Ballarat International Foto Biennale.

Ballarat International Foto Biennale  and other nonsense.

Shane with prints

The Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2013 starts tonight. There are 21 Australian and international exhibitors in the "core" program and 97 others like me, in the "fringe".

All my stuff is up at "The Bean Barn", 217 Sturt St  Ballarat … well six pieces but they’re 20x30’s and I think look OK.

The Bean Barn, Ballarat.

My show is called “Meditations on RD”: the works being a  homage to the paintings of the American, Richard Diebenkorn.
Elements in his paintings like the planar and structural approach I have found very appealing and although not strictly veristic in their evocations of the California coastline they cannot be considered fully abstract either. Robert Hughes’ comment that they were in “…in a tradition of Equivalents..” (which I take to mean being an allusion to the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz) seemed to encapsulate RD's conceptual base. 

3039 BIFB '13

In a similar fashion, I didn’t want to present these as “straight” representations of the subject and the two in the show that are more sculptural are attempts to the extend the metaphor of movement in a more subtle fashion than by making flags.

BIFB,2013 Lawrence Winder

Another element that I had to consider was that on viewing the original files it became apparent that even though the shutter speed was low, ¼ - ½ sec, there was sufficient detail in the pieces as to warrant the larger scale so that there was a more direct “painterly” reference to near and far, movement and stillness and also a quality of increased depth. 

Movement

Originally I had wanted to print the multiples in reasonably large, A3, sections but the paper I thought suitable, wasn’t: too flat and dull in its finish so serendipitously I decided on 8x6’s that have worked well.

You see, there’s quite a strong air movement when people enter and leave The Bean Barn and the smaller prints waft a little in the breeze replicating the cloth’s movement.

I have left a small book at the venue for the comments for any interested “togs” who may come up to Ballarat to visit for the month of the biennale.

As with my  blog on the BIFB of 2011, I will concentrate on reviwing as many of the "Fringe" exhibitions as I can, and from a cursory dash about yesterday there is a lot of interesting stuff to be seen. 

Wombat Droppings or Oz politics

It now seems that “having sex appeal’ is a criteria to be a Liarbril candidate in this election. Which is something at least ‘cause they don’t seem to have much else.

“Rabbott’s” tasteless remarks really indidicate the low level of this would-be PM’s standards.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-14/crabb-a-daggy-dad-off-with-less-amusing-undercurrents/4886676

His confidant demeanour has become a single-finger salute at the whole country; and the aspirational bogans who are informed by the press of the “Ugly American”, Murdoch, are loving it.

The disjunction between language and reality was perhaps best illustrated by “Rabbott” leaning against a semi-trailer and again intoning, “We…..um…..are…..going to …..get …rid….of the um ….carbon tax, get rid….of the carbon….tax”. 
In other words read the signals: diesel fumes are good for you.

Or wanting a “Green Corps” whilst taking wilderness areas off the World Heritage list so they can be logged and saying he’ll agree with Gonski funding whilst indicating that it’s alright to sell public schools to the private sector.

No wonder he’s called “The Mad Monk!”

And let’s not talk about his Christian attitude to asylum seekers or his deviousness in obfuscating about releasing his policy costing. One does get the feeling that they can’t cost them ‘cause they don’t exist.

Abbott's Policy Costings

I think Petals, we are looking into the abyss of a new dark age.

Shane