Bob Georgeson, Self portrait on top of the scrap-heap, 2015, Intervention at Bermagui Rubbish Tip (destroyed by fire 7/04/2015)
I love going to the tip. Not only the satisfaction of offloading a ute load of rubbish, usually gardening prunings, that earn me a couple of brownie points for a few days (believe me not that easy!), but I also get to admire and photograph the mangled piles of human detritus that would for the want of a few simple tools be turned into accommodation in the poorer cities of the world. There aren't too many favelas in Bermagui, so the piles build until crushed by machines or torched by delinquents.
The staff at the tip often get suspicious seeing someone taking photographs, thinking it must be going to end up a negative reflection of their work practices splashed across the front page of the Daily Telegraph so I am always excessively polite in asking their permission and explaining that I am artist who uses this imagery in my artwork. "What do you do?" asked the attendant at my last visit. She looked a little apprehensive when I explained I worked in photomedia and video art and am involved in online collaborative projects, but when I added that over the past two years that my subject matter had changed from erotica to an interest in decay, disorder and social disintegration I could visibly sense the relief in her eyes...
If You'll Excuse Me
The second release on the anonymous waves channel on Soundcloud. As an aside I had been thinking about crowd funding (I desperately need a projector or two) and thought rather than embarrass my friends who won't or can't afford to support me publicly, I will offer a new alternative where you can pay me to stop producing this rubbish. Any offers (financial that is) gratefully considered. Advice I can get anywhere ;-)
Self portrait as toxic waste
Bob Georgeson, Self portrait as toxic waste, 2015, Intervention at Bermagui Rubbish Tip (destroyed by crushing 23/03/2015)
Internet Archive has a makeover...
I cannot emphasize enough the impact and influence the Internet Archive has had on my art, and the direction it has taken since mid way through 2012 when I started getting interested in video and came across the Archive when searching for some public domain footage to experiment with. Since then it has become something of a second home on the Web, one where I resource much of my 'found footage', the repository of my video collection, the definitive 'home' of public domain and the concept of the 'free web', as well as the vast collections of text, audio, books, Netlables, images, music, film, the Gutenberg Collection, the Wayback Machine...the list just goes on and on and on. And all for FREE!
The Archive has just released a Beta version of their new look and feel, and now my video collection is presented in the above format rather than just a list of text titles. I think it's pretty cool (as is everything the Archive is, does and stands for). You can now even 'like' my videos! Check it out here...
I would also encourage you to join and support the Archive. Very easy to sign up and get your e-library card and become part of the electronic frontier...
Hyaena Fierling: TIMELEAP live
Following on from the recent post 'The grass is always greener...' (see below) this video has just been released of Hyaena Fierling presenting her suite TIMELEAP as soundtrack for Artavad
Pelechian's Seasons of the Year. Performance at the Old Mo, Birmingham UK, Oct 2013. Enjoy...
My Father
Considering that some of my friends are among the world's most esteemed sound artists you would think that I would have more sense than to try aural experimentation myself, but then, better judgement has never been one of my strong points. The first release on the anonymous waves channel on Soundcloud...
end game
Following on from the last post Denitsa had sent me some footage that she had edited down from the workshop with Griet in Sofia last June. For some reason when I first saw it chess came to mind, and so this mashup is the result...although at times one could easily find some similarities between the game and the collaborative process. Your move...
The grass is always greener...perhaps...or is it perception?
Too easy to be tempted by trivia...not so easy to be tempted by purpose...
I posted this on Twitter and Facebook this morning after a few weeks of being busy with travel, interruptions, rejections, proposals and plans. Did I just say Facebook? Yes...I now have a presence so you can follow me on Twitter or like me on Facebook (links in the nav bar above). It is mildly interesting to see the difference between the two...could you possibly call Twitter more intelligent? and even though the belligerent layout and behaviour of FB still annoys the **** out of me, it was a matter of being able to access other's FB pages that drove me to such distractions...hence the opening line of this missive. Perhaps update might be a better word...
So, to recent activity. First sent off 25 minutes of footage (sans sound) to Hyaena Fierling as draft for possible composition and performance in UK. It has been the longest video I have worked on so far and quite a challenge for that reason, and the fact that I was working in silence without a soundtrack in mind is a departure from previous efforts, and trying to create diversity and interest while maintaining some continuity, as well as working with supplied footage!. She has sent back a 10 minute draft of composition, and I like, so on we go. Also have been submitting videos using her soundscapes for various international video festivals and prizes. The Illusion of Freedom didn't make the final cut in the Aesthetica Art Prize (UK) but did make the second round of judging, and Why is this Happening wasn't quite within the curatorial brief of Kyle Chung's Bright Shadow Exhibition (London) but we have agreed to do something together in the future. Also Hyaena has/is playing around with some words/sounds for a possible remix of I forget you. Her website is here...
Hyaena Fierling in performance, Birmingham, UK, 2014
My other major project with Griet Menschaert and Denitsa Dicova (previously mentioned in the posts Across a Troubled World and 3 Points of a Circle) stumbled a little late last year but has now found some renewed vigour and direction. I can't let too much out of the bag yet, but there will be a website coming soon, and we are still hopeful of reaching the point of a performance in the future. Meanwhile these two very talented and hard working artists continue to inspire as they push into new directions at a fast pace. A couple of examples:
SkryfKiev from Griet Menschaert on Vimeo.
ToTheLast_ from Denitsa Dicova on Vimeo.
The blog is still chugging along as you can see. Over 57000 page views (equates to about 50 per day since February 2012). The direction has changed. There is not so much in the way of art reviews and commentary, and the focus now is on quality rather than quantity. I continue with my video experiments, and would dearly love to get into more projections, performance, interventions and installations but lack of equipment and money the eternal inhibitor. Over at the Internet Archive where I publish my videos there have been over 13000 downloads. (Just to explain this numerical diversion it was necessary in the information required by an ArtsNSW grant application!) I am not sure what this all means, but someone is looking at my work, which brings me to the local scene...
I had thought that I was cutting off my nose to spite my face by ignoring the local art world and focusing on the global, and so recently have made a number of forays to make local entities aware of my activities without much success. Whether it be a parochial defense of territory, a lack of interest in contemporary art, or they just think my work is crap is unknown, but the silence at times is deafening. It is curious that I have managed to engage with, and gain the respect of, highly credentialed overseas creators who value my work and yet in my own backyard I may as well not exist...but then at my age existence is always a tenuous proposition ;-)
And now it is time to get back to work...
And now it is time to get back to work...
Xanthorrhoea glauca
Xanthorrhoea glauca (grass trees) are endemic to Australia. These 'giants' occur in the Coolah Tops National Park, a special place of sublime beauty and primeval forests...
Morphogenesis - the sculpture of Joy Georgeson
Nourishing the soul
Camel Rock is a distinctive formation of rocks and headland nestled in the shadow of Gulaga Mountain just north of the coastal village of Bermagui on the NSW far south coast. It is a place of great significance to the local Yuin aboriginal community. Home to sea eagles, terns, cormorants and reef herons it also provides Joy with inspiration for her most recent sculptures.
For Joy, being in the natural environment is more than just a pleasant experience. It is an integral part of 'being'. An avid recorder she keeps journals, sketchbooks and photographs the natural world on a daily basis. Whether it is at the coast or in the forested and mountainous hinterland she seeks out the minute amongst the obvious and sees the connection between all. We might look at rocks and see geological formations. Joy looks at rocks and sees the history of the world.
Joy Georgeson studied the Higher
Diploma of Teaching Secondary Arts and Crafts course with an
extraordinary group of lecturers at Melbourne State College (MSC) in
the early 1970's. The Sculpture and Ceramics Department were on the
same floor next to each other and ideas and friendships flowed
between both. John Teschendorff, Noel Flood and Don Wordsworth were
the dynamic teachers at that time who nurtured an environment of
experimentation, daring, excitement and professionalism. They were
all practicing artists who communicated their love of the medium but
embraced other disciplines and unusual methods of solving problems.
In 1975 Agi Yoeli, an Israeli ceramic
sculptor who was Artist-In-Residence introduced Joy to the
technique of hollow hand-building that inspired her to create a life
size Giant Anteater, much to the delight of the lecturers. More
animals followed, often based on observations made at Melbourne Zoo
where her husband worked, and on the cats that roamed her studio.
After moving to a bush block in southern NSW in 1980 her work became
less literal as she explored visual metaphors inspired by Australian
native mammals like squirrel gliders and marsupial mice.
Joy Georgeson, Shadows in the Forest, 2014, Ceramic
After diagnosis of, and treatment for,
breast cancer her work took on a new dimension based on a merging of
carnivorous plants and female forms. These 'carnivorous women'
represented a type of catharsis in response to the issues faced when
dealing with a potentially life threatening disease.
Joy Georgeson, Fecund Fungi, 2006, Ceramic
More recently, Joy has returned
to the animal sculptures that were her trademark. But after many
years observing the decline in respect for the environment her
sculptures have a stronger message concerning conservation and
spirituality. Animals that once were decorated in earthy glazes with
a highlight of gloss to represent texture are now embellished with
stories telling of the origins of life on Earth and our relationship
with them.
Joy Georgeson, Kookaburra Post (with dragonfly detail), 2015, Ceramic
The influence of the years at MSC has
had a lifetime effect on the artist who went on to teach art in
Victorian, NSW and ACT schools and colleges for 23 years as well as
exhibiting her work. After retiring from teaching she joined the
ACT's Strathnairn Arts Association as a studio holder, and then moved
to Wallaga Lake near Bermagui in 2007 where she found new inspiration
in the coastal and estuarine environment.
Joy Georgeson, Angelic Egret, 2007, Ceramic
Camel Rock is a distinctive formation of rocks and headland nestled in the shadow of Gulaga Mountain just north of the coastal village of Bermagui on the NSW far south coast. It is a place of great significance to the local Yuin aboriginal community. Home to sea eagles, terns, cormorants and reef herons it also provides Joy with inspiration for her most recent sculptures.
Joy says "When I visit Camel
Rock, I am awed by the presence of rocks millions of years old and
can see many creatures in their forms that remind me of fossils and
our ancient evolutionary history. I wonder at the diversity, yet
similarity between species and believe that through the process of
evolution we are an integral part of Nature. It is said that the
ancestor of every human was a fish, but I believe our lineage began
with the first signs of life in the early history of the Earth. My
art is about our great family history."
"My sculptures reflect my need for
contact with natural phenomena such as the sea, animals, plants and
the cycles of nature, which provide me with psychological and
spiritual nourishment. I have developed my own 'creation stories' in
the works, based on science and my imagination. The underlying
message is to raise an awareness of the importance of conserving and
valuing the balance and harmony between humans and nature."
Joy Georgeson, Out of the Ocean, 2015, Ceramic
For Joy, being in the natural environment is more than just a pleasant experience. It is an integral part of 'being'. An avid recorder she keeps journals, sketchbooks and photographs the natural world on a daily basis. Whether it is at the coast or in the forested and mountainous hinterland she seeks out the minute amongst the obvious and sees the connection between all. We might look at rocks and see geological formations. Joy looks at rocks and sees the history of the world.
Using hand building clays, fired to
1200 degrees Celsius in an electric kiln, she cuts slabs from the
block and shapes hollow forms that are joined together into the basic
structure using temporary supporting pillars made from clay. Then
surface texture, animals and female forms are incorporated to
finalise the piece before glazing. Large scale works, some over two
metres high, are made in modules that slot together. She also loves
the Raku process, or "Racooee" as she calls it, which is
used on smaller works.
Joy has exhibited in many centres
around Australia and has work in several public collections including
the Victorian Ministry for the Arts, Geelong Art Gallery, Shepparton
Art Gallery Collection of Australian Ceramics and Newcastle Regional
Art Gallery. She was selected to represent Australia at the 38thInternational Ceramics Exhibition in Faenza, Italy in 1980. She is a
regular exhibitor at Bermagui's Sculpture on the Edge as well as the
Hunter Valley's Sculpture in the Vineyards and Sculpture by the Lake
festivals. Her most recent work has been exhibited at Artisans in the Garden in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and at Sculptures in the Garden at Roxby near Mudgee.
Her website can be found here...
Her website can be found here...
The last broadcast (video)
You can download the files from the Internet Archive here...
...and to see all the videos go here...
The last broadcast
Bob Georgeson, The last broadcast, 2015, Mixed media
Apocalyptic perhaps? Video to follow soon. An ending you would
I forget you
You can download the files from the Internet Archive here...
The soundscape is by Hyaena Fierling from her album super flumina Babylonis, available on Bandcamp here...
You can visit her website here...
The woman is Brigitte Schiller, from Lutz Mommartz's Die Schiller.
With thanks to all those who work in the Creative Commons...
Je suis Charlie: four points of a compass (a view of the world)
Bob Georgeson, East, 2015, Digital print
Bob Georgeson, West, 2015, Digital print
Bob Georgeson, North, 2015, Digital print
Bob Georgeson, South, 2015, Digital print
Bob Georgeson, Four points of a compass, 2015, Digital print
Happy New Year! Not. Last year ends with mindless violence in Martin Place in Sydney. This year begins with it in Paris. These photos seem to sum up the situation. I have generally avoided politics in my art and on this blog (Twitter is a different matter if you want to follow me). There have been a few exceptions: the Worlds in Collision series and the Why is this happening? video to name two, but it does raise the question of whether there has been (or perhaps should be) a link between politics and art, and ultimately what purpose that might serve. And do artists have a responsibility as the eyes of the world to address the socio-political situations that we find ourselves in?
I don't have an answer for this any more than I have a solution to the Islamic problem, or any other issue you choose to pull out of the hat. What I do know is that silence and a reluctance to, or fear of speaking out against injustice will always play into the hands of the perpetrators. And so we set the tone for the year ahead...