blackcanvasacoustics

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Metro Arts | 2016 Launch and Fundraiser

Time: 6.00pm - 9.00pm Date: 8th December Place: Metro Arts, 109 Edward Street Brisbane City

Tomorrow night from 6pm, join everyone at Metro Arts to celebrate the launch of their brand new 2016 program. There will be raffles, a silent auction and 20% of funds raised will go to Brisbane Youth Service, for homeless youth looking to find housing to support themselves and their children. For more information check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1173863215976973/

Or register your attendance straight away here: metroarts.com.au/events/2016-launch-fundraiser/

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Primary Arcade | Spray Paint and Chill

Time: 12.00pm - 5.00pm Date: 12th December Place: 7 Tate, 7 Tate Street Albion

Always believed you could be the next Banksy, but you’ve just never had the chance to prove yourself? Primary Arcade are now giving you that opportunity with their Spray Paint and Chill on Saturday the 12th of December. Hosted at 7 Tate, practice your paint skills on a free and legal wall. Paint can be bought discounted on the day. For more information check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1655861421338461/

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Winn Lane and QCA | Winn Lane Design Space + Late Night Shopping

Time: 4.00pm - 7.00pm Date: 3rd December Place: Winn Lane Fortitude Valley

Forego you regular late night shopping rituals in the large Westfield super-centres. As tonight, Queensland College of Art students are collaborating with the Winn Lane Visual Design Space to showcase all their most interesting work from 2015. For more information check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1660935017517980/

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FAKE estate | Call for Proposals

Time: 11.59pm Date: 7th December Place: www.fake-estate.com/proposals

One of Brisbane’s most prolific and established Artist Run Initiatives are beginning to plan their program for next year. Until December 7th at midnight any artist can submit for either their artist in residency program or an exhibition. Even more exciting is with the new 2016 program is their collaboration with Metro Arts. This means the opening of the Fake Estate Gallery on Level two of the Metro Arts building in the CBD. For more information check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/632523090223616/

Or for their proposal guidelines check out their website here: http://www.fake-estate.com/proposals.html

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Closing Event - Exit | QCA Honours Fine Art and Photography

Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm Date: 3rd December Place: POP Gallery, 27 Logan Road Brisbane

This Thursday the 3rd of December, Honours Graduate students from Queensland College of Art will be taking over the POP Gallery to show the culmination of their research within Fine Art and Photography. For more information see the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/466537173525941/

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PINKING.decorative.edge | Rachael Archibald

Time: 6.00pm - 10.00pm Date: 28th November Place: Cut Thumb ARI, 55 Whynot Street West End

For one night only on Saturday the 28th of November, Cut Thumb ARI will be hosting one the Internet’s up and coming stars, Rachael Archibald. Archibald has been living and working in Brisbane, but due to the mainly online nature of her practice has been collaborating and exhibiting all over the world, including the 2014 New Digital Art Biennale. Archibald’s fluid and decorative practice suceeds in combining different artistic categories under the scope of digital media. Experimental, ground breaking and local, read more about the event and Rachael Archibald here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1520670731556887/

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GAS leak | QCA Graduates and The Laundry Artspace

Time: 6.30pm - 9.30pm Date: 27th November Place: The Laundry Artspace, 3 Ashfield Street East Brisbane

On Friday the 27th November, ARI The Laundry Artspace will be hosting the QCA Graduates of 2015 at both of their final shows of the year. Come see some of this generations most promising talent from one of Brisbane’s most prestigious art schools. For more information check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1697673697112298/

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Uprising | Raw Brisbane

Time: 6.30pm - 10.30pm Date: 26th November Place: The Met, 256 Wickham Street Fortitude Valley

The Brisbane chapter of world wide artist network Raw will be holding a showcase of different local artists this Thursday the 26th of November. See some of the best of Brisbane’s local talent from film, fashion, music, visual art, photography, performing arts, hair and make up all at the Met. For more information and tickets check out their Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/427044234147121/

Or directly to their website here: http://www.rawartists.org/brisbane/uprising

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All I Want For Christmas Is... ART | TBC, Primary Arcade and Crowbar

Time: 2.00pm - 8.00pm Date: 22nd November Place: Crowbar, 243 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley

Sick of trawling through unflatteringly bright department stores playing Michael Bublé carols looking for another generic christmas present that you don’t even want to give out and will end up shoved into the bottom of a cupboard never to see the light of day again? Have no fear, The Brisbane Collective, Primary Arcade and Crowbar have you covered. This Sunday the 22nd November from 2.00pm they are setting up their very own anti-xmas market. Shop for quality products from local artisans, enjoy live acoustic tunes and have a drink with a sweet treat from the bake stall. For more information check out the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/741771969262090/

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Institute of Modern Art | 40th Birthday Party

Time: 6.00pm Date: 21st November Place: Institute of Modern Art, 420 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley

One of Brisbane’s most iconic and established art institutions is this Saturday celebrating it’s 40th Birthday party! Come along to the IMA this Saturday from 6pm for raffles, art and performances from Brainbeau, ∑GG√E|n, Milkshake DJs, Ross Manning, Primitive Motion and Scott Ferguson. Remember, all IMA members get free entry. For more information about the event visit the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/951496824923230/

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Men In Uniform | Sally Edwards

Review by Molly Young

One of the first things you’ll ever notice about the Brisbane art scene after you’ve been to a couple of shows, is just how incredibly well dressed everyone is. I suppose it’s quite natural that when you get a group of people together who love visual things, how they present themselves becomes a natural part of the equation.

So when it was heard that there was going to be a show at A-CH Gallery in West End (right next to The End) that was going to be combining fashion and art, there was a lot of interest and quite a large crowd.

Sally Edwards is currently working on her Fine Arts Honours majoring in fashion at The Queensland University of Technology, and the show Men In Uniform is the practical endpoint of her project. Structured like your typical runway show, this collection of menswear went so far beyond that. What brought it into the art world was its criticism of damaging male gender roles, and its reconstruction into a more feminine, queer and subversive story.

The collection of about six pieces had all the classic shapes and lines you would imagine a military uniform to have. There was the classic military jacket, the high waist military trousers and broad pleated chest pockets. The lines were straight up and down, the cuts were sharp and rigid and had the sense of solid functionality in their structure.

This is the point where the similarity to classic military uniforms end. The most obvious thing first of all was that there was not one hint of green. The colour palette ranged from the dusky orange of the waisted jacket, burgundy reds of the turtleneck and trousers and the bright bubblegum pink of the coat. It was bright, unashamed and very camp.

There were also slight changes in how the garments were structured compared to the traditional expectations. One particular piece took the elements of what would seem like the button up shirt and trousers, with the broad pleated pockets, shoulder passant (that took a lot of googling) and bright gold buttons. Edwards flipped this on its head by turning the whole outfit into a playsuit, making it sleeveless, cutting it off into shorts and creating a waistline with a belt. In its rosy pink, the rigidness and formality classically associated with the uniform is undermined. The authority is still there in the pleats and lines of the materials however. It’s an interesting clash of what would typically be associated a feminine style of dressing, especially with the creating of a slightly more womanly silhouette with the waisted belt  and the authority radiating from the traditional symbols of masculine, military clothing. I personally found looking at this playsuit, it seems to have much more functionality and flexibility than a typical military uniform, especially with the addition of the shorts. Not to mention it made that models butt look fantastic. A perfect peach.

Edwards also used material to circumvent traditional clothing codes. The russian-esque floor length coat in its cut and style is simplistic. Once again the straight up and down line, clean and solid shoulders and broad collar. If in any other material it would just be a fantastic coat for a man desperately gendernormative if you lived somewhere where it actually got cold. However much like the simple changes in structure mentioned before, this jacket was made very flamboyant with the change of material into a bright baby pink latex. Or course it’s idealistic to believe that colours should be not subscribed a certain gender association because of their history. But I believe Edward’s in creating this jacket is allowing for the commonly female associated colour pink, and the homosexual/kinkster associated latex to be invited into and create a relationship with a typically heteronormative cut and design. I like to believe this is a good step forward, sometimes inviting two people into the same room together that have been separated for so long allows for the differences to begin to be reconciled.

Shows like these, and Edwards’ work are so important to recognise as genuine art shows and not just fashion shows. It’s an important step into combining together the often highly commercialised world of fashion with the criticality of the art world and creating an entirely new language to politically comment on how people look at and try to understand each other by deconstructing and decoding the visual cues we are so used to. What Edwards’ has acheived with her show is a practical way to be able to intervene with commonly assumed notions of gender and queer associations, such as the waistline and colours into the often closed off world of straight masculine identity. In the especially closed off world of men's fashion, where the choice often only appears to be shirt/shorts/tshirt/button-up shirt/jeans, this is a welcome breath of fresh air. Another into mainstreaming gender flexible clothes for men.

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APT8 Opening Party | GOMA

Time: 7.30pm - 10.00pm Date: 20th November Place: Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place South Bank

The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art is GOMA’s most looked forward to annual event. Showcasing the cutting edge of Asian, Pacific and Australian art, the exhibition always proves to be an immensely popular and groundbreaking event. This year on Friday November 20th, GOMA is holding a free entry opening party. Be the first to see the installations, performances and sculptures and works after hours with a cash bar and live performances. For more information visit the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1700411733513611/

Or for more information about the whole exhibition visit the website here: https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/apt8

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Nineteen Sixty-Five | Dadang Christanto

Time: 10.00am - 4.00pm Date: 19th November - 28th February Place: QUT Art Museum, 2 George Street QUT Gardens Point Campus.

Indonesian born artist Dadang Christanto arrived in Australia in 1999. Since then he’s been establishing an incredibly important artistic practice that focuses on human rights violations from the 20th Century to now. This all stems from his traumatic past experience when his father was taken by force, missing since, and his family home was burned to the ground. This occurred in 1965. From November 19th to February 28th  QUT Art Museum is bringing together a collection of his work to show. For more information check out the Facebook event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/602622346546871/

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Cigdem Aydemir | I won’t let you out of my sight

Time: 6.00pm - 9.00pm Date: 14th November Place: Boxcopy, 282 Petrie Terrace Brisbane

Award winning Sydney artist Cigdem Aydemir has been exhibiting her work across Australia and the world. On Saturday the 14th of November Boxcopy will be hosting her work in a one night only special event. Using the veil as a central point to build off of, Aydemir playfully criticises and deconstructs notions of power in areas of colonialism and feminism. Creating a space to allow us all to question our cross-cultural and gender relations. For more information see the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/151168395236453/

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DEPARTURES15 Graduate Exhibition | QUT Interactive and Visual Design

Time: 6.00pm Date: 11th November Place: The Block, QUT Kelvin Grove Campus

On Wednesday the 11th of November, after many years of hard work the graduating class of the Queensland University of Technology Interactive and Visual Design course will be coming together to put on their final graduate show as a cohort. Get involved and interact with some of Queensland’s next best designers and artists as they push the limits of technology and imagination. For more information check out the Facebook event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/179819209024452/ Or the dedicated website here: http://departures15.com/

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Before All Else | QUT Graduate Exhibition

Time: 6.00pm - 9.00pm Date: 13th November Place: H Block, QUT Kelvin Grove Campus

On Friday November 13th the QUT Visual Arts Honours students will be taking over H Block Gallery at QUT to present the creative outcomes of their year of honours research. Come join these new up and coming artists in celebrating not only a year of hard work, but also to celebrate the very last exhibition to be held in legendary H Block student gallery. For more information visit the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1007287942655941/

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f l o a t | Queensland College of Art and Brisbane Powerhouse

Review written by Molly Young

On Wednesday October 14th I dropped by The Brisbane Powerhouse to see F L O A T. The exhibition was held on the Turbine Platform, and was a group exhibition of 14 Queensland College of Art Students.

After a tumultuous walk making my way through the suburbs of New Farm (not a simple process) and accidentally walking past the show a few times I was finally able to establish myself on a couch with a well needed wine to see what was happening. The exhibition was structured so that there were 14 separate videos playing on the one large screen one after the other, all together the loop took about 45 minutes. So the vibe of the show was really more like a very casual movie showing rather than an image sound projection event. However that did not detract from the quality of the work at all.

I had done a bit of research (I read the Facebook event) and the premise of the show was 14 students had gone on an excursion to North Stradbroke Island and were tasked with making works in response to their stay there. They also were allowed to collaborate with students from the Conservatorium of Music to create sound for their work, which a few of the artists successfully did. It was a shame however that due to the nature of the Brisbane Powerhouse, being big and very echoey, and the large turnout of people there, they were often drowned out, thus I wasn’t able to receive the full effect of the sound aspect.

There were however quite a few promising works that speak to an already well established practice, and lots of potential for the future. I was especially pleased to see that no two works were ever really the same. There was a true sense of variety in each artist's response to the landscape. The nature and landscape of North Stradbroke Island being the only common recurring theme. Particularly the seascape and horizon, the unique beach scrub and explorations in the water.

A couple of the works went very analytical and isolated single aspects of the landscape, that obviously struck a chord with the artists. Renata Buzlak, who worked with Vanessa Tomlinson to create the soundscape, produced the work Melaleuca Quinquenervia… antiseptic. The title of the work is the scientific name of the paperbark, one of the predominant plants on the island, Buzlak used this tiny aspect of the landscape rather than pointing her camera outwards and filming the whole landscape. Buzlak isolated this small branch, placed it on a photographic emulsion paper, filmed its decay and fusion and regeneration into new funguses and molds. Tomlinson’s soundscape was discordant and erratic, yet elegant and delicate. Matching the pace and speed of the time lapse, the work captured the not often observed cycle of nature, something essential to the landscape of North Stradbroke. The work really brings to life just how alive the bush is in its single element, rather than being objectified in its full context.

This simplification of focus became one of the more successful themes throughout the night. Cale Searston had success with this as well with his digital film Cold of Brown Lake. Searston focused on documenting the process of playing with the sand at the bottom of Brown lake. It was an incredibly relaxing video to watch. Filmed underwater, the colour of the water made everything an incredibly warm red that I was not expecting, with the background fading into an ominous black. Watching the hand pick up the sand and move it around in front of the camera really made you focus on the materiality of the sand interacting in the water. Again, another small isolated moment and action in the broad landscape of North Stradbroke, but powerful enough to really absorb you into the feelings and sensations of what it would be like to be there.

That’s not to say there weren’t more elaborate works that weren’t powerful. Wha Suk (Lucy) Park created Puzzle, a series of collages of human waste and detritus found on the island to create images of natures and plants. However she then constructed the collage into a slow moving video where different aspects of the collage faded in and out at different times, sometimes to just a white space, sometimes to leaves, turning a cigarette butt into a tree for example. A powerful comment on the impact of human waste on the natural landscape. I was actually sitting next to her and her friends on the night and she certainly deserved the little round of applause she got from her friends when her video finished up.

Like Park, there were other works that were able to comment on the politics surrounding the nature of the island. Nicole Paulsen in Island Acquaintance filmed her way driving around the island, the classic Australian beach-and-bushscape. She then projected that footage onto the side of a house with a window in the middle of it and a bush on the side. I loved this video because it immediately struck me as a modern re-interpretation of paintings such as The Car by John Brack. The sense of voyeurism looking over the Australian landscape literally through the window. I believe it makes a strong comment about our objectification of our own natural landscape, and how we as Australians are so isolated from the environment.

I could certainly go on and on about all the videos about the exhibition, say like how in James Hornsby’s work Something’s Wrong it went through as a highly kaleidoscopic and heavily edited dreamscape version of North Stradbroke, but then to finish up with just a shot of a cow in the middle of a field actually made me laugh out loud. But in the end there were 14 videos. However it is obvious from that night this cohort is very talented. All of the videos demonstrated unique sets of view and an ability to think critically of their source materials in different ways. Kudos also goes to the Queensland College of Art for organising this opportunity for the students. A good night with good art and hopefully, I’ll actually get to go to North Stradbroke Island very soon.