SOUNDINGS
Date: 1 - 3 June 2011. Place: St. George’s Anglican Church Venice. Campo S. Vio, Vaporetto Accademia
SOUNDINGS is an exciting three day event taking place during the opening week of the 54th Venice Biennale. It brings together artists from different disciplines and will comprise a series of discussions, artworks and readings.
Exhibition 12-5pm
As part of a programme of events, we are delighted to present an exhibition of work by two artists that have shown regularly in Venice. William Furlong’s Passage of Time, a sound piece made in Venice, uses voices heard and overheard, ambient street sounds recorded by the artist, and short snatches of footsteps from the soundtrack of the iconic film Don’t Look Now. The intention of this piece is to evoke the actuality of Venice from the middle distance. Terry Smith will be showing his new work Naming the dead, a hand-made book containing a series of evocative prints from his recent project The Foundling. By inviting the visitor to write the name of someone they knew and wish to remember, Smith places the work firmly on the boundary between art and life.
Venice Agendas
Following on from the successful Agendas series of past Biennales, the new Venice Agendas aims not only to continue the vital discussion facing contemporary art and critical practice as part of an international debate, but question its power as a cultural commodity. In the current climate, where national boundaries are being redrawn, cultural identities are being questioned and centres of global economies are shifting, this project aims to focus the debate within the context of culture as an expression of power through national identity. The debates do not propose to draw conclusions to what can be seen as age old concerns, but to continue a dialogue where its relevance lies in the speed of which the world is changing and the implications this has on a wider cultural debate. Three mornings of lively discussion and critical debate will start Wednesday 1 June with discussions from 10 – 11.30 (informal breakfast 9.30 – 10am). Discussion topics as follows:
Wednesday 1 June Breakfast from 9.30 – 10am, Discussions from 10 – 11.30
The Artist as Critic
“We may make comments that are not purely historical...” Carey Young Cautionary Statement 2007
Some, arguably the most radical and incisive art criticism, has been made by artists. Ubiquitous 'critical practice' and the inter-textual and performative role of the contemporary artist as critic and curator raise core issues, intellectual and ethical for both practice and criticism. Do we now need, as Christopher Townsend argues (Art Monthly 343) 'the acute historian rather than the imaginative artist'? Panel to include: Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, Martin Holman, Nathaniel Mellors, Rachel Withers, Richard Grayson with interventions from Jon Thompson and Lutz Becker
Thursday 2 June Breakfast from 9.30 – 10am,
Discussions from 10 – 11.30
National Assets: peripatetic global cultures
This year sees the prospect of new national pavilions for non-Western countries with economies strong enough to pay the rent: India, China, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, the UAE and Bahrain. With the Louvre and Guggenheim earning income by syndicating their collections, what is the role of culture and what is its place in the emergence of national identity and structures of power. Panel to include: Alan Haydon, Gayle Chong Kwan, Russell Martin,
Iona Whittaker, Jean Wainwright.
Friday 3 June Breakfast from 9.30 – 10am,
Discussions from 10 – 11.30
Hidden Agendas: Global Art Education and the Biennale Aesthetic
This discussion will investigate cultural differences between art education systems around the world and aims to explore the question: 'Is art education idiosyncratic and culturally contingent or does it incubate a more international style that we see exhibited at events like the Venice Biennale?' Panel to include: Chloe Briggs, Ingrid Koenig, Mark Gaynor, Sarah Rowles, Leah Gordon and Andre Eugene
Friday 3 June 5pm
Readings
To conclude the three day project there will be a series of readings by Maria Morganti (Italy), Lawrence Carroll (US) a performance by Holly Slingsby (UK) and text by Adonis Flores (Cuba), Mel Gooding (UK), and Marianela Orozco (Cuba).
Partners: workinprogress, Audio Arts, de la warr pavilion, Q-Art London, AICA UK, Exhibition supported by: St George's Church, Sonica Studios
Artquest provides critical engagement and practical support to London's visual artists and craftspeople, working with practitioners in London throughout their careers. www.artquest.org.uk
Audio Arts William Furlong established Audio Arts magazine in 1973, which now represents the most substantial archive of original recordings of contemporary art. He established the ‘Agendas’ events at Tate in London and at the Venice Biennale in 1984. www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/audioarts/
Q-Art London Sarah Rowles is a recent Goldsmiths BA Art Practice graduate (June 2010) and director of Q-Art London, a now 2,500 member strong self-educating forum for students, graduates and self-trained artists from across London. She is also author of ’12 Gallerists: 20 Questions’ and the soon to be released ’10 Course Leaders: 20 Questions’ – two books which, like Q-Art's programme, aim to open up closed art world discourses and the systems of art evaluation and HE level art education to a wider audience. www.q-artlondon.com
The De La Warr Pavilion is an international modernist icon for contemporary art on the south east coast of England, dedicated to commissioning and presenting new work. Its programme seeks to engage artists and curators within the broad spectrum of art, sound and music where the convergence of disciplines, ideas and practice offer new experiences for audiences. www.dlwp.com
AICAUK Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton President of AICAUK is an art historian and critic and former Editor of Artscribe International. AICAUK is part of a global association of art professionals with over fifty years of history, widening terms of reference and concern with the language and role of art criticism. Its members include some of the most distinguished people working in the visual arts who recognise that the role of the intermediary between art, the artist and the public has never been more diverse and relevant. Or more challenging. www.aica-uk.org.uk
St George’s Anglican Church Venice This is the third time that workinprogress has produced projects and events at St George's Anglican Church during the Biennale press week, a big thanks to the Chaplin Fr Howard Levett and the church council. We are happy to support their appeal to raise funds for the much needed restoration work of a church that has been an active presence in the life of Venice for over four hundred years and which has included John Ruskin among its past parishioners.
The Artist as Critic discussion led by AICAUK members: artists, critics, curators, mallthorpeguyton@hotmail.com
National Assets: peripatetic global cultures led by Russell Martin Artquest, r.d.martin@arts.ac.uk
Hidden Agendas: Global Art Education and the Biennale Aesthetic led by Sarah Rowles, Q-Art London director@q-artlondon.com
