Relational Aesthetics and Zones of Contact

After guzzling coffee in my backyard all morning I staggered shakily to my computer and logged onto the ARTLIFE's call to arms with 100 promises for the artworld. Click on the title above to see what I'm about.

And it's a fine way to start this weeks posting as I will enter the radio studio today not as a remote art critic but as a meaty little vegemite myself: an artist - engaging in gratuitous self promotion.However I rckon theory has fogged up my brain and my spectacles and I'm seeing the world through all the nice theory talk contemporary artspeak that slides across my tongue.

God what a slippery slope it is.

but its all in a good cause!

Part 1: Relational Aesthetics:

Relates not to the book by Palais de Tokyo director Nicholas Bourriand but a group show opening at Peloton Gallery opening on thursday Night. Basically Tracey Clement, who does the Heralds 'critics pics' column in friday's Metro, has assembled a whole heap of artists to do an exquisite coprse mail art project.If you chekc out the list below it looks like a who's who of sydney art scene (with a smatteirng of unknowns like moi to give that edgy art world kudos) ad shows the value added effect of getting an art critic ( who does fairfax scribing to support her studio habit) to coordinate a show.

"Post it" is a clever little fundraiser for Medicins Sans Frontiers, and its all in the theme of "Le Corps Morcele". All the artists drew little body bits on folded and taped secret sections of paper - which have all been unfolded to create these assemblages, which wil be available for silent auction at the opening.

details are: 6pm thursday 1st June
at: Peloton Gallery: 19 Meagher Street chippendale
(across from the old wedding circle)
show runs to June7th.

Contributors are:
Joan Ross, Matthys Gerber, Stephen Crane, Ben Quilty , Margaret Seymour, Alison Clouston, Benedict Ernst, Ruark Lewis, Alex Anastas, Luis Martinez, Judith Duquemin, Ric McConaghy, Monika Beherens, Vicki Willkes, Mireille Astore, Graham Blondel, Jaqueline Olivetti, Adam Cullen, Eugenie Lee, Kurt Schranzer, Caroline Rothwell, Yirgos Zafiriou, Margaret Roberts, Pia Larsen, Mike Esson, Helen Pynor, Rebecca Oh, Pierre Cavalan, Mini Graff, Michael Goldberg, Steve Tyerman, Todd McMillan, Megan Yeo, Mitch Cairns, Paul Donald, Anna Kristensen,Peter Burgess, Vernon Bowden, Melissa Laing, Adam Laerkensen, Iakovos Amperdis, Tom Loveday, Ron Adams, Lisa Jones, Tracey Clement, Soda_Jerk, Gerard Manion, Gaby Montejo, Margaret Mayhew, Mark Hetherington, Priscilla Bourne, Susanna Strati, Elizabeth Day, Deb Faint, Ben de Nardi, Patsy Payne, Pauline Plumb, Nana Ohnesorge, Keith Chidzey, Julia Davis, Zoe MacDonell, Barbara Doran, Melanie Khava, Lachlan Warner, Giles Ryder, Victoria Baker,Michelle Jensen, Alison Macgregor, Catherine Stuckings,Hayden Fowler, Lorna Grear, Ann Bentley, Hamish Ta-me, Rebecca Beardmore, Jodi McConaghy, Randolph, James Dorahy, Leslie Rice, Nick Vincent, The Tool Room, Prudence Murphy,John Paul Mullins, Phil Williams, Peter Nelson, Stephen Cramb, Jai McKenzie, Yuko Mamada,Sarah Kaur, Tom Polo, Mark Elliot, Jess McNeil, Daniel Kojta, Richard Glover,Nicolas Folland, Seraphina Martin, Nadine Binder, Nuha Saad, Lisa Andrew,, Mona Ryder, Alex Seton, Paul Ferman, Angela Tay

ZONES Of CONTACT

Is not only the title of the Biennale of Sydney but is an apt description for an alternative biennale preshow at Mori Gallery.


Mori gallery has been encouraging artists to visit the Botany Bay National Park for the past couple of months and draw some reactive creativity from the site. We are also plaanning an open artists' picnic and sunday stroll along the Bailey Coastal Walk (gooing from the end of Catain Cook drive down past the Cape SOlander Light House to the top of Cronulla beach)

Going on an artists' stroll may just seem a bit too post-object art for most people and maybe its beyond the shire - but we reckon the time is right for a bit of punchy "derive-ing" in a public park (yep that's wiht 2 e's and no-one has to stick to the path...). If you can imagine sculpture by the sea without any welded steel or Bondied abdominals then hopefully it can give you a sense of what this expereince should be - where whale watching meets relational aesthetics - where art is a process rather than an object on a wall or plinth.


Meet At the Cape Solander Carpark at 1pm This Sunday 4th June. Bring $7 to pay the NPWS tolls or cycle along the track and bring a hat, water and picninc lunch and allow 3 hours for te full stroll to Cronulla Beach. Public Transporters can get a train to Cronulla beach and either start the walk in reverse or catch a 987 bus from the station up to the park.

The results of the walk will be at mori gallery next week along with other stuff that people have been working on -

Thats 6pm Thursday 8th June at 168 day Street CBD (walk down Liverpool or Bathurst streets from Town Hall)and is in aid of Trying to save Kurnell Peninsula from being consumed as an adjuct of Caltex all in the name of desalination.


The show opens the same night as the BIG BOS PISSUP. (Free piss scammers take note: On thursday June 8th et out your black skivvies and armani spectacles and see if you can't clipper the front and sides of your hair in one of those trendy upbermullet things and then once the sun sets, get into some serious lurking outside one of the following venues).

Museum of Contemporary Art
Art Gallery of NSW
ArtSpace
Ivan Dougherty gallery
Australian Centre for Photography
PErformance Space

I'd really welcome some comments on which had the best/worse free acohol, entry policy, fashionable crowd. In that order. If you can't get in anywhere or feel like disdaining that sort of institutionalised avant-gardism - then no wukkas! head down to Mori for the real credfest.Here's why:

The biennale promises 85 artists but I reckon that's not much more than Peloton or the Morifest which opens the night before and has 60 artists all expressing work about the Kurnell Penninsula.

I'd highly reccomend that you double up on the night. Mori is a gentle downhill stroll from MCA and AGNES WALES - or a little bus ride from Artspace the ACP, dougherty or the other one. If you got an invite to the biennale then go to mori early. If not - then try your chutzpah chances at the iofficial venues and then if it fails - crawl down to Day Street for some nice wholesome art.

10 reasons why This show is more aobut ZOnes of contact than anything in the biennale

1. Kurnell is the site of the goorawal aboriginies who were the first aboriginies EVER to see the cream of old blighty stride across their middens - some of which are still there. (middens and anglo-australians).

2. Kurnell is meant to be where the new desalination plant is planned - for a citybuilt on saltawater and sand, which wants to drink more freshwater and burn more oil than it can afford , and then build a power station in order to distill water and oil and its all happenign at Kurnell.

3. Kurnell has a massive zone of contact between caltex oil refinery and a national park and the ocean. this is mediated by a big fat pipe pumping all kinds of weird and toxic crap out to see.

4. Kurnell is the best place in Sydney to watch Whales at this time of year. sooner or later they are going to start glowing in the dark; see point 3.

5. Kurnell had amazing big sand dunes - which you used to be able to see for miles - but now area top site for 4 wheel drivers - doing big chunky burnouts - fueled by CALTEX

6. Kurnell now has massive craters from mining all the dunes - whihc have ended up in most of sydney's brick veneer (you want a zone of contact/ go ram your haed into a McMansion wall!)

7. the Southern end of the park has a freaky looking colony of inbred wildlife (the last outpost of the six fingered shire freaks) with which are apparently 99% genetically compatible with the rest of humanity. (and you can see them for less than a ticket to the zoo)

8. the sand dune mining has been causing a gradual sucking away of Cronulla Beach the toxic residues of the hard fill is leaching into the proteced mangrove swamps in botany bay and threatening their destruction

9. cronulla Beach was the site of the scary race riots last year - it's the nasty white trash underbelly of sydney's soul - all the conflict, avarcioussness that we try to scoop under our soy latte coasters bares its scary beer belly for all too see.

10. sydney's real estate boom has extended even into the shire - and envirnomental destruction is being tempered by the desire for continued house price rises. Real estate? fossil fuel? alternative power? water? deslination? Petrol fueld 4WD recreation? you want zones of contact? it's all here!!!!

Not only that - but the above information is infinitely easier to negotiate than the BOS website - which was created by some overpaid Flashmonkeys with ADHD (don't they know that some of us have dialup!!!! some of us like to have our information in simple easily displayed HTML!!!! - why can't I acces a list of galleries, a list of artists and a basic press release without donloading 5 pdfs? huh?)


After treading the Artlife promises I considered the solemn oath:

13. I have come to accept that drawing a picture of a tree is not necessarily the same thing as saving one.

And I promise to have NO PAINTINGS of Sand Dunes or even moody looking mangroves.

I'm not sure if my intervention will accord with the oath below:

3. I promise I will never dress up in drag and think I’m changing the world.

but after seeing Leigh Bowery and Claude Cahun I rekcon I'm allowed to differ with them......

I'm here, I'm queer, I'm not going shopping.........