notion of the hermeneutic artwork. He sees his artworks as tools for generating rather than prescribing meaning. McDonnell says that a painting is finished when the formal elements resonate with him. Which elements can you recognise in his works? Abstraction; Formal; Pop Art; Simulationism; Neo-Geo; Hermeneutic

7 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 7 Hannah Liston is a printmaker working simultaneously with paper and functional textile surface mediums. Her practice explores the stigma of use through comparison, highlighting preconceptions associated with the possibility of function. She utilises both traditional and non-traditional printmaking techniques with a focus on simple botanical and geometric forms. Her work for Hatched is a comparison of the perceptual differences associated with the two pieces - Fabriano paper and a hand-sewn linen tea towel. Both surfaces have received the same treatment of block printing by hand with acrylic ink with a hand-carved rubber stamp. This identical treatment allows the viewer to compare and contrast their sense of value for each piece. Liston hopes that her work provokes discussion about the judgement of art based on it s materials, and perceived function. Do you perceive the two pieces differently because of the difference in surface media? Do you think this is a work of art? Discuss why/ why not? Block printing; Arts & Craft Movement; Bauhaus; Conceptual art Sitting comfortably within the context of contemporary craft with bold designs and colour, Liston sees her work as exploring the concerns around the loss of individuality and the proliferation of low quality machine-made objects with reference to art movements such as the Arts & Craft Movement (William Morris) and the Bauhaus intentions to bring well designed objects into the everyday experience. Harnessing the history of the conceptual art movement, Liston has explored the implications of works by Robert Rauschenberg, Rosmarie Trockel and Andy Warhol in questioning what art is and how the material qualities of the art object can be challenged.

8 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 8 Tracey Coutts is a painter and digital media artist who is concerned with non-objective imagery. She uses objects such as line, shape, and colour as a form of visual language. With a background in design, she approaches art making as a form of construction. Rotated Cube is a study of a wire-framed cube created in a computer automated design (CAD) program manually set in rotation. An image of every.5-degrees of rotation has been captured to be analysed as a series. The view captured is unique. The absence of perspective afforded by the CAD program minimises the complexity of the image. Perspective is used in art to make things appear (visually) more realistic. Coutts sees the tool, which allows perspective to be removed from view, as a translation mechanism that makes the visual language simpler and more engaging. Perspective was incorporated into painting and drawing during the Renaissance to provide realistic portrayal of figures in space. Cubism turned away from the realistic modeling of figures and towards a system of representing bodies in space that employed small, tilted planes, set in a shallow space. Why do you think that Coutts is exploring a lack of perspective in her images? Perspective; Translate; Minimalism; Cubism Giving information very simply is in line with the ideas of Minimalism and Cubism. Coutts took notes from the work of Sol Lewitt, a conceptual artist who sees ideas as the powerhouse for art making. In this work, Coutts has created this artist book as a document of the concept of the lack of perspective. Exploring beauty in simplicity, Coutts hopes that viewers find the detailed patterning interesting, while having to look closer and for longer to decipher the information provided.

9 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 9 Alex McGovern questions how notions of painting can be critiqued, subverted and re contexualised. Becoming closer aligned with personal experiences and exploring conventional understandings of gender and the success of heteronormative society, McGovern s practice is informed by divergent manifestations of the potential of play as a methodology for art making. Using play, the whimsical and performative objects, with a focus on spatiality and temporality, this method subverts, critiques and explores social functions with a focus on inner and outer spaces, and relationships between object, body and surrounds. By breaking down painting into its basic properties and then gathering these fragmented ideas into provisional objects through the process of assemblage, this work featured in Hatched critiques the traditional structures that frame painting s history. The idea of provisional offering has guided the creation of this work. By rejecting the need for finished, durable work, McGovern has opted to suspend closure, and provide accessible, honest openings for viewers to engage with the work. Breaking down the barriers between painting and the surrounding world, McGovern hopes that viewers engage with the work in a variety of selfdetermined ways. Would you consider this work a painting? Why/Why not? What is the significance of colour in this work? Play; Temporal; Spatial; Assemblage The writings of Ring Peterson have shaped McGovern s understanding of the role of painting as an expanded field in contemporary art that explores the dispersal of traditional format, culminating in painting as a threedimensional, spatial and hybrid practice.

10 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 10 Kara Baldwin is interested in the individual within society, play, absurdity and humour. Her projects develop out of her own experiences and responses to her environment. Her work A Load of Pollocks developed from critique of the city to focus on the role of the individual, meaning of humour and effects of laughter. Discovering these robot dogs which feature in her work at a two dollar shop, Baldwin could not help purchasing the objects promising Once own, you can never have anything else. Simple in construction, she tested the robot dogs as a vehicle for drawing, observation of which began funny, but eventually became unnerving, a sense, which emanates from the sound and anthropomorphic personalities placed on the simple robots by viewers. The title A Load of Pollocks with its direct reference to action painter Jackson Pollock, adds to the humour by placing the resulting abstract marks from this active installation within an art history context. This brings into consideration the role of the artist, humour, absurdity, mania, mass production and the concept of the spectacular. key influences on Baldwin s practice. Baldwin hopes that viewers of her work question more than the initial spectacular moment of viewing, expanding their consideration to include reflection of their reaction to the piece. Why is it interesting or not? Why is it funny or not funny? Do you think that the work of art in the case is the act of drawing or the resulting drawing from the dog s actions? What other artworks does the resultant drawing remind you of? Do you find this artwork funny? What aspects of its construction make you have this reaction? Play; Absurdity; Humour; Anthropomorphic; Uncanny; Spectacle Baldwin continually referred to Sigmund Freud s concept of the uncanny, and his theory of jokes in the process of making this work. Additionally David Shrigley s personal observations of tragic comedy, as well as Stuart Rungholt s manipulation of slapstick comedy, absurdity and embarrassment have been

11 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 11 Joel Arthur considers the role of perception and illusionism through representation and abstraction. Through his practice he focuses on different modes of description, which have developed in conjunction with a more accentuated abstract pictorial language. His work began as an investigation of various approaches to the field of still life, observing and describing distortions that occur when looking through glass, water and other refractive and reflective materials. His focus on the optical experience delivered by these distortions and their subsequent translation into painting is the driving interest of his works. The pairing of blue and yellow vibrates through simultaneous contrast, delivering an optical experience of refraction seen through glass. No. 38, for example considers how systematic painted line can describe form or a subject within abstraction while delivering spatial paradoxes in terms of figure-ground relationships. What do you think is the intention behind the combination of abstract and figurative painting styles? What role does colour play in these works? Perception; Representation; Abstraction; Op Art; Still life Arthur is influenced heavily by the illusionary work of Op Artist Bridget Riley and the subtle still life observations of Georgio Morandi, combining these influences in studies of perception in both abstract and figurative formats. These abstract works consider how an optical experience can be generated in the painting itself, while continuing to alert the viewer of the work s physicality and painterly mark.

12 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 12 François Evangelista seeks to rediscover and employ the unadulterated spirit of the inner child by expressing liberty, play and innocent mischievousness through his work. Employing a variety of methods of drawing, printing and painting in his works, he identifies with the process of Action Painting and manipulates the unique nature of Mono-printing to generate chaotic visual effects, which explore perceptions of the Primitive and Unconscious products of the human imagination. The figures that emerge from his work are reminiscent of characters from childhood narratives. Key resources for Evangelista during the process of making this work were Maurice Sendack s seminal 1963 children s picture book Where the Wild Things Are and Stephen Spielberg s 1991 film Hook. The title of the work Bangarang comes from the film Hook and is defined as: 1. The battle cry of the Lost Boys 2. Jamaican slang for hubbub, uproar, disorder or disturbance Evangelista defines Bangarang as the ultimate in excellence. Better than cool, rad or awesome, it is a word saved for very special occasions. There are many artists that Evangelista found influential to his practice, they include the incorporation of Primitivism and the primal into the visual language of contemporary art by Jean Michel Basquiat; The scribbling, scratching and self-vandalism of Cy Twombly; The unconscious Action Painting processes of Jackson Pollock; The development of the technique of Decalcomania by the Surrealists, particularly Max Ernst, that was employed to create paintings controlled largely by chance; And the use of the Rorschach technique by Australian painter Ben Quilty to create figurative images develop out of ink-blots. Each of these artists and Evangelista seek to create from within the depths of their minds, or unconscious. Evangelista uses the term psychedelic (which means to reveal the mind) to describe his work, in that he hopes for interactions with his work to inspire viewers to look within and explore their mind and unconscious self. Compare and contrast the work Glenn by Jean Michel Basquiat and Bangarang by François Evangelista. What similarities and differences can you see in their construction and use of visual language? François Evangelista has used many different image-making techniques in Bangarang. Look closely, can you identify the different mediums? Action Painting; Mono-printing; Primitive; Unconscious; Decalcomania; Surrealism

13 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 13 Marcia Espinosa s passion for art began in Chile where she first studied and exhibited as a young woman, after travelling the world with her family she settled in Australia and has returned to the development of her art practice. Having lived amongst many different cultures, Espinosa has a keen interest in people s beliefs and religious practices. She is especially concerned with the concepts of forgiveness, offering, and petitions. In her work Espinosa considers the traditional relationship between people and their gods in a contemporary context, focusing on the value placed on material goods. Espinosa takes these important objects household appliances and displays them elevated to a divine status. Transforming them into Shrines, and arranging them in the form of a great altar, each representing a different aspect of our idolisation of beautiful things and materials possessions a Shrine for Money, a Shrine for Champions. her concept. The humour and irony Espinosa has instilled in her work aims to engage viewers in questioning their own values, and question our materialistic society, but also to engage with the Shrines in a traditional sense and make their own wishes & petitions. Can you identify the different materials that have been used? Marcia has collected a lot of the appliances and materials she used in her Shrines from verge collections. How does this idea of resurrection or repropose fit within her use of religious iconography? Offering; Petitions; Shrine; Divine One artist that formed a strong influence for Espinosa is Annette Messager, who works across mediums as diverse as installation, photography, drawing, embroidery, describing herself as a conceptual artist, craftsperson and feminist. Her subtle presentation of strong concepts and images through the use of play and nostalgia, and use of any medium of communication for her message has propelled Espinosa to investigate all potential expressions for

14 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 14 Darren Nedza is a Melbourne-based artist. Through innovative variations of mixed media and tradition, Nedza s work investigates and challenges the conventional expectations which surround and influence contemporary art intuitions. Through his practice he acts to question the validity of the creative act and the inherent uncertainty within those institutions. Nedza, like many Artists in the 21st century, has been pre-doctrined to rue over an expanse of Art history. His approach to making his work for Hatched, is in response to the magnitude of silent law governing contemporary art and its modes or models adhering to colour, form, medium/material, presentation and uncertainty. The prevalence of obedience to this doctrine unravels in the subsequent choices made within these pre-determined perimeters. In cataloging the trends in contemporary art now, representations have been compiled into a single exhibition special arrangement. viewer have been have been an influence to Nedza s work. This compilation of works provides a self-reflexive institutional critique of the patterns of the art world. Nedza hopes the viewer takes away with them an uncertainty from what they have seen, questioning the sincerity of this exhibitive installation, and a value judgment of the individuals response from the various elements presented. Make an assessment of the variety of materials used in this installation and list them. Can you think of other artists or other artworks that use these materials in a similar way? What do you think the intention is of the artist in compiling all of these disparate objects within one installation? Intuitions; Cataloging; Installation Nedza s hyper-awareness of and observations from the art world at large find a tangible source in the What s hot, what s not articles in Frieze magazine. Hany Armanious use of formula as an influence, and the de-evolution of this practice to create an awkward anxious re-examination of truth, inherent hierarchies of material choices and gestures; and Fiona Connor s subtle institutional critique, and consideration of the impact of presentation upon the

15 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 15 Broc Webster is a multi-disciplinary artist who works primarily with large format film photography, oil and digital painting in the form of staged tableaus. Webster s approach to making draws inspiration from museological habitat dioramas of the early 20th century, where scenes were staged to depict endangered animals in their natural environments. He is interested in the preserved timelessness in the compressed space of these environments, and in response to this Webster creates similar tableaus to apply a sense of historicity to his images. Each image in the Athanasia series invokes a different period of time, as such, a variety of mediums have been used to make them oil paint, film photography, digital painting, audio, found materials and digital processing. Athanasia provides a thread of narrative throughout each individual image providing the viewer a chance to contemplate the residual essence that persists throughout generations. What is the function of a museum? How do you see the museum as a stage for narrative to be cycled through? Museology; Diorama; Rebirth; Metamorphosis The conceptual backing to the Athanasia series is drawn from eastern philosophical thought, where the notion of rebirth is prominent. Rather than an unchanging entity that endures a lifespan, this work suggests that a metamorphosis occurs during the progression from one life to another. The treatment of progressive identity in the work of Pierre Bismuth has been an important influential factor in the production of the Athanasia series. Webster wishes to provide new perspectives that oppose the materialistic rationale in order to illustrate the potential for the continuance of life to extend beyond a single life span.

16 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 16 Ilya Milstein is an artist working in digital video and illustration. Milstein is interested in religious art, particularly its purity of personality by appealing to a higher authority than mere art itself, he believes that religious art obscures the identity and discourages the psychoanalysis of its creator. Exploring scriptures, artifacts and the culture of Judaism, his narrative-based work interrogates the possibility of creating un-ironic religious art in the digital era. Milstein filmed a model with a facemask against a green screen, and then developed the stage for this HD avatar. The imagery and landscape within which The Wandering Jew navigates his unending pathway is informed by pre-renaissance graphical perspective, as well as details from religious texts Genesis Rabbah, Sefer Yetzirah and the Qur an. The unending journey alludes to the fate of The Wandering Jew impervious to time and decay, while also evoking the single image of a scroll. Research examples of pre-renaissance religious artworks. How do you think that The Wandering Jew sits among the historical tradition it borrows from? Why do you think Milstein did not feature to face of the figure in the animation? Religious; Perspective; Ambiguous; The Wandering Jew Influenced by a long list of writers, filmmakers, musicians, artists, craftsmen, and artifacts, Milstein identifies with artists who have a desire for original creation and to engage with an audience on a meaningful and emotive level. He hopes that The Wandering Jew will encourage multiple readings, having intentionally left ambiguous space for viewers from a variety of backgrounds to engage with the work.

17 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 17 Eliya Cohen makes work that explores human relationships with the natural word, with each other and with ourselves. She uses video and sound to create her installations. Eliya draws on personal experiences, including growing up camping and concepts of spirituality, ritual and the unconscious to express a phenomenological perspective toward human relationships and our surrounding environment. Love Eyes was created intuitively through experiences connecting with her models and the environment they were immersed in. Cohen filmed in various locations around Australia and Laos. She also incorporated footage from trips to Turkey and Israel when she was younger, after mining her old footage with a different conceptual perspective. Cohen sees the experiences of her models during filming as important as that created for viewers in the gallery space. Through her installation, she seeks to recreate the opportunity for immersion. This work is about our place in nature, and invites the viewer to make their own connections and respond in their own way. Cohen hopes that viewers will take away a renewed or deeper appreciation for nature looking more and taking time to notice elements of form, movement, colour and texture in the world around us. What effect does the immersive installation of Love Eyes have on your perception and reactions to the work? Name 5 visual elements that Cohen has employed in her manipulation of the video and installation of Love Eyes. Biophilia; Phenomenological; Unconscious; Installation; Ritual; Spirituality Cohen was heavily influenced by zoologist E.O. Wilson s theory of Biophilia the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. This prompted her to consciously engage with creating a space in which viewers would allow themselves to be influenced by what they experience. Artists Pipilotti Rist s work which is dislodged from narrative but anchored in nature (Juliana Engberg), and Bill Viola s explorations of human experience and video installation have also guided Cohen s practice.

18 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 18 Tamara Howie draws on her previous experience in fashion design in her work for Hatched, which is inspired by her move to the Northern Territory. Taking notes from the form of the Banyan Tree roots that are found everywhere in Darwin, she has recreated the organic textile forms that spill out and explore the space it is installed in. Her use of psychedelic colours, the high-contract red and green were selected for their capacity to create an illusion of movement, drawing viewers in to the work but simultaneously the lack of ability to focus or concentrate is dazzling. Inspired heavily in her use of colour by the tradition of Op Art, Howie handprinted the fabric for Adventitious. What qualities do you think the use of textiles in Adventitious bring to the representation of the natural forms of the Banyan Tree roots? Describe the effect that the use of colour in this work has on you. What does it make you think & feel about? Op Art; Textile Researching the work of Annette Messager, Howie was inspired by her use of textile in the context of contemporary art in that she could create work with her skills that were not for adorning the body. Positioning these sculptural forms as though they are growing out of the walls, Howie seeks to add to their drama, with shadows thrown to amplify the contrast between work and gallery. While not explicitly a political work, Howie is highlighting the incongruousness of these forms within built environments. Primarily inviting viewers to engage with the formal characteristics (shapes, shadows and colours) of the textile forms, questions linger relating to the relationship or negotiation between nature and man.

19 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 19 Lewis Doherty makes monuments out of that which is considered trivial or childish. He borrows the forms, concepts, materials and aesthetics from the world of advertising and modern industry to create enigmatic and often humorous modern allegories that speak to the tensions between personal and public lives. He works across a variety of media including sculpture, video, installation, and illustration, considering his role that of a content creator rather than that of a craftsperson. Doherty has maintained a life-long interest in cartoons and animae, fascinated by their simultaneous capacity to be playful and entertaining as well as highly emotional and moral. In Interiors Doherty has created a work that is personal and stemming from experiences in his private life, while also made in such a way as to reflect the materials of the shared spaces around him. Neon is a material that belongs in the public sphere and to the world of advertising; its reclamation in this context creates an experience that is naïve, playful and personal. The presence of the indoor plants in the installation acts as an aesthetic foil to the neon and speaks to the idea of interior spaces whilst also reflecting the natural world and it s uneasy relationship with the monuments of commercialism and mass media. as animation, illustration, conceptual art and modernism. Through viewing Interiors Doherty hopes viewers will consider the signs and symbols they encounter in their everyday with greater importance and existential weight than the overlooked or generalized notice they are ordinarily given. What is the difference between content and traditional art objects? What is a monument? How does this concept apply to Doherty s work? Monuments; Personal; Public; Content; Sign; Symbol Doherty has drawn inspiration from a wide range of disciplines and individuals in the development of his practice such

20 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 20 Grace Herbert engages in a two-part practice of studio-based material experimentation as well as explorations of urban and suburban areas of cities. Through her fieldwork expeditions, she seeks sites of transition, abandonment and decay within which she undertake her architectural interventions. Herbert is interested in the afterlife of buildings that will eventually perish, proposing entropy as a creative cycle; one that produces something new for each thing it breaks down. Her work Golden Ruin resulted from a number of processes and adventures of experimentation taking place in a soon-to-be-demolished suburban Hobart house. Herbert installed 23-karat gold leaf to the interior surface of one of the rooms. 23-karat is the point at which gold does not tarnish or deteriorate, contrasting this intervention with the limited lifespan of the building, Herbert brings to mind cathedrals or palaces where this material is usually reserved for. The natural light entering the room is reflected from the gold surfaces this work bought foreign materials into the space, but also responded to the architecture of the site. Herbert intends to document the demolition of the house, and her intervention lives on in the form of a photographic image illuminated in a light box to capture the luminescent qualities of the site. movement, he made a series of works which involved cutting pieces in condemned houses. The work and writings of Robert Smithson as well as that of Cyprien Gaillard have been influential to Herbert in their response to specific sites, broadening her concept of places and materials available to be incorporated into her art practice. Herbert hopes that viewers will find her work visually alluring, while also ambiguous and challenging unsure of where this is and how it took place. She poses questions of material value and the life span of architectural spaces. Documentation of site-specific works is becoming more common in arts practices. Do you think that the work of art in this case is the installation in the house, or the light box which provides an image of it in the gallery? What do you think the contrast of an expensive and valued material like gold with an old decaying house is asking or suggesting? Value; Anarchitecture; Architecture; Intervention; Fieldwork Herbert s art practice has been influenced by the work of Gordon Matta-Clark. Part of the Anarchitecture

21 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 21 Liam Colgan is a multidisciplinary artist interested in challenging current ideas around sexuality and producing questions to suggest alternate ways of thinking. Play is a strong methodology employed by Colgan through the misuse, improvisation and exploration of objects and places from his everyday context to investigate the ways in which our environments effect how we think about our identities. Dance is employed as a vehicle for reflection on sexuality in Colgan s work Caught in Reflection. Considering the ways that homosexuality is understood in relation to heterosexuality. By dancing this improvised choreography repetitively to exhaustion, moments of fatigue in the dance show the effects of enduring the song the effects attempting to fit a mould that isn t suitable to the individual. Camera angels are used in the construction of the video to relay ideas about the experience of sexuality. Set in his bedroom, a private space of comfort, Colgan is recording his sexuality where he feels most authentic. The camera is directed at his closet mirror, trapping his moving body within the frame. The viewer is able to continually monitor his movements an analogy for the labeling and monitoring of sexuality in the public sphere. navigation of public and private spaces and the communicative properties of fatigue. The very song being danced to is also a source of influence for this work. In Wuthering Heights, Kate Bush sings asking for forgiveness in order to be freed from a personal purgatory being trapped and subjected to judgement by others are central ideas in this work. Colgan sees the song as an ideological field that he is responding to with his movements. The effeminate quality of his dancing posing contrasts to the conservative undertones of the song. Connecting with the everyday quality of the work, Colgan hopes that viewers will be captivated and entertained by his exhausted yet passionate movements, while also reflecting upon their own private activities. How does what you do in private relate to what you do in public? What does it mean to repeat and action or image? What role does repetition play in Caught in Reflection? Play; Improvisation; Repetition; Endurance Repetitive dance works by artists Gillian Wearing (Dancing in Peckham) and Sophia Clearly (God bless this group) have guided Colgan s work through their

22 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 22 Arie Rain Glorie is a contemporary video artist. His artworks often involve performance for the camera lens as a tool to communicate ideas, anxieties, or narratives. Glorie is also an independent curator. The making of his work for Hatched was an intuitive one, which developed out of improvisation. Filming a performer dancing, Glorie took many short vignettes, noticing after a while that the Perspex the dancer was waltzing with reflected and refracted light. This developed into a focus of the filming process. Glorie s process of editing is akin to the process a painter or sculptor would go through (cropping for composition, changing hue, saturation and colour schemes). Once he has the final video, testing with a projector in physical space took place. Experimenting with the effects of projecting the video through the Perspex used within the film came to the fore when the work was installed outside of the studio leading to the reflected projection on the other side of the room. cinema was preeminent in shaping the identity of contemporary western culture. Glorie intends for viewers to be swept up in the cinema of the artwork nostalgic song, grey scale colour, ambient light, repetitive movement, and costume all work together to create a cinematic space with no real time or place. He hopes that the reverberations of the image contribute to a feeling of cinema bleeding into the room, but that the content of the film is considered historically, politically and socially. Why is this work not shown on a screen? What do you think reflection of the image adds to the experience of viewing this work? What role does music (Nat King Cole s Around the World ) play in this work? Improvisation; Identity; Nostalgia Artists working in filmmaking and video art have been large influences on Glorie s practice Shirin Neshat, Mathew Barney, Tracey Moffatt, Warwick Thornton, Francis Allys for either the production value of their works, or for the concepts that underpin their work. Importantly, Glorie s work for Hatched was heavily influenced by early twentieth century cinema. A relatively new art form

23 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 23 Dominic Byrne is an artist whose work is largely made through different forms of performance-based models of art making. Using methods of endurance, as well as the undertaking of an action or an event, he is interested in how these performed or documented actions change and transform to no longer being connected to the self, via image-making technologies. Involving the display of video, as well as costuming and functional objects, Byrne examines the various physical, psychological and technological conditions that surround these works when established as sites of performance. Covering all 3 walls of his studio in black cloth, Byrne transformed this workspace into a stage/ theatre setting in which to film a series of studio-based actions of a frustrated painter working with a time-based medium. Revisited through multiple shoots and editing, spit is spat, floors are punched, glasses are smashed, sentences stretched and blood (fake!) is spilt. Actions featured all play with an ambiguity created by the presence of the camera in the studio, questioning if the performances lose potency through their representation. The concept of endurance-as-performance, in this context is not relating to the body being taken to its limits, instead each representation of the body is undermined by awareness of its existence as a flattened, moving image. Movement which were consciously aware of film s capacity to capture reality; early work by artist Bruce Nauman explored the process of making undertaken by the artist in relation to the process of seeing by the viewer, and how performance underlines both of these actions; and Ryan Trecartin s films embody the fractured identities of those whose purpose it fells is to perform. There is a sense of exhaustion in the viewer through engagement with this work. It is hoped that they recognise the sense of emptiness, frustration and absurdity created between the camera and the body, the consequences of becoming a representation. The artist in all these videos seems to be performing for the camera. How would the performance change if it was with a live audience? Or no audience at all? How do you think that some of these video works might relate to painting? Performance; Endurance; Action; Fluxus; Representation Films that influenced Byrne s work include those produced by the Fluxus

24 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 24 Andrew Styan worked as a metallurgist for 30 years before beginning his art career. This experience with technology, experimentation and construction, as well as considered analysis colour his artistic outputs. His work is concerned with communicating the circumstances our environment is enduring as a result of various human behaviours. Styan begins the development of work with a concept rather than a visual intention. With Bell Buoy two concepts drove his investigations: How to represent the coal trade in the Newcastle harbour How to represent coal as beautiful The complex device that resulted is a technical solution to practical problems of how to depict an idea within a gallery setting. The device is deliberately on display in the gallery to provide viewers with a sense of immediacy and transparency, allowing the opportunity to make their own discoveries. With a deep passion in landscape photography, Styan has drawn influence from the work of Edward Burtynsky whose large format images create tension in the beautiful portrayal of ugly subjects. The slowly unfolding doom of Guido van der Werve s mesmerising video Everything is Going to be Alright was a key work that inspired the development of Bell Buoy. overly saturated in the media, by providing a space to consider the reality of things that exist outside the gallery. Which images in the work are real and which are constructed? How do we judge what is real or important, or separate fact from fiction? The title of the work comes from that of a poem by Rudyard Kipling. I dip and I surge and I swing In the rip of the racing tide, By the gates of doom I sing, On the horns of death I ride. A ship-length overside, Between the course and the sand, Fretted and bound I bide Peril whereof I cry. Would I change with my brother a league inland? (Shoal! Ware shoal!) Not I! What significance do you think this poem has to the work? Technology; Experimentation; Environment; Conceptual Art Styan aims to provoke thought and action in viewers with regard to a topic that is

25 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 25 Paula Hunt has a wide variety of professional roles in management and non-fiction publishing. Her practice is as a result grounded in research. She is concerned with narrative in visual art and uses the stadium as her subject for her explorations. In the Stadium developed from a short anecdote Hunt was told during a training session for her role working in safety at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It goes that during the 1991 Coode island explosion, emergency services evacuated affected residents via bus to Arden Street Oval. On the way, some residents jumped out of the bus and ran away. Later it was revealed that they had been migrants from Chile, where in 1973, during the coup d état, Pinochet had supporters of the overthrown government bussed to Estadio Nacional in Santiago where they were imprisoned and many tortured. This story linked two stadiums, through times, and Hunt took particularly interest in the ambiguity of history that interpretation of this story allows. development of Hunt s practice. Johan Grimonprez and Erik Bunger who each present narratives and visual imagery in their work. Yael Bartana and Jeremy Deller also provide touchstones for Hunt s practice. Hunt hopes that viewing In the Stadium is both somewhat familiar and unsettlingly odd. She aims to provoke thought about the unique multi-functions of stadiums (sports ground, TV studio, shopping mall, memorial site, prison). Why do you think Hunt has presented her work in three chapters? What links can you see between them? You would most likely have been to a stadium at some point, how do you think differently about that space now that you viewed Hunt s work? Research; Ambiguious; History She undertakes an unstructured research method tracing threads of information, imposing arbitrary conditions to guide her discoveries parameters within which to work. The finished work manipulated archival footage, and imagery in a multi-media collage installation, which connects moments of farce across history In the Stadium. Two artists have been influential to the

26 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 26 Leah Allen-Ankins has always been interested in concepts of time and history intrigued by change and the connections between past, present and future. Allen-Ankins Traces and Projections developed from research into the ancient practice of Palimpsest, a process of re-using parchments by erasing old writing to make way for newer ones. Fascinated by how this artefact experienced change and retained traces of history, Allen-Ankins saw the similarities between this process and those that develop and built cities and built environments Architectural Palimpsests. Focusing on the construction and deconstruction of the urban environment, she worked on the layered wall drawing using blueprints of public buildings and maps of areas experiencing political unrest. Julie Mehretu s process of creative destruction influenced the development of this work through Allen-Ankins use of paint and sandpaper to erase areas of the work and masking to preserve other regions. As her 2D drawings evolved into folded and layered 3D fragments, artist John Tarry and architect Frank Ghery became central points of reference. Tarry s work in collaboration with architect Riet Eeckhout Drawing Out Collapse: Valletta Gate explores the construction and collapse of space similar to Allen-Ankins. Frank Ghery s engagement with the theory of Deconstructivism in his work is characterised by fragmentation and manipulation of the surface of his buildings. Allen-Ankins has harnessed the sense of unpredictability in composition, through each installation of her work reacting to the space it is hung within. Even though this is a stationery work, Allen-Ankins hopes that viewers will gain a sense of the shifting and evolving spirit of the piece and urban environments that it seeks to evoke. Orienting themselves within the work and taking in the details, viewers are encouraged to observe the altering perspective as they view it from different angels and recognise the interplay between details and overall landscape perspectives. The blueprints used in this work are of a number of political buildings Australian Parliament House, The White House, The Reichstag. These are contrasted with maps of cities which have been bombed in conflicts that have something to do with the buildings of power. What do you think Allen-Ankins is trying to communicate by literally drawing these connections between locations? What does the broken convoluted landscape of this work make you think of? Palimpsest; Construction; Deconstruction; Deconstructivism

27 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 27 Louise Morgan is a multi-disciplinary artist whose art practice revolves around ecology and the impacts of human activity on the environment. Themes she explores in her work include connectedness, interdependence and consequence. Her works attempt to dissolve the cultural and physical boundaries that we impose upon the world by interpreting and confronting issues and cultivating commonalities between ourselves and other forms of life. Think about the properties and uses of paper as a material. Which of it s properties do you think aid the intention being communicated by Morgan? Why do you think Morgan has used different skeletons in her work? Laser-cut; Representation In her work for Hatched, Morgan represents the invisible losses of the sixth mass extinction event happening around the world. After being drawn, each paper skeleton is laser cut and folded by hand before being collected together in a mass to represent the extent of the threat of extinction on these species. The number of animals present in the installation relates to the threat that species is undergoing, i.e. 40% of skeletons are frogs, as it is estimates that around 40% of amphibians are threatened. Morgan is influenced by artists who create works that draw the viewer in and help viewers come to terms with issues regarding the environment and our relation to it such as Fiona Hall, Maya Lin and Janet Laurence. Morgan hopes that this work contributes to awareness of the scale of species extinction and the consequence of environmental degradation.

28 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 28 Stephanie Marks works intimately with subjects from nature, creating works using mostly watercolour and paper. She is strongly influenced by the beauty in nature and the awe-inspiring forms that are found even in humble bodies, such as weeds, which represent the unique splendor that exists in this world. Marks undertook an involved process of collecting and documenting weeds to create a kind of taxonomy. She explored various locations where plants grew in unwanted locations, taking samples and documenting them in watercolour in her journal. Do you consider the subjects of Unwanted to be beautiful? Consider the impact of scale in this work. Why do you think Marks chose to represent these weeds as life-size? Beauty; Taxonomy; Documenting; Life-size What is a weed? A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. -Ralph Waldo Emmerson Marks work is grounded in a historical approach to the drawing and illustrative medium that mediates between art, nature and science. She has been inspired by artists Cornelia Hesse-Honeggar and Herman De Vries who work with processes of collecting organizing and representing natural forms. Michael Landy s etchings and life-size studies of individual weeds have guided Marks consideration of composition and content. She hopes that Unwanted suggests the intimate time spent representing each weed, and engage with the details and overlooked beauty of the humble weed.

29 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 29 Maggie Moy is fascinated by things she finds by chance and the immediate instinctive reaction she has to the shape, form, texture and colour of these items. In her work Potsherd, Moy has created a series of functionless rock-like formations consisting of pieced together shards of discarded and broken crockery or ceramics. Each shard has been collected from the banks of the River Torrens in Walkerville, a suburb of Adelaide, which she visited every day over a period of 10 months as part of her project. For this project she set herself arbitrary rules, which would determine what she collected: The items must be found on the ground and be the detritus of nature or human-made junk of no importance or intrinsic value; The objects must be small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. In developing a pseudo-archaeological practice of sorting, cleaning and arranging found items based on colour size and material, she began to simultaneously research the history of the area she was scouring for traces of the past. Unearthing a history that stretched from the camps of early settlers to the recent practice of rubbish dumping by the local council. arrive at the point where they are smooth and worn, manipulated by the forces of nature. Moy has been particularly influenced by the practice of artist Simryn Gill who undertakes her own process of collecting, interpreting and altering common objects. Placing under consideration ideas of place and memory, she hope that viewers feel engaged with these found objects in their new form, recognizing that nothing is ever thrown away it is just moved to another place. Ceramic is a long lasting material, but also quite fragile and cherished by western society. Why do you think Moy chose to re-use found ceramic pieces to create her work Potsherd? What associations do you make with ceramic as a medium? Think about how archeologists learn about past societies from ancient objects they discover in the earth. Which objects do you think would be interesting for people in the future looking back at contemporary society? Shape; Form; Texture; Colour; Archaeology In Potsherd Moy highlights the passage of time that these overlooked shards have endured in the environment to

30 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 30 Marina Kailis has taken many turns on her way to becoming an artist working in litigation support, records management, and universities - studying art has been a significant career change. Nonetheless, her work explores themes relevant to her previous experiences preservation, organisation, and multiplicity. Kailis practice is driven by attractions to materials and technical processes. Seeking to develop ideas without excesses of colour or materials, she has focused on the many possibilities offered by clay as a medium for expression. The method Kailis has used to create these works developed from the trial and error involved in a problem solving process guided by the material. Her work They have all been shelved is a wall installation of twenty-five press-moulded ceramic open books. Beginning with two plaster moulds of two books, each individual piece in the installation was cast in porcelain and has been left unglazed. material. While all things are impermanent, she is asking the question as to what will be lost in this transition to new technologies? By solidifying the form of a book in this repeated and permanent fashion, is memorialising experiences that are becoming further out of reach from our everyday experience. Repetition is a device used for a variety of reasons by artists. Why do you think Kailis has decided to replicate the form of the book so many times in They have all been shelved? Think of what the word memorial means. How do you think that concept applies to this work by Kailis conceptually and in terms of its materiality? Preservation; Multiples; Memorial One of Kailis most important influences is Edmund de Waal, a British ceramicist. Through his creation of beautifully simple vessels, de Waal focuses on the display and installation of his works, working with multiples to invigorate interest in the viewer with regards to shape, colour, and material. Kailis work is a comment on the disappearance of various forms of printed

31 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 31 Elizabeth Lada Gray grew up amongst post WW2 immigrants to Australia; married a refugee and journeyed back to his communist occupied country in the 1970 s; and chose to be an immigrant herself in the early 21st century, by moving to Italy. This variety of experiences of belonging, and remembering other places drives her practice as an artist. In her work Those with the gift of melancholy notice small ordinary things Lada Gray explores matters of migration by examining the role that souvenirs play in remembrance and the representation of loss. She made small-scale maquettes of her work in order to prefect the painting techniques that allowed her to embellish the souvenirs depicted with imperfections, dust, stains cracks and chips. Painting images that were actual-size was essential to symbolising the stories of her migrant collaborators through representation of their cherished objects. Taking the form of a diptych, one painting displays a table set with souvenirs, the other shows the absence of objects or people with stains on the tablecloth. Those with the gift offers an understanding of, or empathy for, the personal experience of migration and displacement. Via representation of souvenirs, nostalgia, myth and memory, Lada Gray hopes that this work serves as a foundation for dialogue regarding past and present migration issues. Compare the two paintings. What differences can you see between them? What does this represent? Remembering; Representation; Souvenir; Migration Influences on Lada Gray s project include Giorgio Morandi s repeatedly painted assemblages; John Priola s photographs of broken objects which imbue them with a sense of sentimental value; Laura Letinsky s abstracted images of cloth, tiles and balanced items; and Marion Drew who brings tension to the table top through he ritual of setting the table.

32 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 32 Karen Paterson is a sculptor whose practice draws on her memories and experience as a registered nurse to explore the relationships between objects and gender roles, and the cultural ramifications of health systems. Paterson learnt to crochet from her Nanna, and through the combination of this traditional skill with various cooking processes, she manipulates the medium of acrylic yarn to produce stereotypical gendered objects that explore the construction of gender and domestic work roles. The challenge of constructing Hands (Bucket and Mop) was in the technical execution in creating a self-supporting form out of Paterson s unique material process. The form of the work developed out of a significant amount of trial and error. Once created, the textile pieces were soaked in a sugar starch and laid over moulds to support them during the drying process, all of which took over 3 months to complete. the way gender is constructed. Why do you think Paterson uses crochet which is considered a traditionally female handcraft as a sculptural medium? Think about the fantastical representation of domestic objects in Hands (Bucket and Mop). What do you think the artist is attempting to say about the domestic space? Gender; Crochet; Fantasy Paterson is influenced by the work of Nathan Vincent who combined concepts of gender and the medium of crochet in his practice. Hands (Bucket and Mop) looks like something out of a Disney film white, glittery and standing unsupported in the middle of the gallery, as if a fantasy. Paterson hopes that her work invites curiosity in its material construction, but also consideration of the messages that the form and medium provoke regarding

33 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 33 Anna Mycko has a background in teaching and libraries. Having studied painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and installation at various points in her life, she uses a variety of mediums to explore personal life experiences. Interested in the links between objects and memory, Mycko has created a series of geometric installations using objects from her parent s house which she inherited after they passed away. The development of the Inheritance and Loss series has come out of investigations into the ways that artists respond to archives and artefacts. Organising the objects, which previously belonged to her parents based on pattern, shape and colour, she created a series of detailed layouts that were then photographed from above. Think about the concept of an archive. What relevance does this have to personal collections of objects and documents? Looking at the visual aspects of the Inheritance and Loss series, think about the use of symmetry and repetition. What do these devices communicate? Memory; Archives; Personal The Time Capsules collected and stored by Andy Warhol in the mid 70 s were a touchstone for Mycko s use of these found objects within an art context. Christian Boltanski and Miyako Ishiuchi who deal with themes of loss and the use of objects that hold memory, have also guided the development of this work by Mycko. Mycko hopes that viewers respond to the beauty of the geometry in the works, and also engage with their own experiences of loss and memory through the transformative processes of exploring personal archives.

34 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 34 Patrick Heath is a sculptor, working across a range of media including bronze casting, wood, cement and stone, as well as incorporating non-traditional found materials and objects in his practice. He is driven by material explorations, which form the basis for the conceptual framework for his artworks. The work in the Domestic Series is the result of an ongoing process of collecting with Heath s practice guided by objects and materials the he encounters in his immediate surroundings. By gathering these objects, he intends to evoke aspects of these objects that emerge beyond their practical use which speak of the culture they are salvaged from. in his work, hoping to provoke a smile in response to the unexpected form and irreverent treatment of a cultural symbol. Question What different meanings do you think this work would have for people of different cultural experiences? Found materials; Postmodern Working within a postmodern context, he is inspired by the notion that everything is available as a point of influence. Heath samples inspiration from Duchamp s ready-mades, surrealist objects of the 1930 s, anthropological museum artifacts and folk art, as well as iconic imagery of Australian popular culture and sport and channels it into his artworks. He seeks to learn from the many layers of meaning and juxtaposition of materials, technical processes and symbolism in the work of Fiona Hall; As well as the social investigations into relationships between people and their possessions by Grayson Perry. Heath seeks to develop a sense of humor around the familiar objects he puts to use

35 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 35 Hayley Lander s interest in conservation and environmental sustainability has a great influence on her artistic practice. In her work What Lies in-between Lander explores how landscape-painting processes can be used to convey the complexities of the relationship between humanity and nature. Depicting the space in-between the suburban and bush environments of Canberra, each panel of the diptych represents a moment of Lander s experience in that location. Variations in scene and scale indicate movement through space. By painting objects in layers background to foreground she applies up to twenty layers of colour in each work. Exploring the liminal space between suburban construction and natural environment, Lander wants viewers to contemplate the unique anthropogenic and natural features of their own environment to bring awareness of the impact that it has on our quality of life, and take steps to move toward a sustainable future. Question What is depicted in the foreground, middle ground and background of this scene? Diptych; Background; Foreground; Rukenfigur; Anthropogenic Inspired by the work of nineteenth- Century Romantic Landscape painters such as Caspar David Freidrich, Lander aims to evoke tension between beauty and environmental damage within the contemporary landscapes that she depicts. The traditional compositional tool of the rukenfigur a lone figure standing, with its back to viewer acting as a vessel for their gaze has been adapted by Lander who places the gum tree in the place of the rukenfigur in hope that the viewer will embody the position of the scarred tree. She has also employed considered analysis of the documentation of light in paint influenced by Eliot Gruner and Philip Wolfhagen, in order to show the passage from dawn till dusk in this work.

36 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 36 Carolyn Hawkins is a print-based artist whose work encompasses the print-object, drawing, collage, photographic processes and sculpture. Through these processes she explores the malleable, repetitive and reconstructive qualities of recollection and the role of personal objects in remembering. In Various Attempts at Reconstructing a Familiar Object inspiration is sought from domestic environments particularly her parents house. Using sentimental objects as subject matter for her work, Hawkins undertakes the process of recreating them through various printmaking processes. This process is ain to the act of remembering creation of a copy which is never perfect she creates larger works from smaller objects piecing together the memory which does not quite match. The delicate and ephemeral nature of the materials used in this process reference the detritus and fragility of memory. Hawkins works stand as ghostly shells of their original counterparts. Various Attempts is a melancholy and personal work with a nostalgic tone. It is intended as a celebration of the creative and imaginative qualities of r emembering. Given the ambiguity of the object being recreated a sleeping bag Hawkins is interested in allowing viewers to reflect on the unfixed nature of their own memories. In trying to remember and recreate something from her childhood Hawkins fails to actually make a functional object. What do you think the value of the process of remembering is? What do you think of when you investigate the pieced-together nature of this work? What do you think Hawkins is showing through the points where individual pieces to not perfectly align? Processes; Repetition; Reconstruct; Recollection; Memory; Nostalgia The work of Christian Boltanski particularly Research and presentation of All That Remains of my Childhood is an important reference point for this project. Similar to Hawkins, Boltanski makes the fabricated nature of these artefacts a feature of the work, in order to explore memory as imperfect, and reveal the incompleteness and constructed nature of recollections.

37 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 37 Ljerka Nenadovic is a visual artist whose work interrogates concepts of identity through exploration of place and memory. Driven by the effects of migration on her own life, her practice is guided by personal encounters. Her work explores the recollection of forms, light and reflections, and sensory and emotional triggers, and generally takes the form of painting, drawing, photography and video art. The process of making the Rummaging Memory series began with the laborious creation of the supports. While she was occupied by a repetitive manual task, Nenadovic was free to rummage through her memories from which the works would then develop. Many layers of a variety of mediums were applied to the support to reflect the process of developing memories over time. The drawing represents what is present and absent when considering the act of recollecting and imagining. Nenadovic hopes that viewers find her paintings captivating and undertake closer inspection of the detail in their construction. They may provide a visual space in which to get lost and explore personal thoughts or experiences. Consider the difference and similarity between the acts of recollecting and imagining. How do memories change over time with repeated recollection? If memory is a kind of layering, how might we understand it in relation to painting? Migration; Layers; Imagining; Recollection The non-objective nature of abstract expressionism has been adapted by Nedadovic in this series of works, with her chosen scale informed by Mark Rothko s enveloping canvases. Nenadovic identified with the writing of Julia Kristeva in Strangers to Ourselves, the need to amalgamate multicultural experiences into a single identity motivates her work. Other writers such as Marcel Proust and Paul Ricoeur explore the idea of memory in a way that align with Nenadovic s practice.

38 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 38 Soraya Mobayad s practice explores sleep phenomena and the post-spectacle item. Taking the form of contemporary drawing, installation, bespoke electronic circuits and audio loops, she creates representations of subjective experiences through the use of interventionist prompts and layered multi-sensory works which immerse the viewer within exhaustive experiences. The Noise of Discardia Suite was made by searching sound and video archives on the internet for examples of the consumption of obsolete media. Each individual work is titled after articles relevant to the content featured within them bizarre phenomena and unexplained broadcasts. Splicing these videos and recordings together creates a haunting soundscape individually, the sounds are unsettling but combined they form an exhaustive experience for the viewer. Influenced heavily by Guy Debord s text The Society of the Spectacle, which guided The Situationist art movement, Mobayad was interested in the point at which society reaches the pinnacle of consumption and what happens to objects after that point in time. She sees sound as a medium that can represent things that are no longer valued and now obsolete like the sound of dial-up internet that are the traces of the movements our culture has taken. In visualising the traces of that data, Mobayad takes notes from the Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda who translates frequencies and internet data into large-scale video and installation works. Mobayad hopes that audiences of her work will be unsettled by the immersive experience but fascinated by the experience to seek out the stories behind these sounds. Think of technologies that we no longer use in everyday life (VCR, FAX Machines, Dial-up Internet, Telegrams). What reasons can you think of for them no longer being used? What does this say about the changing priorities of our society? Mobayad has created these soundscapes as devices to disrupt ordinary experiences in the gallery space. What purpose do you think this disruption serves? Spectacle; Subjective; The Situationists

39 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 39 CLASSROOM ACTIVITY A Shrine For... Subjects The Arts Estimated Time 2 class periods Age Group Primary School Materials & Equipment Recycled materials e.g. papers, foil, toys, shopping catalogues, magazines, appliances etc. Cardboard box for each student Glue/ Hot glue Tape Pencils Scissors Overview Responding to the work 17 Shrines Marcia Espinosa, students will create their own Shrine for something important to them. Warm-Up Activity Show images of Marcia Espinonsa s 17 Shrines series and give students a synopsis of her work and inspiration. Explain why and how Espinosa created this collection of Shrines, talking about her use of recycled materials. Also explain the concepts of religious offerings and rituals. Ask students to think about an important thing to them - object, person, experience. As a group brainsotrm a list of questions that could be used to inspire them to think about their special thing. After brainstorming questions that can inspire reflection, ask students to bring to class a picture of their special thing. Or have students find an image on the internet. It needs to be ok to cut or glue image into the shrine (photocopies may be useful inthis instance). Main Activity After students have bought in to class a picture of their special thing, Ask students to think about the characteristics of their desired object that make them value it. How can they show why they value it? Remind them of Marcia Espinosa s shrines, and ask them to plan how they would create a shrine for their chosen thing, giving consideration to placement, materials and colour. Provide each student with a cardboard box to serve as the structure of their shrine. And using the a variety of the recycled materials collected or bought from home by the students, let them contruct their shrines. Conclusion Activity Have students share their finished product and explain why they chose their spcial thing and how they have displayed it s value through their Shrine.

40 Hatched National Graduate Show Spark_Lab Education Notes 40 CLASSROOM ACTIVITY Considering Space Subjects The Arts Estimated Time 4 Class Periods Age Group Secondary School Materials & Equipment Photographic equiptment (smartphones, cameras etc.) Drawing & collage materials Overview In this multipul-day activity, students will take notes from the work in Hatched by artists such as Rachel Schenberg, Elena Tory-Henderson and Leah Allen-Ankins, to guide their consideration of forgotten, underutilised or architecturally charged spaces. Planning (and executing if time, spcae and resources allow) interventions in their chosen spaces which highlight alternative understandings of architecture. Day 1 Show examples of the work by Hatched artists Rachel Schenberg, Elena Tory-Henderson and Leah Allen-Ankins. Also provide extended examples of work by artists such as Jessica Stockholder, Fred Sadnback, Julia Dault and John Tarry. Discuss how they use material interventions into a variety of spcaes to manipulte how viewers respond to the architecture. Day2 Get students to explore architectural spaces that are not always considered useful or valuable around the school or at home (cupboards, corners, under staircases etc.). Ask them to document the spaces in some way (drawings, photographs, models, video). Thinking about the characteristics of the space and how they can creatively document it in a way which is not simply like-for-like. Day 3 & 4 Have students think about how they would add something to the space to change the way it is perceived by passersby/ users of that space. Have students consider the following: Do you want to draw attention to it? Make it difficult to navigate the space? Make it more inviting and comfortable? Change tiny details that someone would only recognize if they spent time exploring it? Brainsotorm possible interventions in small groups for students to recieve feedack on their ideas. Have students plan their proposed intervention to the space using their documentation as a basis. Use various techniques such as collage, photographic manipulation, drawing, sound recording, dioramas etc to creatively express their intervention. Extension Following period of planning, allow students to install their intervetions in their chosen space. Document, and discuss with the class what their intentions were and how sucessful it was when put into action.