David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


28 June 2014

face off

                  
If we hadn't been in red + black at the docklands stadium last night for the great BOMBERS v CATS contest ...
    

          
... we'd have been at the NGV for Kirin J Callinan.

Love Delay 
       
You, you, you, you and I
I'll keep you in my mind
Standing there in your underwear
With your long, black hair
Please wait, please wait
Please wait, I've been a fool
But when the train stops calling
And the clouds sit on the floor
When hands thank you
And views look back, you
When tomorrow can't wait for you
Please wait
When silence bows for you
And the dogs feed the boy

You know me fire
You know me fire
You know me fire
You know me fire
You know me fire
You know me fire
You know me fire
You know me fire
You


Wait, please wait
When the train stops calling
And clouds sit on the floor
When hands thank you
And views look back
When the world stops talking
When truth lies broken
Will we still know?
May we still love?
We will die alone
We will die alone
We will die alone

                 


 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

26 June 2014

] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (

     
Performing Absence

Danica Chappell, Ross Coulter and Clare Rae.
Curated by Victoria Bennett

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
             
WEST SPACE · 27TH JUN 2014 – 26TH JUL 2014 ·
OPENING : THURSDAY 26 JUNE 2014, 6-8PM.
ARTIST TALK : THURSDAY 24 JULY 2014, 5.30-6.30PM.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
            

photo by Ross Coulter 
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
 
     
 Spoiler Alert

 The object returns fire as the subject reloads.         
             


 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

24 June 2014

Climate Change?

       
We've been wondering for some years if the culture of Art collecting and the associated connoisseurship might be more-or-less at an end? Gone the way of tulips, antiques and vinyl records? Replaced by the immediacy, constant renewal and second-degree sufficiency of the digital projection-space?
     

      
Had we become so familiar with the appearance of Lazarus moving among us still - even after The Dematerialisation of the Art Object, after Art Is Dead, after post-Modernism, postmodernism et al - that we'd accepted the paradox of the old Art culture continuing nonetheless? With ever grander  temples; record setting blockbusters; million dollar starting bids; art schools still cool and Ph.D the new black, surely all was going well?

As, behind these scenes, galleries have been emptying and their impecunious artists speculating on when this drought might break? Wondering even, is this the new climate of a culture change?

badges from The Democratic Art Show (PT 1974) 

So we read with interest Lucinda Schmidt's double-page feature in today's Age (click here).

"Galleries : going, going gone?"
As the art industry is reshaped by the internet, fairs and tighter rules for collectors, are Melbourne's commercial galleries becoming an endangered species?

quote :
In London, top-end galleries in Mayfair's Bond Street are closing at an ''alarming rate'', according to a March report in The Telegraph. Rents have tripled amid competition for space from global retail brands, forcing out dealers such as Colnaghi, which shut its West End shop recently after 250 years.

San Francisco's downtown gallery district has also been hit hard by rising rents. One displaced gallerist, moving his business to his home after 22 years, told the San Francisco Chronicle his peers in Chicago and Los Angeles were doing the same.

''Ten years from now, traditional galleries will be a thing of the past,'' he said. ''The auction houses and art fairs will have taken over - and the internet.''
quote :
Traditionally, a gallery represents and supports a stable of artists, mounting exhibitions of their work and bringing them to the attention of collectors, public institutions and corporate clients. So tough times for commercial art galleries mean tough times for contemporary artists.

This is spelt out in figures Lowenstein has compiled from a survey of about 100 of his artist clients, comparing their 2008 and 2012 incomes. The total income for Lowenstein's top group, comprising well-established and successful artists, dropped 46 per cent, while the second group of mid-career artists earned 30 per cent less. It was only the third group, comprising young emerging artists, that earned more in 2012.

HonorĂ© Daumier, Two Print-lovers c. 1860–63


detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

22 June 2014

Gerald Murnane : A Million Windows


Searching online for the initial reviews of Gerald Murnane's new book, A Million Windows, we were greatly surprised to dis-cover two versions of the cover for this book. 

One, yes, but two might just as well be a million. 
Or none at all. Given the matrix mind of the Murnane narrator, hyper-aware of each and every detail, in their flux and possibilities of combination, this seems both wonderful and shocking. 
   

 
Has the play already begun? Even before we imagine this book starts now? A perverse, original singularity snare set for those educated to never judge a book by its cover|s? Even before the book is opened, the fall, again?


        
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

   

20 June 2014

"Whatever you do," Brother Rabbit implored, "just don't throw me into the Label Tree."


D H, when he had done his work, carved his initials into that tree. Daniel Hopfer (c. 1470 – 1536) was a German artist who is widely believed to have been the first to use etching in printmaking. (Wikipedia)
    


 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

19 June 2014

Nothing|Changes


Art|Basel


Basel

19-22 June 2014


Art Basel has been described as the ‘Olympics of the Art World’. Over 300 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa show the work of more than 4,000 artists, ranging from the great masters of Modern art to the latest generation of emerging stars. 

The show's individual sectors represent every artistic medium: paintings, sculpture, installations, videos, multiples, prints, photography, and performance. Each day offers a full program of events, including symposiums, films, and artist talks. Further afield, exhibitions and events are offered by cultural institutions in Basel and the surrounding area, creating an exciting, region-wide art week.

Du magazine - Art Basel issue
Du magazine has produced a special bilingual German/English issue on Art Basel – take a look at ....   




 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

18 June 2014

Up|Date

     




  detail
  A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
  someone looks at something ... 

  LOGOS/HA HA
   
      

16 June 2014

West Space Fundraiser 2014

    
Opening : Tuesday 17 June 2014, 6-9pm
_ Patrons Preview 4-6pm
Featuring a special performance by Pamela
(Jon Campbell, Minna Gilligan & Georgina Glanville)
Exhibition dates : Four days : 18 June - 21 June 2014 12-6pm
West Space : Level 1, 225 Bourke Street, Melbourne
      
Exhibiting artists in 2014 :
Adam Cruickshank | Adam J Cullen | Akira Akira | Alasdair McLuckie | Alex Vivian | Amy May Stuart | Anastasia Klose | Andre Piguet | Andrew Hazewinkel | Andy Hutson | Anna Higgins | Annie Wu | Arlo Mountford | Avni Dauti | Baden Pailthorpe | Ben Sheppard | Benjamin Lichenstein | Brigit Ryan | Bryan Spier | Charles O’Loughlin | Charlie Sofo | Christopher L G Hill | Christian Capurro | Christopher Sciuto | Colleen Ahern | Damiano Bertoli | Dan Moynihan | Danae Valenza | Daniel Price | Daniel Stephen Miller | Darren Sylvester | David van Royen | Dell Stewart | Dom Redfern | Drew Pettifer | Elizabeth Newman | Emily Ferretti | Emily Floyd | Eric Demetriou | Esther Stewart | Fleur Summers | Geoff Robinson | George Egerton-Warburton | Glenn Walls | Grant Nimmo | Hamishi Farah | Helen Johnson | Holly Willson | Ieuan Weinman | Irene Hanenbergh | Isadora Vaughan | Jacqui Shelton | Jess Johnson | Jessie Bullivant | John Nixon | Jon Campbell | Jonas Ropponen | Jordan Marani | Joshua Stevens | Julian Smith | Kain Picken | Kate Daw | Kate Just | Kay Abude | Kenny Pittock | Kerrie Poliness | Kez Hughes | Kiera Brew Kurec | Kieran Boland | Kieran Stewart | Kiron Robinson | Kirra Jamison | Kit Wise | Laith McGregor | Lane Cormick | Laura Delaney | Leanne Hermosilla | Lillian O’Neil | Linda Tegg | Lisa Radford | Lou Hubbard | Lyndal Walker | Madeline Kidd | Masato Takasaka | Max Creasy | Meredith Turnbull | Merryn Lloyd | Michael Graeve | Michael Prior | Michelle James | Minna Gilligan | Nat Thomas | Natalie Ryan | Nathan Gray | Nick Selenitsch | Nick Waddell | Nicole Breedon | Oscar Perry | Oscar Yanez | Patrick Pound | Peter Tyndall | Pip Ryan | Raafat Ishak | Renee Cosgrave | Richard Giblett | Richard Lewer | Rohan Schwartz | Ross Coulter | Rowan McNaught | Ry Haskings | Salote Tawale | Sam George | Sangeeta Sandrasegar | Sanne Mestrom | Sarah CrowEST | Saskia Doherty | Scarlett Rowe | Scott Miles | Scott Mitchell & Saskia Schut | Sean Bailey | Sean Peoples | Sharon Goodwin | Simon MacEwan | Stephen Giblett | Sue Dodd | Susan Jacobs | Tai Snaith | Taree Mackenzie and Ronen Becker | Tim Hillier | Toby Pola | Tom Nicholson | Tom Polo | Tony Garifalakis | Torie Nimmervoll | Tully Moore | Veronica Kent | Viv Miller | Vivian Cooper Smith | ZoĂ« Croggon
        
Iris Clert posing on top of an exhibition by the artist Arman titled le Plein

detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

15 June 2014

Rubber-neckers stop to look ...

    
Spontaneous documentation of 
impromptu performance by 
Theatre of the Actors of Regard 
Germany 1935
   


 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

14 June 2014

West Space TAR at Tully Moore World Cup Breakfast Bar

        
westspace 
3 hours ago · West Space Gallery 
Great turn out this morning at the Tully Moore World Cup Breakfast Bar for Australia's first World Cup match against Chile! Go Aussies!!
 
web_wipe, georginaglanville, emsexton  
and 55 others like this
    
Theatre of the Actors of Regard at West Space  
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

13 June 2014

VIA NEGATIVA

    
Present :
      


Present :
            
        
Present :
      

        
Present :

detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA
   

      

10 June 2014

Vale Rik Mayall

       

The Young Ones : (l-r) Rick, Vvvyan, Neil, Mike 

- extract below

[Rick starts yelling like a baby, whilst Vyvyan lights a Molotov cocktail] 

Vyvyan: It's funny, but being ill makes me lose my usual tolerant and easygoing approach to communal living. 

[Vyvyan throws the Molotov cocktail into Rick's bedroom, which explodes] 

Rick: Oh, well, how ruddy considerate, Vyvyan. Thank you very much!

Neil: Yeah, thanks, Vyv. That petrol bomb's really cleared my sinuses.

Vyvyan: Why aren't you dead?!

Rick: I'm not prepared to discuss it with you, Vyvyan. You will be hearing from my solicitors in the morning. I'm going to write to my MP.

[takes out paper and pencil] 


Neil: You haven't got an MP, Rick. You're an anarchist.

Rick: Oh. Well, then I shall write to the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen! (...)

[writing] Dear Mr. Echo....



detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA

detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA

detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA
    
     

09 June 2014

computer artist programs LABEL SETTINGS

     

 
Label :

Title
Medium :
Date
Artist

A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something...
CULTURAL CONSUMPTION PRODUCTION
             

          
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA