Recently Historic

Study for Rage Against The Machine, 2015.

Opening this Thursday at Gaffa in the Sydney CBD is Recently Historic: Australian Electronic Arts in Western Sydney #2, featuring recent work by myself and a whole bunch of people I used to go to university with. While a description like that may read like a reclaiming of one's glory days, the broader context ties into research by the show's curator, Monica Brooks, into the Bachelor of Electronic Arts at the University of Western Sydney. Now for what it's worth, I studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts, but that's a whole other story.

 The degree no longer exists, but for the brief moment it was around enabled the building a community and a group of artists that may not have otherwise existed within a traditional art academy setting. This might sound hyperbolic on my part, but I feel pretty confident in saying that if it wasn't for the freeform nature of the degree and its wider role in the School of Contemporary Arts, I wouldn't be making work today - if at all.

As a means of thanks, I will be installing a TV with Guitar Hero 3 running on it, and all of the product placement within the game blacked-out. It will be great, and you should come along and have a look.

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RECENTLY HISTORIC:
Australian Electronic Arts in Western Sydney #2
Curated by Monica Brooks

January 8 - 19

281 Clarence Street, Sydney
Mon-Fri: 10-6pm, Sat: 11-5pm, Sun+Holidays: Closed
 
Opening: January 8, 6-8pm

Recently Historic: Australian Electronic Arts in Western Sydney, is the second showcase (following on from the exibition in Kingswood) of artists working with electronic media, connected by their association to the University of Western Sydney’s former School of Contemporary Arts. 

The exhibition takes hold of the notion that many of today’s practicing artists are initially bolstered by tertiary art programs, and the communities that go with them.

As the University of Western Sydney celebrates its 25th anniversary, this exhibition reflects on the long-term outcomes the art school in Western Sydney formerly offered. In particular, once radical programs now discontinued, such as the Bachelor of Electronic Art.

Featuring work by: Alex White, Emily Morandini, Ivan Lisyak, Peter Blamey, Jon Hunter, Jasper Streit, Samuel Bruce, Louise Dibben, Rene Christen, T.R. Carter, Daniel Green, Robin Hungerford, Kate Brown, Tom Hungerford, Wade Marynowsky.