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.


16 November 2015

SLAVE GUITARS @ RMIT Geniale Dilletanten (Brilliant Dilletantes) : Subculture in Germany in the 1980s + Australian ingenious amateurs


 Geniale Dilletanten:  Subculture in Germany    in the 1980s  

RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
13 NOV 2015 - 27 FEB 2016
       
   "The Goethe-Institut’s international touring exhibition Geniale Dilletanten (Brilliant Dilletantes): Subculture in Germany in the 1980s explores the influence of German punk artists, filmmakers and seven bands including Einstürzende Neubauten."
   "Geniale Dilletanten (Brilliant Dilletantes), the deliberately misspelled title of the concert held in Berlin’s Tempodrom in 1981, has become a synonym for a brief era of artistic upheaval in Germany."

 + Australian ingenious  amateurs  


Accompanying Geniale Dilletanten is a slim representation from the comparable Melbourne scene of that period + Australian ingenious amateurs .

It includes some early drawings, manifesto drafts and photos of SLAVE GUITARS material. There's even a German connection : in February 1980 the Cologne artist magazine Salon (No.8) ...



... published this early drawing of Slave Guitars of the Art Cult.
          
There's also a proof sheet of SLAVE GUITARS publicity images.
             
click image to enlarge  
These were photographed at Art Projects (566 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne). The sheet also includes a couple of rare exterior views of that important Melbourne gallery (1979-1984), now demolished.
          
click image to see more  
Art Projects was founded by Melbourne artist John Nixon. Artists who exhibited there included Peter Cripps, Bonita Ely, John Nixon, Imants Tillers, Mike Parr, Ania Walwicz, Jenny Watson, Tony Clark, Brett Colquhoun, John Davis, Robert Jacks, Robert MacPherson, Robert Owen, Richard Dunn, Jill Orr, John Dunkley-Smith, Virginia Coventry, John Matthews, Dale Frank, Peter Tyndall, The Society for Other Photography and, in the context of 80s Melbourne + Australian ingenious amateurs, ANTI-MUSIC, which is not represented in this exhibition.

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

 LOGOS/HA HA