Power Shift exhibition March 23- 30, 2009

An exhibition 'Power Shift' was installed in the Foyer space at the School of Art and Design at East Carolina University this week. A collaborative work between Marilyn Forbes (School of Art and Design custodial staff) Wafaa Bilal (visiting artist from Tisch School of Arts at NYU), Adam Jacono (photo grad) and myself explores artmaking and performance, the mop as art making instrument, performative gesture of the  mop 'stroke' and nature of the repetitive mop stroke as body memory-art gesture.

One significant result of this collaboration was the recognition of the moment when power shifts from the director of the performance to the participant artist as the collaboration is happening - in this case between Wafaa and Adam (as directors) and the artist (Marilyn). Initially the process began as being formally directed by Wafaa and then the power shifted within the process to Marilyn as the embodiment of artist / painter making all artistic and directive decisions.  In my piece, (the video as documentation) the process of artmaking and the result when all power is handed over to the maker becomes the focus for the performance- the art piece being the mop and bucket. 

Big thanks go to Marilyn Forbes for being enthusiastic, committed and willing to trust us in our process, Wafaa Bilal for his inspiration and committment to art practice and Adam Jacono for being a great host and co-collaborator in the process.

Biggest thanks go to Marilyn for her willingness to participate and Adam for making this happen.

Update on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 10:43AM by Annie

Power Shift #2 (Working title only)

As a result of the success of Power Shift, Wafaa Bilal, Annie Hogan, Adam Jacono, Nathan Brines and Marilyn Forbes will be presenting the next installation of works in the Mendenhall Student Gallery from August 25 through September 30th. 

Visiting Artist Wafaa Bilal

Artist Wafaa Bilal visited East Carolina University this past week. We had the pleasure of having him here in the photography department.  Wafaa is an amazing and courageous and talented artist who is currently an assistant professor at the Tisch School of Arts, NYU.

" Wafaa Bilal's childhood in Iraq was defined by the horrific rule of Saddam Hussein, two wars, a bloody uprising, and time spent interned in chaotic refugee camps in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Bilal eventually made it to the U.S. to become a professor and a successful artist, but when his brother was killed at a U.S. checkpoint in 2005, he decided to use his art to confront those in the comfort zone with the realities of life in a conflict zone. Thus the creation and staging of "Domestic Tension," an unsettling interactive performancepiece: for one month, Bilal lived alone in a prison cell-sized room in the line of fire of a remote-controlled paintball gun and a camera that connected him to internet viewers around the world. Visitors to the gallery and a virtual audience that grew by the thousands could shoot at him 24 hours a day. The project received overwhelming worldwide attention, garnering the praise of the Chicago Tribune, which called it "one of the sharpest works of political art to be seen in a long time," and Newsweek's assessment "breathtaking." It spawned provocative online debates and ultimately, Bilal was awarded the Chicago Tribune's Artist of the Year Award."

See here for more of his work:

www.wafaabilal.com

His latest book, "Shoot an Iraqi" can be viewed and purchased her. Check him out. He's fabulous!

New Skin opens tomorrow: 7th February 2009

New Skin: Contemporary Queensland Photo-media , opens tomorrow at the new swanky digs of the Queensland Centre for Photography at Southbank, Brisbane. Architects Allan Jack+Cottier have designed the new 220 Sqm exhibition complex and bookshop located on the corner of Cordelia and Russell Streets, South Brisbane. The complex is comprised of four exhibitions spaces as well as video projection facilities.

The QCP has developed a national reputation as the hub of a creative, stimulating community that supports established artists while nurturing new ones. This opening will provide an exciting opportunity to see a survey of Queensland’s rich contemporary photographic art practice.

 

See here for the QCP

See here for the show : New Skin: Contemporary Queensland Photo media

Occupation : Artist opens tonight!

Tonight in Clinton, South Carolina at the Elizabeth Stone Harper Gallery at Presbyterian College the exhibition, Occupation : Artist opens. It is organised by the Women's Caucus for Art of Georgia and it is the First Annual Multimedia Juried Exhibit featuring 21 artists from the Southeastern US region.

If you are in the Clinton region on South Carolina, drop in between 5-8pm.

Yay.

   Field of Mine, from the Battleground series

                                                                                          Backwards, from the Seen and Not Heard series

Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection

My work "Comfort" is showing at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia in Gallery 14, Level 3. If you are in Melbourne, pop in and check it out!!