free radical notes #99

  Afro Clarinet Seed [aka a bunch of stuff]           #99     24/8/2008

Haiku stuff

Listening to the news
it's another "bad air" day.
So try not to breathe.

editorial stuff

Pornography and art.

Perhaps both your two proponents of the Henson debacle should be aware that Degas's much loved statue of the ballerina - called 'the little dancer at fourteen' was a fourteen years old girl called Marie van Goethem from the Paris opera. She was sketched many times in the nude, and many small studies were made of her, before she was finally sculpted (in wax) in the nude. Degas probably spent several weeks working with he - in the nude. Their relationship was and has always been one of scuttlebutt. Incidentally the statue was originally clothed in a real tutu. I guess by the standards of Angela Turnbull, that would make him a pedophile as well. Peter Adams [fr#159]

re the current debate. I don't think I was ever perverted by the beauty of Hamiltons' work; I was a mature photographic artist. I was always more distressed by Joel Witkins gruesome images and the thoughts and motives behind it. I was always disturbed by D Arbuss' work because I always thought she was taking advantage of people not in a position to stop her. But I am glad she did it. There are numerous examples of ethnographic photography that mis-represented the "primitive" people being photographed... yes we have the noble savage; yes we have the innocent child. I agree with the sentiments of George A...and BH was never one to ring my bell. I thought his street photography was has best stuff but that wasn't anything outstanding. Ah that's just taste. He is famous isn't he.... certainly now... all over the wide brown land. Dale is right, fame should NOT be a part of the debate it only diverts attention from the works. There has been too much of the "he's famous so it's art and it's got to be OK, ...crap. It does not make art art just because it is made by an artist.... go figure... too much of that bull-shit around.. George is right about that. George please send jeff the cash and he will leave you alone. Angela's points are confusing. Why are children not available for discussion in the world of art. They always have been. In art everything is open for discussion, that's a tenet of art. That's why we do it. We have points of view and we choose out art to explain them. Writers do it. - remember Nabokov! Painters do it.. and god forbid Photographers do it too. Do children come before art? of course they do Angela but we have a dialogue here about perceptions and attitudes towards adolescence not about the polemic of porn. This is where the debate has fallen over. You, Jeff, are right - porn can never be art but the perception of what is porn and what is art is culturally confusing. It distracts the thinkers from seeing what is really pornographic and WHY. Angela please do not think you should tell other parents what they should think about their children. Do you presume to think you know better than they? Even if you object to their decision on a moral grounds - and you have every right to do so - you need to remember that you are not that childs' guardian. They have a right. It is theirs to use.
Remember arts funding is political!, Dangers lie lurking in the murky depths. Remember the threats that followed the X_portfolio around the States. But that's homophobia and I wouldn't want to skew the debate with another irrational red herring. Let us have that debate... please. Did someone mention advertising? Perhaps we need to line up some artists and some pornographers in the Abbey and try them all in the dunking chair. That would prove something, wouldn't it? Robin Gauld [fr#666]

and the final word comes from Carolyn Buckley [fr#675] who says "honto , totemo sugoi arigato gozaimashita" Which I suspect has nothing whatsoever to do with the debate about pornography and art - but I thought I'd throw it just the same.

other stuff

I am in the process of writing a book on the cameras I have owned, and how they have an effect on the pictures you make. My first camera was a Voightlander VITO BL (which was released in 1956, I think). I am hoping to borrow one for a couple of days to photograph and include in the book. If anyone has one I could loan to photograph - obviously I would cover freight and insurance, etc. and credit the owner. They can contact me on peter.adams@peteradams.com or on my phone number 02-4782-7612.

Interesting read.....great set of notes thanks. Could you please give us here over the "ditch" a plug about our up coming NZIPP Iris Awards and Infocus Conference 21st to 25th August, in Tauranga NZ. Entry and registration details are at www.nzipp.org.nz [My apologies to Chris Parker [fr#750] As the convention is already underway, but if you hurry you can catch the last day tomorrow.]

The Kodak Seminar Series continues with Recipes for Great Wildlife Photography with Australian Geographic photographer of the year winner Esther Beaton. Tour starts in Melbourne at RMIT on September 2nd and will travel to Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Wellington and Auckland. Attendance is free. For more information and to book go to: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/6868&pq-locale=en_AU and follow the links.

new members stuff

Nothing happening since the last notes. Don't forget 2008 is free radical 'sign up a friend' year, so get out there and get arm twisting. How about joining your dog? Dogs can be free radicals. What about the kids? – it's never too early to start them on road to untold fame and fortune that we all acknowledge is photography. Just like being a freemason, membership of the free radicals opens doors! [air hair lair!]

call for entry stuff

It's always a good idea to thoroughly read and understand terms of entry for any photographic prize or competition. If you don't like what they say, or feel terms and conditions are not clearly spelled out, or appear exploitative, don't enter!

Young photographers can put themselves in the frame to win a  prestigious national photographic competition for under 19s, which could see their work being showcased at an exclusive awards  ceremony in London. The RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2008 (YPA08) is now open to  budding photographers who can show off their animal shots to  thousands of people. Entries close Sept 1st 2008.  details from www.rspca.org.uk/ypa

Up Close and Spineless The Australian Museum is holding a photo competition in recognition of invertebrates (animals without a backbone). Entries close 29 August 2008. Details: http://www.austmus.gov.au/up_close/competition.htm

Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre presents the 2008 Muswellbrook Photographic Award. $3000 First Prize - Adjudicator Rose Peel. Exhibition Dates 12th October to 23rd November 2008 This years Award will be accompanied by a workshop on the Saturday afternoon, prior to the opening night ceremony, given by Rose Peel the former Curator of Works on Paper at the Art Gallery of NSW on the conservation and preservation of digital images. Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre PO Box 122 Muswellbrook NSW 2333 Ph 026549 3880 Fax 026549 3886 or email artscentre (at) muswellbrook.nsw.gov.au for information and entry form. [The Muswellbrook Prize takes a rest in 2009 and will be back in 2010 as a biennial prize]

Sun Studios Assistant Award and Exhibition. Entry Requirements: Entrants must be working as an assistant in the photographic industry. Entrants must submit a body of work using the sun, sunshine and/or sunlight as its theme, minimum of 3 images and a maximum of 6 images. Call for entry closes 14th September. For entry information go to www.sunstudiosaustralia.com

photography festival stuff

The Daylesford Foto Biennale has moved some 30 minutes down the Midland Highway and has morphed into the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. The Festival will run from Sept 4 to Oct 4 2009, with a Core Program of 25 exhibitions of the best of Australian and International contemporary photography. The Fringe will grow with events in both Ballarat and Daylesford, as well as a comprehensive program of workshops, seminars, lectures, projections, special and affiliate events throughout the month. To keep abreast of all the news, go to www.daylesfordfotobiennale.org to get on the email list.

Lots of stuff happening as part of VIVID, Canberra's First National Festival of Photography, which is now off and running through to October 12th, including exhibitions, seminars, lectures, floortalks, projections and more. Check out all the details at www.nla.gov.au/vivid/index.html

miscellaneous stuff

The Galeria Bezdomna/Homeless Gallery will have it's seventh Australian edition as part of Vivid in Canberra. Dates and venues have yet to be confirmed, but to get into the loop to find out exactly where and when, go to this link and fill in the e form to get on the database. GB/HG is a low tech no rules [well very few rules] exhibition without any review panel, style police, submission panel etc. etc. You turn up with your pictures and hanging tools, find a space and curate your own work. Simple as that! It's a great way to get a bit of exhibition history. It can be as low cost as you want – many participants simply blu tac unframed prints direct onto the walls [or floor, or ceiling] There are no restrictions as to quantity, quality, size or content of works. Installations and alternative methods of showing work are encouraged. Only proviso is you sign an indemnity form on hanging day before you can participate. And of course you have to also turn up on closing day to dismantle your stuff or it gets consigned to the rubbish skip. As we generally get a number of international works [a reciprocal arrangement] you may be asked to also hang pictures on behalf of someone from overseas.

Lots of stuff happening as part of VIVID, Canberra's First National Festival of Photography, which kicks off on July 11th and runs through to October 12th, including exhibitions, seminars, lectures, floortalks, projections and more. Check out all the details at www.nla.gov.au/vivid/index.html

Shortlisted entries for the $15,000 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize at the Monash Gallery of Art have been announced. Amongst them are free radicals Bronek Kozka [fr#38] (who seems to be shortlisted in just about everything going over the past six months) and Bronwyn Kidd [fr#657]

exhibition stuff  stuff

Happy to list your show be it in Melbourne, Darwin, Hobart or wherever, but if it's too much trouble to send me your exhibition details in a format that I can readily cut and paste, ie in the body of an email, then it's too much trouble for me to transcribe details from a pdf or go chasing websites for the information that's missing. Send the details to free radicaloz [at] gmail.com Include details of opening and closing dates, gallery address, opening hours, and if you like, a brief synopsis of the show.
Send information as text only, preferably pasted into the body of an email and not as an attachment. Sometimes it's 4 - 6 weeks between editions of the notes, so if you want to be sure of getting a listing, get your details in early.

Photographers in the circle of Alfred Stieglitz at the National Gallery of Victoria. Show current to 28 September 2008. Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was a monumental figure in the history of twentieth century photography. In the opening decades of the century, Stieglitz championed the cause of artistic photography with the Photo-Secession group, and went on to become an important and influential modernist photographer. NGV Photography Gallery, Level 1 Admission free
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au

A Moment in Time: Portraits of the 1990s by Francis Reiss [fr# 353] Drawn from the photographer's own collection, A Moment in Time focuses on a selection of photographic portraits by photojournalist Francis Reiss that have captured personalities from Australia's art scene in the 1990s.The exhibition consists of more than 40 portraits, including Albert Tucker, Bernard Smith, Deborah Halpern, Frances Lindsay, Jan Minchin, John McPhee, Leonard French, Mike Brown, Patrick McCaughey and Ric Amor, amongst many other individuals from the arts community who have contributed either through their own practice or as significant figures who have promoted and endorsed the arts. Show runs 16 August - 28 September with the Opening event 6-8pm Friday 22 August 2008.[RSVP essential by Wednesday 20 August T 03 5434 6088 or email c.mcmillan@bendigo.vic.gov.au ] Bendigo Art Gallery  42 View St  Bendigo VIC 3550

Liminal 2006 by Dacchi DANG - gum bichromate prints and water colour on paper, mounted on archival board. Nine exquisite, decorative, circular plates wrapped in rice paper, floating just above the floor, fuse imagery of street life in Paris with the architecture of French-colonized Vietnam. Sydney based Dacchi Dang left Saigon in 1982 as a teenager - one of the original boat refugees from Vietnam and his work explores issues of displacement, memories and diverse cultures. During an artist in residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in 2004, the architecture, landscape and society of France reminded him of how much 18th century French culture and design had influenced life in Vietnam. Show current to September 2
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Darren Scott: Kokoda. Photographs of the Kokoda Track, 2007. Rupanyup photographer, Darren Scott, documented his 2007 trek of the iconic Kokoda Trail.show current to 31 August, 2008 (Community Gallery) at the Horsham Regional Art Gallery Telephone:  03 5362 2880 80 Wilson Street, Horsham VIC 3400 www.horshamartgallery.com.au
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Top Shots: Show current to 14 September, 2008
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forthcoming exhibitions - William Yang - 29 August to 12 October, 2008
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William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize 2008 from 30 August to 02 November, 2008
At the Monash Gallery of Art Corner Jells & Ferntree Gully Roads, Wheelers Hill Victoria 3150 Tel: 03 9562 1569 mga (at) monash.vic.gov.au Web: www.mga.org.au Open: Tue-Fri: 10-5pm, Sat-Sun: 12-5pm, Mon & public holidays: closed. Gallery, gift shop, licensed cafe and sculpture park FREE ADMISSION

The Tuvaluan Project  by  Tim Silver. A group of nine low-lying coral atolls and islands, Tuvalu is situated in the remote Pacific. The highest point reaches just two metres above sea level, and as such, the island, its people and their culture are threatened by rising sea levels caused by global warming. In recent years, journalists have descended on Funifati, the capital, when the 'king tide' hits annually in late February, to report on the 'front line of climate change'. In The Tuvaluan Project Silver presents a collision between the site of Tuvalu and Italian Cannibal Cycle films. This genre of exploitation films from the mid-1970s to early 1980s often featured illogical narratives and clichéd representations of foreign cultures in a surreal mix of travelogue, found footage and gore. Working with a cast of non-actors, Silver's constructed scenarios, with little interference into the locations or wardrobe, consist of a loose and sometimes illogical photo-narrative. The sequence of images, appearing as film frames, with a black band at the top and bottom of each image—a device that mimics widescreen DVD format, as Italian Cannibal Cycle movies now most commonly appear—are randomly ordered, with the order changing upon each installation, thus further contributing to the confusion of any narrative thread. Offering multiple interpretations but no conclusion, the artist invites audiences to bring their own imagination into play. [sounds like a massive wank to me! ed.]
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Japan Portraits by Selina Ou. Japan is an overwhelming and intriguing country to focus on when you have a predilection for uniforms, architecture and bright packaging. With a new configuration of photographs, selected by curator Karra Rees—including previously unseen images—Japan Portraits revisits a suite of images Selina Ou made during an Australia Council Tokyo residency. The exhibition displays a range of individuals working in temples, shops, gardens and markets and reflects a society balancing ancient traditions with current global trends. Ou spends only a short time with each person, introducing herself and her practice and inviting them to pose for her camera. From this frozen moment within their daily routine, a glimpse of the individual is revealed beyond the societal rank of their occupation, as each one stares out or back at the viewer
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Silent Ruptures by Yoshiro Masuda, Mathieu Bernard-Reymond and Kristian Haggblom Featuring the work of three photographers from different points of the globe, Silent Ruptures is an exhibition that explores land as a compendium for the projection of human aspirations. Masuda works from the urban centre stripping the city bare of its symbols; Haggblom travels the spaces where the inner and outer terrains blur to chronicle its confused occupants and Bernard-Reymond skirts the edges of the metropolis seeking tourist visions. Together they uncover and make visually tangible the silent and invisible mysteries that unfold in an accelerated contemporary world.
All shows current to August 30th  at the CCP, 404 George St Fitzroy.  Gallery hours Weds to Sat 11 - 6. info at www.ccp.org.au

Plastic Photo Show. This annual exhibition now in it's 6th year is devoted to works created with lo-tech photography methods - Pinhole and polaroid cameras, toy and plastic lenses. Alternative and antiquarian technologies are treasured here. Show runs 3 - 21st of Sept 2008 at the Incinerator Arts Complex 180 Holmes Rd Moonee Ponds. More info www.obscuritypictures.com

classified stuff

classifieds are free, but only run for one edition unless you email me to run in the following edition due to lack of enquiries, or you wish to delete, add, or change the price of items. Don't send an essay – just item, price and contact details. KISS

Looking for a Nikon 28 f1.4 AF lens please. Ian Wilkinson [fr#281]email ian [at] ianwilkinson.com.au Ph 07 3700 9912

end stuff

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