Visible City
10 September 2010
Keynote project of the 2010 Melbourne Fringe Festival
Visible City is a live art venture that sees eleven artists creating new work every day of the festival, from 22 September to 10 October 2010.
'I think live art is simply a term for work that slips between the cracks,' artist Lara Thoms explains. 'This kind of work does not sit comfortably in institutions, galleries or theatres, which is why we need to come together to create our own opportunities and possibilities. Visible City is an initiative that will support this kind of practice in a wild way. It will be an intense and inspiring laboratory to tease out this kind of practice, to attract new audiences to this kind of work, and to hopefully, pop some magic into our familiar environments.'
Artists participating in the project come from around Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, and each works across artform conventions. They are Jen Jamieson (WA), Kerry Ann Lee (Dunedin, NZ), Sally Ann Macintyre (Dunedin, NZ), Rachel Main (VIC), Jason Maling (VIC), Sarah Rodigari (VIC), Joned Suryatmoko (Jogyakarta, Indonesia), Lara Thoms (VIC), Ingrid Voorendt (VIC), Willoh S Weiland (VIC) and Melody Woodnutt (QLD).
These Visible City artists are exploring live art for Melbourne streets, with the brief to make quickly, to use initiative and intuition, and to create work that is urgent, needed and connected to the present. Live art is a hybrid area of practice, drawing on visual art, performance and technology. It is grounded in theory and adapting to Australian spaces and local populace, here and now.
Visible City is developed, curated and produced by Melbourne Fringe as part of the Made by Melbourne Fringe program. Emily Sexton and Martyn Coutts are leading the project with Melbourne Fringe, with a range of facilitator and speakers. Emily says, 'We’ll be creating new art every day of the festival; intervening, interrupting and inspiring your experience and understanding of Melbourne. Combined with a fascinating forum series featuring Visible City artists and leading Australian thinkers, it’s a great opportunity to really open up a conversation about what live art is in Australia and the Asia-Pacific, and where the artform might go next.'
You can visit the artists as they work at The Commons, a converted shop on Jane Bell Lane in QV. To find out more about the project and artists, and where they will be presenting work throughout Melbourne, check www.melbournefringe.com.au/visiblecity for the latest details. This site will be updated daily with upcoming projects, and images and footage of what has happened so far.
The Inter-Arts Office and the Theatre Board of the Australia Council for the Arts have supported Visible City, an initiative to support the development of Australian live art.
Image: Photography and design by Something Splendid, courtesy Melbourne Fringe Festival.
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