| Working Families (Who do you think you are?) |
[14 Nov 2007|08:05pm] |
This bland and dull grey election promise time. We in australia are facing the challenge of choosing between another lesser of two political evils. Of course, to most of us, the contemplation of an 11 year liberal reign continuing into the future is a pending sign of leaving this country (because we know that when rudd speaks of 'the best minds of our country' he is not referring to one single artist, unless they might be commercially viable). It is a scary time. It is a precipice feeling, quite on the edge of a daunting pressure of a country that could potentially be liberated. But laboured it might also be.
Every night I hear the words "Working Families" once again, on tape echo, feedback on high.
Who of you have had babies in the last 11 years? How are you managing to afford it? Who of you have bought homes or property? Who of you have entered into heterosexual marriage? Who of you have begun executive jobs in a corporate environment? Who (and I know none) of you have been able to afford any kind of private hospital care? Who of you, as artists, have signed yourself over to governments or taken an oath to earn a commercial buck? And if so, if you are one of these artists, have you considered why are you doing this and perhaps who you might be earning the buck for? Who is your audience?
Not once (once again) have I heard anything about supporting or increasing cultural activity. Nothing about arts. I mean, who cares? That is a serious question. All I have seen (and heard) in the past half-decade is certain artists moving back into conventional and worn-out administrative modes in an effort to 'stay alive'. But at what cost? Who is winning in this race for contemporary arts practice that claims to be 'developing'. Who is really taking a risk? Who is speaking out politically in the arts? Who is really just indulging in building work for audiences with money and savvy minds? Sadly, I had to travel all the way across the world to be in London and Brussels this year to have any kind of passionate political discussion about arts practice. I rarely speak to any artists in australia who are interested in talking beyond 'production values' and, sadly, themselves. I've been to some social events where all I hear are certain artists talking about their 'new ideas' as opposed to why these ideas might have any impact on our society or in what way they might be questioning their own position.
Having said all that, maybe it helps to really define what this term 'live art' is (and keeps being blindly stolen by artists in australia). Live, because it continues to live and respond and to be unpopular because it screams with sounds that are unattractive to those who wish to live in comfort with their 'production values'. Live, because it is electric and wants to speak with its audience and not just gladly (and vainly) take applause. Live, because it continues to bleed, to draw blood, to be ugly and unwanted. Live Art will continue to be given its token cents in this country and those that throw it in will claim they have supported it, but really all it does it placate the givers and does not sustain the receivers.
So - those of you who are artists building your working families with your babies, you might be in luck, no matter which way our election goes. You will have a fall back option. You will fit in and be generic and those who sit back and watch you will clap their hands.
Those of us queer fucks on the edge, who have no choice but to stay there (and mostly because we want to and it is our passion), will see you rise and shine. Be thankful, no matter which way the vote swings, things will remain static. Not live. Just dead and dull.
Be careful who you vote for. It is ringing in my ears and I hope others.
Spoken by Unreasonable Adults. Authorised by Unreasonable Adults.
|
|
| THANKYOU FOR THE DAYS - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[27 Sep 2007|05:01pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Tom Waits - Burma Shave |
] |
In many ways, it is hard to define a project like Gift/Back - and more often than not we find ourselves repeating ourselves. So, thanks to Shaun Ellis, our gifted boyfriend, we have his words to help us define:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/performance-art-that-comes-with-a-gift/2007/09/26/1190486391737.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Performance art that comes with a gift
September 27, 2007
Being interrogated in a cell while eating chocolate biscuits can lay a man bare, writes Shaun Ellis.
SO HERE I am — stripped naked but for a pair of Post-It note-sized nylon shorts, blindfolded, seated on a wooden crate in a white cell, being alternately interrogated and hand-fed chocolate biscuits. And filmed.
Travelling on a one-hour visa, I am an accidental tourist in the wonderful world of fringe performance art.
Gift/Back is an "audience project" by art quintet Unreasonable Adults. In early September, the public was invited to submit gifts that the artists would then weave together and respond to using sound, video, text, visual art and performance.
It is the project's third outing after successful runs in Sydney and Newcastle last year. Melburnians' contributions so far include a vial of pure gold; a nipple ring; a silver jumpsuit; a Victoria Police prisoner property bag; lavender; sawn-off cows' teeth; a gaudy wedding dress; a box of chocolate biscuits; and three minutes and 37 seconds' worth of oxygen, "wrapped and sealed with a Japanese parcel knot".
And me, kindly donated by my boyfriend. The only stipulation was that I not be made to cry. Unreasonable Adult Jason Sweeney beckoned me to the Meat Market in North Melbourne. I arrive a tad nervous. Sweeney makes me a cup of tea and explains the project, how the group wanted to "create something that was purely about the audience".
"The beauty of this project is it takes the art thing away from the stereotypical place of exclusivity and opens it up to a whole greater diversity of audience through word of mouth and the internet," says Sweeney's colleague, Julie Vulcan.
Sweeney says Gift/Back is nothing like the performance art cliche of purposeful confrontation "complete with bloodletting and nudity".
"But believe me, we've been part of all of that too!" he adds with a laugh. "And sure, there are elements of what gets made in Gift/Back that are abstract, strange, sometimes nasty and unsettling, but that is only because of some of the gifts."
The artists are bound by what they receive, yet free to play with it as they see fit. "For me, this is part of the adrenaline rush," says Vulcan. "We have to respond to this set-up that we have contrived, but there is an enormous feeling of freedom that comes with this, as we can just let that creative juice flow."
Such free-flowing juices have previously resulted in the group dancing the Wiggles' choreography to Guns N' Roses and reciting a letter from Philip Ruddock in the men's bathroom.
"It's crazy to think that performance art will ever have a wide appeal and that doesn't matter," says Sweeney.
I've finished my tea. "Um, so, can you please go in there and get undressed now?" Sweeney asks.
Once the hour's up and my pants are firmly back on, Sweeney admits he doesn't yet know if the tape will actually be shown during the event. "The gift has already taken place," he explains.
Vulcan says this gift was "problematic" for her. "At the end of the day you're going home and the whole event just makes an interesting dinner-party conversation," she says. "And to be honest, I wanted to make you cry."
Gift/Back, at CultureLAB @ ArtsHouse, Meat Market, Blackwood Street, North Melbourne, from October 1 to 6. Visit www.artshouse.com.au for booking and performance details.
See gifts and read the blog at www.unreasonableadults.va.com.au
Taken from - The Age
|
|
| DAYS BLUR - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[25 Sep 2007|12:12am] |
Jules and I are now in lab-mode, heads down into the night, working on giving back, through films, texts, web uploads, installation and micro-performances. Fiona and Kerrin work remotely, sending video pieces and images. The process of compiling and sorting and gift processing doesn't stop and we continue to receive submissions, now well past our imposed 'deadline'. Being unreasonable, we don't adhere too much to that, only slightly.
It's late and I'm waiting for a video piece I'm making to render itself into black and white (a reference made to several gifted film submissions...). Shout out to Ed Wood after watching 'Glen or Glenda' today. It's my first EW experience and it was worth the wait. Durational B-Grade. Nothing better.
--JASON
|
|
| DAY 09 - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[20 Sep 2007|08:25pm] |
Today we were gifted “The Boyfriend” for one hour. We had consent to do anything as long as it didn’t make him cry.
Yesterday we were asked to do a photoshoot for Mx Magazine (a free daily mag mainly for CBD workers and commuters, distributed around the main transport hubs) The drawcard was - the gift of the boyfriend. We had a photoshoot with a stand in (as we were told we were too old!!!)
I have found it so fascinating that this is the gift that has caused so much interest. I suppose for really obvious reasons and the current climate of reality shows. However, from all the comments heard, not one person has legitimately questioned this action. Kerrin, Jason and I have had many discussions around this. Earlier in the week Kerrin prompted us to ask the question – “What are you not prepared to consent to?” of the gifter and “What are you not prepared to do?” of the gifted.
For me I am so aware that this gift comes from a place of privilege. I am also aware that there is an unspoken trust between us and the gifted/gifter. I question this trust and I question this privilege and I question whether this action has fully been thought through.
I wonder how I would feel to be gifted by my long-term lover with open consent to do anything as long as I wasn’t made to cry. I would wonder at my value. I would wonder about laziness and apathy. Are we getting sloppy round the edges, not devoting enough rigor? According to statistics the most common excuse for littering is “too lazy”. How much does this apply to the rest of our lives? The litter of love.
Following is a short story I wrote in response to this “gift”, it also includes references to other “gifts” we have received.
Today in a small white room, our gifted boyfriend was seated on a wooden box. He wore a small nylon pair of shorts and a red blindfold. First Jason sat with him and questioned him (see y'days entry) before leaving the room. Next, I entered and read him this story: -
The Body Gifted
A short tale by Julie Vulcan
Let me tell you a tale, it is a tale of great strength, of passion, of love, of sadness, of sorrow and ultimate confusion.
It starts with two lovers. Unlike most tales, where the story is the searching, finding and pursuing of the loved one, this tale starts from that place, the place of communion and commitment and follows the same course of searching, finding and pursuing, but this time, away from the loved one.
It all started quite simply. It started with self-interest undermining unity.
These lovers had a happy home, many friends, were popular, attractive, sort after for their fun good-natured company. They were always on the invitation lists, they were courteous, humorous, naughty and liked to get down and dirty when the occasion called for it.
They liked to play games and call each others bluff. They saw it as fun, after all, there was a risk of getting bogged down in some serious global issues if you didn’t make light of it and just enjoy every moment while you could.
So everything seemed fine. One would tell the other how much they loved them and vice versa. Sometimes, one would ask of the other to do something “just for kicks”, the other would agree, believing it all to be part of the game of love that they were playing and never waivering in their faith and trust of the other.
Then one day a foreigner came into town and amongst their circle.
This foreigner was exotic and new, mysterious and aloof.
The couple were immediately interested in this new twist, this intriguing possibility. They joked about ways to explore or tease out the meaning of this foreigner.
However they didn’t have to wait long for their desire to be answered as the foreigner presented them with the perfect opportunity.
The foreigner asked them for a gift.
They were flattered and giggled with delight at the prospect.
The next day one of the lovers secretly sent a message to the foreigner. The message contained a proposition, the lover was gifting the other lovers body, for a day, to do with as was the foreigners fancy. There was nothing that the lover would not consent to, except that the foreigner must not make the lover cry.
The lover thought this was a great joke and would indeed make them the talk of the town. They would be considered radical, risqué, ruthless even. They would win favour and garner a certain respect, most certainly from the foreigner.
That evening the one lover told the other lover of the gift. The other smiled and clapped with child-like glee. This was surely the best game they had devised. Life was such a wonderful amusement!
A week later the foreigner called for the Gifted Lover.
The lovers embraced at their front door, kissing each other goodbye, their lips were electric with the delicious taste of anticipation.
The gifted lover arrived at the home with a buoyant spirit, akin to the divine fool.
The gifted lover had barely pressed the doorbell when the foreigner opened it, bidding entrance.
As the gifted lover stepped over the threshold a sense of calm washed over the gifted lovers very being.
It was unexpected and a little unnerving.
The gifted lover was shown into a large room, it was a beautiful room, with large floor to ceiling windows facing north and a glass door leading out onto a lush sunny palm spotted terrace.
The room was obviously built for relaxation and comfort, large rugs lay underfoot and delicate wall hangings adorned the walls.
The air was filled with the heady fragrances of sandalwood and cedarwood. A large divan covered in satin pillows dominated the room. To one side a low table was already set and the seductive aroma of freshly brewed coffee tantalised the tastebuds.
The foreigner motioned the gifted lover to sit down as the coffee was poured and sweet honeycakes served.
There was not much conversation and the gifted lover, expecting the show to start straight away was a bit taken aback but enjoyed the pace and the delicacies. Besides, it offered a chance for the gifted lover to really size up the foreigner and observe this elusive individual.
After a time the foreigner lent forward, close, intimate.
The gifted lover thought this is where the seduction begins.
The foreigner’s breath brushed past the gifted lovers cheeks and in hushed tones the foreigner began to speak.
“I am a poor poet trying to make artistic, individual pictures. I think my pictures are some kind of elixir that can change the mind for the better. I hate pictures where you go in silly and you come out silly, not changed. With my pictures I want to change the way you see the world…
Once, I met an extraordinary person. They loved with all their soul. They said that they could be sustained in the world as long as they had the knowledge that someone somewhere loved them. This person wanted to know that I loved them.
This person was young when they said that. For many years I did not speak with this person but I kept love in my heart for them. When I saw them again I wanted to excitedly let them know that they had changed my life and that I had loved them all these years.
This person’s life remains a mystery to me. They would not speak of their experiences but threw my ramblings back in my face. Perhaps I was misunderstood, or perhaps the heart had grown old, or cold.
What are you trying to find my friend?
Does your lover sustain you?
Does your lover know your passion, your real passion, deep down inside, the hidden one?
Does your lover make you feel free?
Would you die for or be humiliated for your lover?
These are questions born of the lazy and naive.
These are serious questions, my friend, for you are not the first person to be a body gifted.
Many are gifted without consent.
Many do not have the luxury to choose.
Many do not get to return to their homes, their lovers, their family.
Many endure gross psychological and physical abuse.
Many do not know that there is a different path, a different life.
Many do not survive.
It's time to get serious my friend.... I was often alone, but I never lived alone. When I was with someone I was often happy. But I also felt it's all a matter of chance. These people are my parents, but it could have been others. I was with a lover. I was in love. But I could just as well have left them there, and continued on with the stranger who came toward us..... I never toyed with anyone. And yet, I never opened my eyes and thought: 'This is it.'... It's finally getting serious. So I've grown older. Was I the only one who wasn't serious? Is it our times that are not serious? I was never lonely. Neither when I was alone, nor with others. I would have liked to be alone at last. Loneliness means at last I am whole. Now I can say it because today I am finally lonely. No more coincidence.... The new moon of decision. I don't know if destiny exists, but decision does exist. Decide. Now we are the times. Not only the whole city, but the whole world is taking part in our decision. We two are more than just two. We personify something. We are deciding everyone's game. I am ready. Now it's your turn. You're holding the game in your hand. Now or never. You need me. You will need me. There's no greater story than ours. It will be a story of giants. Invisible, transposable. A story of new ancestors. Last night I dreamt of a stranger. Only with that stranger could I be lonely. Open up to them. Completely open, completely for them. Welcome them completely into myself. Surround them with the labyrinth of shared happiness. I know it is you.”
As the foreigner drew back from the gifted lover there was a moment, a heartbeat, a breath, a bird call, a roar, a rage, a wound, a murder, a recognition, a plea, a sorrow, a truce, a contract, a rupture, a declaration, a shift, a light, a flood, a celebration, a placement, a memory, a loss, a waiting, a desire, a dance, a song, a dedication, a prayer, a silence.
The gifted lover wanted to hurt the lover for the tears that were threatening to fall.
That evening the lover returned home expectant, waiting to hear the gifted lovers story. The lover opened the door to the home they shared. The gifted lover was not there. The lover sat down on the couch. The gifted lover must have been delayed. The lover waited and waited. During this time, this waiting, this emptiness of reverberating space, the gravity of the situation hit the lover. The lover suddenly realised the profound significance of the action that had taken place.
At that moment, a breath like a whisper seemed to pass by the lovers ear, swirl around the lovers body, ripple over the lovers lips before it departed exactly three minutes and thirty-seven seconds later.
* "I am a poor poet ... see the world" text adapted from an interview with Alejandro Jodorowski by Al Weisel for Premier.com
* "Once I met ... or cold" adapted from text gifted to Gift/Back#3 Melbourne 2007
* "It's time to get serious ... I know it is you" adapted from Marions monologue with Damiel, in the bar, in Wim Wenders film 'Wings of Desire'
|
|
| DAY 08 - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[19 Sep 2007|01:09pm] |
|
In response to being 'gifted' this guy's boyfriend for 1 hour, I have decided to write a series of questions to ask him. Tomorrow, he will arrive at 5pm at our studio and I will seat him in a small white room, wearing nothing but a red blind fold and pair of white gym shorts (video camera on record) and proceed to ask him these questions:
1. Where is your mind? What are you thinking?
2. Why did you agree to be gifted to Unreasonable Adults for 1 hour?
3. What is your reaction to your boyfriend saying that there is NOTHING he wouldn't consent to (apart from making you cry)?
4. What would make you cry?
5. Do you believe everything your man tells you?
6. What do you know (if anything) about classical music and/or opera?
7. Prince or Princess - which would you be? And what kind of life would you lead if you were one or the other?
8. As a teenager, were you - at any point - filled with a kind of hate that would lead you to murder?
9. If you were to undermine, eradicate or de-throne the PM of australia, how would you do it? And would you consider it a crime?
10. What are your thoughts on self-mutilation and/or body modification?
11. Do you have any piercings? If so, are they visible/can you show me?
12. Bears or Pussies - which do you prefer? Why?
13. Have you ever taken Crystal Meth? And if so, can you describe how it felt?
14. How would you prefer to die - by shotgun or flick-knife?
15. Can you now hold your breath for me for exactly three minutes and thirty-seven seconds?
--JASON
|
|
| DAY 06 - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[17 Sep 2007|10:44am] |
I would like to ask our generous gifting public/friends/comrades some direct questions:
What would you expect us to do with these gifts, these submissions, you offer?
Why do you think we do this? What results do you expect to see?
When gifting, do you understand the exchange?
If you do not know us personally, are you gifting us out of complete investment in the idea?
Is this gameplay?
Are we wasting each others time?
How can you gaurantee that we will even be working during the days that we have allocated?
What questions would you really like to ask us?
Do you believe in performance art?
Would you be prepared to answer these questions?
Is this an action of interaction?
Does it matter if we respond or not?
Is our job (in the collecting of your submissions) already done?
Are we just lingering in the sidelines, waiting for you?
How far are you prepared to push us?
Would you like to push now?
Standing on the edge of a very sharp decline, we'd surely die - so why not give a shove?
Is it really now or never?
Is this just perverted?
Who cares, deeply?
--JASON
|
|
| The EDD Diaries have been moved!!! |
[14 Sep 2007|12:53pm] |
Hello to all that have been following the EDD Diaries.
Well I have now officially moved them to their very own home.
It is comfy and attractively couched in burgundy and pinkish hues.
Much like I imagine my old mid 1800's terrace to have once been painted.
So the address is:
www.edddiaries.blogspot.com
you can also click onto it via our menu bar.
cheers
Julie
|
|
| DAY 05 - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[14 Sep 2007|11:35am] |
Friday, in anticipation of Kerrin's weekend arrival, there is a sense of gathering up, already, only after 1 week, of the process. How far have we come in the space of 5 days on on-site, in 'lab? As can be seen from the logging and listing of gift submissions, it reads like a non-linear story, a fractured collection of little pieces. In so many ways, I always feel like it doesn't matter what or how we respond so much to what is given, but instead the thrill I get to see submissions of gifts archived on the web, as a sort of ongoing litany of random (but always, every time, interconnected) things.
Themes: animals, love, the colour red, food, bodies. That meme thing I suppose, where someone in Denmark will send a video that connects strongly to something, an element, of a gift sent locally in Melbourne. We used to make these 'maps' of all the gifts but now it seems less important to factualise (or even analyse) what is given. Now it's much more interesting to read the submission list - well, for me it is, anyhow!
The gallery space is starting to fill up. The bins are even being emptied to log the trash we are creating (stuff discarded, accumulated and ready for re-presentation). Object and wearables are making their way on to the gift table. Where once we would be inclined towards dress-ups, we seem to now re-focus on the way little shrines can be made and how objects can be written about.
My favourite image correlation today is a video submission from "Emm" which shows us a kind of wishing tree, on which hangs assorted objects and oddities. Match this with a lighting 'tree' installed on our space to rig the video projector we will use to play assorted movies - a rig with branches that can collect the paper and detritus that makes its way in and around the gallery.
Gift/Back, if nothing else, is a public collection. A museum of the known and unknown.
--JASON
|
|
| DAY 04 - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[13 Sep 2007|02:47pm] |
Starting the day in appreciation of the spillover effects of such a project as this and how it opens up and touches many people in a myriad of ways that are completely unsuspecting.
A few months ago we had decided to open up the gifting process to include feeding us a meal once a day, food, being the most common gesture of community and welcome. Housewarming gatherings often include gifts of food. Food is gifted on celebratory occasions and during times of hardship. Food is central to gathering, it is sustenance of the body inextricably linked with sustenance of the emotional body and mind. Food is sharing and acknowledgement.
Along with these ideas, it was also the notions around everyday ritual, the placement, witnessing and archiving of this. There is the unspoken memory and the accumulated energetic resonance that hangs in the air when an event is repeatedly enacted in a space. This, whether consciously or unconsciously has an imprint on a person when they enter a space. In our space, there is first the witnessing of the red clothed dining table, then the expectant plates. During the presentation 'gift/back' week, the audience will be finally fed the durational documentation. However, at this feast, the viewer is deprived of the physiological effects of the food consumed and must rely upon a whole other set of conjured senses, to experience this feast and create their own sustenance. This is a confronting place to be and will bring many deeply and common held notions to the surface, notions around privilege, desire, deprivation and autonomy.
In light of our unsuccessful funding application to support us for this month, the irony of this food gifting has not been lost to us.
So back to the unsuspecting spillovers.
One such example is Herbie from Herbie’s Healthy.
A friend, wishing to gift us some food, offered a week of Herbie’s Healthy. Herbie, is a wonderful man who makes a delightful and delicious array of vegetarian meals to be delivered. There is no café, you pre-order and he delivers in the morning. (deliveries are confined to within certain geographical limits). The food is mouthwatering and extremely reasonably priced. Herbie is always smiling and cheerful and arrives playing his favourite 80’s music.
Inspired, we linked his website to our gift submission form, for those that may want to gift us food but were either unable/uninclined to make anything or could not physically reach us. It has been a hit and we have been getting wonderful food gifts! Keep it coming…we are here for another 22 days!
Herbie has been amazed and intrigued by these people contacting him, wanting to feed us. This of course has led to discussions about what it is we are doing and has created interest in our work (let alone created interest in his business). Jase and I, were discussing this morning, how we love this, the random way this project opens out and reaches people beyond our artistic, social and local community.
We also noted that it is truly a sign of our times, when it is much easier for people to dial-up a request for food delivery than allocate the time required to home bake and deliver. Not that we are complaining!
Hmmmm, well I think the ‘Epicurean Lasagne’ is calling us. Bon appetit!
Julie
|
|
| DAY 03 - GIFT/BACK: MELBOURNE |
[12 Sep 2007|04:20am] |
When gifts are broken, what do you do with them? Pack them away, glue them up, sew them back together, replace them? Unreasonable Adults are adept at all of the above and more. It's sort of like a cyclic process, the Gift/Back thing, trying on gifts, as they arrive, for size, feeling their weight, and sitting with them. We do a lot of that. Like when someone gives you a vase or a painting and it might not appear on your shelf or wall for years. It takes time to find the place for it. But somewhere in there, most likely, a return will happen.
To be fed, with food, here in the studio, is a considered ritual (read above). It takes time to digest. We often forget to chew and very rarely really savour tastes, flavours. When you go to read the gift submission list, read it like a menu, a selection of delectable items to choose from, to consider and then possibly order. This is as much for us as it is for you. To categorize and list the gifts, to me, is an act of creative logging. To go in, online, daily and update, then read back, is always a pleasure. How the list-menu accumulates and reconfigures, takes on a different shape each day. To be, hopefully too, an inspiration for givers unknown.
--JASON
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
un_adults's journal
