A many Splendid thing...

The second year of the Splendid program is complete! The three Splendid Projects premiered at Splendour in the Grass to great success and the new crop of Artists and Provocateurs have completed the Arts Lab 2010. 

Now that we have returned home, caught up on sleep, washed our cars and washed our clothes, we are desperate to share our activities with you! (And if you, too, attended Splendour, you would understand the enormity of the aforementioned tasks!)

We're STILL uploading photos to flickr so keep an eye on the Splendid Art photostream . And view Provocateur, Lynda Roberts', photographs of the festival on the Public Assembly flickr photostream.

The news this month... reads somewhat like a nostalgia trip. We reflect upon the reception of the three Splendid Projects at SITG, review the outcomes of the Arts Lab 2010, and feature a collaboration born of the Arts Lab 2009. And each is accompanied by a stunning visual! Then, as usual, we list the employment and other opportunities relevant to you.

Photograph by Nharyan Feldmann.

Generative Power of Opposites

Located at a crossroads and visible from great distances on the SITG site, Carl Scrase's Generative Power of Opposites became a meeting point for many a thousand Splendour punter. View Carl's interview with triplej's Paul Abboud on the triplej Splendid Art site.

Peace or up yours? The resounding answer was peace!


The artwork took on a different meaning when displayed in Lismore's Spinks Park two days after the festival. Due to extreme wind conditions and broken rope, the sculpture had to be installed on its side, a position in which it connotes somewhat of a fallen revolution. View the sculpture as it lay in Spinks Park on Carl's Facebook Page and on the Generative Power of Opposites blog.

Photograph by Brenden Allen.

Best Time Ever

Dominic Finlay-Jones and Lauren Brincat's Best Time Ever sat on the hill that divided the McLennan Tent and the Main Amphitheatre. To sit at the base of the staircase was to find refuge from the crowds surrounding the hill.

Heavy clouds hovered above Woodfordia throughout install and threatened to dampen Splendour festivies. Gratefully, they dissipated as the festival began and the sun shone throughout. The staircase was able to successfully function as a sundial.

View a video of the installation process on the Best Time Ever Facebook Page.

Photograph by Brenden Allen.

Where The Party Is

The party certainly was at this small plot of land on route to the McLennan tent at SITG. Causing many an unsuspecting passer-by to stop in their tracks, Where The Party Is bred great curiousity in many a Splendour punter.

Mish Grigor and Lauren Brincat wore costumes that had been created in collaboration with fellow Splendid Artist, Alice Lang. 

It took Mish and Lauren three hours to shoot down the balloons.

The girls concluded the performance sore and with scratches, but otherwise without injury. View Mish and Lauren's interview with triplej's Paul Abboud on the triplej Splendid Art site.

Photograph by Brendan Allen.

Arts Lab 2010

The Arts Lab for 2010 commenced immediately after SITG ended. Our eight Artists and five Provocateurs attended the festival then travelled to Lismore where they spent two weeks reflecting on their experience and envisioning what could premiere at the festival in 2011.

Throughout the Arts Lab, the Artists engaged in such things as site analysis, idea generation, and feasibility studies (each co-ordinated or "provoked" by the Provocateurs).

"'Rigorous' has been a word that's been thrown around a lot, and I would also say that it has been challenging yet rewarding." -Lan Nguyen-hoan

Everything culminated in the final days of the Lab when the Artists presented their ideas to the Curatorium at the Itch Pitch session. A total of 16 ideas were presented. The Artists must now develop their ideas further before pitching them a second time in November and submitting formal proposals in December.
    
The artists and provocateurs blogged their inspiration and experience. Read the blog on the Splendid website.

Photograph by Nharyan Feldmann.

Great Wall of Books

Going to the Melbourne Art Fair? You, too, can have a Splendid experience. In fact, you don't even have to enter the doors of the Royal Exhibition Building to do so. Experimenta Media Arts and Splendid Artist, Lachlan Tetlow-Stuart invite you to transform the exterior of the Royal Exhibition Building throughout the Art Fair.

"As part of my practice I look to facilitate collective communal experiences that exist outside conventional arts spaces; placing audiences in unique experiences that elicit a sense of magic and illusion from an otherwise rationally predictable world."
- Lachlan Tetlow-Stuart

Perhaps you have seen Lachlan's Suburban Giants, an interactive, large-scale urban projection that has toured Adelaide on the back of a custom built projector bike. With bike in tow, Lachlan could transform any city wall into a digital canvas. Come August, he will leave his bike behind to transform the walls of Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building.

The title of the work, commissioned by Experimenta Media Arts for the Melbourne Art Fair, is in lights. Expect robotic projectors to scan the surrounds of the building, inviting passers by and visitors to the Fair to play with the light that is projected. Participants will be able to subvert and manipulate the light projections with the use of Lachlan's repurposed Nintendo 'wiimotes'. The experience will be one altogether magical and playful.

What: in lights by Lachlan Tetlow-Stuart
Where: Royal Exhibition Building
When: 6-10pm Wednesday, 4 August; 5-9pm Thursday 5 - Saturday 7 August.
Cost: Free

Image courtesy of The City of Unley.
Suburban Giants, Adelaide Feast Festival 2008
Collaboration with Jo Kerlogue.
Photograph by Brett Harwig.

Employment & Opportunities

New South Wales
VJ Workshops and Share Sydney - CuriousWorks
Book your place at this workshop for the opportunity to learn practical skills in VJing and to share your first VJ set with a group of the lovely SHARE folk at the CuriousWorks warehouse. When: 3-9pm Sunday, 5 September 2010 . Price: $30. For all of the information, visit the CuriousWorks website.

Queensland
Catalysts Call Out - The Edge
The Edge is calling for Catalyst applications from professionals in writing, music/sound, digital visual arts and sustainability. Applications close 5pm Monday, 6 September 2010. To learn more about the role of a Catalyst, visit the Catalyst Call Out website.

National 
Shout Out for Climate Change Competition - Australian Government
Have an interest in advertising? Wouldn't mind an internship at a worldwide advertising agency + a MacBook Pro? Enter the Australian Government's Shout Out for Climate Change competition and both could be yours! Produce a TV ad to promote climate change and a brief media plan and promotions plan to promote it and these prizes could be yours! Visit the Shout Out for Climate Change competition website for more information.

ArtStart Grants - Australia Council
ArtStart Grant applications are now open for recent creative arts graduates committed to establishing a career as a professional artist or artsworker. Applications close Tuesday, 5 October. For all of the information, visit the ArtStart website.

JUMP Mentoring Call Out - Youth Arts Queensland
JUMP Mentoring applications for 2011 are now open for young and emerging artists. Applications close Friday, 22 October. For all of the information, visit the JUMP website.