Posts Tagged ‘Queensland College of Art’
ARTISTS FACING STUDIO CLOSURE: QCA vs Griffith University
Over the last month there have been reports coming out of the Queensland College of Art about proposed changes being instigated by the hosting institution Griffith University. The University’s intentions are outlined in the University’s ‘Proposal for Workplace Change Roadmap to Sustainability *’.
*If link is broken Download a copy of the Proposal for Workplace Change Roadmap to Sustainability ‘ GU-QCA-Proposal-for-Workplace-Change-Roadmap-to-Sustainability_students
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Outcry from a cross-section of the Arts community has been forthcoming. This has included Arts academics, current and past students, staff and colleagues, Arts organisations like Occuli, NAVA, Brisbane Visual Arts Advocacy Group, Artisan and The Print Council of Australia, Arts Agencies and other supporting groups.
Save our Studios Poster by Isobelle Dwyer
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.AS ALUMNI WE WANT TO SUPPORT THE QCA
So we composed the following letter to the Griffith University’s Vice Chancellor:
Dear Griffith University Vice Chancellor Professor Carolyn Evans,
By now you will have received a significant number of responses relating to the proposed changes to the Queensland College of Art.
I have read many of the responses to these changes posted online and I concur with the concerns raised by many of the respondents. The Queensland College of Art has history, a solid reputation for the quality of its graduates and the possibility to contribute significantly to the ongoing record of the life of human and non-human habitation on this planet.
Imagine for a moment if you can your world without the framed artwork on the wall – what it’s like to witness the vibe of the well attended gallery, the encounter of a sculpture in a public space, and the wonder of the fleeting image on Instagram. All of these are created by artists – the very people who will be affected by the changes you are intending to implement.
I understand the contemporary funding pressures created by the Pandemic and government indifference to the need to financially support academic study and research into the broader aspects of human existence.
However there is a necessity to be careful that rapid submission to comply, with what may be short-term influences, will have implications. Not just within the fine arts discipline but also, as the artist tells the stories of their times, fewer qualified practitioners will culminate in a gap in the creative record of human existence.
I urge Griffith University to reconsider what has been proposed and find a space to allow art and artists to be nurtured within the Griffith University academic programs.
I also wish you to consider that while many other universities may be considering a similar course of action in cutting Fine arts programs Griffith University has an opportunity to stand firm and continue the Queensland College of Art and realise the benefits identified in the vision and dreams that the supporters of the SAVE our STUDIOS have.
The studio is the crucible that provides the catalyst and engine room for the creative thought…
Sincerely,
Dr Doug Spowart M.Photog, FAIPP, HonFAIPP Dr Victoria Cooper M.Photog, HonFAIPP
Graduate: College of Art Brisbane 1972 Graduate: Queensland College of Art Brisbane 1993
A RESPONSE TO THE EMAIL WAS RECEIVED LATER IN THE DAY …
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STUDENT PROTESTS AND MEDIA REPORTS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN GENERATING COMMUNITY AWARENESS
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Photos courtesy of Cheryl Bronson
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An ABC TV REPORT HERE
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An ABC RADIO INTERVIEW HERE
(interview begins at around 1:42:45 and runs for 15 mins)
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A PETITION
At the time of posting the SAVE OUR STUDIOS Petition had received 10.6K signatures
– You can add your support by signing the petition here: http://chng.it/Zv22YbfP6y
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FB Page
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE QCA SOS PROTEST VISIT:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/teamqcasos
Save our Studios QCA by Summer Hiskens-Ravest
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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY and the School of Art and Design
It’s interesting to note that at this time the Australian National University is doing the same for their Art programs with their demand being “…the long-standing structural deficit of the School cannot continue and must be addressed. The School must position itself tobe able to deliver its programs and research with continued excellence but in a financially viable and sustainable manner.”
READ MORE HERE: https://www.anu.edu.au/files/guidance/Managing%20Change%20Proposal_CASS_Tranche%202_November%202020_.pdf?
If link is broken Download a copy HERE ANU-Managing Change Proposal_CASS_Tranche 2_November 2020_
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ARTISTS BOOKS+AUSTRALIA: Comment for CODEX Journal
CODEX X Papers – Journal Cover+Text Page
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Early in 2019 Vicky and I received an email from Monica Oppen and Caren Florance inviting our contribution to a report commenting on news and updates on book arts activity in the Antipodes that they were preparing for the Codex Foundation‘s new journal The Codex Papers. They mentioned that they were asking for those involved with projects, conferences, workshops, collections and awards to send through their comments and plans so the local scene could be collated into the report.
Monica and Caren added that, Your commitment to the photo books and also to documenting events for the past years (or is it decades now?!) has lead us to decide that we must ask you what you see as the trends and key events of the past couple of years. Any feedback (your personal view) on the state of the book arts in Australia at the moment would also be of interest.
We were particularly excited to have been invited to contribute and over the days following the request we collaborated on a document that outlined our view of the scene. Photo documents that we had made were reviewed and prepared and forwarded, along with our text to Monica and Caren. The task of collating and blending the individual responses into a single report was completed and forwarded to the Codex Foundation.
Early this year the report was published and we received a contributor’s copy. We were impressed with the journal and the many interesting commentaries on the book arts from around the world. It was interesting to see the complete report and to read the individual contributor’s comments.
Published below is our text and some of the photographs we contributed in response to Monica and Caren’s invitation.
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Notes on the Antipodean book arts in the Antipodes for Caren + Monica
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Noreen Grahame in the exhibition Lessons in History Vol. II – Democracy 2012
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the world of the artists’ book in Australia was an exciting place. In Brisbane Noreen Grahame, through her Grahame Gallery, Numero Uno Publications, Editions and the Centre of the Artists’ Book championed the Australian artists’ book discipline. Grahame efforts were directed towards artists’ book exhibitions which started in 1991, art book fairs the first of which was held in 1994 and special invitation themed artists’ book exhibitions featuring clique of prominent national book makers.
Artspace Mackay under the directorship of Robert Heather hosted the first of 5 Focus on Artists’ Book (FOAB) Conferences in 2004. Over the years FOAB brought to Australia some of the world’s noteworthy practitioners and commentators on the discipline including Marshall Weber, Keith A Smith and Scott McCarney and juxtaposed them with local key practitioners. For the next 6 years those interested in artists’ books gathered to participate in lectures, workshops, fairs and a solid community of practice developed. In 2006 Artspace Mackay added the Libris Awards: The Australian Artists’ Book Prize that, with a few breaks, continues to be the premier curated artists’ book exhibition and award in Australia.
Noosa 08 Artists’ Book exhibition – Noosa Regional Gallery
Queensland also had 10 years of artists’ book exhibitions and 5 years of conferences from 1999-2008 at Noosa Regional Art Gallery. In many ways Queensland was the place to be if you were into artists’ books.
Southern Cross Artists’ Book Award 2007
In this period a few other artists’ book awards took place including the Southern Cross University’s Acquisitive Artists’ Book Award from 2005-2011.
Throughout the 1990s and until fairly recent times State Libraries and the National Library of Australia actively collected and built significant artists’ book collections. These included many forms of the artists’ book including: private press publications, significant book works by recognised international and Australian practitioners, books as object/sculpture, zines and the emergent photobook.
Now around the country major libraries are feeling the push by managers to move access to the library’s resources online thus the importance of the physical object and the tactile connection with items such as artists’ books is now not considered part of the service that the institution needs to provide. For example, the State Library of Queensland’s Australian Library of Art, which houses one of the largest artists’ book collections in the country, is now without a dedicated librarian. Research fellowships and seminars that were once administered by the Library and supported the Siganto Foundation are no longer available. Information and advice about the collection and other exhibitions or group viewings of artists’ books from their extensive collection have been significantly affected.
In recent years two Artists Book Brisbane Events coordinated by Dr Tim Mosely at Griffith University has facilitated a significant connection between the American and European scenes with guest speakers like Brad Freeman (Columbia University – Journal of Artists Books), Sarah Bodman (Centre for Fine Print Research – The University of the West of England), Ulrike Stoltz and Uta Schneider (USUS). The conferences also have included a place for discussion and review of the discipline by academics and emergent artist practitioners from Masters and Doctoral programs. These two ABBE conferences have provided a platform for academic discourse.
The artists’ book medium has been principally the realm of the printmaker as their artform easily enabled the production of printed multiples. Digital technologies, new double-sided inkjet papers as well as print-on-demand technologies have enabled the emergence of a range of new self-publishers – particularly photographers.
In 2011 I completed my PhD the title of which was Self-publishing in the digital age: the hybrid photobook. From my experiences in the artists’ book field as a practitioner and commentator and my lifelong activities in photography I saw a future for the photobook which could be informed by the freedoms and the possibilities for the presentation of narratives. While some aspects of this prophecy have been the case with some photographers, particularly those involved in academic study, the main thrust for the contemporary photobook has been towards the collaboration with graphic designers. These books take on various design and structure enhancements including special bindings, foldouts, mixed papers, page sizes, inclusions and loose components that can, at times, dilute the potential power of the simple photographic narrative sequence. The contemporary photobook has developed into its own discipline and through the universal communication possibilities of social media, conferences and awards a new tribe has emerged quite separate from and unaffected by the artists’ book community.
NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair 2017
Over the last 5 years the National Gallery of Victoria has presented the Melbourne Art Book Fair. In keeping with the art book fair worldwide movement participants man tables selling their publications. These can range from Institutional/gallery catalogues, trade art publications and monographs, artists’ books, photobooks and zines. The umbrella-like term and the spectacle of the ‘Art Book Fair’ as an event to witness and participate in has captured the individual disciplines and united the various tribes into one, not so homogeneous – community.
A quick review of the 2019 Melbourne Art Book Fair’s 86 table-holders there were only a handful of artists’ book-makers, perhaps a similar number of photobook publishers and a large contingent of zinesters and self-published magazines. The bulk of the tables were held by book distributors, bookshops, arts organisations, educational institutions and art galleries. The discipline of artists’ books was not significantly represented in this space. Was that due to the National Gallery of Victoria’s selection of table-holders or was it to do with artists’ book practitioners not considering the event as a relevant opportunity to show and sell their works?
Ultimately the question is – what is the status of the artists’ book in Australia at this time? My impression is that one of artists’ books key strengths was its closeness to the printmaking discipline and the cohesive bond of makers, critics and commentators, educators, journals, collectors and patrons. As many of these are connected to the tertiary academic environment and collecting libraries, both of which are fighting for their relevance in a changing education and library world, could it be considered that this is a defining moment in the history and the future of the artists’ book in this country?
Doug Spowart co-written with Victoria Cooper
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All photographs ©Doug Spowart
WOTweTHINK: Joe Ruckli’s ‘LIGHTNING WITHOUT FLASH’
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Walking into Joe Ruckli’s exhibition Lightning Without Flash at the Queensland College of Art’s Web Gallery was a little like entering into the subject of his documentary work.
The white walls of the gallery evoke the opal miner’s white clay tunnels of Lightning Ridge in northern NSW. Here and there the glimmer of what opal miners call ‘colour’ appear in the form of photographs arranged in rows and in one random gallery hang.
In the center of the room on plinths sit piles of ‘potch’ – miners slang for junk opal in the form of Keno tickets, fractured clay clods, crumpled beverage cans, machinery debris and a ‘roly-poly’(tumble weed).
Lightning Without Flash…… Installation QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
Gallery visitors at the exhibition opening … PHOTO: Doug Spowart
In traditional documentary style Ruckli’s ‘miner’s tunnel’ presents visual material that tells or invokes stories about place.
Ruckli’s human inhabitants live hard lives working in difficult conditions.
- A hand holds a wallet in which a well-handled 1960s b&w portrait of lady looks out of the frame – the thumbnail of the hand is damaged and cracked and a fly sits on the knuckle…
- A 50s+ lady stares challengingly at the camera, hand on hip the other resting on the doorway to her ‘home’ – behind her head a circular dark shape, perhaps a window, acts like a halo. There are layers of meaning here…
Lightning Without Flash…… QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
Lightning Without Flash…… QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
The human occupied space where people live and work is depicted as a run-down, rough and inhospitable place.
- A caravan surrounded by assorted re-purposed corrugated iron sheeting hides within a barren withered land.
- A ‘room’ of walls made of bits of bags, iron sheets, wood and bush poles seems like an abandoned hermit’s lair laid dormant for a century.
- A shop in the street ‘Peter’s Opals’ presents a stark elevation despite the beauty of the stones inside for sale.
Lightning Without Flash…… QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
Lightning Without Flash…… QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
The natural space is tough enough for plants and animals without it being overlaid by the detritus of human habitation and exploitation.
- Bushland slashed by the track of grader blades, scattered bleached kangaroo bones and shrubbery covered by powdered bulldust giving the appearance of a snow scene.
- A kangaroo skeleton lies in profile, its running pose is gradually being smothered by wind-blown dust to perhaps one day to be found as a fossil of this time…
Lightning Without Flash…… QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
Lightning Without Flash…… QCA Webb Gallery PHOTO: Joe Ruckli
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Ruckli has selectively, through his image and ephemera collecting, presented us with a first-hand experience of Lightning Ridge. It’s an alien space that few of us will ever encounter. But for one moment, in this white ‘tunnel’, we came to experience something of what lies behind the opal’s seduction. So powerful that it drives human endeavour to live, work and endure the hardships to strike the illusive and lucky find.
And we wonder about the gem – once extracted from its hiding in the claystones and then polished – destined for another place to adorn, as a jeweled accessory, the lifestyles of another world …
Doug Spowart with editorial support by Victoria Cooper
13 Jan 2020
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What is WOTweTHINK …?
We attend many exhibitions and lament that these shows rarely have personal or reflective commentaries published about them. Our concept is to condense our thoughts into an Instagram-like short/sharp rought draft post. We hope that WOTweTHINK may encourage a broader discussion …
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A SELECTION OF OTHER IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBITION
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NEW PHOTODOC SHOW Curated by Doug @ Maud Gallery
In-situ – Frontispiece
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IN SITU: New Photodocumentary Work
At the end of 2015 I was the external assessor for the Queensland College of Art Bachelor of Photography Documentary stream. The work that I encountered from their recently completed documentary photography projects was inspiring. The projects that they had engaged in employed an ‘embedded’ methodology. Each photographer created stories expressing concepts and ideas that I felt deserved a wider audience. As some of the projects crossed-over into the slippery areas of art and concept documentation I felt that presenting the work in this context would encourage comment and discourse.
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Doug in an assessment @ the Queensland College of Art PHOTO: Earle Bridger
I sought support from Irena Prikryl, Director of Brisbane’s Maud Gallery, with my intention being to curate a show of selected works. Over a week I forwarded to Irena websites and links to the student’s works – each submission was met with a response – ‘these photos are awesome!’ Irena then offered an exhibition early in 2016. In discussions with students I found that one of them was interested in curating and gallery management – so an honorary internship was offered to Gillian Jones.
The rationale for exhibition is as follows:
Every photograph is a document. A photographic document may be about a friend’s smile, a family event, a dramatic storm cloud or a dent in a car door. But, what about those documentary images that tell us about the greater aspects of life in our times? These other photographs can encompass the tragedies of human suffering, of rituals and habits, of things that escape our casual view of the world and documents of hidden acts, a performances or a ‘happening’.
The documentary photographs in this exhibition are made by photographers not working as the casual iPhone snapshot ‘photographer’ of today, but rather individuals who embed themselves in human and natural environments to witness, to empathise and to document with a camera so a story can be shared.
The documentary photographers in this exhibition present their work as evidence of what they have seen, felt and been touched by. This work represents new photodocumentary practice and will place viewers in situ – surrounded by issues of contemporary life…
The exhibitors who accepted the invitation were:
Follow the links to the Maud Gallery website to see the projects (NOTE: Some links may now be inactive)
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Chris Bowes for the work ‘Sweat‘
Richard Fraser for the work ‘Pup play and beyond – exploring Brisbane’s BDSM subculture’
Gillian Jones for her work ‘Choice, Chance or Circumstance‘
Louis Lim for his work ‘Waiting for Sunshine‘
David Mines for the work ‘Beautiful one day perfect the next?
Thomas Oliver for his work ‘Disconnection‘
Marc Pricop for the work ‘Our Place in The Valley‘
Elise Searson for her work ‘Karen’ Lyme disease sufferer
Cale Searston for his work ‘BLU‘
The show was opened by arts writer Louise Martin-Chew on March 9 who was to comment at the beginning of her address that:
I am not an expert on photo documentary: my interest is in art and artist stories. I’m interested in the way in which we may tell and share these stories most effectively, and it is the many narratives, often those that are hidden unless you are part of that experience, or sub culture, that is at the heart of this exhibition of new photography.
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Louise Martin-Chew opens ‘In Situ’ PHOTOS: Irena Prikryl
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Well over 120 people attended the exhibition opening. A cash bar operated with the profits going to the Lyme Disease Association of Australia charity – associated with Elise Searson’s project’
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Opening attendees
Opening attendees
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Some views of the exhibition:
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David Mines’ ‘Beautiful one day perfect the next?’
Elise Searson’s ‘Karen’ Lyme disease
Richard Fraser’s ‘Pup play and beyond’
Thomas Olivers’ ‘Disconnection’
Louis’ ‘Waiting for Sunshine’
Chris Bowes’ ‘Sweat’
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Over the course of the exhibition each of the photographers presented a floortalk at the gallery. One contributor was Thomas Oliver, who is currently studying overseas in Toronto, Canada presented a Skype session in the gallery before his work.
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Gillian Jones presenting her floortalk
Thomas Oliver giving his floortalk by Skype
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The exhibition concluded on the 20th March with a dinner for the exhibitors and gallery members within the white walled empty space of the gallery.
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The artists’ dinner @ Maud Gallery
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In my comments at the opening of the exhibition I stated that a documentary photograph does not exist until it is publically distributed. The exhibition, In Situ: New Photodocumentary Work, put this work and the stories it contains before an audience. Everyone seeing it may interpret this work differently; such is the nature of the photodocument. Perhaps the true value of photodocumentary work can be summed up in Louise martin-Chew’s closing statement:
The power of this collection of works by a very talented group is simply summed up I think: Art may not be able to save the world, but it has an unparalleled ability to help us understand the individuals that comprise a community, a country, a continent = the world. And that may be sufficient.
Thank you to Irena Prikryl and Maud Gallery, Gillian Jones, the contributing photographers and Louise Martin-Chew for a memorable and powerful photodocumentary exhibition of new works.
Dr Doug Spowart
Louise Martin-Chew’s opening address can be seen on her website: HERE
New-PhotoDoc Catalogue
A catalogue of selected works from the show can be downloaded: NEW-DOC-CATALOGUE
Each of the photographer’s works can be seen on the Maud Gallery website under the participant’s names in the OUR ARTISTS menu – they can be purchased from the site as well.
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Unless attributed otherwise all texts and photographs are ©2016 Doug Spowart
FROM SMALL THINGS … : Queensland Small Towns Documentary Project
Queensland Small Towns: Documentary Project – Invite
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Queensland Small Towns: Documentary Project
Brisbane Powerhouse, 12 November to 1 December, 2013
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Queensland’s regional areas are fast becoming the most common subject for the scrutiny of the photodocumentary image-makers. In August the Central Queensland Project exhibition was shown at the Powerhouse in Brisbane and now, only a few months later, another show entitled Queensland Small Towns: Documentary Project is hung in the same venue. This new contribution to the documentation of regional communities is a student/lecturer project initiated by the three big Institutions: University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and the Queensland College of Art (QCA).
With the support of academic staff, students of these photography and photojournalism faculties descended on the Queensland towns of Moranbah and Dalby. The exhibition’s coordinator Earle Bridger from QCA, chose these two regional localities because of the impact of mining. To add contemporary photodocumentary rigor to the activity, professional photographers: Russel Shakespeare, Adam Ferguson and Shehab Uddin were collaborators and advisors to the fieldwork.
The project’s mission, as stated in exhibition press, was to capture: ‘The stories, characters and everyday lives of people in Queensland outback towns’1. They further claim that: ‘this unique photo-documentary project [will] reflect[s] the changing face of rural Queensland.’ 2
This project was instigated to provide an in-field experience for the students. They were charged with the challenge of avoiding the traditional news story and to: ‘capture a visually appealing and thought-provoking narrative to a high-professional standard.’ 3
The exhibition at the Brisbane Powerhouse was extensive–the photographic images and video interviews were shoehorned into every available space. This made viewing of the show a little like a ‘hide and seek’ exercise. Its curation within this space created a fragmented view confusing the holistic flow of the exhibition.
Queensland Small Towns: Documentary Project – Installation … Photo: Doug Spowart
Queensland Small Towns: Documentary Project – Video and Photo installation … Photo: Doug Spowart
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Under the tutelage of lecturers and the photodocumentary practitioners assigned the project, as well as study, research and personal preparation, one may think that these primary concerns are well covered. However there is one other critical factor–The preconditioning from existing media overexposure and hype. This rhetoric includes the following: That these small towns, besieged by the extraordinary pressures of the extractive mining industries, are places in a state of flux between the perceived benevolent farming practices of the past and the boisterous bully of mining. These once sleepy rural places are now zones of friction between itinerant workers, inadequate infrastructure, fractured families and ‘fracked’ communities. Any documentary commentator must not let this prejudice impede their impartial reportage. Furthermore one must consider methodological and ethical issues around the selection of subject/s, the gaining of access and trust and the authenticity of the resulting work.
All that aside, what of the exhibition Queensland Small Towns: Documentary Project? What I found was a proficient and diverse presentation of contemporary photodocumentary work. Mixed in amongst the contemporary trend of the bland document aesthetic were emotive and sensitive photographs of private lives in difficult times. Images were grouped as mini photo-essays enabling a concept or a subject to be pursued.
Importantly the opportunity provided to these students and the lecturers to get into the field is one of the best lessons they both can have. As mentor Russell Shakespeare comments: ‘I think these projects are so important on every level. To get students out working on self generated stories and also for the Town to have a group of photographers recording “History” as they see it, and then to be archived by the State Library, hopefully this project will continue on throughout other Qld Towns in years to come.’ 4
Unlike the financial reality that students may encounter in their post graduation world, a $50,000 Arts Queensland Creative Partnership Grant funded the Small Towns Documentary Project5. And fittingly, considering the generous budget for the project, the photographs and video works will be gifted to the people of Queensland by their inclusion in the permanent collection of the State Library of Queensland.
This work will add to a significant archive for the future, however I’m concerned about the ‘thought-provoking narrative’ and its importance now. The exhibition at the Brisbane Powerhouse only marginally serves the purpose and power of contemporary documentary work … to communicate. No mention is given to exhibitions in Dalby and Moranbah–the communities that gave the project subject matter to image and document. The project is also left wanting in the application of eJournalism platforms like YouTube, Facebook, blogs and websites. Googling the project one encounters variations of the same succinct media release without external links to any online archive that says what was done, who did it and most importantly, provide a space for the communities documented to share and extend their stories.
The domain of the photodocumentary practitioner is not just the creation of material for the archive–its perhaps more important role is now, being in and of the times, and the communities and people who shared stories and submitted their lives to the gaze of these lens men and women. These stories are required now to inform, to cajole, to stir commentary and demand corporate and political acknowledgement, response and action. That’s where documentary photography does its best work …
Dr Doug Spowart
December 27, 2013
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1 http://brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/2013/11/12/queensland-small-towns-photo-documentary-project/
2 Ibid
3 http://www.uq.edu.au/sjc/qld-towns-project
4 Online correspondence from Russell Shakespeare
5 http://www.linkedin.com/pub/earle-bridger/b/521/737
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What follows are images and videos from the exhibition.
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Please Note: The photographs in this exhibition were presented as multiple image groups – only single images represent the photographer’s body of work. I have included the photographer’s statement under most images to give an understanding of their project and the context for the work. Most images in this review are from camera exposures within the exhibition environment and may not represent the image/s accurately due to reflections and uneven lighting.
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“Al Phillips, Drilling Supervisor + Chris Mannion, Driller, Moranbah” … Photo: Adam Ferguson and Brodie Standen, 2013
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Potential buyers survey a pen of cattle at the Dalby sale yards. The weekly auctions are Australia’s larget one-day cattle sale, with over 6,000 head of cattle passing through each week.…Photo: Kimberley McCosker
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“Joyce Coss”
83 years old with “Waddles” her Sliky Cross.
63 years living in Warra.
Photo: Russell Shakespeare 2013
Beyond the sporting ovals, on the outskirts of Moranbah, Sean lives in a trailer. The trailer is powered by a petrol generator and drinking water tanks are filled at a family member’s house. He lives there by choice, a house has “too many walls”. Separated from his wife Sean shares custody of their 5 boys. Charlie, Darcy, Bailey, Harley, & Riley spend each weekend with their Dad and I was fortunate enough to spend a few days with them while they visited over school holidays. With Moranbah as a backdrop, a town where much of the population’s main objective is obtaining and retaining material wealth, getting rich and getting out, Sean’s lifestyle begs a closer look at what separates need and want. I would like to thank Charlie, Darcy, Bailey, Harley, Riley & Sean for their hospitality & allowing me to tag along with them. Photo: Cory Wright
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“Moranbah McDonald’s which lies on the outskirts of town” … Photo: Julia Whitwell
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The Wilkie Creek Rural Fire Brigade in conjunction with other local fire brigades, coordinate necessary hazard reduction fires, as well as keeping life threatening fires at bay during the high risk summer season. Pictured [in my project] are their lives on a daily basis, as well as their involvement in a hazard reduction fire completed near Lake Broadwater in October, 2013. Photo: Eva Turek-Jewkes
Four videos by students from the University of Queensland School of Journalism and Communication:
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“Grassdale Feedlots”
A curios 2 year old, 620kg Hereford steer in Grassdale Feedlots state of the art facility (to extreme left of series). Pens are cleared every 50 days as part of the facilities self-audited quality and health assurance measures. World class traceability systems allow staff to track, monitor and isolate specific data on each individual beast, including birth date, purchase date and origin, weight, breed, feeding ration and medical record. Established in 2008, Grassdale Feedlot is a 13,000 acre property 30kms south of Dalby centre. Currently with over 38,000 head of cattle and a capacity of up to 50,000 head, the feedlot boasts one of the largest and most technologically advanced feedlot facilities in Australia. The estimated $60 million facility employs over 50 staff and is a major driver in the economic stability of the Dalby, Millmerran and Chinchilla region and remains at the forefront of grain-fed beef production in Australia employing some ground breaking technologies in milling and feeding processes. … Photo installation: Victoria Nikolova
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“Grassdale Feedlots” … Photo installation (detail): Victoria Nikolova
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Garden Bed. Cunningham Street … Photo: Liss Fenwick
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“Some Trash, Others Treasure”
Pioneer Park Museum in Dalby seems a place suspended in time, somewhere around the beginning of the 20th century. Located on Black Street – once very quiet and peaceful but nowadays one of the main truck parking spots in town – the museum is a magical space with colonial houses and antique machinery, accompanied by rustling of leaves and bird’s trill. Elaine and Daniel Fox, the main founders, have lived on-site for almost 11 years, taking care of this magical place on a daily basis. They began 23 years ago with only seven antique tractors. Today, they can boast of one of the largest collections of operating antique agricultural machinery in Queensland – some of which date back to the early 19th century. Together with a few passionate volunteers they keep the place alive and once a year, during Field Weekend, the town of Dalby travels in time to discover again the old knowledge, tradition and way of living of their ancestors. The Museum is mostly financed by an annual fund from the local government, entry tickets, and the craft shop income and the Field Day. However, it is hard enough to keep it working, with a fast developing technology and little funding; they struggle to keep their museum operating in the modern, quickly changing mining town, that Dalby has become. … Photo: Kasia Strek
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“No Access”
This work is not against mining. For whether it be the computers we use to stay connected, the solar panels we purchase that make us feel socially responsible or the cameras I use to tell stories, mining is embedded into the fabric of the 21st century. The debate should not be whether or not to mine, but rather how is mining to be controlled. What became obvious in Moranbah was that combined the mining companies controlled the political and social agendas. Through ostensibly generous salaries, subsidized housing and rare community donations mining companies have become the pushers and the population the addicts. Mine workers are afraid to speak to strangers for fear they are the media. Criticism is only whispered when in the company of friends. The right to have an opinion that may differ from the company has been severely eroded. To express that opinion puts job and home at risk. No Access argues that Australia should retain exclusive rights to its resource management. It argues for controlled mining. But most of all it presents a snapshot of the liberties we have sold in order to satisfy those who seek to maximize profits and minimize social responsibility. Moranbah. David Lloyd. 2013.
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The photographers and video producers retain all copyright in their images and presentations. Text and installation photographs © 2013 Doug Spowart
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August 14: QLD COLLEGE of ART – OPEN DAY – Gold Coast
On Sunday we visited the Griffith University’ Open Day at the Gold Coast Campus. Both Vicky and I are QCA Alumni – I go back to 1972 when it was simply the ‘College of Art’ and a sessional teacher from 1977 to 1993. Vicky from 1992 as a student of the Associate Diploma of Photography program. We’ve never visited the Gold Coast campus – it’s a remarkably fresh looking place in a natural bushland environment. Students manned the info tents and displays alongside lecturers and their presentation packages represented quality outcomes for their graduating students. They offer interesting and contemporary programs in photography, ephotojournalism, fine art and commercial photography.
Vicky@QCA Open Day - Gold Coast
While in the studio we met up with photo lecturer Jack Picone. A fellow PhD candidate – exchanged some interesting ideas about the challenges of professional practice, teaching and keeping up with the demands of higher ed academic study. Jack has worked around the world as a photojournalist – he showed us a book of his amazing work.
Visit Jack Picone’s website – http://www.jackpiconeportfolio.com
We also caught up with long term QCA identity Earle Bridger who up until last week was deputy director of the QCA Gold Coast campus. Earle has transferred back to the South Brisbane campus.
Jack Picone, Earle Bridger & Doug
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