Lectures & Forums 2008

  • In Praise of Impurity: Beyond Geo-Aesthetics in Contemporary Art

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    Monday 28 July 2008

    The Melbourne Art Fair 2008 Lecture was presented by the Melbourne Art Foundation, the City of Melbourne's Melbourne Conversations program and Monash University's 50th Anniversary Public Lecture Series.

    • Presented by David Elliot
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  • Art and its Publics: New Modes of Engagement

    Wednesday, 30 July 2008

    How does art create its publics? What does public art look like now? This panel considered the relations between art and its publics, and how artists and organisations develop and negotiate new configurations of public engagement.

    The discussion covered examples such as public artworks created for EastLink in Melbourne and the Melbourne Art Fair Commissions. Speakers also addressed the 2008 SCAPE Biennial of Art in Public Space in Christchurch - which proposed 'a new culture of space' to reinvent democracy, equality and 'publicness'.

    This panel explored the shifting relationships between what defines public and private space in relation to art, and how this impacts the shape of contemporary practices.

    • Chair: Charlotte Day, Independent Curator, TarraWarra Biennial 2008
    • Edward Colless, Head of Critical and Theoretical Studies, Victorian College of the Arts
    • Pat Foster, Melbourne-based artist
    • Danae Mossman, Co-Curator of 2008 SCAPE Biennial of Art in Public Space, Christchurch
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  • Spheres of Influence: Art and the Environment

    Wednesday, 30 July 2008

    The environment has long been a subject matter of art, but has been drawn into focus with increased societal concern over global climate issues and disasters. Also, for the first time in Australia, art and the environment fall within the same portfolio at the Federal government level. Is this merely coincidental? How are creative practitioners engaging with environmental issues? What role can art and design play in addressing the issues and posing solutions? How powerful are art and design in influencing local and global policy? This forum considered the notion of spheres of influence: the role and value of creativity in exploring environmental issues, provoking debate and offering solutions. An artist, architect, curator and a gallerist will discuss recent developments and practical approaches, and consider the potential for art and design to influence policy, politics and communities.

    • Chair: Guy Abrahams, National President, Australian Commercial Galleries Association
    • Geraldine Barlow, Curator, Monash University Museum of Art
    • Lyndal Jones, Melbourne-based artist and Director of Research, School of Creative Media, RMIT University
    • Kerstin Thompson, Principal Kerstin Thompson Architects
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  • Beyond the End of Art

    Wednesday, 30 July 2008

    In an age in which culture is everywhere instantly, what can we expect of art? What are the possible futures for art in relation to entertainment and digital culture? Will it be collectable? And what does the rise of the amateur in the age of these networked zones mean for art practice? Can we have art without artists? Has contemporary art blurred with the spectacle or is it stuck in 'high-concept pointlessness'? Or, in an age of relational and critical 'aesthetic services', are we beyond the end of art? Is art, in its radical plurality, a redundant concept? Are curators the new artists? This panel considered emerging trends in contemporary art in order to speculate about its future.

    • Chair: Daniel Palmer, Lecturer in the Theory of Art & Design, Monash University
    • Sean Cubitt, Director, Media and Communications Program, University of Melbourne
    • Toby Kamps, Senior Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
    • Justin Paton, Senior Curator, Christchurch Art Gallery
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