Optical Mix Australian Centre for Contemporary Art 16 August

Optical Mix Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

16 August – 28 September 2014 Optical Mix : The Exhibition ACCA Education

Optical Mix brings together a series of works that use light, kinetics and visual oscillations. Although the exhibition presents various artistic styles, movements (some historical, others contemporary) influences, materials and techniques there is a common thread between the works: they all optically mix elements – be it colour, light, line, shape or pattern – to play with or shift the viewer’s visual perception. In Optical Mix there is colour mixing, blending and shifting, geometric Op Art operations and kinetic movements.

Optical Mix accompanies the ACCA commissioned exhibition, SLAVE showcasing work by Aus- tralian artist Christian Capurro. ACCA’s Artistic Director, Juliana Engberg curated both exhibitions and although they may appear at first glance quite distinct, they both share similar optical issues and qualities of light, lumines- cence and movement. A Spot Of Context And A Dash ACCA Education Of Art History

To support an in-depth explora- and consecutive movement; line; tion of Optical Mix it is important perspective; colour contrasts and to provide context around key art chromatic vibration. historical and contemporary movements and styles evident in the The term Op Art was first coined exhibition, including: Op Art, Neo- in a 1964 Time magazine article, Impressionism, Minimalism and to describe the new, intense vi- Conceptual Art. sual art style that was emerging. Op Art came to prominence as a OP ART movement after an exhibition The Responsive Eye at the Museum “OPTICAL ART IS A METHOD OF of Modern Art (MoMA) New York. PAINTING CONCERNING THE IN- Curated by William C. Seitz, the ex- TERACTION BETWEEN ILLUSION hibition displayed work by a range AND PICTURE PLANE, BETWEEN of artists exploring perception and UNDERSTANDING AND SEEING.” senses including Victor Vasarely, (John Lancaster. Introducing Op Art, Lon- Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly and don: BT Batsford Ltd, 1973, p. 28.) Bridget Riley. Op Art (or Optical Art) is an art Describing Op Art in the exhibition style that refers to painting and press release, Seitz described them sculpture in which precise arrange- as works that “exist less as objects ments of colour, line or shape are to be examined than as generators used to create illusions of move- of perceptual responses in the eye ment (vibration, pulsing, warping, and the mind of the viewer. Us- swelling), patterns, light or space. ing only lines, bands and patterns, flat areas of colour, white, gray or Artists have long been intrigued black … perceptual artists establish by the nature of perception and a new relationship between the by optical effects and illusions, observer and a work of art.” (MOMA however it was the Op artists who Press release, 1965 delved further. Informed by art and https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/ pdfs/docs/press_archives/3439/releases/ science of the past to exploit vari- MOMA_1965_0015_14.pdf?2010 ). ous phenomena: the after-image ACCA Education

“These new kinds of subjective and fight for women’s rights; new Glossary experiences, which result from the developments in science - advanc- simultaneous contrast of colours, es in computing, aerospace, tech- Colour theory: in visual arts is the after images, illusions and other nology and television; explosion theories behind colour mixing and optical devices are entirely real to of consumerism and mass media. the visual effects of specific colour the eye even though they do not combinations. Including the co- exist physically in the work itself. Finally, although Op Art is gener- lour wheel, colour harmonies and Each observer sees and responds ally viewed as an ephemeral art contrast. somewhat differently.” (Seitz). trend it’s processes, influences, aesthetic qualities, and intentions Gestalt theory: is a psychology These relationships that Seitz iden- (shifting perceptions) are still term which means “unified whole”. tified between the viewer and the present and impacting upon art It refers to theories of visual percep- artwork still play out today and are created today. The influence of Op tion developed by German psychol- present in the works within ACCA’s Art is evident in contemporary art ogists in the 1920s. These theories Optical Mix. within Optical Mix by artists such attempt to describe how people as Joseph Kosuth, Ugo Rondi- tend to organise visual elements Op artists of the 1960s were typi- none, Nike Savvas, Callum Morton into groups or unified wholes when cally concerned with the behav- and Daniel von Sturmer, whose certain principles are applied: simi- iour of the eye and perceptions. work exhibits alongside the ‘moth- larity, continuation, closure, prox- Their work incorporated and was er of Op Art’ Bridget Riley and her imity, area and symmetry. informed by the study of optics, Op Art contemporaries. visual perception, Gestalt theory Optics: the scientific study of sight and colour theory being explored and the behaviour of light, or the from the mid 19th century scien- properties of transmission and de- tists such as Helmholtz (1821-94) flection of other forms of radiation. and Chevreul (1786-1889. Visual perception: is the ability to When Op Art emerged in the interpret the surrounding environ- 1960s it was a time of great so- ment by processing information cial and political change: a time that is contained in visible light. of challenging and overturning This is done while incorporating traditional values with antiwar all the integrated information with protests, the civil rights movement other things, such as past experiences, so that we can derive understanding and meaning from what we are experiencing. A Dash Of Art History continued... ACCA Education

Neo-Impressionism: the viewer when seen at the right distance. This separation of colour Colour Theory through individual strokes came to be known as divisionism, while the Led by Georges Seurat and Paul application of precise dots came to Signac, the Neo-Impressionists be called Pointillism. (1886 – 1906) based their practice around scientific studies of colour The artistic applications of colour analysis and visual perception, theory and contrast by the Neo- including the influential research Impressionists influenced many The Law of Simultaneous Co- artists, styles and future move- lour Contrast, 1839, by Eugene ments, including the Op Artists, Chevreul. Chevreul’s study ex- who informed by such art and Paul Signac, plored colour contrast: the change science, created optical illusions French 1863–1935 Juan-les-Pins. in the appearance of a colour through use of colour contrasts when surrounded by another Evening (first version) 1914 and chromatic vibrations. oil on canvas colour. Chevreul concluded that 73.0 x 92.0 cm if two colour areas are seen close Private collection together in space or time, each will shift in hue and value as if the complementary colour of the neighbouring or preceding colour were mixed with it. For example: orange rimmed with blue, red with green and yellow with purple.

Informed by this and the practice of the preceding Impressionists, the Neo-Impressionists started creating landscape paintings using tiny dots of pure colour. Instead of being mixed on the palette, the Neo-Impressionists stippled pure dots of juxtaposed or complementary colour side by side, so the colours fused optically in the eye of A Dash Of Art History continued... ACCA Education

Kinetic Art: Movement pression of ‘what you see is what Conceptual Art: The Idea but instead is a concept or an idea. you get’ is evident in Optical Mix Le Witt attached great importance Kinetic means relating to mo- in Joseph Kosuth’s work and mini- Conceptual art is artwork that to the primacy of ‘the idea’ stating, tion. Kinetic art emerged during malist sentimentalities in Daniel emphasizes the idea or concept “all of the planning and decisions the 1950s as a diverse movement von Sturmer’s practice. instead of the traditional aesthetic are made beforehand and the that experimented with both real or physical concerns of a work. execution is a perfunctory affair.” and apparent movement. The Op The conceptual art movement bor- His attitude can be illustrated by Artists created implied movement rowed elements from linguistics, the fact that many of his works can through the repetition of line, soci- ology, history and philosophy be constructed by anyone who fol- pattern and contrasting colours wishing to stand apart from the lows his written instructions. to create illusions of movement. ‘art market’ as well as separating Some examples of artworks in itself from the current economic, In Optical Mix there are examples Optical Mix that reference Kinetic political, social and cultural estab- of conceptual practices in works Art are Jean-Pierre Yvaral’s Inter- lishments of the time. Fundamen- by Martin Creed and Joseph Ko- ference with circle ‘A’ and Bridget tally conceptual art values the idea suth. Riley’s Nineteen Greys and Aurum. more than the way it is represented. Conceptual art has its roots All I make are models. The actual with the European Dadaists but works of art are ideas...All art Minimalism: Minimal emerged as a movement in New (after Duchamp) is conceptual (in nature) because art only exists Minimalism emerged at a similar York in the 1960’s. French artist conceptually. Joseph Kosuth time (mid 1960s) and context to Marcel Duchamp paved the way Op Art. The movement sought to for the 1960’s and 70’s conceptual- create a pure, geometric, abstract ists, with his iconic ‘Readymades’. art in which the physical proper- The idea becomes the machine ties of space, scale and materials that makes the art. LeWitt, Sol 1967, were explored as ends in them- “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,” Artfo- selves, rather than metaphors or rum. extensions for meaning. It was hoped that the process of reduc- Along with fellow leading concep- tion would result in a unitary ex- tual artist Sol Le Witt, Optical Mix perience for the viewer: “all I want artist Joseph Kosuth exemplified to get out of my paintings… is the the conceptualist notion that genu- fact that you can see the whole ine art is not a unique or valuable ideas without any confusion”, physical object created by the explained Frank Stella. “What you physical skill of the artist - like a see is what you see.” A similar ex- drawing, painting or sculpture - Op Art Aesthetic Qualities ACCA Education

Op and ‘optical mixing’ artists In Pause Riley has created the illu- In To a Summer’s Day, Riley added The exhibition Optical Mix re- exploit various phenomena to cre- sion of a three dimensional warp colour to her repeated line work. veals to the viewer a range of ate their artworks: the after-image in the picture plane; she used The use of contrasting, comple- contemporary artists whose work and consecutive movement; line repeated circles and introduced mentary colours painted in these has been influenced, directly and interface; the effect of dazzle; subtle variations of form and co- long strips are reminiscent of indirectly, by the Op Art style. ambiguous figures and reversible lour to create a visual warp, gradu- twisting ribbons. Each wave has They have created artworks that perspective; successive colour ally compressing the black circles three colours at any one point, explore or reference the role of contrasts and chromatic vibration; into grey ovals, like they are being starting and ending at every crest optics, the behaviour of our eyes and in three-dimensional works sucked into the picture. of trough. The colours used are and exploit or play with the basic different viewpoints and the layer- complementary: light blue and elements and principles of art: ing of elements in space. yellow ochre are the basic pair of colour, shape, line, pattern and colours, into which small threads repetition. Op artists practicing in the 1960s, of rose and violet appear to accen- such as Bridget Riley, Jean-Pierre tuate the warm pulsing, wavering Yvaral and Stanislaus Ostoja-Kot- and moving curves of each wave kowski, were typically concerned and line. with the behaviour of the eye and perceptions. They created abstract compositions to explore a variety of optical and perceptual phe- Black and White Op Art Example: nomena; first experimenting with Bridget Riley, Pause, 1964. high contrasting black and white shapes, line and form then later exploring the use of complementary colour, line and shape to sug- gest space and create contrast.

Colour Op Art Example: Bridget Riley, To a Summer’s Day, 1964. The Science Behind Op Art ACCA Education

Op Art plays with the relationship the anterior chamber that is filled Light And The Eye adjust upwards, we begin to see between our eye’s retina (the organ with a water based fluid (the aque- more and more detail. that ‘sees’ pattern) and the brain ous humor), through to the lens, (the organ that interprets pat- into another water-based fluid (the Colour And The Eye terns). When visual stimuli (such vitreous humor) and finally onto as colour, light and pattern) causes the retina. As the Neo-Impressionists ex- confusion between these two plored, colours appear to change organs, it creates a perception that In the centre of the Iris is the eye’s depending on their proximity to in reality does not match the true aperture – the Pupil. This hole other others. For example a red image (tricks our brains into seeing allows light to enter the retina. It shape on a white background ap- things which may or may not be changes in size depending on the pears much lighter than the same real). This results in a shift in our amount of light present, to limit the As seen in the diagram, the iris red shape on a black background. perception or optical illusion. amount of light that enters through dilates or contracts in response Complementary colours placed the eye. to light, as it attempts to regulate next to each other also create dif- the amount of light entering the ferent intensities than when placed Inside the retina at the back of the eye. When it expands or contracts, some distance apart. This manipu- eye are the cells that respond to the muscles in the iris also cause lation of colours and perception (process) light: these are called the size of the pupil to increase or of colours informed the coloured photoreceptors and there are two decrease in size. work of Op artists. Some colours types: RODS and CONES: placed next to neutral gray’s ap- • In dim light the iris contracts pear to create new colours, an • Rods: are most sensitive to light and the pupil is large echo of a colour, an after image. and dark changes, shape and • In strong light the iris expands movement and contain only one and the pupil is small. More information about colour Visual Perception And type of light-sensitive pigment. contrast and visual colour adapta- • Cones: are not as sensitive to This process is called ADAPTA- tion can be found online: The Eye light as the rods, but the cones TION, and refers to our ability to are most sensitive to green, red adjust the sensitivity of the recep- Perception refers to the interpreta- • http://www.loveofgraphics.com/ and blue colours. Signals from tor cells in the retina (cones and graphicdesign/color/colorcon- tion of what we take in through our the cones are sent to the brain rods) in response to the general eyes. The eye is a sophisticated trast/ which then translates these level of illumination. An everyday • http://www.scifun.ed.ac.uk/ organ that allows us to see as it messages into the perception example of this is: on going out of captures visible light. pages/about_us/shows_adapta- of colour. Cones only work in a darkened room into a bright light tion.html bright light and that explains space, we may at first see little Light passes through the cornea, why you cannot see colour very or nothing, but as the sensitivity through the iris (and pupil), into well in dark places. of our eye’s receptor cells slowly Optical Mix Artists And Artworks ACCA Education Joseph Kosuth Martin Creed Ken Jacobs Jean-Pierre Yvaral Cake Industries Ugo Rondinone Daniel von Sturmer Bridget Riley Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski Nike Savvas Callum Morton Joseph Kosuth ACCA Education

#II49. (On Color/ Multi #3), 1991 the ideas of many leading artists, art? If it is not simply about fash- sandwiched between their respec- neon, transformer and certificate writers and philosophers includ- ioning forms and colours, then it tive two colours: Yellow Orange, of authenticity ing: James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, has to do with the production of made by mixing it’s corresponding 14 x 400 cm Collection Anna and Franz Kafka and Ludwig Wittgen- meaning. My practice is based on colours, Yellow and Orange; and Morry Schwartz stein and, although minimal in that assumption. If you begin there Blue Purple, made by mixing it’s character his art is intensely rich in you realise that potentially every- corresponding colours green and The artist and their subject matter. thing is material for art, because at blue. some point it has to have an aspect practice Key ideas of concretion and must be framed Presented on a warm grey wall, the work illuminates the space and Joseph Kosuth, a pioneer of in relation to people’s lives. It does introduces the exhibition and it’s American conceptual and instal- Kosuth’s installations often use text not need to illustrate or work with themes to the viewer. The words lation art, was born in Toledo of a monumental size, quoting from that, but it does need to have a con- replace images and objects to pro- Ohio in 1945 and currently resides literature, philosophy, anthropol- nection to the community which voke thought around the idea and between New York and Rome. ogy and at times his own thought produced it.’ concept, rather than the art object As a student he attended Toledo to form a forty-year enquiry into itself. Museum School of Design from the relationship between language

1955-62 before enrolling at the and art. Kosuth heralded the way Cleveland Art Institute in 1963. for the use of text in art and was Further research Since the 1960’s Joseph’s artwork one of the first to give words such a has focused on the connections central role in artwork. Joesph Kosuth, Biography, Guggen- between language and representa- heim Museum: http://www.guggen- Kosuth’s work is considered to heim.org/new-york/collections/collection and is considered one of the be groundbreaking in the dem- tion-online/artists/bios/1070 originators of the conceptual art onstration of art, object and idea. The artwork movement. Exploring the relationship between Joesph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, language and meaning, his earliest #II49. (On Color/ Multi #3), contin- MoMA: http://www.moma.org/learn/ Renowned for his groundbreak- works are seen as the beginnings ues Kosuth’s conceptual investiga- moma_learning/joseph-kosuth-one- ing work One and Three Chairs of the conceptual art movement. tions into language and neon, an and-three-chairs-1965 (1965), featuring a chair, a photo- Key concepts to think about when interest since 1965. The work con- graph of that chair, and a text of a approaching Kosuth’s work revolve sists of seven glowing, illuminated Joesph Kosuth, (Waiting for -)Texts for Nothing, ACCA Archive: https://www. dictionary definition of the word around context, significance, per- and differently coloured words and ‘chair’, Kosuth’s art practice came accaonline.org.au/exhibition/joseph- ception and consciousness. numbers, spelling the phrase: 1149. kosuth-waiting-texts-nothing-samuel- to prominence in the 1960’s creat- The coloured intermediary between beckett-play ing works that explored the very For Joseph Kosuth art is about two colours. The statement is an nature of art itself. Kosuth’s prac- making meaning. He asks of him- exact description of what this work Joesph Kosuth interview: http:// tice has continued a dialogue with self ‘What is the nature of making displays: two intermediate colours, vimeo.com/60644959 Joseph Kosuth ACCA Education Martin Creed ACCA Education

Work No. 312 Key ideas The artwork Further research A lamp going on and off, 2003, Materials and dimensions vari- Martin Creed uses materials which Similar to the ideas within his Martin Creed website: http://www. able; 1 second on / 1 second off are light and playful; ordinary, yet Turner Prize winning work, Work martincreed.com © Martin Creed courtesy the artist evocative. Creed creates ‘situation- No.312 makes us, the audience, and Hauser & Wirth Photo: Stefan al projects’ which make use of the think immediately about the ac- Work No 227: (http://www.mar- Altenberger Photography, Zurich particularities of space and circum- tion occurring – the light flicker- tincreed.com/site/words/work-no- stance. Creed’s work can also be ing on and off. It is an everyday, 227-the-lights-going-on-and-off The artist and their characterised as witty and mini- commonplace action, made using malistic, focusing on anti-material- everyday, commonplace materi- Martin Creed, The Lights Off, ACCA Archive: https://www.accaonline.org. practice ism and defying commodification. als. Yet in using such ordinary au/exhibition/martin-creed-lights-0 Believing there is enough “stuff” in materials and action it, as Maurizio Martin Creed is an English sculp- the world, Creed says his work is Cattelan writes, “has the ability to tor, installation and conceptual Martin Creed, What’s the point of about the qualities of ‘nothing’ compress happiness and anxiety artist, born in 1968. He graduated it? Hayward Gallery, The Guardian within one single gesture. Lights review, Feb 2014: http://www.the- from the Slade School of Fine Creed uses the central theme of go on, lights go off – sunshine and guardian.com/artanddesign/2014/ Art in 1990 and was awarded nature of art itself and the relation- rain, and then back to the begin- feb/02/martin-creed-whats-the-point- the Turner Prize in 2001 for Work ship between art and reality, art ning to repeat endlessly.” (Martin hayward-review No. 227: The lights going on and and life. “I don’t believe that my Creed website) off, which was an empty room in work is conceptual art. The Lights Martin Creed interview: https://www. which the lights went on and off youtube.com/watch?v=BH_YDixizCA Off is a visual rather than con- The work also plays with the pupil at 5 second intervals. ceptual work. While it sits within dilation and adaptation of visitors conceptual art making, it is like a to the exhibition. The light flickers painting. And while it has differ- on causing the iris to expand, mak- ent elements, it is compositionally ing the pupil small. Then suddenly, similar to painting, only using light just as our eyes have adjusted, the and shade” (Martin Creed, 5 Octo- light flickers off, causing our iris to ber 2005). contract, making the pupil large. It is relentless and it doesn’t stop. After a while, as our eyes become more fatigued, one can see new colours forming from the light being reflected on the grey walls surrounding the artwork: hints of a yellow, golden, red, blue sunset on the horizon appears. Martin Creed ACCA Education Ken Jacobs ACCA Education

Brain Operations, 2009 22:08 mins, The artwork At times the shifts between im- Further research black and white, silent, HD video ages are slow, allowing the viewer Image and text courtesy Electronic Ken Jacobs’s homage to op art, to look intently into the pattern. Ken Jacobs website: http://www.stars- Arts Mix, New York Brain Operations, was inspired Then suddenly it shifts, speeds up pangledtodeath.com by an optical illusion produced so fast that the change of scale The artist and their by chequered tiles on the artist’s only flashes before you, and then EAI, (Electronic Arts Intermix): http:// bathroom floor. ‘When editing another change, this time the www.eai.org/artistBio.htm?id=6877 practice 16 mm film, I had reached for a squares appear to be rotating strand and closed my hand around Ken Jacobs is a pioneer of the around, then it goes to black, then nothing,’ Jacobs explains. ‘I had American film avant-garde of it starts again; all in all creating visually coupled similar- appearing the 1960s and 70s. Jacobs has an aggravating visual experience. frames, popping them forward in been practicing in experimental New optical illusions are created space. It was a life- changing mo- film making (both digital and in the process; a bulging geomet- ment ... I’m staring down and the analogue) since the late 1950s. ric circle appears to pulse in the tiles come up almost to my nose.’ Born in Brooklyn, New York 1933, middle of the screen as the foot- (EAI website) he currently lives and works in age shifts from large to small tilted New York City. squares and smaller circles and In this work, we see squares and repeated circular patterns appear diamonds, or ‘tilted squares’ shift- as the tilted squares rotate at great Key ideas ing and optically mixing. The pat- speed around the screen. tern of the tilted squares changes Jacobs is most interested in in- according to the size of the pattern vestigating the cinematic experi- (eg, large squares, small squares) ence, particularly the act of view- and the speed of the frame (or im- ing. As he describes, “my work age) changes. The title of the art- is experiential, not conceptual. I work refers to the viewer’s mental want to work with experiences all activities watching this film work. the time.” (EAI website). Jacob It is dazzling but confronting and sees cinema as a “development of unpredictable. mind” and is interested in the way the viewer interacts with his moving image works and is intrigued by the nature of human vision and perception. Ken Jacobs ACCA Education Jean-Pierre Yvaral ACCA Education

Interference avec le cercle `A’ (In- included moiré patterns, kinetics circle’s midpoint. As you get closer Glossary terference with circle `A’), and an altering of the two- dimen- and closer to the work you begin to 1966 rubber and synthetic poly- sional plane, in an effort to mess notice the radiating circles in more In Physics an interference is the mer string, brass tacks, synthetic with viewers’ experience. Yvaral’s detail. Because it is a circle all the combination of two or more elec- polymer paint and wood 62 x 62 x works in the mid-1970s were com- lines, white painted lines and black tromagnetic waves that move on 21.5 cm posed using computer- program- string lead up into the middle, to intersecting paths or mediums. J W Power Collection, University ming algorithms, and he coined the centre three-dimensional sup- The interference of waves causes of Sydney, managed by Museum the term ‘Numerical Art’ to de- port. Yvaral has used the basics of the medium to take on a shape of Contemporary Art, purchased scribe a new kind of digital visual Moire line pattern to create this il- that results from the net effect of 1967 © Jean-Pierre Yvaral/ ADAGP. language. lusion: where the black string over- the two individual waves upon the Licensed by Viscopy, 2014. laps with the white lines it creates particles of the medium. From 1968 Yvaral started to cre- an illusion of a circle. The illusions ate many paintings, reliefs and shift and change depending on Eg. when two stones are dropped The artist and their screenprints with vigorous colour where you are standing and how in a pool of water, waves spread interactions and geometrical com- far away you are from the work out from each source and interfer- practice positions suggesting movement, ence occurs where they overlap. projection and recession. Jean-Pierre Yvaral, was born in Further research Moiré pattern: In mathematics, 1934 and died in 2002. He was a The artwork Jean-Pierre Yvaral biography, TATE: physics, and art, a moiré pattern is French optical/kinetic painter. He http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jean- a secondary and visually evident studied graphic art and publicity This artwork plays with your mind pierre-yvaral-2182 superimposed pattern created, at the Ecole des Arts Appliques in and opens up new optical sur- for example, when two identical Paris and first experimented with prises as you shift your stance and Interface: http://www.physicsclass- patterns (usually transparent) on a room.com/class/waves/Lesson-3/ geometrical abstract art in 1954. distance to the work. As the title flat or curved surface are overlaid Interference-of-Waves while displaced or rotated a small Interference with Circle A sug- Key ideas gests, there is a visual interference amount from one another. The Moire patterns: https://www.questa- occurring between the black and con.edu.au/visiting/galleries/wonder- combination of the layers creates In the early 1950s, Yvaral began white lines. an alias pattern experimenting with geometrical works/exhibits/moire-patterns abstract art and founded, with The white lines appear to be radiat- Moire Circles image example: other like-minded optical artists, ing from the centre. As you move a movement called the Groupe from side to side you can see a de Recherche d’Art Visuel or the black triangular shadow-like form Research Group of Visual Art. that moves around the circle. You The artists wanted to form a new also notice thin radiating circles language of visual effects that pulsing and thumping out of the Jean-Pierre Yvaral ACCA Education Cake Industries ACCA Education

[ everything ], 2014 MDF, ply, plas- The artwork Inspired by the ancient port gate- Pixels were once more easily iden- tics, LEDs, microcontrollers, duct- ways that were monuments to in- tifiable. In the early ages of digital ing, wire, speakers The work was commissioned by dustry and symbolised power and technology, one could see them courtesy the artists ACCA for the exhibition and it importance, Cake Industries have visibly on the screen, as dots, presents the pixel as an icon in a created their own contemporary forming together to make an im- The artists and their choreographed (sequenced) opti- gateway. The two columns, cov- age. Ten years back, one could see cal mix of colour and form. Cake ered in geometric pixels stand tall pixels if they put their eye right practice Industries have used a range of installed in the middle of the gal- to the screen. But today our digi- Our Practice different technologies, circuits lery, taking the form of a “future tal technology is so refined, with Melbourne based Media Artists and programming to deconstruct relic” to be worshipped, explored high quality retina displays, that Jesse Stevens & Dean Petersen the screen and create what they and walked through. the pixel has become so small and have worked under the collabora- call a ‘beautiful mess’ to celebrate unrecognizable to the naked eye, tive pseudonym of Cake Industries the pixel. There is a dull humming sound it has almost disappeared from since 2006. They are artists, tinker- emitted constantly from the large our conscious. By creating this ers and futuristic dreamers. ‘We are a world locked in a co- column structures, this sound kinetic monument, Cake Industries dependent relationship with the although created by Cake Indus- want to remind us of the beautiful, Key ideas screen. From homes to workplac- tries through a digital synthesizer, muddled aesthetic and importance es, mobile devices to billboards, references the hums that AC of the pixel in our daily lives, cul- Their practice concentrates on the screen is a constant. It pro- (alternating current) power emits ture and society. electromechanics, handmade elec- vides our entertainment, informa- – heard most clearly in old elec- tronics, lighting, and robotics to tion and communication needs 24 tricity transformers in some of our The moving and flickering colour create anthropomorphic, autono- hours’ a day. The screen is a ubiq- local streets. or ‘content’ for each pixel was mous, self regulating objects to uitous tool with which we interact sourced and digitally programmed investigate ideas of reality, future, with our world. Manifesting as a The pixel content in both towers by Cake Industries inspired by tele- and culture. Heavily influenced shrine to the screen, [ everything is not unified, they run separately vision artefacts such as static, bad by 1950s science fiction dystopia, ] is a call to a new world order in to each other. The footage runs on TV cable or VHS mess. Although their work blends old world sensi- which technology becomes our a loop so you never see the same static, (a concept the younger bilities with new world perspective doctrine. The building blocks imagery, pattern or colour twice. generation will have to Google!) to present an anachronistic repre- making up the screen — the pixel Cake Industries don’t want the appeared like a black and white sentation of society. — are presented as monumental audience to see or read this work mess, it is actually, close up, a full (from: http://www.cake.net.au/ sculptures, worthy of independent as or like a screen. They want to spectrum of coloured pixels – in- about/) worship. It is through deconstruc- break apart the screen and focus cluding blue, grey, white, cream tion of the screen as a whole and on the core elements that make tones. In this work the viewer amplification of scale that we up a screen – it’s pixels. can see this monument to static expose the beauty and intricate and the other iconic remnants of nature of the individual pixel.’ pre-digital technology, as the pixel Cake Industries ACCA Education content wavers, flashes, dances and illuminates the space.

All the aspects of technology in [ everything ] have been magnified: the pixels are supersized geometric forms. The electrical cables powering the pixels grow out of the structure, wrapped in thick plastic tubes. The humming sound is magnified so it fills the space with a warm electronic feel. The back of the work reveals the util- ity of the technology – it is a like a large-scale version of the back of our TV cabinet or Computer desk.

Further research

Cake industries website: http://www. cake.net.au

Cake Industries Youtube: https://www. youtube.com/user/cakeindustries

Cake Industries Anachron: http://www. fedsquare.com/events/anachron/ Ugo Rondinone ACCA Education

No. 243 ZWEIUNDZWANZIGS- Key ideas As Juliana Engberg, curator of Op- The artwork TERMAERZZWEITAUSENDUNDEI, tical Mix describes: “Rondinone’s 2001 Rondinone’s Zweiundzwanzig….. dazzling, hypnotic target paintings This painting, in the tradition of Acrylic on canvas is a part of his Target painting lure us into a momentary state optical art, has a hypnotic effect on On loan from the collection of series. In image reproductions of ecstatic suspension. We are the viewer. Hanging on the back Naomi Milgrom AO Photo: John Rondinone’s target paintings ap- pulled, like synethesiacs towards wall of the gallery, you can see it Brash pear to be reminiscent of Ameri- their licorice swirls to savour the peeping through the narrow door can Pop (Jasper Jones, Target) or sensation of candy thick colours frames, enticing you, drawing you The artist and their colour-field abstraction (Kenneth that disperse and dissolve like into the gallery space. The thick Noland) but in reality they are fairy floss. Yet there is something candy coloured concentric bands practice more than that. They are vibrating, of the placebo about these delec- have been applied so precisely out electric canvases that play with of a spray can, creating illuminat- Rondinone is a swiss born (b1964) table visual bonbons. They excite your perception. The arrangement ingly soft edges. It is absorbing, artist living and working in New yet deflect reflection: they satisfy of the candy coloured concentric consuming, always changing and York. The stylistic and technical because they humour our desire circles appear to glow, creating pulsing depending on the move- range in his art practice is so broad for diversion and visual entertain- the illusion of a concave plane. ment and position of the viewer. that his work gives the impression ment. And yet they are solipsistic Rondinone’s target series, despite As you move closer towards the that it could have been made by in their structure. A round, around being two dimensional, create and white centre your eye focuses in several artists. As Juliana Engberg, and round they go.’ evoke the dimensionality of three- the white middle, playing with ACCA’s Artistic Director explains in dimensional works. your pupil as it dilates and con- the ACCA catalogue Clockwork for tracts. It appears like the coloured Oracle, “Rondinone’s visual culture rings are expanding outwards, converses with many sources… pulsing, as if you are being sucked His homage to artists includes in to the middle white light void, everyone from, as Warhol would surrounded by dazzlingly soft put it, A to B and back again.” candy rings. There are however, specific themes and symbols that are common in Kenneth Noland, Installation shot, Pace Gallery, his practice: confectionary colour, New York, 2014. pop culture references, stimulating senses, playful, but melancholic. Rondinone often creates hypotic works or spaces that either play with your senses or are difficult to make sense of. Jasper Jones, Target with four faces, 1955 © 2014 Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Ugo Rondinone ACCA Education

Further research

Ugo Rondinone, Clockwork for Oracle, ACCA Archive: https://www.accaonline.org.au/exhibition/ugo-rondinone- clockwork-oracle

Ugo Rondinone, AGNSW Featured Artist: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov. au/exhibitions/new-contemporary- galleries/featured-artists-and-works/ ugo-rondinone/

Ugo Rondinone, Gladstone Gallery: http://www.gladstonegallery.com/artist/ugo-rondinone/work#&panel1-1

Ugo Rondinone, Kaldor Art Projects: http://kaldorartprojects.org.au/project- archive/ugo-rondinone-2003

Ugo Rondinone, Wikepedia: http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugo_Rondinone Daniel von Sturmer ACCA Education

Painted Video (Sequence 1), Key ideas The artworks lour, von Sturmer pours another 2009 Single-channel High Defini- tone into the middle of the circle. tion digital video 16:9, colour, Von Sturmer’s visual experiments Daniel von Sturmer’s optical Instead of blending, the colour silent, 2:46 mins often involve simple, everyday shapes in Painted Video were cre- forms a new circle and pushes Painted Video (Sequence 2), materials which explore percep- ated by studio experiments testing the first layer out. The process is 2009 Single-channel High Defini- tion, space and time. They relate the viscosity of paint surfaces and repeated, with yet another tone, tion digital video 16:9, colour, to the history of painting, sculptur- colours during a free pour. Char- creating concentric paint rings and silent, 2:55 mins al space, kinetics and the moving lotte Day, writing in 2009 for von a target of colour. Painted Video (Sequence 3), image, referencing and replaying Sturmer’s exhibition at the Anna 2009 Single-channel High Defini- aspects of modernism, minimal- Schwartz Gallery, says that an The camera captures the action tion digital video 16:9, colour, ism and abstraction, in a playful ‘integral aspect of von Sturmer’s from a birds eye angle, hovering silent, 2:38 mins and intimate way. Von Stumer is practice is that the footage is not over each coloured circle. This en- courtesy the artist and Anna interested in how objects and ma- edited or manipulated. There are ables the viewer to see the steady Schwartz Gallery terials can take on new meanings, no “special effects” — this is how flow of paint dripping from the top depending on their context. paint behaves.’ of the frame, into the middle of the The artist and their frame and circle’s bullseye. Each Von Sturmer delights in convert- Von Sturmer’s work continues the sequence plays independently practice ing the banal object into a thing art-history trajectory by pushing of one another - there is no sync of curiosity. His use of the video ‘abstract painting into the territory between them. Each sequence is Daniel von Sturmer was born in camera, with its capacity to zoom of video and process-based work’. on a loop, so it finishes with a fully 1972, Auckland, New Zealand. in and out, pan, track, enlarge and The title of these screen works, expanded colourful target then He completed a MA in Fine Arts diminish as need be, allows him Painted Video, leaves no mystery starts again to the beginning, with at RMIT in 1999 and in 2001 was to make common things behave in to the viewer — they are ‘both just a dot of colour. It is a mes- awarded a Samstag Scholarship. strange ways, drawing attention painting and video’. merising work to watch, the slow Daniel von Sturmer works in a to their innate, physical potential. speed and glossy nature of the range of media to explore the In an age when special effects and Each sequence is dedicated to a paint and shiny colours grabs your relationship between pictorial and digital manipulation are com- specific colour and tone, Sequence attention and sucks you into the real space, expectation and per- monly incorporated into photog- 1 red and dark/light red tones; sequence. ception. He explores how we see raphy and video work, he retains a Sequence 2, green and dark/light and what we see. His works play strong sense of truth and refrains green tones; and Sequence 3, with fundamental laws govern- from utilising any visual digital blue and dark/light blue tones. ing perception and the inertia or enhancements. The videos capture the pouring of kinetic nature of objects. shiny, wet, coloured paint onto a black surface. As paint is poured the circle stays intact, but grows in size. Adding to the base co- Daniel von Sturmer ACCA Education

Further research Glossary

Daniel von Sturmer website: http:// Viscosity is a measurement of www.danielvonsturmer.com/Blog/ how resistant a fluid is to attempts to move through it. A fluid with a Daniel von Sturmer interview (ar- low viscosity is said to be “thin,” tistic process): https://www.you- while a high viscosity fluid is said tube.com/watch?v=aNbnerVB-b4 to be “thick.” It is easier to move through a low viscosity fluid (like Daniel von Sturmer interview water) than a high viscosity fluid https://www.youtube.com/ (like honey). watch?v=i3lfZ7rew_c

Daniel von Sturmer interview with Lesley Guy: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=x2z6AvUXq2E

Daniel von Sturmer, Anna Schwartz Gallery: http://www. annaschwartzgallery.com/works/ works?artist=16 Bridget Riley ACCA Education

Aurum 1976 synthetic polymer Key ideas ‘Colour is the proper means for The artwork paint on canvas 105.5 x 272 x what I want to do because it is 4.5 cm Purchased 1976 Photo: Since the 1960s she has been prone to inflections and inductions Aurum is seen on approach to the AGNSW courtesy Art Gallery of creating paintings and prints that existing only through relationship; Optical Mix exhibition. It hangs on New South Wales explore visual sensation and expe- malleable, yet tough and resilient.’ the first gallery wall, appearing to © Bridget Riley 2014. All rights rience. Bridget riley from ʻThe Pleasures glow against the deep and warm reserved, courtesy Karsten Between 1961 and 1964 she of Sightʼ, 1984 grey wall. It’s soft green, light grey, Schubert, London worked in purely black and white baby blue, pastel pink and gold acrylic paints as she was inter- Describing the development of strips create a wavering pattern The artist and their ested in the vibrations and energy her own Op art style, Bridget Riley that warmly welcomes the visitor that was created between the two has said: in. ‘Aurum’ is Latin for ‘gold’, and practice tones when combined with line, this colour is threaded throughout geometric shape or pattern. From “I couldn’t get near what I wanted this work, creating what has been Bridget Riley, born 1931 in Eng- 1964 Riley started to introduce and through seeing, recognizing and referred to as sound waves. The land, is often referred to as the play with colour in her practice, as recreating, so I stood the problem kinetic effect of this patterning ‘mother of op-art’ because of the seen in Aurum. Deeply influenced on its head. I started studying creates an illusion of visual and key role she played in the rise by the style of painters like Seurat squares, rectangles, triangles and auditory vibrations. of optical art during the 1960s and the Neo-Impressionists and the sensations they give rise to... and ’70s. The style concentrated inspired by colourful Egyptian hi- It is untrue that my work depends on abstract perception, illusions eroglyphics, Riley began to create on any literary impulse or has any in visuality and things that blur. works that explored the interaction illustrative intention. The marks Riley was born in London, and she and contrasts between colours, on the canvas are sole and essen- worked as a teacher and in adver- shape, line and pattern, creating tial agents in a series of relation- tising before concentrating on her pulsing rhythmic compositions. ships which form the structure of art practice. the painting.” (Bridget Riley on Op Art website) Bridget Riley ACCA Education Bridget Riley ACCA Education

Nineteen greys from the portfolio The artwork In Nineteen greys Riley manipu- Further research: Nineteen greys 1968 screenprint lates the circular shapes and tonal on acetate with alternative white Bridget Riley named this series contrasts to generate complex vi- Tate Gallery, Nineteen Greys, cata- or grey ground card 75.9 x 76 cm Nineteen greys because of the sual sensations. She provides the logue entry: http://www.tate.org.uk/ acetate works are printed in 19 tones of viewer with clues into the organi- art/artworks/riley-b-p07113/text-cata- Purchased 1976 Photo: AGNSW grey. Riley said the ‘tonal structure zational structure and processes logue-entry courtesy Art Gallery of New South provided both a contrast in terms behind the work (and also reveals Wales of light and dark and, where con- her meticulous, mathematical Bridget Riley, Artist Biography, TATE: © Bridget Riley 2014. All rights trast is reduced or absent, [there planning) in a framed instructional http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ bridget-riley-1845 reserved, courtesy Karsten is] a release of colour — empha- drawing:

sis upon sheer hue.’ Gene Baro, Schubert, London Bridget Riley interview: https://www. the curator of their first showing The grid: there are two types of youtube.com/watch?v=_G9eGzxQq2U in 1968 said: ‘Nineteen greys is grid that form the basis for each based upon the idea and sensation pattern: Bridget Riley, Pace Gallery: http:// of denial. It involves certain visual www.pacegallery.com/artists/392/ juxtapositions and confrontations • Diagonal grid in opposition to bridget-riley where the elements or their activi- the horizontal and vertical axial ties neutralise one another, can- movements Bridget Riley, Op Art Biography, Op cel one another out. The central Art: http://www.op-art.co.uk/bridget- riley/ subject of the prints is the result • Vertical / horizontal grid, op- of this neutralisation or cancella- posed by diagonal axial move- tion.’ (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/ ments artworks/riley-b-p07113/text-catalogue-entry) The colour: There are two types of grey: Unlike her painted works (such as Aurum) these works were screen- • Warm opposes cold. The tonal printed. Using the screenprint me- variations in the grey creates dium for these works has enabled the sense of movement (fast or Riley to create luminous, subtle slow). tonal variations within each shape whilst keeping their sharp crisp • In each print, the directional edges and flat appearance. flow of the tones is at variance with movement of the angles and the structure of the grid. Bridget Riley ACCA Education Stanislaus Ostoja- Kotkowski ACCA Education

Sunrise (circa 1965) collage and Key ideas Further research: Glossary: synthetic polymer paint on alumin- ium 119.5 x 119.5cm Purchased Throughout his career, Ostoja- Wikipedia, Stanislaus Ostoja- Kot- Line moiré pattern 1977 Photo: AGNSW courtesy the Kotkowski was influenced by light kowski: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Created when the superposed lay- Estate of J S Ostoja- Kotkowski and kinetics, and pioneered inno- Joseph_Stanislaus_Ostoja-Kotkowski ers comprise of straight or curved and the Art Gallery of New South vative techniques using laser. lines. Wales AGNSW Stanislaus Ostoja- Kotkowski: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/ The artwork collection/works/?artist_id=ostoja- The artist and their kotkowski-stanislaus The colour and pattern is most pratice striking in this work. As the title, Abstract Australis, Stanislaus Ostoja- Sunrise suggests, it is suggestive Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski was Kotkowski: http://www.abstractaustra- of a blurry sunrise on a hot desert born in Poland and migrated to lis.com.au/artists/artist.cfm?id=1076 day. It is reminiscent of the Austra- Australia in 1949. He studied at lian outback and radiates warmth. Line Moire: http://en.wikipedia.org/ the National Gallery School in wiki/Line_moiré Melbourne, and later spent one Inspired by the illusions cre- year working in the central South ated using line moiré pattern, the Australian coalfields. He has shapes appear like open shutters, reflected on how his time there revealing colours and shapes lying influenced his artistic direction. ‘In underneath. Line moiré pattern is the centre of Australia,’ he says, the visual effect of two lines over- ‘I was struck by the iridescence of lapping each other and the resul- the colour ... Not only did colour tant movement and shape created seem to be vibrating with intensity, from the blending. In this case, but at the same time it gave the the blending has created sun-like impression of being something circles; a shape we see repeated solid ... The surroundings were through Optical Mix. drowned in an exciting light that had a life of its own.’

Stanislaus Ostoja- Kotkowski ACCA Education Nike Savvas ACCA Education

Sliding Ladder: Octagonal Prism Savvas wants her work to exist on mary school involved making the seen in Savvas’ Sliding Ladder 2010 ,‏#1 wood, wool, stainless many different levels and plat- Sliding Ladder curve with string works is one of the main ideas in steel courtesy Kon Gouriotis forms. The titles of her artworks wound around an L-shaped row mathematical calculus: the use of Sliding Ladder: Octagonal Prism provide the viewer with clues for of nails hammered into a velvet straight lines to represent curves. #2, 2014 interpretation, but she believes covered wooden board ... I think Sliding Ladder: Octagonal Prism that they shouldn’t be seen as a we’ve all made one at some point’. In Sliding Ladder Savvas uses #3, 2014 singular or linear meaning. Rather, Savvas’s school education was the wool as the colour palette as wood, wool, stainless steel they have a ‘nebular impact’, and prior to the advent of ipads and well as the form generator. The courtesy the artist, Arc One Gallery provide a starting point or sugges- ipods, a time when mathematic process of weaving colourful lines Melbourne and The Apartment tion for interpretation, as her work principles were taught through an around the octagonal prism cre- Athens is more about the unique experi- experiential approach — learning ates the hourglass form that floats ence that every person has when by doing. inside the sturdy geometric frame. The artist and their interacting with her work. The octagonal frames have been “Sliding Ladder is named after an designed and crafted according to practice Colour is a constant and core ele- algebraic equation (x2/3 + y2/3 = a meticulously worked mathematical formula (Savvas collaborated Nike Savvas is a Sydney based ment of Nike Savvas’ practice and L2/3) that gave rise to string art in with mathematicians to work out artist, born 1964, renowned for her is visible in the works exhibited in the 1960s and 1970s. In this I refer- the equation). physically immersive and optically Optical Mix. “The way I use colour ence optical art (eg Riley) and, dazzling installations. Originally in different series of works var- in a broader sense, use this as a trained as a painter, Savvas works ies. On the whole, though, I like means to address different per- seamlessly across sculpture, in- the way colour can transport the ceptual modalities.” (Nike Savvas stallation, kinetic and light-based viewer to a metaphysical weight- in Interview, Art Collector) media. less state.” (Nike Savvas, Vogue Living) Savvas has used a very DIY aesthetic to create the works – raw Key ideas The artwork wood and knitting wool. Savvas likes the idea of using materials Nike Savvas’s work explores ab- from the ‘real world’ and turn- stract, coded (mathematical) and The three works presented in Opti- ing them into ‘high art’, blurring formalist methodologies. She also cal Mix were part of an exhibition the boundaries and distinctions creates her work with historical titled, Sliding Ladder at Breens- between what is art and what is and allegorical references, such pace in 2010. The series was not. The use of coloured wool is Parabolic curve created with as her Greek and migrant heritage inspired by mathematical formula, reminiscent of 1970s string art, a straight lines on right angle. or the exploration of colour and pattern and haptic learning. As graphic art form with it’s roots in gesalt theory. Nike Savvas, speaking about the evolution of the series, explained: Mary Everest Boole’s ‘curve-stitch- ‘My introduction to algebra in pri- ing.’ The basis of all string art, as Nike Savvas ACCA Education

Further research

AGNSW Interview with Tom Tilley, March 2014: http://www.artgallery. nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/nike-savvas/

Nike Savvas: Art One Gallery: http:// arcone.com.au/index.php?navi=Art ists&navj=Profile&aid=52&navk=NI KE%20SAVVAS

String Art and Parabolic lines: http:// thelinedesigners.blogspot.com.au

Sliding Ladder at BREENSPACE: http:// www.breenspace.com/exhibitions/ nike-savvas-sliding-ladder/001.nike_ savvas_bs10.jpg.php

Art Collector, Interview with Nike Sav- vas, 18 May 2010: http://www.artcol- lector.net.au/ArtistInterviewNikeSav- vas

Nike Savvas, Vogue Living, 5 March 2014: http://www.vogue.com.au/ vogue+living/arts/galleries/the+sublim e+optical+art+of+nike+savvas,29341 Callum Morton ACCA Education

Screen #30: Zig and Zag, Key ideas models of existing or previously Drive-in cinemas are now virtually existing buildings, such as his redundant, and this is a nostalgic 2014 wood, synthetic Morton works with architecture, Screen series of mode-scaled reminder of the heyday of Holly- polymer paint courtesy modernism and the emotional and drive-in movie screens, as seen in wood. The first drive-ins were built the artist, Anna Schwartz social impact of architecture and Optical Mix with Screen #30. For in the 1930s and they reached their out built environment. Morton’s curator Juliana Engberg, writing in peak of popularity in the 1950s Gallery and Roslyn Ox- connections to architecture stem Cinema Paradiso, Morton’s screen and 60s. However the invention, ley9 gallery from early childhood; his father works are ‘fabulous reinventions proliferation and mass consump- was an architect and surrounded and manoeuvres of cinematic op tion of television in the 1960s and The artist and their him with images of the great struc- art from Duchamp’s rotary discs social changes led to the decline tures of the modernist movement to Hitchcock’s Psycho and Vertigo, in Drive-in movie attendance and practice from an early age. These iconic to Jane Campion’s surreal inter- eventual decline of the drive-in structures, such as Le Corbusier’s ventions in Portrait of a Lady, to experience. Callum Morton is a Melbourne Palace of Assembly, left a pro- Austin Power’s morph-cuts. Mor- based artist who was born in 1965 found impression on Morton, and ton makes reference to the history By covering his miniature drive- in Montreal, Canada. He studied a desire to re-evaluate the failure of optics, art and special effects in screen with an optical pattern architecture and Urban Planning of architecture to both satisfy its employed in the cinema.’ Screen #30: Zig and Zag also at the Royal Melbourne Institute of creator’s idealism and its inhabit- reaffirms the basis of film making: Technology (RMIT) before com- ants’ expectations. which in its infancy was all about pleting a BA in Fine Art at Victoria creating moving images through College, Melbourne in 1988 and The artwork Morton’s singular works or instal- use of optical and visual effects. MA in sculpture at RMIT in 1999. lations sit somewhere between Screen #30 is a miniature version architecture and sculpture. They Callum Morton has represented of a drive-in cinema screen which have been shown in a variety of Australia at the Venice Biennale has been painted with repeated sites including: artist run spaces, in 2007, undertaken major public black and white zig zags. It is a private homes, shopfronts, cin- commissions for the Australian tribute to Op Art and fondly relates emas, gardens, museums, public Centre for Contemporary Art, East- to the historical works of Bridget and commercial galleries. They ex- link Freeway, Monash University Riley within Optical Mix. The plore our interaction and relation- Museum of Art, and designed a constant zig zag draws the eye in ship with the built environment, café/pavilion for Fundament Foun- and causes visual confusion. The and how we encounter, perceive dation, The Netherlands. triangular form of the zig zags is or experience personal and com- repeated in the wooden frame that Vehicles fill a drive-in theater while munal space, often unconsciously. crosses in diagonals to support people on the screen stand near a the screen , visible at the front, new car, 1950s. (New York Times Co./ Morton’s work will often take the side and back of the sculpture. Hulton Archive/Getty Images) form of scaled-down architectural Callum Morton ACCA Education

Further research

Callum Morton, Anna Schwartz Gal- lery: http://www.annaschwartzgallery. com/works/works?artist=8

Callum Morton, “Babylonia” ACCA Education Kit: http://www.accaonline. org.au/sites/default/files/CallumMor- tonEducationKit1_0.pdf

Callum Morton, ACCA Archive: https:// www.accaonline.org.au/exhibition/ callum-morton-babylonia-0 Curriculum links and Activities ACCA Education

Curriculum Links within dent in Optical Mix in Work No. 312 VCE ART Unit 2, Area of Study 2 by Martin Creed. For this work ACCA the exhibition include: sourced the light bulb, light stand Unit 2, Area of Study 1 Experiment with video, drawing/paint- VISUAL ARTS, DESIGN, and timer. With reference to research ing and sculpture to create optical around conceptual art, discuss how artworks that shift, play or impact on Investigate Cake Industries work [ VCD, MATHEMATICS, this impacts on your reading of the a viewer’s visual perception. Identify everything ] and analyse, using the work and the meaning and ideas be- which artwork has the biggest impact SCIENCE, PHYSICS, PSH- formal and cultural frameworks the ing explored. on you as a viewer and describe why ways in which it reflects and commu- COLOGY and how with reference to the Formal nicates the values, beliefs and tradi- Compare and contrast the work of Framework. VCE STUDIO ARTS Martin Creed Work No. 312 and Jo- tions of the societies for and in which esph Kosuth #1149. Include in your it is created. analysis discussion around the art- Unit 4 Unit 2, Area of Study 2 work titles, the materials, techniques, Study Callum Morton’s Screen series, processes and the ideas and meaning including Screen#30. Analyse how Investigate Martin Creed’s Work No. Select two artworks in Optical Mix being explored. these artworks have used Modern- 312 and Joesph Kosuth’s #1149. How and analyse the ways in which art ele- ist architecture and Drive-in cinema does the presentation of subject mat- ments and principles have been used screen to comment on the values, ter, materials, techniques and ideas to create aesthetic qualities, commu- Unit 4, Area of Study 3 beliefs and traditions of contemporary reflect or challenge artistic traditions? nicate ideas and develop style. Western culture. Visit Optical Mix and then explore Compare and contrast the work of Compare and contrast Bridget Riley’s SLAVE by Christian Capurro. Identify Using the Formal Framework, com- Ken Jacobs Brain Operations and Aurum and Callum Morton’s Screen and describe similar themes and ideas pare and contrast the coloured targets Bridget Riley Nineteen Greys. In your #30. In your analysis discuss the within the exhibitions, using select (concentric circles) in Ugo Rondi- analysis discuss how the medium similarities and differences in the use artwork examples to support your none’s Zweiund….. and Daniel von (digital video compared to screen- of art elements and principles and discussion. Sturmer Painted Video. print) impacts on your viewing and materials and techniques. interpretation. Write a review of your experience Describe how Nike Savvas has used Research the Op Art style and choose viewing Optical Mix, including detail of coloured wool to create form. Choose two artworks from Optical two contemporary artworks from Op- about the exhibition design, curation Mix to analyse in relation to the Ana- tical Mix to describe how these works (placement of artworks) and personal Informed by Bridget Riley’s instruc- lytical Frameworks. demonstrate the influence of this feelings/experiences felt viewing the tional diagram for Nineteen Greys style. In your analysis include discus- works. analyse her use of art elements and Select two contemporary (post 1970) sion of the key aesthetic qualities of principles to create optical effects and artworks from Optical Mix and anal- Op Art with artwork examples. style. yse their use of art elements and principles in relation to the Op Art style. Unlike traditional art forms, contemporary artworks can be made from a variety of mediums, materials and techniques. This is particularly evi- ACCA Education

SECONDARY AusVELS Years 9 – 10 Creating and Years 7-8 Exploring and More inspiration ideas for sliding lad- ders and string art can be found here: Making Responding Years 9 – 10 Exploring http://mathcraft.wonderhowto.com/ and Responding Create two artworks, of the same Explore Callum Morton’s work Screen how-to/create-parabolic-curves-using- scale, inspired by the style and use of #30. Do you think it a sculpture or a straight-lines-0131301/ repetitive line in Bridget Riley, Cal- painting, or both? Explain your rea- Compare and contrast the concentric lum Morton and Stanislaus Ostoja- soning. circles, colours, materials and view- http://www.stringartfun.com/section. Kotkowski’s work. Create the first ing experience of Ugo Rondinone’s php/3/1/how-to-use-nails-and-wood work using repeated line in black and Explore Cake Industries [ everything ]. Zweiund…. and Daniel von Sturmer’s white. Create the second work using Everything in the work has been mag- Painted Video. Create a line moire pattern using hand two opposite/complementary colours. nified (and made louder). How does drawn patterns and transparencies. Compare the optical effects, visual in- the work make you feel when you are Analyse the use of art elements and Draw a simple line (horizontal or verti- tensity and emotional impact of your exploring it in the gallery? How does principles in Cake Industries [ ev- cal) or concentric circle pattern using own two works. Identify which style the humming noise, size of the work, erything ]. Why do you think Cake black and white or two colours on A4 you prefer and describe why. colour and movement impact on your Industries have created an artwork to paper. Photocopy the line pattern onto viewing and your feelings looking at celebrate the pixel? Discuss. two transparent sheets. On a white Inspired by Daniel von Sturmer’s the work? background (or an overhead projec- Painted Video Sequences work in Select one artwork from Optical Mix tor) layer the two transparencies on pairs to create film works capturing What was your favourite work in Opti- that impacted on you the most or top of one another. Notice the move- the movement and diffusion of co- cal Mix? Describe your reasons why in that you liked best. Analyse the use ment occurring when one layer is loured food dye into water. Record all a written reflection. of art elements and principles in this shifted. Record some of the different your process and planning in your vi- artwork. Discuss how it made you feel line patterns created by photograph- sual diary. Aspects to consider in pro- and why it impacted you the most. ing a range of the illusions. Display duction and planning include lighting, the Moire line patterns as a class and background drop/colour and camera Years 7 – 8 Creating and Research Op Art as an art style. discuss the science behind it – how angles. You may also experiment with Describe how mathematics (Sliding Making does it work? (More info: http://www. adding glycerin to the water to create Ladder equation) and science (colour exploratorium.edu/snacks/moire_pat- a greater viscosity. Inspired by the Sliding Ladder equa- theory and visual perception) influ- terns/) tion shown in Nike Savvas’s work enced the development of the style. Sliding Ladder: Octagonal Prism create your own parabolic curve and form inside a polygon using string/ wool on a board with nails as central points. ACCA Education

PRIMARY AusVELS Inspired by colour theory and the Levels 1 – 3 Creating and optical illusions in Optical Mix create a spinning top colour wheel. By spin- Making Levels 4 – 6 Exploring ning the colour wheel it will blend all and Responding the different colours into white. This Inspired by Nike Savvas’ String works activity is a simple way of demon- and other study into weaving from various cultures, explore weaving us- Explore Martin Creed’s Work No. 312 strating that white light is made of dif- ing a weaving template and coloured and Joesph Kosuth’s #1149. Do these ferent colours of light mixed together. wool to create shapes and pattern. artworks challenge your ideas of what The process and materials are listed art is? Write two or three reasons here: www.amnh.org/content/down- Inspired by colour theory seen in Opti- why and then share your responses load/49771/756809/.../du_u02_white.pdf cal Mix create a colour wheel with the with the class. Reflect on the range of primary, secondary and intermediate responses from the class and identify Inspired by the Sliding Ladder equa- colours. whether there are similarities and tion shown in Nike Savvas’s work common reasons amongst the group. Sliding Ladder: Octagonal Prism cre- Identify and discuss complemen- ate your own parabolic curve using tary colours. Inspired by the colour What was your favourite work in Opti- either: contrasts used by Op artists and the cal Mix? Write down three reasons works of Daniel von Sturmer, Bridget why, including how it made you feel. Pencil/pen, ruler and graph paper Riley and Ugo Rondinone create a concentric circle target using comple- What was your least favourite work in String/wool, board with nails as mentary / contrasting colours (yellow Optical Mix? Write down three rea- central points, scissors and purple, blue and orange, green sons why, including how it made you and red). feel. More inspiration ideas for sliding lad- ders and string art can be found here: Use repeated line to create an optical Levels 4 – 6 Creating and illusion. http://mathcraft.wonderhowto.com/ Making how-to/create-parabolic-curves-using- straight-lines-0131301/ Inspired by Joesph Kosuth’s #1149 and colour theory (colour wheel) cre- http://www.stringartfun.com/section. ate two paintings of “the coloured php/3/1/how-to-use-nails-and-wood intermediary between two colours.” The first painting should include the intermediate colours Orange-Yellow and Green-Blue. The second painting should include the intermediate colours Green-Yellow and Purple-Red. Acknowledgements Australian ACCA Education Education Resource written by Centre for Helen Berkemeier, Schools Educa- Contemporary tion Manager, Australian Centre Art for Contemporary Art. 17 August 2014. 111 Sturt Street Southbank Victoria 3006 Australia With thanks to Juliana Engberg, Tel +61 3 9697 9999 Optical Mix Curator and ACCA Fax +61 3 9686 8830 Artistic Director and Jane Rhodes, accaonline.org.au Exhibitions Manager.

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