November 15 - 21, 2015: Issue 240
Avalon Art Carnival: A Visual Celebration by Adrian Boddy
Regular Contributor and Architectural photographer Adrian Boddy (Japan: Australian Perspectives Exhibition, May 2015 – principalAdrian Boddy Photography) this week turns his formidable talents and focuses his lens on the 2015 Avalon Art Carnival: The Game.
He sends with these wonderful images with a few words;
Installation art is a special genre.
Work 'lives' outside the safety and precision of art gallery security…
it must be durable enough to survive inclement weather (this year particularly) — and of course public interaction.
Art has the capacity to question our values; to elevate our consciousness.
The Avalon Art Carnival also invites the public to discuss content/meaning/craft skills with the artists themselves…
and it has been rewarding to see how many parents and their children have engaged in the event.
The Avalon Art Carnival represents the very best of community involvement.
A snapshot of their creativity at this year's Avalon Art Carnival.
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Artists Text about each work is from Avalon Art Carnival: The Game website
Also see:
Avalon Art Carnival: The Game Launched: 7 November to 21 November
Avalon Art Carnival: THE GAME - 7 November to 21 November: Program and Details for Avalon Art Carnival and Avalon Market Day 2015
Pittwater Timeline - Surfboard Timeline
Jess Birk, Julie Janson and Sylke Claridge
Pittwater Timeline
Surfboard Timeline
The project is a collaborative effort with Aboriginal elders and three artists Jess Birk, Julie Janson and Sylke Claridge to honour the history and settlement on Pittwater as early as 25,000 years ago.
First was the land.
Then came the Aboriginal people with their unique skillsets and way of life in harmony with the land.
Then came the European settlers …
For a time there was some harmonious co-existence between the settlers and Aboriginal people – some Indigenous clans, such as the family as Chief Bungaree and Queen Matora held high status in the colonial period. They were close friends of Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
Their story is being told on the Surfboard timeline and the settlement of Avalon.
The surfboards are arranged in a circle evocative of Guringai Dreamtime site circles – mythical – full of strength and the tip of the surfboards remind us of spearheads.
Barefoot Labyrinth
Linda Haigh and Irene Gorman
Barefoot Labyrinth
The Barefoot Labyrinth, laid in the grass and edged with angophora branches, extends an invitation to take a few minutes for contemplation as you follow the path to the centre.
Labyrinths are archetypal...by building and walking them, we participate in a very ancient ritual that can be experienced as magical, (especially if you're a kid!) meditative, transformative, playful, and healing. This builds connection with our intuition, our collective human wisdom, and our Mother Earth. Or, if you like science, it enhances right brain activity.
You can carry a dream or a question into the Barefoot Labyrinth, perhaps find a message, and leave a talisman to add to a communal testament of everyone who has walked it.
Undercurrent
Undercurrent is an immersive work that invites the viewer to walk underneath a flock of brightly coloured kites suspended in an outdoor walkway. These kites depict a flock of birds moving in unison. As the kites sway and move in the breeze a ripple affect is sent through the flock changing the orientation of the birds.
Undercurrent shifts with rain, wind, sunlight and darkness demonstrating the connectivity of environmental systems. The aim of this work is to encourage curiosity and attention to detail within the viewer.
While some birds look almost identical, a keen eye will detect subtle shifts in colour, shape and size that distinguish different species. Use the twitchers guide displayed next to the work, to identify as many species as you can and record your findings. Happy spotting!
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A Romance of Perceived Dimensions
Natalie Lorentzen
A Romance of Perceived Dimensions
A window pane is another plane, as a surface to show us multiple spaces simultaneously.
The work is made of simple line drawings on glass windows. The lines trace reflected images from a particular vantage point, so that when complete they will have a unique sense of perspective, giving the illusion of another dimension.
The images show the viewer on one plane what they’re seeing inside/outside/themselves/behind them at the same time. The work plays with ideas of perspective, reality, dimensions and perceived space. Concept includes gradually adding more drawings over time so that the shop front window is a growing artwork.
The title references Asimov’s description the 1884 book ‘Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions’ by Edwin Abbott Abbott.
Abstracted Avalon
Using the whole wall, I will paint a dynamic colorful mural for the public, with forms and shapes alluding to ideas, creating play; a visual game of abstract imagery left open to be interpreted by everyone.
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Forest
Echoing the original landscape of Avalon an environment is transformed, hidden in the bowels of YODA restaurant.
Multi Blossom
Angela van Boxtel
Multi Blossom
The tree overturns the normality of life. The tree becomes a fictional tree in a landscape for strange characters.
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Too Much Fun
Alyson Bell
Too Much Fun
Having had ‘just too much fun’, a child drifts up and away from the carnival, still holding onto their balloons… A lost child is a parent’s nightmare and Artist Alyson Bell plays with the intertwining concepts of fun and fear.
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Game Face
Stephanie Powell
Game Face
My artwork is inspired by video gaming and the effect that it has on the brain. The endorphins, the rewards, the violence and everything that is positive or negative about gaming. The gaming controls placed in the area of the brain references gaming addiction and how people can lose control when involved in a game.
Imagine
Mandy Schöne-Salter
Imagine is my latest stencil and paste-up artwork, depicting children's play when they enter their imaginary world.
Heat Light
Harriet Birks
Heat Light
The everyday figure of a hooded man emits light from his face. This surreal works examines concepts of technology. Instead of looking at digital screen he emits light like a screen.
Trust
The other Windy City
Trust:
I love reading about philosophy - it helps me understand my place in the world a little bit more and helps me articulate my thoughts. Galileo represented someone who trusted his own beliefs despite the naysayers. He's not a depiction of someone perfect rather someone who stuck to his guns even though his ideas may have seemed ridiculous and landed him in a fair bit of trouble. It's personal to me because I have this constant internal dialogue that sounds a little bit like "Amy, you should've trusted your intuition" or "you should've/ would've/ could've done that" ( Not that I plan on making any revolutionary discoveries or inventions any time soon)
We can all get lost in trying to back up what we're doing with some form of empirical evidence instead of focusing on the fun stuff - like cool little goldfish who forget everything every three seconds. Ignorance is bliss.
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Pictures by Adrian Boddy, 2015.
