Flight Test

2013 Bachelor of Fine Art (Visual Arts) Honours

Queensland University of Technology

Bachelor of Fine Art (Visual Art) Honours 2013

Jaclyn Bates Jamie Behrendorff Katherine Clayton

Romii Fulton-Smith Erin Groenenboom

Tracey Gordon Grace Kevill-Davies

Madeleine Stacl<

Bachelor of Creative Industries Honours 2013

Sarah Barron

Why read them? The role of catalogue essays and insights to Flight Test

This is a catalogue essay about being a catalogue essay. You are reading the catalogue essay that supports the Visual Art Honours Exhibition fo r 2013, Flight Test, which features the work of artists Jaclyn Bates, Jamie Behrendorff, Katherine Clayton, Romii Fulton-Smith, Tracey Gordon, Erin Groenenboom, Grace Kevill-Davies and Madeleine Stack. These artists have also curated the exhibition, working alongside university and gallery staff.

What is a catalogue essay? The role of the essay is primarily to act as a record of the exhibition as well as to enhance the viewer/ reader's understanding of the exhibition'. Sometimes it is accused of being a poor medium for these purposes. As a document of the exhibition, its production occurs before the installation of the exhibition and sometimes before all the artworks are even completed and selected (as in this instance) 2

• Some say that that few read catalogue essays (you are obviously an exception!) or that it can act purely as a publicity device without providing any substantial insights3• As writing that is not peer-reviewed (a process that scholarly books and journal articles go through), it lacks academic rigour4• It is secondary to the exhibition, doomed to decay in a gallery storeroom amongst other unread catalogue essayss.

So why produce them? Why read them?

Despite this gloomy outlook, catalogue printing has increased and digital catalogues are on the rise as well6. These questions and issues came out of my Honours research project, which addresses the lack of critical examination to date on the role of the curator's catalogue essay. This catalogue essay aims to convey some of the findings from this research project, but also to function as the catalogue essay for Flight Test. In effect, you are reading about the role of the catalogue essay, while reading a catalogue essay.

The production of catalogues first appears in late 17th century France7. These catalogues had no illustrations and only basic information about the artworks8

• Visitors consulted the catalogue during the exhibition9. There were no didactics, labels or other information accompanying exhibitions to orientate (or disorientate) the viewer'0 • The earliest catalogue essays emerged by the 19th century". From the 196os, catalogues began to become more independent of the exhibition' 2

• Some came to resemble books and serve as a platform for the publication of research'3. The responsibility of the catalogue and catalogue essay now falls to the curator, who is the person who coordinates an exhibition of artwork and communicates the concepts or intentions to the audience'4 • In the 21st century, there are digital exhibition catalogues as well as printed publications and a myriad of other supporting material to assist visitors in interpreting the exhibitions's.

An advantage the essay has over other forms of art publishing is that it is written close to the source '6• As a peer and Honours student, I have experienced the artists' works at first hand. I have read their writing and heard them talk about their work. From this experience, I have observed that framing is an important device used by all of the artists to contextualise their works or inform their meaning. This may occur metaphorically in employing the view through a window or it may be physically through a staged environment, a fixed perspective, or otherwise the drawing attention to the edges of where one thing ends and another begins.

This is particularly evident in Kevill-Davies' playful and imaginative works in which she stages toys and other items within a miniature constructed environment, often drawing on a comic effect to subvert meanings and expectations. She does this through playing with timing, addition and subtraction as well as juxtaposition, such as with images and sound. An appreciation of the everyday or quotidian is brought to our attention in Behrendorff's practice, particularly liminal spaces (those that are in-between or just perceptible) that contain evidence of the past through physical remnants like dust. Stack also looks at liminal spaces, especially transitory zones, and questions how the individual navigates through

these fabricated and natural spaces. Bates' whimsical videos and photos feature familiar yet alien moments and landscapes. She examines the paradoxical space between the recollection of memories to form identity and the inherent unreliability of recall. The desire to retain memories of place features in Gordon's work. Her upbringing on a property in regional Australia drives her appreciation of the vastness of landscape and the sublime, which directly informs her practice. Longing or desire for place, both real and imagined, is at the centre of Fulton-Smith's explorations, as is a deep affinity with the poetics of materiality and text. Groenenboom's intimate video works look inwards, exploring self and spirituality through portraits of her experiences. She invites the audience to both view and participate through her creation of an immersive experience. Clayton also invites audience response through employing affect (provoking emotional response) and the staging of her small-scale works, which are evocative of the body through their form and positioning, to induce silence.

The catalogue essay provides an opportunity for the curator (or other writer's) insights to be shared, which may lead you, the reader, to form new or unexpected understandings of the artwork'7• It is useful for artists, curators and the gallery, or institution, alike to fulfil their aim to communicate with a wider audience'8• The artists in Flight Test seek inspiration from their outlook on everyday life experiences, from other artists and each other, as well as from a wide range of material outside of the visual arts. For this Honours year, this range includes neurology, literature, anatomy, geography and film. Their works reflect these interests through personal references in an endeavour to contribute to a broader conversation about the times we live in. The modes through which their artworks communicate are playful and serious. They at once convey seemingly relatable and real experiences as well as unreal expressions of the everyday.

Whether or not you are at the exhibition right now, or have just gotten around to reading the essay, even if it is weeks after seeing the show, or if you never saw it at all, the essay will give you another layer of communication to digest alongside the reproductions of the artworks. After months of preparation, the exhibition itself is a short-lived event. Remaining behind in the storerooms, bookshelves and on coffee tables are the catalogues-the remnants of all that energy and combined efforts. While it is no replacement for experiencing the artworks in person, the essay and catalogue stand as a more permanent reminder of the exhibition's existence. As of yet, the essay (and the catalogue) remain the best means we have to ensure the exhibition is recorded for posterity.

Sarah Barron 2 013 Honours Creative Industries student, QUT

References

1. Dr Ann Stephen, Senior Curator. University of Syd ney Art Ga llery and Art Collec tion, personal questionnaire, August 8, 2013; Peter Cannon-Brookes. 1985. ;The evolu tion of the art exhibit ion catalogue and its future.'' Art and Artists 220-225: 22- 26.

Li nda Michael, Senior Curator, Heide Museum of Modern A1t , personal interview, July 3, 2013; Terry Sm ith. 2012. Thinking contemporary curating, 45· New Yo rk : Independent Cura tors Interna tional; Jenni fe r Allen. 2007. "How do you'' rite a catalogue essay for a show tha t hasn't yet opened?" Fr ieze Magazine 126 (October). Accessed July 9. 2013. http: //www. fr ieze.com/ issue/article/ fu tures_trad ing/,%2oFrieze,%2o lssue%zo126/. 3· Stephen. op.cit: Michael. op.cit. 4 Stephen. op.cit. ;. Stephen. op.cit; Michael , op.cit; Jenna Baldock. Co-Curator, Inhouse Art ist Run In itia tive, personal questionnai re, July 29, 2013. 6. Dhana Merrill. Independent Curator. Artist. Arts" riter and Ga llery Manager. the Institute of Modern Art. personal in te rview, july 10, 2013; Stephen. op.cit. 7- Cannon- Brookes. op.cit .. 23. 8. Ibid .. 23. 9· Ibid .. 23. to. Julie [\, ington. Senior Curator. Australian Art, Queensland Art Ga llery/Ga llery of Modern Art. personal interview, July 10. 2013.

Cannon- Brookes. op.cit .. 23. 02. Ibid .. 24.

OJ. Ibid .. 2.J. 4- Elizabeth N. Sch latter. zoo8. Museum careers: A practical guide for students and novices. 57- Walnut Creek. California: Left Coast Press; Helen Kouris. 2007. "Int roduction" In Cautionary ta les: Critical curating, edited by Steven Rand and Helen Kouris, 11 - '3· New York: Apexart. 1;. Smilh, op. cit., 46- 47· 16. Stephen. op. cit. 17. Megan Wi ll iams, Curator (Public Programs) QUT Art Museum, personal questionnaire, August 19, 2013.

t8. E'' ington, op. cit.

The 2013 Visual Arts Graduate exhibition is called Flight Test

In the exhibition you are introduced to the artwork of the 2013 Honours cohort at QUT Visual Arts:

Jaclyn Bates, Jamie Behrendorff, Katherine Clayton, Romii Fulton-Smith, Tracey Gordon, Erin Groenenboom, Grace Kevill-Davies and Madeleine Stack

Plus, Sarah Barron, who has undertaken a research based Honours project in curatorial studies and who has also written the catalogue essay.

We congratulate them all on their achievements and the successful completion of their studies.

QUT Visual Arts offers one of the most focused programs of Visual Arts study in Australia. We focus on modern and contemporary art and offer a unique "scaffolded" structure of study in which the studio practice and art history-theory "streams" are aligned together throughout a student's study. In studio, Visual Arts at QUT offers an open, interdiscipli­nary approach that brings students together irrespective of their chosen medium. The course encourages both the crea­tive and critical aspects of art making. Such an arrangement permits an open, exploratory and interdisciplinary approach to art. The whole course of study is designed to progress cohesively from the introductory level to the more specialised and advanced study of later years.

The outcomes of the course of study in Visual Arts have become increasingly diverse. Today we offer four key study path­ways: studio practice, art education, curatorial, and art-historical research. This diversity of pathways allows graduates to pursue careers as fulltime artists, art teachers, curators or other arts professionals, or even focus on research careers. QUT Visual Arts graduates are active participants in Brisbane's artistic community.

Visual Arts consistently produces one of the strongest Honours cohorts in the Creative Industries faculty. 2013 has been no exception. This catalogue serves as another unique snapshot of a distinctive year. The energy and critical vitality of the Visual Arts Honours cohort is evident in their art making. Flight Test exalts in projects that delight, puzzle, provoke and engage. Please marvel at their works on the evening of November 6th at The Block, QUT, Kelvin Grove campus. Be pro­voked, be enticed, enjoy!

Once again, congratulations to everyone in the exhibition.

Andrew McNamara Head, Visual Arts program, QUT

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school bus runs access to electricity

all weather gravel grey brigalow and belah soil

pulse grading and storage lighter loam

large industrial style wilga, box, brigalow and belah

office & weighbridge hinge joint, plain and barb

garage & cool room multitude of enterprises

shed covered 3 sides pristine virgin

good open brigalow and belah grazing suitable for hunting

We would like to extend our thanks to the following people for their encouragement and support throughout the year:

Mark Webb Danielle Clej Rachael Haynes Grant Stevens Daniel McKewen Courtney Pedersen Andrew McNamara Charles Robb Jason Sternberg Mark Pennings Victoria Garnons-Williams Courtney Coombs Anita Holtsclaw Michelle Xen Daniel Mafe Ian Copson Jacob Broomhall Michael Riddle Joseph Breikers Nigel Oram Blair Walkinshaw

Many thanks to Judith Kentish for examining our work, and to Chris Saines CNZM, Director of QAGOMA, for opening the show.

creative industrie