Art Projects

At the heart of our research has been the consideration of the material potential of the trees and how to assess what’s useable and how best to transform the timber into appropriate, conceptually innovative, creative outcomes.

The two main materials we are working with, paper and wood, both have extraordinary art and design histories and extraordinary creative production values. In order to both celebrate and commemorate the trees and their site, the projects and artists we have identified as potential participants for these projects all have a strong conceptual engagement with the materials, site and histories they work with.

In order to reference the University’s research focus and history, we have identified artists with a strong research element to their practice, as well as nationally significant artists that are University alumni (from the VCA).

Further to this we have identified a range of international artists renowned for their groundbreaking work in relation to the natural world and contemporary issues, such as ecology, time and culture/nature based art work.

We have identified the following four projects through our research that we believe will deliver the highest and best response to the removal of the trees and the subsequent use of the material, site and context to create a suite of truly innovative and memorable creative artworks. They are:

LOGOS TIME THE WAITING ROOM COMMISSIONS

LOGOS

Alex Selenitsch, one of the longest-serving members of the Faculty of Architecture at the University, has a significant design and artist background and is recognized as one of the country’s most important concrete poets.

We have asked Alex to consider our project in all its challenges and opportunities, and devise a drawing that would be able to be utilized in a number of contexts, from t-shirt and poster design, to building hoarding/screening to unique drawing state/print format for exhibition purposes.

The complex and vital work Alex has produced for us can be used in a multitude of ways; vertically, in a repeat design, singularly and horizontally. It’s made up of the symbols + and – ( plus and minus) referencing ambiguity, pros and cons, future histories, mathematical logic and rationality. It’s a complex and beguiling work.

We see this work functioning as a type of logo, connecting the various projects, a constant and agile reminder of links between works, sites and other manifestations of the University’s engagement with this creative project. It’s minimal yet multi-faceted use of the image of the tree and its root system, and the ability of this work to be applied to a number of contexts is an exciting beginning point, and one we envisage extending and expanding into the other projects over time.

TIME

The development of this key project records our primary desire to link the action of planting trees to a vision of the future. Time proposes an exhibition that exists in the future but not in the present.

Our project pairs artists with academics and presents each pairing with either timber or paper produced from the trees removed in 2017. The commission brief is simply to produce a body of work for an audience 139 years in the future, in the year 2156. The future date mirrors the implementation of the double Elm tree planting design, established along the length of Royal Parade in 1878. 139 years forward = 2156.

The artists work would not be revealed in the present, it will be sealed unseen, inviting the participants to consider the challenges and freedoms presented by the temporal boundaries of the concept.

Working closely with the Potter Museum of Art, and students, the work would be prepared through conservation techniques to last the journey into the future. The form taken by the storage of the sealed work, would be considered an artwork in the present day and we envisage an exhibition of the sealed containers to announce the partnerships and launch the work into the future.

In this form, the sealed artworks could be brought out of storage and loaned for exhibition, but the containers will remain sealed and the content would not be revealed, freeing the artists to speak their mind only to the future.

Not only will this project result in a series of outstanding work and an important exhibition concept for the Potter, it will foster conversation and collegiality between great thinkers and makers of our country at this present time. We will invite some of the nation’s most important artists to partner with some of the University’s key academic staff, experts in genetic research, philosophy, architecture, theatre and more to consider form and language for a future audience.

As we know, some of the University’s most illustrious alumni come from the Faculty of VCA/MCM. The history of staff and students from this faculty make up a large majority of the country’s most celebrated artists, many of whom work internationally. We have focused our efforts in linking these alumni with the University’s centers of specialist knowledge and academic staff. Eg:

Artists David Noonan Ricky Swallow Nick Selenitsch Sally Smart Patricia Piccinini John Meade Academics Professor Alan Pert, architecture and art Dr Karen Jones: Philosophy, emotions and rationality Alex Selenitsch/Architecture/concrete poetry Professor Rachel Fenton/Performance/feminist histories Loane Skene/Law/genetics and medical ethics Dr Derham Groves/Architecture/popular culture

This project has many benefits to the University community. The date for exhibition set in the future creates a compelling and unique set of problems that could produce important research and teaching opportunities for both staff and students, including the Conservation Department.

THE WAITING ROOM

One of the anchors of the project, The Waiting Room, would take the form of a wood lined permanent installation using salvaged timbers assessed as appropriate for walls, flooring and seating.

The project offsets the loss of trees by creating a future narrative for the Parkville campus, a narrative that refers to what is now site history and what is now; present.

The idea formed after an early discussion with Maggie Barron from MMRA - her trying to recall the location of a ‘record room’ embedded in the old Union building on the Parkville campus. A space she had used as a student to ‘kill time’. We began to envisage an artwork existing as a waiting room nestled in the heart of the underground station, adopted by the University community.

Since then we’ve looked at the work existing elsewhere on the University campus, the South Lawn Car Park was identified in meetings as potential site for the work.

We envisage working with architecture students to research and realise an interior design referencing the functional code and aesthetics of a waiting room. A space, between time, sited to connect with a number of possible timetables, a train, a lecture, a meeting, an event…

We anticipate the space attracting alternative possibilities of function and useage. Informed by many of the University’s sub-cultural gatherings; from vital feminist collectives and Vietnam protest campaigns of the 1970s, to more experiential gatherings, discussion groups. Students of the University have always gathered together to collectively work out strategies to change and shape their futures.

The project could be attached to the Margaret Lawrence gallery programme, extending the curatorial range of the gallery, connecting the VCA community to the Parkville campus.

COMMISSIONS

These commissions will use the story of the trees to create a series of publicly sited cultural objects and interventions for the University community and the general public to experience, contemplate and engage with. As curators of this project, we understand that the wood from the trees will hold enormous conceptual and material value, and will connect directly with the University of Melbourne’s esteemed research ability and potential, including both staff and students. On this site, laden with complex, experimental and vital current research, we hope to uncover and create a culturally rich and significant art project that will enhance the life of the University community and beyond for years to come.

Commission: Local

A key Australian contemporary artist, selected through an invitational competitive process, will be asked to consider the site of the historical University gate that commemorates the University becoming a public institution and the site of the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade (where the entrance to the station will eventually be situated and from where many trees will be removed).

“This section of fence reinstated in 1982, was part of the original removed in 1938 under an agreement with the Melbourne City Council whereby the University opened its grounds to the public. ”

We, with Simon Maidment, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, NGV and two key University staff will form the selection committee for this exciting opportunity. Artists will be considered for this project, as mentioned, will have research-based practices and a commitment and track record to embrace the material and conceptual challenges this project demands. While there are many artists who may be suitable for this project, we have identified Fiona Foley, Nicholas Mangan, Susan Jacobs, Brook Andrew, Cameron Robbins, Kathy Temin and Emily Floyd as all having experience and research interests in site specific projects, cultural contexts and public installation art projects.

Commission: International

In the course of this research, we have uncovered a number of key artists who have created important and innovative artworks around the subjects of nature and culture, ecological issues and landscape. In the spirit of highest and best use of the removed trees, we would like to commission a major international artist to create a work in response to the removal of the trees, utilizing the wood and/or site details in the creative production of their project. The artist may connect with aspects of the research we have undertaken, or they may wish to conduct their own research into this field. For the sake of continuity and planning, we would engage the same panel outlined for the local commission. This would provide a major cultural research opportunity for University, and we envisage this artist would conduct a number of site visits and engage with the arts community, including staff and students of the university during this time. The following artists are of the caliber we would attract:

Martin Boyce, Scotland Nathan Coley, Scotland Celeste Boursier-Mougenot, France Katie Paterson, England Sarah Sze, US Tacita Dean, Berlin

All of these artists have previously completed major and highly successful art projects in Melbourne, and have creative and professional relationships established here.

Image left: Brook Andrew, The Island Series, 2008 Image above: Tacita Dean, ‘Majesty’ 2006