Nervous Tension
CURATED BY
Anabelle Lacroix
WORKS BY
Kieran Boland and Brie Trenerry, Megan Cope, Janet Laurence, Dani Marti, Diego Ramirez, Inez de Vega, and Bar Yerushalmi.
17.06.2014
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Project supported by Arts Victoria
Within the framework of FDV Residency, Careof presents Nervous Tension, a screening curated by Anabelle Lacroix, resident during June 2014. Nervous Tension presents a selection of video works by Australian artists exploring the meaning of survivance, a condition of being suspended between survival and resistance.
Originally coined by French-Canadian speakers to describe the loss of their language and frequently used in Quebec before the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, survivance refers to a form of cultural dispossession. The concept was popularized by the well-known historian Gerald Vizenor to describe a condition of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas as a sense of belonging/presence despite the widespread feeling of absence and nihilism; an active state of being manifested through resistance as a form of opposition to disappearance. Nervous Tension aims to expand the concept of survivance to the broader context of cultural production and existence. This idea is exemplified in the video works through the presentation of different states or positions of resistance, whether physical, metaphysical, personal, environmental, or inherent to the artistic medium itself. Thought, truth, and permanence underline this intention also in relation to Jaques Derrida’s position expressed on the concept of survivance as linked to the witness, someone who survives beyond an event. These works are assumed as testimony or perhaps as evidence. In particular, the works by Megan Cope and Inez de Vega highlight this idea, intertwining with personal stories as well.
Survivance, in its contemporary meaning, evolves into a stage of becoming and potential. The other works in the screening are without dialogue, never silent, but without words. In their distinct approaches, the works of Dani Marti, Janet Laurence, Bar Yerushalmi, Diego Ramirez, Kieran Boland, and Brie Trenerry show states of contemplation, reflection, and poiesis. The project is part of a broader focus on the independent Australian scene that Careof explores throughout 2014 through exhibitions, lectures, and video screenings, inviting some of Melbourne’s independent realities to spend a residency period at FDV Residency Program.
Videos shown in order of appearance:
Kieren Boland and Brie Trenerry, Greenmount, 4’52’’, 2012
Megan Cope, Blacktism, 8’4’’, 2014
Janet Laurence, Dingo (from Fugitive series), 4’7’’, 2013
Dani Marti, Golden Years, 8’31’’, 2014
Diego Ramirez, Radish, 4’19’’, 2013
Inez de Vega, Dying Not to Be, 8’21’’, 2013
Bar Yerushalmi, Prélude pour un paysage, 8’48’’, 2013
Under the patronage of Comune di Milano
Bio
Anabelle Lacroix lives and works in Melbourne. Her research is situated in the field of multimedia arts and representation dynamics. She holds a degree in International Program in Curating Art at Stockholm University and pursued a Master’s by Research in Art History at University College London. Anabelle regularly writes for exhibition catalogues and magazines. She is currently the program manager of Liquid Architecture, a sound art organization in Melbourne.
Kieran Boland and Brie Trenerry use video as their medium of expression. They work both individually and collaboratively. The artistic practice of Kieran Boland (Australia, 1969) ranges from video to drawing. He has exhibited widely in Australia and participated in several residencies abroad. Brie Trenerry primarily works through digital media and installations to create environments and atmospheres that reflect her research related to cinematic tropes. Trenerry has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne, and her video works have recently been shown both in Australia and internationally. She is a founding member of Kings ARI, a non-profit gallery in Melbourne. Brie Trenerry is represented by Marte Gallery and is currently pursuing a PhD at RMIT University, Melbourne.
The artistic research of Megan Cope (Australia, 1982) focuses on issues related to identity, environment, and maps. Her works have been presented in Australia and internationally at PARAsite Gallery in Hong Kong and City Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. She has also exhibited as part of ‘Lie of the Land: New Australian Landscapes’ at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC. She was recently commissioned a site-specific work for the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. Megan is a Quandamooka woman from Minjerriba (North Stradbroke Island) in southeast Queensland and a member of the proppaNOW collective in Brisbane. Megan Cope is represented by Fehily Contemporary in Melbourne.
The work of Janet Laurence (Australia, 1947) addresses relationships with the natural world through both site-specific interventions and gallery works. Her pieces have been included in several major exhibitions, curated and shown at prominent institutions in Australia and internationally. These include Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney (2012); 17th Sydney Biennale, Sydney (2010); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2010); Adelaide Biennale, Adelaide (2008); and Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, Japan (2003). Janet Laurence is represented by ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.
Dani Marti (Spain, 1963) works across video, installation, and public art. The artist’s unorthodox intertwinings and filmic works address concepts of portraiture and sexuality in Modernism, Minimalism, and geometric abstraction. Since 1998, Marti has exhibited in over 33 solo shows. Recent exhibitions include 2014: Adelaide Biennial, CCA Glasgow; 2013: Stills, Edinburgh; Videonale-14, Kunstmuseum Bonn; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2011); Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (2010); and Cinema X: I like to Watch, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (2010). Dani Marti is represented by ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne.
The work of Diego Ramirez (Mexico, 1989) is driven by an interest in themes of body and identity. He recently participated in the Summer Studio residency at Blindside ARI (Aus) and presented his work at Melbourne Now’s Rooftop Transmissions (Aus) and Stuttgarter Filmwinter (De). In 2013, his work was shown in a solo exhibition at Seventh Gallery (Aus) and presented at Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize (Aus), The Substation Art Prize (Aus), WRO 15th Media Art Biennale (Poland), Channels Video Art Festival (Aus), and Currents Santa Fe International New Media Festival (New Mx, USA). Diego Ramirez lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.
Inez de Vega’s artistic practice spans video and performance, often investigating the relationship between the two. In 2013, Inez participated in a two-month residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and was awarded by the Art Gallery of NSW, where she created ‘Dying Not to Be,’ a theatrical monologue on the complexities of suicide. Her visual references come from classical painting, the filmic representation of the anxious and dissociated woman, and Cindy Sherman’s photographs in Untitled Film Stills (1977-1980). Inez de Vega has exhibited widely in Australia and abroad in China, Chicago, and Berlin.
Bar Yérushalmi (Israel, 1989) is a video artist and curator. Solo shows include La Chapelle des Petites Augustine, Paris (2010) and The Thelma-Yellin gallery in Tel Aviv (2006). He graduated in 2013 with a degree in Fine Arts from École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Bar Yérushalmi lives and works in Melbourne, Australia.
Residency
Anabelle Lacroix, Cj Conway
22.05 > 20.06.2014
In collaboration with: Kings Ari and UN.Magazine and Ats Victoria
Within the framework of FDV Residency, Careof acts as a spokesperson for the research of Cj Conway, guest of the residency during June 2014.
During the residency period, the artist conducted an investigation into the meaning and perception of the miracle in the contemporary world, understood as the occurrence of an extraordinary event that escapes rational comprehension.
Through the collection of video interviews with people she met, she created a visual diary of her stay, which addresses different points of view on the issue through the narration of personal stories.
The project will take the form of an installation to be presented in Melbourne in autumn 2014.
At the same time, Anabelle Lacroix curated the screening Nervous Tension, a selection of video works by artists based in Australia exploring the meaning of survivance, a condition of being suspended between survival and resistance.
The project is part of a broader focus on the independent Australian scene that Careof has been exploring throughout 2014.