..and sees the last of the "Fringe"

Hello Possums,

a last rant about the Ballarat International PhotoBiennale "Fringe"...  

venue 52 was in an old renovated brewery in Buninyong  and although I'm almost a local it took some twenty minutes running around Buninyong before I found it.

As you can see it's a good clear space that would be an excellent proposition for people thinking about 2013.

the works on display were screen based DVD images from Japan titled Elegy Japan by Darron Davies of which I saw some  but was distracted ( it looked very interesting) by the other two presentations in the room.

Pam Kleeman's "A PrivateView: Skinned":  insallation pieces that made place-mats, handbags, wallets. hats etc from images of skin and hair that was purportedly about consumerism and cultural colonisation.

 I found the Dinner setting a rather thin take on Judy Chicago's grander sculptural work from the 80's because it tackles less with less ...as Chicago herself said, "...the women develop as artists, they build skills that are relevant to their content. Their work improves and they become more sophisticated, but that sophistication is built on a solid, personal foundation and is not the result of prevailing art modes" . ( Women Artists:  Peterson & Wilson, Harper/Colophon 1976)

What made me a little queasy with the handbags etc was the thought  that concentration camp guards during WW2 made similar objects from the cadavers of murdered Jewish inmates.... there was no mention of this in Kleeman's text .

 Konrad Winkler's "Love At First Sight"...only made me think, Why so grayly mis-named?

And......... Too Much Information!


I fled!

To the Ballarat Observatory where the map, again was not particularly helpful. But the works in the main were delightful.. Alex Cherney's celestial time-lapse images were hauntingly beautiful (sorry no images) and Julie Boland's "Visiting Diana" was a quietly evocative and feminine evocation of freindship ... lovely, lovely stuff.

As was Angie Turnbull's: shots on 10x8 plate, of film and reels, photographs of stock...'a la Bauhaus, Lazlo Moholy Nagy style.  Good puns all round. These two sets of work were really very impressive in their dignity toward both the subjects and the medium.


Although the venue was OK ..just... it was not an inviting place and I found I really had to concentrate hard on the works and not be distracted by light reflections and bumping into that monolithic telescope in the middle of the room.



Speaking of reflections ...cop this.....10:00am .....
not a good look for images... and weaving in and out of the tables( luckily all the guests had eaten and departed) was not comfortable at all.  


The nature of "Fringe" events is like this and it is the exhibitor who must make a conscious decision to present appropriately for the circumstances they have at hand.







Although, that being said there was one venue that really confused its exhibiting artists with its own wares....

...... but I'm pleased to report that Simon Peterswald did sell some stuff.... nice strong images.

Confusing as hell, that place... always asking yourself if it is an exhibit or part of the shops' stock......???

I think this has given a reasonable overview of the "Fringe" .... I'd  also comment that it was very funny to see so many people running around Ballarat with camera's on display for the month of the biennale.....and joyous that they came out in such numbers.... but even funnier to find stuff online..... one was a pic of one of the venues because the tog seems to like old architecture; he mentions the biennale was on at the time but none of either the core or fringe exhibits so I wonder if any thing impressed this teacher of photography at all?

A more ludicrous entry was from a Ballarat amateur who posted a journal note/survey on a particular site asking if anyone knew of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale?

OK, all you child psychologists.... work that one out!

seeya,

Shane.

....to some of the Fringe venues

"Pont a Mousson"

 G'day Possums....
there are venues and then there are venues. Some work for the photographer a lot don't. 
Some photographers hang their work well and some seem clueless as to the point of the exercise.



Probably the best venue in this Fringe that I've seen so far has been Backspace Gallery behind the Art Gallery on Camp St. It's inclusion as a "Fringe" venue is accidental as there was supposed to be a master printers show there as part of the events program. This "event" was a non-event and the three people exhibiting there  ( Kathleen Winder's "Columba Livia, Rosalind Lawson's and Lynden Nicholls' "Meniscus")  were fortunate to be offered the space when their original venue was sold and the new owners decided that renovations would begin ten days into the biennale. Not the only venue to change track two weeks before the opening. (Kirrilee Bailey's "Young" is now at Portico.) This happened after the program and broadsheets had been printed, which is somewhat unfair to the exhibitor and not a good look for the business' concerned.

Backspace Gallery... there is another larger room to the right.
"Meniscus" 
Interesting works but the plastic framing bothers me. Too many reflections behind the work make it confusing to look at and the lightness of the frames made them awkward to hang a level.

"Columba Livia"

One of Kathleen Winder's  "Columba Livia".... well worth a look but I'm extremely biased. ( Shane and Mrs Wombat's daughter).
This show to me, is the pick of the Fringe and is beautifully presented.


Another good venue is Creative Framing in Armstrong St.  Good clean wall space with professional lighting and ease of access for viewing.

Showing there is Craig Marsdens' "In a Quiet Space"; beautiful long exposure landscape/seascape most, Zen-like. and nicely hung, too.

 


My own show "Continuum"  is at the "Bean Barn"  in Sturt St.  Another  good venue with a most amenable and helpful owner.
I should, perhaps show how I planned my show and hung it.
I sought Richard's permission for the show some 12 months prior and after returning from France had some 2  months to select, print, mat and frame the selected works.  I paced out the venue ...it's around 14 metres long with good natural light and small "spots" for darker days.
After I had selected the works to show I made a 1:10 scale drawing of the wall frames and prints to see how they would work together and how the colour balance performed.

It certainly helped and as some of the works are sculptural and meant to be manipulated I had to place them where they would cause least disruption  to the staff and patrons at Bean Barn ... in the event, hanging was simplified and the show went up almost fully as originally planned.

Bean Barn

Things I learned: 
1/ Don't use standard wire for the backs of works, use twisted brass picture wire; it doesn't slip around as much.
2/ Have double sided tapes on backs of frames to stick them to the wall to minimize movement through air flow.
3/ Have your hanging points as high as possible on frame so they hang as flat as possible. 
4/ Make your catalogue as obvious as possible.
Funniest comment so far... gentleman commenting on a piece as to its location in France. I told him and then he asked, "Is that yours?" "Yes", I replied. He then asked,  "Whose are all the others?  
5/ Make your signage as idiot proof as possible.

In and Out or Home and Away

This piece is called; In and Out or Home and Away.
The  images can be rotated.
it has proved a popular work but I hope the guy with the camera who was overheard saying that he would utilise the same format shows more originality and imagination when it comes to the crunch with his own work.




Cheers petals... hope this has been slightly informative and by the way, Bean Barn is already booked for 2013.... more soon.


Shane