Capturing Creativity: Week 2

Last week in Capturing Creativity we looked at artists: how to become one, about Artist Run Initiatives (or ARIs), commercial galleries and the way artists make a living in the world. We visited Dianne Tanzer’s commercial gallery and her “THIS IS NO FANTASY” exhibition, as well as Gertrude Street Contemporary, and were tasked with creating a presentation on an artist from one of these exhibitions or similar.

Looking at artists as individuals, it becomes clear why they are inspired and driven to create the type of art that they do with their preferred mediums.

I chose Chris Bond as my artist to present, after feeling particularly drawn to his work in the Dianne Tanzer gallery. Chris was a student here at RMIT and earned his Honours in Fine Arts (Painting).

He is best known for his work with oils on linen and his meticulous recreations of books, magazines, art catalogues and horror novels that are hyper-realistic to the extent that you mistake them for literature. From a young age he was interested in art and “as a teenager [he] copied things obsessively with pencil – not for public display, but purely for [his] own pleasure”. Chris’s work intrigued me because as an artist myself, I understand how incredibly difficult it is to represent real life objects with a paintbrush.

“I’ve been making small paintings of fictional exhibition catalogues for shows that I’ve never had, at a range of fictional art spaces, with accompanying fictional funding agency logos, set in the past, present and future.

It’s a way of implanting myself in my work as a kind of artist of my own imagining, then using this as a basis for critique – for the shortcomings of my own practice, and as a satire of professional artistic ambition.”

                                                            – Chris Bond

I can already feel that my awareness of the contemporary art world is expanding, and with that my desire to learn more is growing too.

 

Capturing Creativity: Studio Semester Goals

The dawn of a new semester at RMIT brings the exciting prospects of a specialised studio. My allocated studio is headed by Louise Turley; Capturing Creativity.

My semester goals for this studio are quite simple. There’s only two of them.

One, to put in 100% effort to all tasks that are assigned to me, and then to add an extra 10% effort every week into revising what I have learned and attempting to apply it to real-life situations so that I am constantly thinking both practically and creatively. This can include writing an extra blog post or simply going to an ARI and supporting local and Australian artists.

Two, to get out of my comfort zone, and properly immerse myself into life at uni and within this course. This may include sending out my applications to potential work attachment companies, to making friends with someone new in every class, to making a conscious effort to ask questions in class.

I spent the majority of Media 1 finding my feet in uni life, and scraping by in terms of my grades. This semester I want to use my knowledge and experiences in the art world to enable me to develop an insight into the lifestyle of an artist.

Furthermore, I want to develop my skills as a media practitioner, and broaden my horizons and skill set in this field. My goal is to become more proficient in editing using Premiere Pro CC, which I will be able to do through the major assessment of Capturing Creativity.

I feel like this semester holds so many exciting prospects and I can’t wait to see them unfold.

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