John you have a new work for the Library Artspace and Airy show Visible Horizon, tell me about the work?
The new
work is a short video piece, about a minute and a half long, titled Wall. The work was a response to the brief for the Visible
Horizon exhibition which is an exchange exhibition between AIRY (Artist in
Residence Yamanashi) and Fusetsu Gallery in Kofu, Japan, and the Library
Artspace in Melbourne, Australia.
The
curators, Kate Hill and Zoe Evershed had given us all a brief:
“A Visible Horizon is a place where the
earth and sky meet. It is a universal concept that signifies the point at which
time and space connect. Thinking about time can lead us to thinking about the
future, and imagining what it may hold. Thinking about space can lead us to
thinking about a far off land, and imagining this reality.
In this exhibition, we ask; what do
Japanese contemporary artists imagine a far off place, Australia, to be like?
What do Australian contemporary artists imagine Japan to be like? And
collectively, what do Japanese and Australian Artists imagine the future to be
like?”
I had
recently visited the town in Scotland where my grandmother was born and had
taken video footage of a wall around a church cemetery there. While ruminating
on what to do for the exchange project I had been putting together a short
video of a drive-through of the town to show my relatives at Christmas, when I
came across the video footage of the wall. It struck me as the perfect start
for a work for the exhibition. It responded to the brief, in terms of time and
space and thinking about a far off land, but resisted it at the same time.
The sound
track is constructed from some chanting sounds inspired by Gyuto monks, some
silly sounds by me and some tinkly percussion sounds by Nat Grant, which she
had given me on a previous occasion.
Perfect
really.
How do you think this work relates to and
fits into your recent video art practice?
I think
the work relates to almost all of my past work. It is very similar to The River (2010), another video piece in which nothing
really happens, and to Propeller (2009), a computer
animation, again in which nothing much also happens. Though in Wall perhaps the “nothing really happens” is more
accentuated. In the previous two works at least there was something moving to
watch. Here the only saving grace is the sound track.
Visible Horizon is the line where the earth
and the sky meet - tell me a little more about the intent behind this
exhibition?
I think
Kate was doing an artist in residency at AIRY, and the Library Artspace was
keen on the idea of exchange exhibitions generally — and the rest followed from
there.
Both
exhibitions open on Friday 17 Feb. The Library Artspace exhibition continues
until 10 March. At AIRY the show runs from 16 to 26 Feb, and at Fusetsu gallery
it runs from 17 to 26 Feb.
Tell me about the installation space?
My work
will be shown, along with another video work by Curtis Moyes, in a tea house
adjoining Fusetsu Gallery. One other video work, by Zoe Eveshed, will be shown
in another part of the Fusetsu Gallery. All other works will be show in the
AIRY gallery.
On the
Australian end, all the Japanese work will be shown at the Library Artspace,
Melbourne.
Your observations of the exhibition at The LIbrary Artspace?
Curtis’
video piece involved video footage of lights shining on a wall (from passing
traffic?) in darkened room in his house. The sound-track was ambient noise from
passing traffic. The work was a lot like mine in a way, in that nothing really
happens. However, his work was much more subtle than mine and really rather
beautiful, where mine was more raw and perhaps a little obnoxious.
Zoe
Evershed contributed a video consisting of what looked like negative video
footage of hands in a shallow tub of water — hands touching or almost touching,
talking about communication I think — really quite lyrical.
Anna Maria
Pescia contributed a work made from cloth and paper and stitching, something
about a ship afloat on a sea of paper — I only saw it half out of it’s
packaging — continuing her ongoing romance with materials. That was all of the
works I have seen from the Australian end.
In the
Library are the works from Japan. Except for two video works all the works are
supposed to be no bigger than A3 and no thicker than 1cm — works on paper,
photographic works, a couple with hand or machine stitching, and
etching/collage, a couple of artist books, a pair of works made from what
looked like MDF or similar, etc. etc. One of the video works deals with a kind
of popular exercise that is promoted by the government in Japan and the other
is footage taken while walking down the street. Two cameras were used (maybe
iPhones), one pointing forward, the other facing the rear so you can see where
the artist had been. The final was mixed onto a split screen, so that you could
see the forward shot and the backward shot at the same time.
.
www.jwaller.com.au
www.natgrantmusic.com
thelibraryartspace.blogspot.com
air-y.net
fusetsugallery.net
www.facebook.
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