Madness of Many
29th September – 2nd October, 2016
MADNESS OF MANY
Octapod and The Lock-Up present the Critical Animals Research Symposium
as part of This is Not Art (TiNA).
The 13th annual Critical Animals Creative Research Symposium will present an eclectic mix of panels, performances, exhibitions, installations and workshops, all designed to provoke thought, encourage collaboration and develop artistic practices.
This year Critical Animals is exploring ideas around folie à plusieurs – the madness of many that gives momentum to seemingly absurd schemes and outlandish ideas. From explorations into mental health and the creation of new work, to discussions on environmentally sound art practices, to interrogations of Australian identities and mythology, to an exhibition of used forks from the mouths of the world’s rich and famous, to the psychedelic pop curation in our official exhibition – this year’s program is brimming with interdisciplinary, exploratory and research driven work.
Critical Animals brings together artists, researchers, writers, academics, thinkers and students who are critically engaged in creative and experimental arts practices. The Symposium is open to anyone whose work experiments within the experience and interpretation of critical research. In this vein, Critical Animals endeavours to catalyse, strengthen, and explore the links between creative practice and theory. We have a flexible definition of research that encompasses creative, experimental, interrogative, discursive, and practice-led approaches.
CRITICAL ANIMALS SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM 2016
#RichForks
Gallery 61 Revisited
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 4pm
An exhibition of luxury dinner forks swiped over a 15 year period from 5 star hotels from different parts of the world, complete with the saliva and food stains of their users. Forks include ones used recently by Hillary Clinton, James Packer and Prince Harry.
V-T-R
Ancestors, Spawn & The White Wall Ghost!
The Lock-Up
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 4pm
A rainbow coloured installation examining transcendental ruptures between aboriginality and whiteness in contemporary Australian art.
Dale Collier
Complaints
Vinyl
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 2pm
Staffed by officious, lab coat wearing staff, write your complaint on a filing card at the Complaints table and pick up another in return.
Doug Heslop
Food is Free
The Lock-Up
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 4pm
A collaborative work inspired by the Food is Free Project, using collaging, sewing and embroidering to create a sculpture out of post-consumer artefacts. Alongside this work will be crochet baskets, made using post-consumer materials, for audiences to leave and take produce from.
Trischelle Roberts
Kevina-Jo Smith
The Big Shave
The Lock-Up
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 4pm
Comprised entirely of clips depicting men shaving in cinema. The work operates as something of a life cycle; beginning with a montage of shaving cream being applied and finishing with a collection of post shave clean ups, creating a composite portrait of male identity.
Frazer Bull Clark
Unnatural
The Lock-Up
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 4pm
An exhibition of videos depicting a person marked with the worst insult they have ever endured. Unnatural juxtaposes the repression of transgressive sexual and gender behaviour throughout history with the modern phenomenon of cyberbullying, and the continued persecution of queer people in mainstream media.
Phil Soliman
Varied Chorus
The Lock-Up
Thursday 29 September – Sunday 2 October
10am – 4pm
Examining the process and outcomes of collaboration between multidisciplinary artists and friends.
Sophie Shanahan
Patrick Kelly
Was it a dream? A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
Watt Space
Thursday 29 September
7pm – 9pm
A collaborative performance night which combines ideas of false nostalgia, artistic madness and our social communion with nature in a deliciously imbalanced and frenzied evening of poetry readings, musical theatre, live performance art and monologue.
Aden Rolfe
Gabrielle Everall
Emily Bennett
Melody Paloma
Chiara Grassia
Marisa Georgiou
Creative Process Panel
The Lock-Up
Friday 30 September
11am – 12.30pm
The creative process is deeply personal. This panel will feature cultural practitioners discussing their creative processes and the challenges they face when creating their work, from collaboration to the structural limitations of tertiary institutes and the cultural zeitgeist.
Matthew Sefton
Aden Rolfe
Amelia Walker
Patrick Kelly
Sophie Shanahan
Pop Culture Phenomena Panel
The Lock-Up
Saturday 1st October
1pm – 2.30pm
A topical panel based around pop culture’s obsession with fame and what happens when reality intervenes and the good die young. Join a panel of artists, critics and social commentators – collaborating in a discussion on death, creation and the pull towards celebrity.
Lucy Randall
Jordan Brown
Melody Paloma
Women of the Anthropocene
The Lock-Up
Saturday 1st October
3pm – 4.30pm
Join a discussion between artist Kevina Jo-Smith, academic Trischelle Roberts and emerging curator Sabrina Sokalik discussing the possibilities of cultivating a collective consciousness, social change and urban renewal.
Trischelle Roberts
Kevina-Jo Smith
Sabrina Sokalik
Atlas – Workshop
The Lock-Up
Saturday 1st October
1pm – 3pm
Join artists, Amber Cronin and Erin Fowler, in this afternoon workshop on ‘working collaboratively’ with a particular focus on working across disciplines and with individuals, mentors, and new collaborators, considering ways to forge connections.
Amber Cronin
Erin Fowler
TRANSGRESSIONS
The Lock-Up
Saturday 1st October
3.30pm – 5pm
Including a panel of Australian artists and academics discussing the politics and representation of masculinity and femininity in contemporary art.
Frazer Bull Clark
Kathryn Hummel
Chiara Grassia
Dr. Umberto Grassi
Phil Soliman
Australian Identity / Historical Lineage / Mythology
The Lock-Up
Sunday 2 October
11am – 12.30pm
Cultural identity is often formed by our sense of place in history, our lineage and ancestry. This panel explores the ways in which our heritage and Australian identity shapes our worldview and experiences. These artists will explore how cultural identity is used within their work to shape ideas and expression.
Kathryn Hummel
Dale Collier
Marisa Georgiou
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Random Acts of Karaoke – Do I Wanna Know (Poolside)
Watt Space
Sunday 2 October
12pm – 3pm
A live, participatory performance inviting audiences to perform karaoke, live streamed and projected. Both participants and viewers would be able to experience the ‘live’ and ‘mediated’ performance within the projected live streamed image as it’s happening.
Ingrid Stiertzel
Artistic Madness
The Lock-Up
Sunday 2 October
1pm – 2.30pm
Can madness ever lead to the creation of great work? Or is it simply an exploitation of vulnerable individuals? Join us for an insightful panel in collaboration with writers, poets and theatre makers, sharing in their experiences of madness and creation.
Gabrielle Everall
Fiona Spitzkowsky
Melody Paloma
Alternate modes of practice (Anti Art World Panel)
The Lock-Up
Sunday 2 October
3pm – 4.30pm
Although the culture industry has the ability to challenge societal norms, too often it replicates unequal power structures. This panel will unpack the practices of artists who seek to challenge global capitalist structures and the art and literary ‘worlds’ that support them.
Jane Naylor
Misty McPhail
V-T-R
