together < > apart ART ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012 all our relations Artistic Directors: Catherine de Zegher and The 18th Biennale of Sydney: all our Gerald McMaster relations (27 June – 16 September 2012) bos18.com <http://bos18.com> is based on a collaborative framework and dynamic new exhibition model. Artistic The Biennale of Sydney is Australia’s largest Directors Catherine de Zegher and Gerald contemporary visual arts event, showcasing McMaster will bring together international bold and innovative contemporary art from artists to collaborate and create artworks, around the world. The free exhibition is exploring new ideas from unexpected voices presented over 12 weeks in the heart of Sydney around the world. at leading contemporary art spaces and on world heritage-listed Cockatoo Island. Alongside Biennale of Sydney venues are connected by a the exhibition, the Biennale presents artist spectacular art walk on Sydney’s Harbour. Start talks, guided tours, performances, forums, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and family days and other special events – all free stroll through the picturesque Royal Botanic to the public. Gardens to arrive at the newly redeveloped Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in the heart of bustling Circular Quay. Continue on to historic Pier 2/3 then jump on the Biennale Free Ferry across Sydney Harbour to world heritage-listed Cockatoo Island, a former shipyard and prison. together < > apart ART ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND ANNUAL CONFERENCE 12–14 JULY 2012 UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY NATIONAL ART SCHOOL ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES together < > apart Major supporters Supporters The conference is supported by the Australia Council, the Power Institute, Art History and Film Studies, Sydney University Museums, Sydney College of the Arts and United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney; and the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales; the National Art School; the Art Gallery of New South Wales; and the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. The information contained in this publication was correct at the time of printing. The Conference Organisers bear no responsibility for withdrawn or altered papers. The views expressed within this publication are those of the authors and not of the Conference Organisers. All text is as provided by speakers. Published by the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) Rm 225, Lvl 2, Fisher Stack F04 The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia ISBN: 978-0-9873469-0-2 © Copyright 2012 Design and print production: Peter Thorn Printed using Forestry Stewardship Council approved paper Except as provided by copyright legislation, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Copyright in individual conference papers remains with the authors. Requests for permission should be sent directly to the authors. Front cover (detail) and title page: Franz Erhard Walther Connection (Head) 1967 Copyright Timm Rautert and Franz Erhard Walther Foundation. Courtesy Peter Freeman, Inc., New York 2 CONFERENCE CONVENORS Dr Susan Best School of Art History and Art Education, University of New South Wales NSW Regional Representative: Art Association of Australia and New Zealand Donna West Brett PhD Candidate, Art History and Film Studies, University of Sydney Treasurer: Art Association of Australia and New Zealand 2012 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Dr Ann Stephen, President: Art Association of Australia and New Zealand, Senior Curator University Art Gallery & Collections, Sydney University Museums, Univer- sity of Sydney Anthony Bond, Director, Curatorial, Art Gallery of New South Wales Virginia Mitchell, Head of Public Programs and Education, Biennale of Sydney Dr Toni Ross, School of Art History and Art Education, University of New South Wales Professor Anita Taylor, Director, National Art School Dr John Di Stefano, Postgraduate Coordinator, National Art School Professor Colin Rhodes, Dean and Director, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney Associate Professor Ann Elias, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney Professor Mark Ledbury, Power Professor of Art History and Visual Culture, Director of the Power Institute, University of Sydney CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATION Katrina Liberiou, Conference Coordinator, Art Association of Australia and New Zealand Louise Mayhew, Office Manager, Art Association of Australia and New Zealand CONFERENCE WEBSITE http://www.aaanz.info 3 together < > apart FOREWORD Welcome from the president It is my great honour and pleasure to welcome you to the 2012 AAANZ conference at the University of Sydney. We chose to hold this year’s conference early in July to coincide with the third week of the Sydney Biennale. In small nations, conferences play a particularly important role offering mutual support as well as crucial opportunities for exchange and networking across the region, central to the intellectual and institutional lineage of art-making and art historical writing in the region, giving artists, students, scholars and critics alike a regular forum in which to exchange ideas. Over the next two days 200 papers will be given by a diverse mix of scholars, curators, students and artists. We were very fortunate to receive sponsorship from the Sydney College of the Arts to support two student scholarships to attend the conference and from the Power Institute, University of Sydney to enable Helen Molesworth’s visit. In addition, we would like to formally acknowledge the financial and in kind support of the Australia Council, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Biennale of Sydney, College of Fine Arts, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, the United States Study Centre, Sydney University Museums and the Power Institute, The University of Sydney. I would like to offer my thanks to the conference committee led by the convenors Susan Best and Donna West Brett, working with our conference coordinator, Katrina Liberiou. Their dedication, imagination and fund-raising activities have enabled members to come together this year. Most of the work is hidden so please, thank them at the conference when you see them. They have been ably assisted by a broader committee comprising: Colin Rhodes and Ann Elias (Sydney College of the Arts), Mark Ledbury (University of Sydney), John di Stefano and Anita Taylor (National Art School), Toni Ross (University of NSW), Anthony Bond (AGNSW) and Virginia Mitchell (Biennale of Sydney). This conference also launches our new conference web-site, so a special thanks to our designer Nest, our web manager Dr Elisabeth Findlay, and our business manager, Louise Mayhew. Thanks also to the Executive and our long-standing treasurer, Donna West Brett, who has greatly assisted the conference. Ann Stephen, President AAANZ 4 Welcome from the Convenors We are delighted to welcome you to 2012 AAANZ conference in Sydney, “Together<>Apart” programmed to coincide with the 18th Biennale of Sydney. The conference theme was designed to complement (and to investigate) this year’s biennale theme “all our relations.” It focuses on the very broad idea of relations and relationships as well as allied terms such as collaborations, networks and partnerships. An exciting range of papers has been assembled to address the myriad ways in which such terms can be examined. We are very pleased to have two very distinguished keynote speakers, Dr Helen Molesworth and Professor Thierry de Duve. Helen is a leading curator, who recently received a Curatorial Excellence award from Bard College in New York and is currently chief curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 2009– 2012. Professor Thierry de Duve is an outstanding scholar, curator and art critic. He curated the Belgian section of the Venice Biennale in 2003 and his exhibition Look! 100 Years of Contemporary Art was a ground-breaking reappraisal of the meaning of contemporary art. Both of our keynote speakers have very generously agreed to hold master classes for some sixty postgraduate students selected by their universities to attend. Conferences like this are only possible with a great team, some of whom we would like to expressly thank here. First, we would like to thank our president, Ann Stephen, for her consistent support, her great energy and enthusiasm, and her tireless devotion to making this conference the best it could possibly be. Equally important has been the assistance of our conference coordinator, Katrina Liberiou. She has been invaluable in calmly and patiently helping us pull it all together. We thank our student volunteers who have given their time to ensure the smooth running of venues and registration. Finally, we thank all of you: the participants who make a conference like this a vibrant and invigorating intellectual event. Susan Best (University of New South Wales) Donna West Brett (The University of Sydney / Art Gallery of New South Wales) 5 together < > apart PANEL S Abstract relationships 11 Activated surfaces, spaces & light: 13 the intersections between installation art & architecture Art and participatory design 15 Backs, fronts and contemplatory spaces: art in tension with networks 18 Camera connectere: relational portrait photography 21 Collaboration and connection in the Asia-Pacific 23 Collaborative painting and drawing 25 Contemporary painting re-expanded 27 Conversation, collaboration, & communities: 30 the role of the artist & the formation of publics Exhibition practices