The first Monthly Friend afternoon is all go for June 20 at the Red Rattler in Marrickville. Performances, presentations, and installations merging artistic forms with the world of theory will be presented by some incredible young and emerging artists... Take this flyer from us, email it to all your friends, and come along.
Futurism turns 100 this year. Meanwhile, an impressive collection of 60s and 70s Italian concrete and visual poetry formally stored with the University of Sydney’s Italian Department has found a new home in the University Art collection. The connection between these two becomes clearer in the accompanying ‘Poesia Visiva’ Symposium held at Sydney Uni on the 29th May. The history of the concrete/ visual poetry movement and of the University's collection was traced in a series of lectures acedemics and curators. We are told that the collection was generously given to the University by Adriano Spatola and Giulia Niccolai in a visit to Sydney in 1978. Apparently Spatola gave an outrageous performance in a pub in Sydney, I couldn’t find the video but here is another of Spatola reciting. The works in the collection are mostly in Italian, but no matter for non-Italian speakers because the idea is of a refusal of 'poetry' as narrative-based and lyrical, instead using language for its sounds and formations. In the case of Betty Danon's [a featured artist's] poems and paper sculptures an escape altogether from existing structures of language is sought, replacing words with symbols, dots and lines.
Michele Perfetti, Siamo Tutti Insieme (We are all together) 1977
Tim Fitzpatrick spoke in the symposium of the ‘Theatrical Fireworks' of the Futurists, citing their impact on consequent theatre movements and on the Futurists' Itallian descents, the concrete/visual poets. The Futurists rejected conventional structures of language and narrative in the theatre, but is the trajectory to concrete and visual poetry a straight forward one? In comparing the war-mongering, nationalistic and fascist politics of the Futurists with the liberal feminist and anti-imperialist message of the concrete/ visual poetry a rupture is seen. Fitzpatrick quotes Marinetti’s Futurist manifesto - “Glory to war – the world’s only hygiene”.
Barbara Campbell maintained a performative presence throughout as the symposium’s in-house artist, bringing the concrete poetry discussion up to date by tweeting short observations on the forum inter-spliced with segments of Italian concrete/visual poetry, and interestingly updates of a Mosque bombing in Tehran. This reminder of conflict worked to counter the Futurist mantra that war is beautiful, and perhaps problematises any celebration of Futurism. This part also links to what could be seen as Barbara’s ongoing project of vigilance towards the Middle Eastern conflict. You can "follow" her on bcperformance if your one of them (tweeters).
After the talk fest we found out that our programs were megaphones all along (with a bit of adjustment) and Barbara Campbell led a group recital of some of the poetry. The exhibition is definitely worth a look at the University of Sydney Art Gallery until the 19th July.
It’s hard to believe that the image of tanks rolling into Tiananmen Square, and of the attack on thousands of Chinese citizens by the Chinese army, are images easily forgot. But extreme censorship in China enforces a policy of historic erasure, ensuring that for many Chinese the incident simply didn’t happen. For us in the west, I suppose it’s a matter of ‘forgetting’ past and ongoing human rights abuses as our economies have swelled from the exponential economic progress of China.
Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, marked in locations around the world with the public art event, dancing the Tankman Tango. The work by Deborah Kelly, referred to also as forget 2 forget, takes one of the most pervasive images of the 1989 protests, a lone, anonymous man and his shopping bags standing in the way of a column of tanks, and creates a mass dance, a real “social movement” Kelly puns in a Sydney Morning Herald article here. The dance, choreographed by Jane McKernan to resemble to the original tankman’s “dance” was performed by groups in Perth, Sydney, Hobart, Brisbane, Auckland Singapore, Belgrade, Brussels, Paris and probably more, anyone could organise a group and learn the dance on youtube, (performed by Tiek Kim Pok)
Between 5pm and 7.30 last night, Georgie and I were among the masses (70 or so) doing the tango on the Sydney Opera House forecourt. During the hour and a half of repetition of the basic steps, people would occasionally join or leave the group. I popped out of for a short time for a bit of a rest, but also to witness the dance. It was quite spectacular with the moving spotlights lighting up the drizzly wet air, steely stares from dancers, and the unison flinging of plastic bags. The participants solemnly leaving between the repetitions could have been a symbolic gesture towards dissenters silenced or fallen, while others always returned to fill the ranks. I’ll upload some pictures when I hunt some down.
Sydney Opera House
While watching I also noticed how ugly those lights on the Opera House are, installed as part of Luminous as part of ‘Vivid Sydney’. It looks like a Ken Done tea towel. Call me a sour grape, just don’t remind me how much this vacuous display of technical virtuosity cost in taxpayer money.
Meg, Georgie, Nat, Amy, Mitzi and Emily love to get emails. If you are interested in contributing to one of our Monthly Friend events or zines, have questions about what we do, or just want to drop us a line, email us at bakesaleforart@gmail.com.
