{"id":2195,"date":"2022-12-04T13:50:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T02:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visiblespace.com\/blog\/?p=2195"},"modified":"2022-12-04T15:06:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T04:06:15","slug":"media-space-1981-1986","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/visiblespace.com\/blog\/?p=2195","title":{"rendered":"Media-Space 1981-1986"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This exhibition at the Art Gallery of Western Australia presented\u00a0documentation of the multi-disciplinary projects undertaken\u00a0by Perth-based art collective\u00a0Media-Space<\/a>\u00a0across its life-span, 1981-1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curated by Paul Thomas and Julian Goddard, it shed light on a period in Western Australian art when\u00a0artists such as\u00a0Judy Chambers, Anne Graham, Jeff Jones, Will Kohlen, Brian Mckay, Lindsay Parkhill, Neil Sullivan, Paul Thomas and Allan Vizents\u00a0dissected the social and political role of art to examine, amongst other issues how the colonial power structures shaped life in this state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isobel Wise, AGWA Associate Curator of Australian and Western Australian Art Post 1970, said, “The group\u2019s various explorations of artistic activities and experiences were employed to investigate themes such as suburban expansion, the layout of the city and its modes of graphic embellishment, class and gender structures, as well as pointedly reframing the state\u2019s development narratives (of the period\u2019s economic boom) as being essentially colonialist.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media-Space projects drew from conceptual and performance art, as well as emerging computer and telecommunications technologies. In addition to live events and exhibitions, a key element of their work was the documentation and distribution of artworks and artistic research through offset lithography, lo-fi photocopied publications and audio cassette tapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Cook, AGWA Curator of Western Australian and Australian Art, said, “Much like today\u2019s Artist Run Initiatives that are such a key part of a flourishing arts scene, Media-Space was based on a collaborative ethos grounded in critical discussion about how artists might creatively intervene in and change the culture that surrounded them. To this end, they developed a graphic and textual \u2018inquiry model\u2019 that guided their exploration of the world through a very focused consideration of, as they put it \u2018the ways that historical, sociological, natural, perceptual, scientific, geographical, archaeological and unknown contexts interconnect\u2019.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this framework, Media-Space\u2019s activities (performances, videos, photo-essays, texts, installations, soundworks) typically allowed for unplanned outcomes and the focused unravelling of expectations about how\/why\/where art might occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across its five years of activity, Media-Space gained a local, national and international profile that included the presentation of the installation REDLINE at AGWA as part of the 1984 Festival of Perth program; the group was integral to a burgeoning moment in the Perth art scene of the early 1980s, that included PRAXIS, The Centre for Fine Arts at the University of WA, and the Artworkers Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition is curated by Julian Goddard and Paul Thomas with material from the Media-Space and Allan Vizents archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Media-Space 1981-1986 16th July- 20th November 2022 Art Gallery of Western Australia. \u00a9RiftPhotography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Related content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Access Media-Space<\/em> performance and meetings audio as well as a recording of the Media-Space Roundtable<\/em> event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LISTEN HERE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can access a complete scan of the Media-Space<\/em> Compendium<\/em> 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIEW HERE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This exhibition at the Art Gallery of Western Australia presented\u00a0documentation of the multi-disciplinary projects undertaken\u00a0by Perth-based art collective\u00a0Media-Space\u00a0across its life-span, 1981-1986. Curated by Paul Thomas and Julian Goddard, it shed light on a period in Western Australian art when\u00a0artists such as\u00a0Judy Chambers, Anne Graham, Jeff Jones, Will Kohlen, Brian Mckay, Lindsay Parkhill, Neil Sullivan, Paul… <\/p>\n

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