First Amongst Equals (Part II) PICA Central Galleries 3 November - 30 December 2012 Curated by Leigh Robb Education Notes By Tara Daniel                                          

FIRST AMONG EQUALS (PART II) Central Galleries 3 November – 30 December 2012 Curated by Leigh Robb Artists: Rebecca Baumann (WA) Len Lye (NZ) Christian Marclay (Switzerland/USA) Elizabeth McAlpine (UK) Paul Pfeiffer (USA) Len Lye, Rainbow Dance, 1936 First Amongst Equals (Part II) presents a stellar line-up of Australian and international artists who share an interest in film, kinetics, colour, sound and time. With practices spanning from 1936 to 2012 this exhibition is a focused selection of artworks that are boldly distinct yet intrinsically related. Exhibiting for the first time in Australia, acclaimed/up and coming UK artist Elizabeth McAlpine offers an exploration into light and time in relation to film, through works that feature a double Super 8 projection, a plaster cast gramophone, pinhole camera photographs and sculptures, found postcards, and a flickering installation of 180 printed shadows. These key works by McAlpine are paired with film, video and kinetic works by Baumann, Lye, Marclay and Pfeiffer which converse within a charged, dynamic ‘colour environment’ created specially by Rebecca Baumann. Through an ingenious curatorial premise this exhibition creates new, and at times kaleidoscopic, duets of colour, light, movement and sound. First Amongst Equals (Part II) is the second installment in a pair of connected shows, the first of which premiered at Gertrude Contemporary in Melbourne in July as part of their annual Octopus program. On the occasion of Open House Perth and as an extension of the exhibition, Elizabeth McAlpine presents an outdoor pavilion created in collaboration with Perth architect Ariane Palassis.

Elizabeth McAlpine Square Describing a Circle (Leaves), 2012. Image courtesy the artist & Laura Bartlett Gallery

An interview with Curator Leigh Robb and Education Program Manager Tara Daniel. “First Amongst Equals presents a focused selection of distinct yet related practices across generations and decades.” How did you make curatorial decisions to achieve this aim with regard to the ideas and artistic techniques you chose to include in this exhibition? I think it is important that the understanding of contemporary art and what ideas can still be contemporary is considered when selecting works for an exhibition. In this case, A Colour Box by Len Lye from 1936 and his Particles in Space film from 1979 (his first and last film works made during his career) are particularly relevant – even 70 years on, they still have a resonance with artists working today, and are remarkably current, experimental and fresh, and are deserving of relooking at in the context of contemporary art. The same goes for selecting an iconic early video montage work by Paul Pfeiffer from 2003, as well as a little- seen Rorschach acrylic and ink on paper from 1993 from an important series of Echo works by Christian Marclay, who is best known for his music and video collages. All three of these artists have looked at film and video editing in radical ways and, in turn have influenced and had an effect on the ideas of Elizabeth McAlpine and Rebecca Baumann; younger artistic peers coming to those ideas now. What do you think is innovative about this exhibition and how do you define innovation? I think innovation and experimentation are closely linked. I’ve discussed above how Lye, Marclay and Pfeiffer have innovatively treated the splicing of image and or sound through film and video. In the case of Elizabeth McAlpine, she pushes her materials and medium to their limits. Her work, Pan (in 2 parts), uses two super 8mm projectors, running one film through both of them, which is technically very difficult to do and to actually make operate, so she has innovated and updated an old technology to make it do something it doesn’t usually – she is embracing the mechanical possibilities of film. With Rebecca Baumann, she is always looking at ever more immersive ways of engaging with colour and creating a continuous colour experience for visitors to her work. Moving from the single Colour Clock prototype from 2010, into her Automated Colour Field, 2011 (not in the show but in the AGWA and MCA collection) which included 100 constantly ticking clocks of coloured paper, she has taken this idea to create Colour Cave, 2012. Baumann has transformed the walls of the galleries into a total colour environment that is constantly changing depending on the position of the viewer and their movements within the space. To innovate is also to push an idea as far as it can go, and in this case, Rebecca has also made Colour Clocks (White on White), which consists of 100 clocks, again with their numbers removed, but showing only white paper, creating a moving monochrome where all colour has been removed. Discuss an example of how you made curatorial decision/s to impact on the formal, conceptual and/or spatial relationships between the art works in First Amongst Equals. As the Colour Cave of Rebecca Baumann is also the backdrop for all the works in this group show, this creates tension between content and context, and the autonomy of each work. I was interested in how works interfere with each other – thinking of ‘interference’ in its acoustic sense, like sound bleeding from one thing to another, and how to make this productive and interesting, and open new counterpoints of meaning between the works in the show – but I also wanted to be respectful of each work, allow it to be seen as autonomous as well as part of the whole of the show. In this way I was influenced by a seminal exhibition space designed by architect Frederick Kiesler who was commissioned to make The Art of this Century gallery for collector Peggy Guggenheim to show her works in 1942 in New York. His Surrealist gallery displayed the paintings on arms which jutted from the wall, and universal joints so that the paintings could be moved 360 degrees and back and forth. This was so experimental and seems outrageous now with our very minimal idea of the pristine white cube gallery so I wanted to re-engage with this idea of the artwork jutting out from the wall, so most of the framed works have armatures which push them off the wall and into the space – allowing the Colour Cave work to be read as an expanded wall painting and artwork in its own right – a

colour field painting – and also to make the space more intimate and bring the smaller framed works into the foreground – playing with traditional games of foreground and background, perspective and depth of field. What effect would you like the experience of First Amongst Equals to have on its viewers? Do you think viewer responses will vary depending on his/her social and cultural backgrounds? Do you imagine it will be challenging to any particular viewers? I would like the experience to be open-ended and inspire close looking at artworks and contemplation. Whilst there are quite specific pairings of objects (both formally, such as Baumann’s Colour Clock and McAlpine’s Pan (in 2 parts); Pfeiffer’s Morning After the Deluge and McAlpine’s Light Reading: Californian Sunset; Christian Marclay’s Echo and McAlpine’s Black Noise; and even between Len Lye’s Colour Box and Rebecca Baumann’s fine ink drawings; as well as between McAlpine’s Square Describing a Circle – which is an exploded but dysfunctional sun dial – and Baumann’s White on White clocks which also track time, but don’t ever reveal what time it is) – I hope there is room for visitors to find new pairs and revelations about time passing, colour and kinetics. How do you envisage First Amongst Equals within the context of contemporary arts in Australia, and in the world? Would you describe the work (or elements of it) as postmodern? NB the secondary school art curriculum defines postmodern “as having one or more of the following characteristics: irony, paradox, parody, pastiche, appropriation, and intertextuality.” First Amongst Equals is an international show, so it was important to place Australian artist Rebecca Baumann in the context of international artists, both contemporary and historical, in order to be part of this international discourse; as well as having both McAlpine and Baumann within the context of the cannon of conceptual art, which is decidedly masculine. First Amongst Equals or ‘primus inter pares’, is a principle applied in political and religious contexts. In the military or in a professional situation, this term indicates that the person so described is formally equal, but looked upon as an authority of special importance by their peers. However, in some cases it may also be used to indicate that while the person described appears to be an equal, that person actually is the group's unofficial or hidden leader, and thus the reference to this person being "equal" to the rest is intended to project mutual respect and camaraderie. I also chose this title for its formal connotations, and its reference to doubling, which is the guiding logic for the exhibition and the formal and conceptual tool that drives many of the works in the show. To me it connects to a history of conceptual and postmodern practices that goes back to artists including Mel Bochner, Donald Judd and Sol Lewitt and Dan Flavin who were interested in permutations and numbers and setting up systems that would dictate the work. First Amongst Equals is also a way to think about the Double Object, something both singular and double – it opens up questions of identity and the conundrum of perceiving two things as one, or at once. According to Victor Hugo, “Sublime upon sublime scarcely presents a contrast, and we need a little rest from everything, even the beautiful.” With reference to First Amongst Equals, discuss this quote and describe how you created a sense of contrast or variety in the exhibition content. At one stage I was worried that there might not be enough friction between the works and that they might be too meditative. Then I realized there’s a whole other register to do with the cut and optics and loss and mourning. I added Elizabeth McAlpine’s “Don’t Look Now”, which shows the film footage that was missed when she closed her eyes through blinking. The film is a tragedy about death and loss, which adds a contrast. If you blink you’ll miss it, but it bridges the more ephemeral concepts in the rest of the exhibition. There is also a variety of mediums in the exhibition, from actual Super 8mm and 16mm projections, traditional plaster casts, to video and dvd projections, found postcards, and drawings, photography.

Is there a quote (from an artist, a famous philosopher, a film, song lyrics etc) that you think sums up the ideas expressed in First Amongst Equals, or is particularly pertinent to your curatorial process? Freud once said that ‘one of the most fervent human desires is to experience the same thing twice’. This is at the heart of my interest in doubling and re-enactment, repetition and return. How do you think younger audiences will engage with First Amongst Equals (i.e. primary school students)? With curiosity and on an intuitive level in terms of how the colours affect their experience of the works. It is an experiment, so I have no idea! Hopefully not with boredom! Are there any activities you would like to propose students undertake with reference to First Amongst Equals? Find their own pairs – or discuss which works could be pairs (there are many that overlap).

An interview with artist Elizabeth McAlpine Describe your approach to art making. Do you begin with an idea, a concept, an issue, or do you start by exploring materials and/or processes? The work generally starts with a concept and an idea. I then explore and find ways that I can realize this concept through materials. Elizabeth McAlpine, Black Noise (detail), 2006. Did you undertake your usual process in making work for this exhibition? How does this work sit within your more broad ‘body of work’? The exhibition is made up of a number of pieces of work. These works were already pre- existing within the body of work I have made. One work was made for the first part of this two- part exhibition First Amongst Equals (Part I) at the Gertrude Institute, Melbourne. The piece is called Square Describing a Circle (leaves) and is comprised of 180 mono-prints. Although the prints had been made previously, the hanging and installation of the works was conceived for this exhibition, and it was having the space for the work to be hung and working with this in mind that enabled the piece to finally be realized. How do you classify your work? List as many genres as you feel appropriately describe your artworks. Drawing, printmaking, photography, film, video, sculpture, installation, performance and it is also a collection of works. How do the formal, stylistic and technical elements contribute to the function or meaning/s in your work? How are these impacted upon when placed alongside other art works in the exhibition, given that First Amongst Equals creates formal, conceptual and spatial relationships between the works? The material element and how they are constructed and positioned create and guide the meaning of the works. The positioning of the works amongst other works and within such an experimental and exciting curatorial context as this show will of course bring up other possibilities within in the works. I feel that the meanings of art works are always, to a degree, in flux; living. The works around my works affect their meaning and they in turn hopefully have an effect on the world around them. Select the three art elements & design principles that you feel you have used most prominently and make a brief comment about each in relation to your work for this exhibition. Line = horizon and landscape Colour = our perception as individuals and the differences in perception that we experience Space = the flip and twist as space alters and moves between 2D and 3 D How evident or present are your personal beliefs and values within your art? Tactile physicality, time and patience are all elements that are present in the work – as well as these elements being present in the way that the works are built this closeness to the materiality and the processes allows me to have time with the works to build intimacy with them.

Name any artists or other practitioners who have influenced your practice and describe how these influences have impacted on your work. Many people in many ways – some are listed below: Susan Hiller – Dedicated to the Unknown Artists, 1972-1976 Lygia Clark Liz Rhodes – Light Reading Robert Smithson – Spiral Jetty, 1970 Malcolm Le Grice – Horror Film, 1971 Nancy Holt – Sun Tunnels, Utah, 1973-1976

Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels, 1973-1976

Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels consists of four concrete cylinders, laid out in a cross formation corresponding to the patterns of celestial constellations Draco, Perseus, Columba and Capricorn. The tunnels line up spectacularly with the sunrise and sunset of the summer and winter solstices. Question for students: Compare and contrast the themes explored in Elizabeth McAlpine’s Square Describing a Circle and Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels.

How do you define innovation, and what is innovative about your artwork and/or your practice? I don’t consider my practice to be innovative I use very old methods of photography to make some of the images and I often work with Super 8mm and 35mm film, as well as simple printing methods (mono-prints), but perhaps it is interesting for students to see that it is possible to make images using very basic methods that do not use high-end technology. Do you think there is a growing resurgence of the use of old technology in contemporary art, and if so, why do you think this might be? I think there will always be artists that use analog technology. There are some artists who use it because its nostalgic, but I’m not really interested in that – the reason that I use film stock is because of its materiality – it’s a way of trying to create a physical representation of time. I use older darkroom techniques because I feel exposing directly onto the paper is a more direct way of working with space. Somehow it feels closer – less filters being placed between physical space and the artwork (e.g. the Map of Exactitude). Is there a quote that you think sums up an idea expressed in your artwork, or is particularly pertinent to your process as an artist? I have attached some writing about the work and some recent press that talks about some of the work exhibited that might be helpful to look at. How do you think younger (primary school) audiences will engage with your work? I hope that they enjoy it and find the exhibition exciting to experience.  

An interview with artist Rebecca Baumann Describe your approach to art making. Do you begin with an idea, a concept, an issue, or do you start by exploring materials and/or processes? There is no standard way that I approach art making. An idea for a work can be sparked from many things - a concept, a material, or a conversation...so my approach is always different. Rebecca Baumann, Colour Clock, 2010 Though I am constantly researching ideas and concepts in parallel to my general material investigation. Did you undertake your usual process in making work for this exhibition? How does this work sit within your more broad ‘body of work’? The work included in the show illustrates the variety of ways I approach art making. The curator Leigh Robb asked me to create a site specific ‘colour environment’ for the show, onto which all the other works would be hung, so I worked within the parameters of PICA to create Colour Cave #2, (2012). Automated Monochrome (White on White), (2012) sits within a series of kinetic flip-clock ‘paintings’ that I have been creating over the past two years. With the Untitled Drawing series I was interested in exploring ideas about consciousness, so I started making these line drawings, trying to almost ‘map’ my consciousness through mark making. These works sit within my broader body of work, which use abstraction, colour, repetition and other formal qualities to explore philosophical concerns relating to the nature of emotion, perception, the self, and consciousness. Using different materials and techniques, from assemblages using found objects, kinetic sculpture, and more traditional media such as drawing, my practice creates the space to consider what it means to be human. How do you classify your work? As drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, environment, site-specific and as a collection of works. Select the three art elements & design principles that you feel you have used most prominently and make a brief comment about each in relation to your work for this exhibition. Colour, space and movement. I am inherently interested in colour in my work, for its subjective and universal qualities, and in the work Colour Cave, I have used it as a way to affect the viewer’s experience of the space, and their reading of the other works in the show. Many works in my practice are kinetic. I like to use movement in my work as a way to consider the innate change within our inner selves, and the greater world. What effect/s would you like this exhibition to have on viewers? Do you think responses will vary depending on his/her social and cultural backgrounds? Do you imagine your work will be challenging to any particular viewers? Responses to art works will always be affected by cultural, and socio-economic factors. Colour is read differently in different cultures, for example, white in Australia, and western cultures is generally read as ‘innocence’ and ‘purity’, but in some eastern cultures it is read as ‘death’, and ‘mourning’. I think Colour Cave may be challenging to art audiences who are used to works being hung on white walls!

How evident or present are your personal beliefs and values within your art? My beliefs and values are present in my work, but I am not interested in talking about a personal narrative, as what I am trying to explore are the subjective, yet universal experiences that humans share, such as feeling, consciousness, perception, and so forth, in a effort to question what it means to be human. Name any artists or other practitioners who have influenced your practice and describe how these influences have impacted on your work. I am interested in many different artists, at the moment in particular, Félix González-Torres, Agnes Martin, Olafur Eliasson, Dan Flavin, and Haegue Yang. I look at the work of these artists as research for conceptual, or material reasons, but they don’t necessarily influence the works I am making.

Félix González-Torres, Portrait of Ross, 1991 multicoloured candies, individually wrapped in cellophane, ideal weight 175 lb.

“González-Torres was a Cuban-born sculptor and installation artist who worked in New York City in the 80s and early 90s. He was part of the “process art” movement, where the experience of creating and re-creating a work is as intrinsic a part of it as the “finished” product (part of the ideal being that, really, the piece can never be finished as its intent is to constantly re-create itself). Ross Laycock was Félix’s partner, and when he was diagnosed with HIV his doctor set his ideal weight at 175 pounds. “Portrait of Ross” is precisely that: 175 pounds of candy set in a pile. The candy is unguarded, the purpose being for the viewer to take some of it from the mound. Each and every day, the remaining candy is removed, weighed, and more is added until it weighs exactly 175 pounds. Then it’s set back out again. The candy is both a representation of Ross’ physical weight and a metaphor for the very best and worst of his struggle with AIDS. As the disease takes away, the person’s size may dwindle, but the weight of the spirit – the intent to remember and replenish, the power to celebrate – brings it back each morning.”

Jeremy Elder, 2010, www.shape-and-colour.com

Question for students: how do you think Rebecca Baumann might relate her own practice to that of Félix González-Torres?

How do you define innovation, and what is innovative about your artwork and/or your practice? Within my practice I try to look at and use materials in a different way, which may be surprising for the viewer. Some of my work has started getting more complicated in recent times, but I am trying to pull this back, as I am more interested in ingenuity, not engineering. Is there a quote that you think sums up an idea expressed in your artwork, or is particularly pertinent to your process as an artist? And beyond? Where would that be? This is not the unconscious we have known since Freud, made dull with usage. What I have in mind with the bodily unconscious is “thought” more like poetry, which proceeds outside of language and consciousness, what a famous student of shock on the battlefields of World War I by the name of Cannon called the “wisdom of the body.” Perhaps this was all metaphor for Cannon, this “wisdom,” but not for me nor for Nietzsche, who argued that what we in the West call consciousness is but a tiny part of thought; that we think all the time and without language but do not “know” it and as such we are connected, as thinking bodies, to the play of the world. This is that “beyond” to which colour takes us.

- Michael Taussig, What Color Is The Sacred? p. 14 How do you think younger audiences will engage with your work (i.e. primary school students)? I think younger people are able to engage with my practice on a very basic or ‘primal’ level - that is through the colour and movement. Are there images of other art works you would like included in the Education Notes? Automated Colour Field, 2011 100 Flip-clocks, paper 130 x 360 x 9cm Duration: 24 hrs Photography: Andrew Curtis Originally commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art for NEW11 This is the first in the series of ‘Automated’ paintings that I have created.