Hijacked (ACP) Opening Night June 12th 2008 Its quarter to six and I’m standing in the middle of Oxford Street on an island refuge which barely shelters me from the onslaught of peak hour motorists. There is a hot pink sheen over Sydney tonight and I begin to understand what people mean when they say Sydney sparkles. It’s the Hijacked exhibition launch tonight at The Australian Centre for Photography and I am staring directly opposite the gallery space and I have to merge into traffic or sort of make the leap of faith through the cars, bags of freezing ice cutting into my hands. I think about the transformation the ACP has undergone to get this exhibition up and running. Over the past few days we have had every volunteer in Sydney come through the place to lend a hand, every sized ladder has been erected and art works have come up and come down, and all of this process brings us to here, quarter to six on the opening night of Hijacked. Inside the gallery is already starting to fill with eager beavers, early comers pushing their way into the fresh space, desperate to feast their eyes on the latest offering. I look around at some of the artists and then to the program coordinator, I can see a crease burrow his brow and then, instantly, it’s gone. We are about to start. Mark McPherson runs his hands down his jacket to smooth an invisible line. Maybe it’s them or maybe it’s me but there is defiantly a sharp air of anticipation about the place. Opening nights can often go ‘either way’ - like a rare house cat or a professional football player. I’m anxious. I want this to be great. I want my friends to come and love the Hijacked work. I want Mark McPherson to say ‘yeah’. I want the artists to see the crowds of visitors loving/hating their work in equal measure and most importantly, I want the ABC arts program to film me looking intelligent and sexy. As the plastic bags of cold ice in my hand cut a little deeper I walk behind the bar and fill the troughs with an endless supply of cheap white wine. Note to self, one should never underestimate the general public’s insatiable thirst for free alcohol. To counter this desire galleries all over the world supply their patrons with what I commonly refer to as Art Gallery Wine, its free, it’s disgusting and always packs a killer hang over. After three attempts at locating the ABC camera crew who are mysteriously lost in an alley somewhere the producer of the show assembles the fresh faced Hijacked artists at the entrance of the gallery because ‘we didn’t realize it would be dark so early’ for the group shot. The camera pans in and then widens as the twenty or so artists walk toward the camera and despite the obvious cliché most of the artists have an enormous sense of pride and respect for their work and a real sense of achievement. Pangs of jealous wave through me and I have to fight an impulse to just run in front of them. Front of house already has a bad reputation for attention seeking behaviour and refrainment is preferred. I guess I’m just excited for them. As the night progresses we move through speeches and the business end of the evening, Alasdair Foster talks about contemporary photography and tells us the meaning of life and lastly mentions something that will not be forgotten. The sheer volume of work he sees and the obvious delight at coming across something as special and unique as Hijacked. I’m in agreement. Just as speeches are wrapping up someone grabs me and says I should jump in front of some work and talk about what I like about it. I panic. It’s my moment. I look around at all the super keen first year art students gushing over their favorite works talking directly into the camera, smiling, laughing, representing. Someone tugs on my shirt and says again, ‘you’ll love this, its your opportunity, its your chance’ I go to walk towards the camera, a head full of things to say about what I love about Hijacked, but my feet wont, cant don’t move. Like lead. I’m stuck. How could I possibly critique this exhibition? Who do I think I am? The person tugging on my shirt finally leaves in search of another young enthusiastic person actually willing to discuss the Hijacked work on the arts program. All around me I can hear snippets of typical opening night conversations, ‘what is a zine?’ How do you pronounce it? It’s sort of like to help the starving kids in Africa… or India. I heard she’s got a chic habit. Why don’t you just blog yourself into celebrity? He’s really up and coming but I will never buy his work etc etc. I love these nights and I never tire of the bullshit because I love the work, the freshness of it, the newness of it and the occasional danger in it. Later that night I’m alone in the gallery, I have a secret love affair with this time and consider the intimacy a privilege. This is my chance to take in the work and to commune with it. It’s an eerie feeling to replace a gallery with over 450 people in it with just one. Me. Here, sudden intricacies and the subtle details make themselves known and pan into a common thread and I think about the collective subconscious and I smile to myself and think about how much I would love the ABC arts program to film me right now, thinking intelligent things and then I sigh and remember that its all about the collective subconscious and we are kind of all connected anyway and my thoughts were probably conveyed subliminally to the hosts of the show and I laugh and think about how much I love this show, the dynamic energy and the dynamic conflict. Hijacked.
Nicolas Hose, New Century Modern Man, Actor, Writer and Art Critic.
All photos courtesy of Emmanuel Giraud © 2008.
One Video Still by Duncan Barnes © 2008.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
6pm Thursday 19 June
Australian Centre for Photography
257 Oxford St Paddington
Free Admission
In this panel we present a number of artists and curators who have developed innovative projects that cross national boundaries without the support of a major institution. All of these speakers are quite radical (and a bit subversive) in their attitudes and approach and the discussion promises to be lively and challenging.
Hosted by Maurice O’Riordan (Editor, Art Monthly), speakers include Mark McPherson (Hijacked), Danius Kesminas (Punkasila, the Histrionics), Aaron Seeto (Director, Gallery 4A) and renowned Australian artist Fiona Foley.
Fiona Foley is a Brisbane based artist and Adjunct Professor with the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Europe and the United States and her sculptural installations and photographs are today represented in all major public collections in Australia. She was a founding member of the Boomalli Urban Aboriginal Artists Ko-op in Sydney and has made a significant contribution to the international promotion of Australian art. Fiona exhibits regularly in Australia and internationally. Her solo exhibition Sea of Love is currently on display at Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane.
Danius Kesminas has worked in the fields of music, painting, sculpture, architecture, arson, film, poetry, theatre, criticism, sport and distillation. Danius is a founding member of the visual-art/music collective Slave Pianos; the concept-art-heritage-rock cover band The Histrionics; the Indonesian post-disaster-rock band PUNKASILA; the Shanghai all-girl noise band The Happy Endings. His most recent project in Phnom Penh entitled POL POP is the collaboration with a former Khmer Rouge propaganda singer fusing hip hop to the despotic rantings of Pol Pot. Danius recently uncovered a clandestine underground vodka pipeline network into Lithuania that was the subject of his exhibition Vodka Sans Frontières.
Aaron Seeto is the director of Gallery 4A, the Asia-Australia Arts Centre, internationally renowned for its innovative exhibition program reflecting Australia's cultural diversity. Gallery 4A maintains a significant and important dialogue with the Asia-Pacific region amongst artists, curators, writers and the general public. Before taking up the reins at 4A in late 2007 Aaron’s curatorial projects included News from Islands, an Asia-Pacific survey at the Campbelltown Arts Centre (2007); Otherworldsothernews, Starkwhite, Auckland NZ (2007) and Primavera at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2006). Aaron is also a practicing contemporary artist.
Mark McPherson is the editor/curator of Hijacked, a diverse and provocative selection of new photography from Australia and America, currently being exhibited at the ACP. Originating as a zine project in suburban Fremantle five years ago Hijacked grew through online and informal networks to eventually encompass the work of 44 Australian and US artists. In 2008 the publication will be launched and the works exhibited in Fremantle, Sydney, New York and Berlin.
Maurice O’Riordan (the Host) is Art Monthly Australia’s fifth full-time editor in the magazine’s 21-year history. He continues to work as a freelance arts writer and has previously worked for a variety of organisations in the arts and health sector, including Northern Territory Writers’ Centre, Northern Editions Printmaking Workshop, Charles Darwin University School of Art and SH. Ervin Gallery, Sydney. Curatorial projects have included (with Gary Lee) Love Magic Erotics and Politics in Indigenous Art (1999) and Nice Coloured Dolls (2004). He has never had an overseas residency and barely conceals his jealousy about those who have.
More info www.acp.org.au
Your chance to check out Hijacked artist DAVID GRIGGS / New Paintings / PREVIEW THURSDAY 19 JUNE 6-8PM / KALIMAN GALLERY, SYDNEY / WWW.KALIMANGALLERY.COM
After leaving NYC on Sunday, losing a day, having some delays with Qantas, finally I arrived in Sydney from New York City on Tuesday morning, June 12. Immediately after checking in at The Hughenden in Wollahra, I dropped in at the Australian Centre for Photography and set about some curatorial decisions with Malcolm Smith concerning the hang and arrangement of the work. Previously I had devised and created a masterplan for the hang at the ACP from the floorplan but due to the actual realisation of the space and the changes in the print sizes, a few changes were made to the final hang. Myself and Malcolm Smith spent two days working with Tony Nolan and his fantastic installation team. The prints had been unpacked a week before I arrived, so that they had time to absorb the air, to adapt and settle with the humidity.
The following is a photographic depiction of the installation. Eternal thanks to Alasdair Foster - Director of the ACP, Malcolm Smith, Tony Nolan and his amazing installation team and all the Australian photographers who made it to the exhibition opening. An event that was attended by over 500 people. Just a reminder, this week I will be speaking at FOREIGN AFFAIRS
6pm Thursday 19 June
Australian Centre for Photography
257 Oxford St Paddington
Free Admission
In this panel we present a number of artists and curators who have developed innovative projects that cross national boundaries. They talk about how their work is perceived outside compared to inside Australia, what difficulties arise when artists cross cultural borders and the strategies they have used to address these.
Hosted by Maurice O'Riordan (Editor, Art Monthly), speakers include Mark McPherson (Hijacked), Danius Kesminas (Punkasila, the Histrionics), Aaron Seeto (Director, Gallery 4A) and renowned Australian artist Fiona Foley.
More info www.acp.org.au
Get Hijacked: Without, leaving home!
