Inter-Arts Projects, closing date 1 December 2009
ArtLab, closing date 1 December 2009
Connections Residencies, closing 7 December 2009

Introduction from Andrew Donovan, Director Inter-Arts

On behalf of the Australia Council, I am pleased to announce the artists who have been awarded grants for the Inter-Arts Projects, ArtLab and the Connections Residencies and to report on the 2010 assessment meeting.

Inter-Arts Projects grants support artists investigating emerging artistic practice through interdisciplinary and hybrid arts. The main focus for this category is to fund research and development, creative development and production.

The ArtLab initiative brings together artists in new creative, interdisciplinary collaborations that cross-fertilise ideas and artforms. The program is aimed at new collaborations between artists who engage in significant periods of interdisciplinary research and development.

The Connections Residencies initiative supports artists to undertake innovative residencies with non-arts business and industry. Projects aim to foster sustainable and mutually-beneficial relationships between artists and non-arts partners. The Australia Council worked closely with the Australia Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) to support artists initiating residency partnerships.

I would like to thank all applicants to this round, and I thank the panel members for contributing their expertise and consideration to assessing these grants and initiatives.

Feedback

The Inter-Arts panel noted the high quality of applications to all categories in this round. The breadth of innovative technology and interdisciplinary arts practices proposed within the projects demonstrates that artists are developing diverse and inspiring collaborations and residencies.

The panel were enthusiastic about the scope of Inter-Arts Project applications received, and recommended funding for 16 projects. They noted the strong artistic merit, vibrancy and new collaborations involved in these proposals. They believe this represented well the range of dynamic and resourceful interdisciplinary arts practitioners in Australia. The range of applications funded in this round extends across interactive arts and cross-media platforms, robotics, biological art, hybrid performance, live art and intercultural, ecological and community-based projects.

In the ArtLab assessment, peers commented on the innovative use of technology proposed to explore environmental issues in the successful ArtLab application. They emphasised that applicants to ArtLab must demonstrate evidence of strong partnerships in their program through co-funding, in-kind and community support. Proposals must also articulate a rigorous approach to interdisciplinary research and experimentation. The peers encourage all artists to contact Inter-Arts staff to discuss their ideas for ArtLab and other grants and initiatives.

In their assessment of Connections applications, the panel commended the participation of AbaF in providing advice to artists about possibilities for partnerships. They recommended funding for 7 Connections residencies across a range of artforms. Successful applicants in this category articulated the value and innovation of their new artist/business partnerships, emphasising the mutual benefits in the proposal.

Connections residencies funded include new partnerships exploring media arts and technology, intercultural and community collaboration in relation to land and property management, design and ecological manufacture, environmental sound art, and performance and visual arts with community organisations.

Peers encourage artists to use support material more effectively, suggesting in particular that those working with sound or performance should submit examples of previous work using MP3 or video files. Budgets must balance and outline all relevant co-funding and in-kind support.

Successful applicants

Inter-Arts Projects, closing date 1 December 2009

Keith Armstrong (Qld) – $19,900
Development of a multi-touch open-source computing interface configured for 3D, interactive and embodied artworks.

Bababa International (NSW) – $18,100
Production of 'Bird', a participatory artwork involving moving architecture and public dining, for the Next Wave Festival.

Campbelltown Arts Centre (NSW) – $20,000
‘SITELab’, a hybrid arts laboratory engaging with the diverse communities of South West Sydney.

Cindi Drennan (SA) – $15,000
Development of an interactive light and sound precinct in Lobethal, SA.

Ashley Dyer (NSW) – $18,570
Development and production of ‘And Then Something Fell On My Head’, a new interdisciplinary performance at the Next Wave Festival.

Petra Gemeinboeck (NSW) – $17,513
Research and creative development of ‘Loss of Transmission’, an installation involving robotic performers and interactive dramaturgy.

Tina Gonsalves (Qld) – $21,200
Art project exploring human-computer interaction in mobile communications.

Lian Loke (NSW) – $21,690
Research and development of ‘Luscious Apparatus’, wearable costume technologies informed by Body Weather performance principles.

William McClure (NSW) – $20,000
Creation of a large-scale installation made from foam blocks in relation to the moving body, video and architecture.

Deborah Pollard (NSW) – $12,780
Research and development of ‘Within and Without’, a hybrid performance event by Australian and Filipino artists.

Synarcade Audio-Visuals (NSW) – $22,100
Development of ‘Build Your Own Being’, a new interactive TV, online and mobile art project.

The Body is a Big Place (Viv) – $14,556
An art project exploring organ transplantation through collaboration through sound, performance, visual, kinetic and biological arts.

Lara Thoms (Vic) – $13,300
Research and development for ‘The Experts Project’, a durational performance and publication.

Tipping Point Australia (Vic) – $20,000
A gathering of artists and scientists concerned with climate change, as part of an international conference.

Western Edge Youth Arts Inc (Vic) – $20,000
‘Song Line Chronicles’, a project connecting Indigenous, migrant and refugee communities in an interactive artwork drawn from oral histories and hybrid art practices.

Michael Yuen (SA) – $18,500
Creation of ‘Phone Lectures’, a new performance intervention artwork in public spaces in Sydney and Beijing.

Inter-Arts ArtLab initiative, closing date 1 December 2009

Keith Armstrong (Qld) – $75,000
‘Remnant/Emergency Clinic’, a research and media arts experimentation project to urgently improve ecological health, working in collaboration with Natalie Jeremijenko, Tony Fry, Leah Barclay and James Muller across Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Australia Council Connections residencies, closing date 1 December 2009

Drennan, Cindi (SA) – $30,000
Residency with Sanyo Australia (NSW) and Mosaic AV (SA) to develop audiovisual projection sculpture technology.

Alex Kershaw (NSW) – $30,000
Residency with the NSW Land and Property Management Authority for a mapping project in Waterloo, NSW.

Greyspace (Vic) – $30,000
Sue McCauley and Keith Deverell in residency with The Belgrave Group construction company, for a community-based public arts project bridging Cambodia and Dandenong, Vic.

Stuart McFarlane (Vic) – $30,000
Residency with Plantic Technologies (Vic) to research bioplastics in craft and design.

Victoria Spence (NSW) – $30,000
Residency with Elite Funerals (NSW) to develop contemporary memorial ceremonies integrating cultural and artistic practices.

Hollis Taylor (NSW) – $30,000
Residency with SoundID (Qld) developing birdsong recording and sonographic analysis for new music.

Gemma-Rose Turnbull (Qld) – $30,000
Residency with St Kilda Gatehouse for a collaborative photography project with community members.

Funding statistics

Inter-Arts Projects

Applications received: 61
Applications funded: 16
Amount approved: $293,209

ArtLab

Applications received: 8
Applications funded: 1
Amount approved: $75,000

Connections

Applications received: 35
Applications funded: 7
Amount approved: $210,000

Total grants: 24
Total amount approved: $578, 209

Panel members

The following peers attended the meeting:

Kristy Ayre (Vic)
Kristy is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and a performer for Chunky Move, with recent performances including Mortal Engine, I want to dance better at parties, Tense Dave and the 2006 solo Glow. Kristy is a collaborator and performer for Luke George's LIFE-SIZE and was also a 2009 Splendid Lab artist.

Teresa Crea (SA)
Teresa works across media as a writer, director and creative producer. Her practice spans from grass roots, popular and participatory, to contemporary and experimental live art events, and she has presented work nationally and overseas in the UK, Singapore and South America. Teresa is currently completing a PhD via creative practice investigating narrative and cognition in digital media.

Cat Hope (WA)
Cat is a composer, sound artist, songwriter and noise artist whose interdisciplinary practice crosses over into video, performance art and installation. She runs the Bloodstar music label and production company and is head of the composition and music technology departments at the Western Australian Academy of Fine Arts at Edith Cowan University.

Seán Kelly (Tas)
Seán is a writer, curator, arts consultant, arts administrator and arts project manager. He has been Director of Contemporary Art Services Tasmania, past president of CAOS (Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia), Program Manager and Curator at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork, Ireland, General Manager of Kickstart Arts, worked as Program Officer at Arts Tasmania, and is currently Arts Officer at the Moonah Arts Centre.

Lizzie Muller (NSW)
Lizzie is a curator and writer specialising in interaction, audience experience and interdisciplinary collaboration. She was founding curator of Beta_space at the Powerhouse Museum, Digital Arts Producer for the Junction Art Centre, Cambridge, UK and is currently Senior Lecturer at the School of Design at the University of Technology, Sydney. In 2007-9 Lizzie was also a collaborating artist in the Thinking Through the Body ArtLab project.

Lubi Thomas (Qld)
Lubi is Curator at the ‘Block’ New Media Exhibition Space, in the Creative Industries Precinct at the Queensland University of Technology. As an artist she is part of Davis Thomas, in collaboration with Adrian Davis, making large scale artworks exploring interactivity in public and gallery spaces.

Vicki Van Hout (NSW)
Vicki is a Wiradjuri woman and a dancer, choreographer and performer. Her recent roles include performances with Bangarra Dance Theatre, the Sydney Symphony, Aboriginal / Islander Dance Theatre, Marilyn Miller ‘Fresh Dancers’, One Extra Company, and Urban Theatre Projects.

Also joining the meeting to assess the ArtLab round:

Stephen Jones (NSW)
Stephen is an Australian video artist and electronics engineer, who is researching the history and development of art and technology as represented in computer graphics, electronic imaging and video art in Australia. He has worked with the Advanced Telecommunications Research Laboratory in Kyoto, Japan; for television industry and art installation projects in Sydney; and has had several exhibitions of his own digital artwork.

Also joining the meeting to assess the Connections round:

Damien Hodgkinson (Vic)
Damien has experience with major Australian performing arts organisations and cultural festivals, including recent roles as General Manager of Melbourne Fringe Festival and Chair of Polyglot Puppet Theatre. He is currently the Victorian Director with the Australia Business Art Foundation (AbaF).

Lena Nahlous (NSW)
Lena is Executive Director of Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE). She established Artfiles, an employment and engagement program for Western Sydney artists, the Switch Multimedia and Digital Arts Access Centre and was a co-founder of the Sydney Arab Film Festival. Lena has recently received an Asialink Arts Fellowship to Hong Kong, participated in the Australia 2020 Summit and was named as one of Sydney’s 100 Creative Catalysts by Creative Sydney.

Australia Council staff

Staff present included Andrew Donovan, Director Inter-Arts; Ricardo Peach, Program Manager Inter-Arts; Kathryn Gray, Inter-Arts Program Officer; Laura Potts, Inter-Arts Section Co-ordinator; Sally Hilton, Inter-Arts Administrative Assistant; and for Connections Hanna Durack, Project Officer Theatre Board, Emma Blong Project Officer Visual Arts Board and Michelle Brown, Administration Officer Operations.