Page 1
MCA Education Kit
Education Kit
Todd McMillan
By the Sea 2004 (still)
16 mm film transferred to DVD
1:12 mins
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 2006
Image courtesy of the artist and GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney
© the artist
Videographer: Andrew Liversidge
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MCA Education Kit
CONTENTS
Introduction
3
Ways to use this kit
3
Curriculum connections
3
Exhibition Overview
4
List of Artists
5
Artist Focuses:
Daniel Boyd
• Image
• Information
• Questions & Activities
6
7
8
Kate Murphy
• Image
• Information
• Questions & Activities
9
10
11
David Noonan
• Image
• Information
• Questions & Activities
12
13
14
Ben Quilty
• Image
• Information
• Questions & Activities
15
16
17
Louise Weaver
• Image
• Information
• Questions & Activities
18
19
20
Glossary
21
Reading & Resources
22
Acknowledgements
23
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MCA Education Kit
INTRODUCTION
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
This education kit has been produced by the
Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) to support
MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2007.
Teachers are encouraged to adapt syllabus
links from the list below to suit the system of
their school’s state. Use this list as a starter for
planning, or talk to the Education staff at the
MCA for ideas.
MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2007 is
organised by the MCA to showcase recent
acquisitions into the MCA collection to the
public. The exhibition includes twenty-four
works by sixteen Australian artists.
This kit provides a focus on the work of five
artists in the exhibition. The artists have been
chosen to represent diverse conceptual
concerns and artistic media. The aim of this kit
is to offer insights into the selected artist’s
practice and work in the exhibition, offering
information, focus questions and suggested
activities.
This resource is intended for use by teachers
and students of primary and secondary
schools, tertiary groups, as well as special
interest groups.
ABOUT THIS KIT
This kit can be used in a variety of ways for
education groups as well as individual study
and research. The material is intended to
complement, and be used in addition to, the
information provided in the exhibition
publication and the exhibition wall texts.
The images, activities and ideas assist with
pre-visit preparation, during the gallery visit and
to develop post-visit activities. Teachers are
advised to adapt these activities to suit their
students’ needs or to integrate areas of this
resource into existing classroom units of study.
Key terms in bold are defined in the glossary at
the end of this kit. A guide to additional reading
and resources has been provided to assist in
further study.
Visual arts/Creative Arts
•
The role of the Contemporary Museum
•
Working in series, developing a Body of
Work
•
Postmodernism
•
Conceptual Framework—Artist, Artwork,
Audience, World
•
Exposure to a range of artistic practice
•
Diversity of media and techniques
•
Art and politics, art and current events
•
Artist’s Practice
English
•
Analysing Visual Texts
•
Oral and research skills
•
Response to visual stimuli
•
Creative writing and response
•
Critical essays and reviews
Society and Environment
• Artworks as commentary about
interconnectedness between humans,
society and surroundings
• Social issues presented from a particular
community’s point of view
• Visual arts as a reflection of contemporary
culture
• Visual arts as a reflection of cultural or
personal identity
Australian History
• Postcolonialism
• Indigenous cultures and histories
ESL/NESB/CALD
• Developing a visual arts vocabulary list
• Written and oral responses
• Cultural identity and issues in the visual arts
• Indigenous cultures and histories
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MCA Education Kit
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
New Acquisitions 2007 is an exhibition of works
recently acquired for the Museum of
Contemporary Art’s permanent collection.
Building on similar exhibitions staged in 2005
and 2006, this exhibition celebrates the
material and conceptual diversity of Australian
art today.
Like its predecessors, New Acquisitions 2007 is
not built around one thematic premise: rather, it
brings together selected works that explore
multiple concerns through the media of
painting, watercolour, sculpture, photography,
film and video.
The MCA is Australia’s only museum dedicated
to exhibiting and collecting the work of
contemporary artists. It responds to ideas and
trends shaping current practice through its
temporary exhibitions program, and reflects on
the history and growth of its collection since its
establishment in 1967 via the JW Power
Bequest, through collection displays and
current acquisitions. Works acquired for the
collection take into account key areas of
strength – from kinetic and light works to
Australian painting, Indigenous and nonIndigenous – and seek to expand other lesserdeveloped areas including photography, film
and video. These acquisitions also reflect the
Museum’s exhibition history, with a number of
artists’ works being acquired subsequent to
MCA solo and group exhibitions, and in
response to the Museum’s annual ‘Primavera’
exhibition of Australian artists under the age of
thirty-five.
Since re-launching its collection policy in late
2003 with a focus on Australian art practice, the
Museum has sought to distinguish itself from
other larger collecting institutions. It does so by
focusing on local rather than international
purchases; on artists in the early stages of their
careers as well as those who are more wellestablished professionally; and by acquiring
works that challenge the notion of collecting
itself such as time-based, ephemeral, and
instruction pieces. These works, with the
complexities they pose in terms of long-term
storage, conservation, and temporary exhibition
display, help to make the MCA collection what
it is today. Thanks to the generosity of two
donors who have pledged support for five
years, the MCA is able to continue to purchase
new works. By doing this, it supports living
Australian artists while also promoting the
importance of Australian art for future
generations.
This is an edited excerpt from Rachel Kent, ‘New
Acquisitions 2007: A collection in focus’, MCA
Collection: New Acquisitions 2007, (exhibition
catalogue), Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007
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MCA Education Kit
LIST OF ARTISTS
John Barbour
Born 1954, The Hague, Holland. Lives and
works Adelaide, SA.
Todd McMillan
Born 1979, Sydney, NSW. Lives and works
Sydney.
Kate Murphy
Born 1977, Queanbeyan, NSW. Lives and
works Sydney and Dublin, Ireland.
Louise Weaver
Born 1966 Mansfield, VIC. Lives and works
Melbourne, VIC.
Daniel Boyd
Born 1982, Cairns, QLD. Kudjla/Gangalu
people. Lives and works Sydney, NSW.
David Griggs
Born 1975, Sydney, NSW. Lives and works
Sydney.
Nell
Born 1975, Maitland, NSW. Lives and works
Sydney, NSW.
Rose Farrell & George Parkin
Born 1949, Brisbane, QLD. Lives and works
Melbourne, VIC.
Born 1949, Corowra, NSW. Lives and works
Melbourne, VIC.
Jess MacNeil
Born 1977, Sydney, NSW. Lives and works
Sydney and London, UK.
Fiona Lowry
Born 1974, Sydney, NSW. Lives and works
Sydney.
Andrew McQualter
Born 1970, Newcastle, NSW. Lives and works
Melbourne, VIC.
Lynne Roberts-Goodwin
Born 1954, Sydney, NSW. Lives and works
Sydney.
David Noonan
Born 1969, Ballarat, VIC. Lives and works
London, UK.
Patricia Piccinini
Born 1965, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Lives and
works Melbourne, VIC.
Ben Quilty
Born 1973, Sydney. Lives and works Sydney.
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MCA Education Kit
DANIEL BOYD
Daniel Boyd
We Call Them Pirates Out Here 2006
oil on canvas
226 x 275 cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 2006
Image courtesy of the artist and Mori Gallery, Sydney
© the artist
Photograph: Jenni Carter
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MCA Education Kit
DANIEL BOYD
Born 1982, Cairns, QLD. Kudjla/Gangalu
people. Lives and works Sydney.
Daniel Boyd is interested in “reinterpreting
Australian history from an Aboriginal
1
perspective.” He has produced a series of
paintings that reinterpret romantic historical
Australian paintings with colonial themes. For
We Call Them Pirates Out Here (2006) Daniel
Boyd appropriated E. Phillips Fox’s iconic
Australian history painting The Landing of
Captain Cook at Botany Bay 1770 (1902).
Boyd’s work critiques and parodies Fox’s
painting, highlighting broader issues related to
postcolonialism and postmodern art
practice.
We Call Them Pirates Out Here mimics the
content and composition of Fox’s painting,
however the artist has added personal
references and alternative iconography,
changed imagery and compositional elements.
Pirate iconography, such as the artist’s ‘Jolly
Jack’ flag—a fusion of the British Union Jack
and Jolly Roger pirate flag—and Captain
Cook’s eye patch reference stolen wealth and
violence. A parrot sits both on the shoulder of
Captain Cook and the figure to his left as a
symbol of buccaneering. Boyd has replaced the
faces of the historical figures with those of
personal acquaintances. The figure holding the
flag is the artist’s friend who migrated from
England to Scotland then Australia (tracing the
trajectory of British colonisation); the figure in
the red coat on the left is the artist’s
housemate. In the far right background, two
native Australian ‘black boy’ grass trees
2
replace the Aboriginal men in Fox’s painting.
Whilst dark, turbulent clouds surround these
figures in Fox’s painting, Boyd has shifted them
to loom above Captain Cook’s tall ship and an
Aboriginal smoke signal in the left background.
1
Daniel Boyd, artist’s talk, MCA, 29 April, 2007
2
The Latin name for these plants is Xanthorea australis.
Boyd’s painting is in a postcard format. This
format is significant for a number of reasons.
Boyd produced the first of his paintings in this
style from a postcard reproduction of a
painting. Presented as a postcard, the artist
also signals an intention (an ironic intention
given the size of the painting) to send We Call
Them Pirates Out Here back to England—to
the ‘Motherland’—as a souvenir of an
Aboriginal perspective on the legacy of British
Colonialism.
The caption on the painting ‘We Call Them
Pirates Out Here’ is the title of a song by Mark
Mothersbaugh (from Devo) on the soundtrack
of Wes Anderson’s 2004 film The Life Aquatic,
which the artist was listening to when painting
the work.
Boyd also chose to insert text into the painting
to question and highlight the significance of the
written word in producing meaning. This is
pertinent given heated debate surrounding ‘the
history wars’ in Australia; in particular, the
published material by Keith Windshuttle and
Henry Reynolds debating the documentation of
historical events in Aboriginal and European
Australian history.
We Call Them Pirates Out Here employs
appropriation, humour and self-reflexivity—
devices related to postmodernism. The work
also relates to postcolonial discourses. It
examines how British colonising forces
imagined their relationship with Australia and
Aboriginal people, how E. Phillips Fox imagined
this relationship, and how Aboriginal
Australians might re-interpret these readings.
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MCA Education Kit
DANIEL BOYD
Knowing about art and making art
JUNIOR
Questions
• Discuss the different things in the painting
that remind you of pirates.
• Daniel Boyd has painted dark clouds in the
background. Discuss what the clouds
remind you of. How do they make you feel?
• Discuss what you think is going on in the
centre of the picture. What is the person to
Captain Cook’s right pointing out to him?
• Who is Captain Cook looking at? What is
he telling them?
Activities
• Write a story imagining that you are an
Aboriginal person watching this scene. How
do you feel when you see Captain Cook
arriving on your beach with his men? You
might like to include the smoke signal in
your story.
• Daniel Boyd created his work from a
historical painting. Find a picture of a
historical painting in a book and read what it
is about. Photocopy the picture onto A3.
Reinterpret the image by sticking pictures
cut out from old newspapers or magazines
onto the photocopy that tell a different story.
You could also add your own drawing, or
watercolour paint. Discuss how your
additions change the meaning of the
picture.
SENIOR
Questions
• There is a noticeable absence of Aboriginal
figures in Boyd’s painting, compared to the
original. Discuss how the artist has still
allowed for an Aboriginal ‘voice’ to be
present.
• Discuss the artist’s use of humour. What
techniques does the artist use to create
humour? What do you find funny and why?
•
•
Do you think particular audiences would
appreciate the humour more than others?
Why?
Write a short essay that outlines the
postmodern characteristics of Daniel Boyd’s
We Call Them Pirates Out Here (2006).
Research how the practice of The Atlas
Group (Walid Raad) (USA), Francis Alÿs
(Mexico), Destiny Deacon (Australia) or
Fiona Tan (The Netherlands) engages in
postcolonial discourses. Write an essay in
response to the following statement:
Postcolonialism responds to history, and
examines relationships between the
global and the local.
Use Daniel Boyd’s We Call Them Pirates
Out Here and the work of two of the above
artists as examples in your essay. (You
could also use the work of film-makers or
writers who you have studied.)
Activities
• Consider Daniel Boyd’s use of iconography.
Think of people or icons that might be
symbolic of your life story. Do a series of
sketches in your VAPD of these, and write
a short note about their significance.
• Choose a significant event in Australia’s
history and find documentation of this
event. This could be press images, written
material, art works, or film. Using your own
personal iconography and references from
pop culture, art history or mythology, create
a collage or montage that critiques how the
historical event has been documented and
understood. Offer an alternative
interpretation or viewpoint in your work. Try
to include humour. Think of a title and
display your artwork with a brief explanatory
text.
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MCA Education Kit
KATE MURPHY
Kate Murphy
Prayers of a Mother 1999
5 channel digital video installation
single channel stereo sound
(Super VHS transferred to digital)
14 minutes
digital video still
Image courtesy of the artist
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 2007
© the artist
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MCA Education Kit
KATE MURPHY
Born 1977, Queanbeyan, NSW. Lives and
works Sydney and Dublin.
Kate Murphy is a video artist. She has made
many art works that examine ideas related to
film making. In the following quote, Murphy
explains her interest in documentary traditions.
“I am interested in how documentary, in its
many forms, surrounds and influences us. The
codes and conventions of documentary film,
photography and television all intersect in my
work. Through the investigation of these
documentary attributes, I examine the role of
the subject, the camera, the director, the
3
installation and the viewer.”
Kate Murphy’s Prayers of a Mother (1999)
explores “family relationships, religion and
4
changing social roles.” In this five-screen
video installation we hear the artist’s mother
talking of the hopes and dreams she has for
her family, and the Catholic prayers she recites
for them. The central image is of her hands
holding rosary beads and a prayer book; the
two screens on either side show her eight
children as they listen to her words. The artist
has included herself in the work, and can be
seen with a shaved head, wearing a black tshirt.
Prayers of a Mother bears witness to the family
relationships that form our sense of identity and
place in the world, and draws attention to the
act of listening.
Murphy makes references to art history,
popular culture and religious symbolism in this
work. Filmed against a black background with
soft lighting, the siblings are sometimes
reminiscent of baroque paintings by
Caravaggio. The installation of the work
3
Kate Murphy, ‘Artist’s Statement’, unpublished, 2005. In Rachel Kent,
‘Contemporary focus: vox pop to urban diary’, Art and Australia, vol.43
no.4, Winter 2006, p.576
4
Kate Murphy, ‘Artist’s Statement’, unpublished, 2007
parallels the architecture of a Catholic church,
particularly the configuration of an altar.
A reference to Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor’s
1990 well-known film clip for the song Nothing
Compares 2 U is present. Sinéad O’Connor is
well known for her public struggle with the
Catholic faith. The music video clip for Nothing
Compares 2 U is renowned for its pared-back,
emotive depiction of the artist—with a shaved
head and large, dark eyes—simply facing the
camera and singing.
Murphy’s reference to the imagery in this film
clip is particularly apparent in the faces of both
the artist, and one of her sisters—who both
with large, dark eyes, shaved heads and
melancholy expressions—bear a similarity to
O’Connor.
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MCA Education Kit
KATE MURPHY
Knowing about art and making art
JUNIOR
Questions
• In Kate Murphy’s work we can see the
facial expressions of the artist and her
brothers and sisters as they listen to their
mother. How many different facial
expressions can you see? Name the
emotions and what they express.
• Discuss the presentation of this work in the
gallery. How has the room been changed?
How is the display of this work different
from other works in the exhibition? Why do
you think these changes have been made?
Activities
• Cut out portraits of people with very
different facial expressions from old
newspapers and magazines. Glue them
onto a piece of paper and write speech
bubbles that tell a story about who the
people are and what their relationship to
one another is.
• Participate in a simple drama exercise. Find
a large, open space free from obstacles.
The teacher should direct students to:
walk around the room
not walk in a circle, but walk in different
and changing directions
start walking slowly, then fast, then at
an easy pace
walk around the room as if they were
feeling a particular emotion, for
example, “Walk as though you were the
happiest person in the world.” then
“Walk as if you were angry.”
think about how all parts of their body
might express that emotion
start and finish the game by directing
the students to walk around the room
just as themselves
SENIOR
Questions
• Discuss how Murphy considers the viewer
in this work. What kind of emotional
response do you have to the work? What
has the artist done to encourage this? How
has Murphy considered the viewer in the
installation of the work? How might viewers
from different cultural and religious
backgrounds respond differently to this
work?
• Prayers of a Mother presents video portraits
of the artist’s mother, brothers and sisters
and herself. Write some short notes
comparing and contrasting how the mother
is presented and how the siblings are
presented. Discuss the effect that these
decisions by the artist have, what you think
is effective and why.
• Research the practice of Simryn Gill
(Australia), Kutlug Ataman (Turkey) and
Regina José Galindo (Guatemala). Write an
essay that compares and contrasts their
practice with Kate Murphy’s and Prayers of
a Mother. Consider their approach to
documentation, identity and the body, and
how it relates to their material practice.
Activities
• Organise an interview with someone you
care about, or who cares about you. Ask
them questions about what they see as
their role within your family, and what their
hopes and dreams for your family are. Draw
a portrait or take a photo of them with some
of their personal belongings that symbolise
their role within your family and your
relationship with them.
• Create a series of pen and ink drawings of
hands holding various objects. Consider
different ways of creating meaning by
changing position of the hands, and through
the inclusion of different objects.
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MCA Education Kit
DAVID NOONAN
David Noonan
Owl (still) 2004
DVD, from Super 8
2.56 minutes
Museum of Contemporary Art, gift of the artist and Uplands Gallery, Melbourne, 2007
Image courtesy of the artist and Uplands Gallery, Melbourne
© the artist
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MCA Education Kit
DAVID NOONAN
Born 1969, Ballarat, VIC. Lives and works
London, UK and Melbourne, VIC.
David Noonan works across genres—
producing film works, prints, collage, paintings
and installations. His practice involves a
layering of references related to the romantic
sublime in art, history, cinema and popular
culture.
Noonan has two works included in this
exhibition, Owl (2004) and Untitled (2007). The
artist made Untitled especially for the MCA as a
companion piece for Owl. Owl was originally
shot on ‘Super 8’ and then transferred to DVD.
‘Super 8’ is a term for 8mm film used in small
hand-held film cameras in the 1960s, 70s and
80s, often to make home or low-budget movies.
It has a grainy look and is used now to create a
nostalgic, retro, ambient or romantic feeling.
The artist has created a montage of close-up
images of owls. The work does not have a
linear narrative. Instead, the artist allows the
audience to use their imagination—and any
associations with owls and the filmic
techniques used—to understand and interpret
the work.
Owl imagery is repeated in Noonan’s fourpanel silkscreen work Untitled, which
superimposes an owl over the downcast face of
a young girl. These two works come together to
create a particular atmosphere in the gallery
space. Noonan considers the placement of his
works in the gallery space very carefully. He
has said, ‘I don’t have a theatre background.
But I do think of the room as an installation.
When I’m making the works I am very aware of
how they are going to affect the space when
they’re installed.’6
Noonan’s practice reflects upon the nature of
history. His works do not refer directly to any
one era, but rather include references and
styles that have pervaded through many eras,
such as owls and the gothic. His work
contemplates the relationship between history
and the present, considering history to evolve
in a circular pattern rather than a linear one.
Noonan chooses imagery that is loaded with
symbolism or multiple cultural associations.
According to the artist, the symbolic meanings
associated with owls have been built “from folk
tales and gothic fiction”.5 Owls form a recurrent
motif in Noonan’s practice—chosen for their
cinematic and literary associations with the
supernatural and nocturnal. Owls also carry
cultural associations with wisdom, which comes
from Athena, the Greek Goddess of wisdom
whose sacred bird was the owl.
Owl was filmed by the artist at night-time, when
owls are most active, continuing the artist’s
interest in the owl as a symbol of darkness.
5
David Noonan, 2005. In ‘Before and now: the work of David Noonan’,
Eyeline, no.58, Spring 2005, p.44
6
David Noonan, 2005. In ‘Before and now: the work of David Noonan’,
Eyeline, no.58, Spring 2005, p.42
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MCA Education Kit
DAVID NOONAN
Knowing about art and making art
Junior
Questions
• What feelings, symbols and words do you
associate with owls?
• Find books or films that have owls in them.
What characteristics have writers and filmmakers given owls?
• Describe the movement of the owls in
David Noonan’s film. Do they move fast or
slow? How does the film make you feel?
Activities
• Create a story board that tells a story about
the owls in David Noonan’s Owl work. A
story board is like a script for a film, but with
pictures as well as words. Divide up an A3
piece of paper into 8 squares. In each
square draw what the owls are doing, and
write a short sentence that describes the
scene.
• Think of an animal, and a feeling that you
associated with that animal. On a large
piece of paper, draw a sketch of that animal
with crayon. When you do the sketch, don’t
take your crayon off the paper at any time,
so that all the lines join up. Using water
colour paint, paint an image of your face
over the top of your animal drawing. Your
face should express the emotion you
associate with the animal. Experiment with
the paint so that sometimes it is runny and
light, and sometimes thick and bold.
Senior
Questions
• What are some of the postmodern
characteristics of Owl and Untitled?
• Consider David Noonan’s use of the film
medium. How has he used film to convey a
feeling of ambience, nostalgia or tension in
Owl? Consider the work of film makers
Alfred Hitchcock or Quentin Tarantino, or
Lynne Ramsay’s 2002 film Morvern Callar.
•
How do these film-makers create a sense
of ambience, violence or dramatic
suspense in their films? How does this
compare with David Noonan’s techniques?
The original source and context of the
filmed images of the owls isn’t revealed to
us by the artist in Owl. Discuss the effect of
this decision. How does it impact on a
subjective reading of the work?
Activities
• Research Noonan’s practice further. Look
at Todd McMillan’s video work By the Sea
(2004) in the exhibition. (There is a still
image on the front page of this kit.) Have a
brief discussion comparing and contrasting
McMillan and Noonan’s filmic techniques,
approach to narrative and thematic
concerns. Research McMillan’s practice
th
further, along with the work of 19 century
German Romanticist painter Caspar David
Friederich. Discuss why you think the
romantic sublime appeals to a younger
generation of artists? How does their
approach differ from Caspar David
Friederich? Write an essay that discusses
how all of these artists engage with the
romantic sublime in their practice.
• Develop a series of drawings or
photographs that have a fractured, or nonlinear narrative. Your work should include
multiple references – such as from art
history, popular culture or film. You might
engage with ideas related to the romantic
sublime, the gothic or the passing of time.
You might like to think about incorporating a
performance element or humour in your
work. Display your works with a title.
Page 15
MCA Education Kit
BEN QUILTY
Ben Quilty
Van Rorschach 2005
oil on canvas
160 x 340 cm diptych
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with the assistance of
GRANTPIRRIE and the artist, 2006 Image courtesy of the artist and
GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney
© the artist
Photograph: Jenni Carter
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MCA Education Kit
BEN QUILTY
Born 1973, Sydney. Lives and works
Sydney.
Ben Quilty is interested in Australian history
and identity. His paintings often draw from the
Australian vernacular. This painting is of his
Hi-Ace van. He has also painted series of
budgerigars, Torana cars, hamburgers, and his
mates.
Quilty’s work in this exhibition Van Rorschach
(2005) is from a series of paintings the artist
completed of cars, vans and utes, and it
continues the artist’s interest in examining
Australian masculine identity. Quilty is
interested in the relationships that
Australians—particularly Australian men—have
with cars, including the rites of passage young
men participate in that often involve risk taking
such as dangerous driving. This interest was
informed by the artist’s cultural background,
growing up in suburbs on the outskirts of
Sydney.
we drove along and that application of paint
represents those kinds of ideas in another
way.”7
In Van Rorschach, both of the vans are painted
from an upward-looking perspective, which
creates an effect of heightened drama or
grandeur; the large scale of the canvases
confers the importance of the vans as subjects.
Compositionally, the paintings are reminiscent
of traditional portrait painting—the vans fill the
picture plane and ‘face’ us, becoming
anthropomorphic. Quilty has elevated a
vehicle usually associated with tradesmen or
surfers to a status worthy of a large-scale oilpainted portrait—a privilege usually reserved
for dignitaries or important historical figures. In
this work the artist critiques the value placed on
cars in Australian society, whilst paying
homage to the utilitarian nature and ubiquity of
the white van.
The title of his work refers to inkblot images
developed by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann
Rorschach in 1921. Rorschach prints are
symmetrical abstract mages made using ink
applied to paper that was then folded down the
centre. These images were used to investigate
a person’s perception and underlying thoughts.
Van Rorschach is a diptych and Quilty has
painted the works using impasto oil paint. Oil
paint has been used throughout history and is
considered a luxurious material that provides
more depth and shine than acrylic paint. It is
generally more expensive than acrylic paint
and takes a very long time to dry. Quilty’s
painting style can be described as gestural,
energetic, viscous, textural and violent. His
painting style is linked with his conceptual
concerns and includes an autobiographical
element. Quilty has said that the way he paints
“mirrors the attitude of the young male … We
used to go out and get into fights and drive like
absolute maniacs and knock things down as
7
Ben Quilty, 2007. In Lenny Ann Low, ‘The hot seat: Ben Quilty’, The
Sydney Morning Herald, March 17, 2007
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MCA Education Kit
BEN QUILTY
Knowing about art and making art
JUNIOR
Questions
• Look closely at Van Rorschach (DON’T
TOUCH!) Discuss how you think the artist
has applied the paint. What do you think he
used to apply the paint? How can you tell?
• Discuss Ben Quilty’s use of colour in this
work. What colours does he use the most?
Look at a colour wheel. Are they warm or
cool colours? What do blue colours make
you think of?
• Ben Quilty has also made paintings of
budgerigars, people from Australia’s
history, and cars. These are all things that
the artist considers to be linked with
Australian identity. Write down a list of
things or people that you think represent
Australian identity.
Activities
• Find a picture, or take a photograph of one
of the items from your list of things you
consider to represent Australian identity. On
an A3 piece of paper make a sketch of the
object from the picture so that the object
fills the entire page. Paint your object,
making sure that you also paint the
background. You could experiment with
different ways of applying the paint, such as
using a sponge instead of a brush. Think of
a title for your painting and display it in your
classroom.
• Find a picture of an object that has been
taken from an interesting angle. Look at the
different components of the object. For
example, if it is a car, it will have a bonnet,
doors and wheels; if it is an animal it will
have different body parts. Make a collage of
the object by ripping up pieces of coloured
paper and gluing them down. Use different
colours for different parts of the object.
Don’t forget to create a background that
highlights the collaged object.
SENIOR
Questions
• Ben Quilty grew up in the suburbs of
Sydney, where he was witness to ‘rev-head’
car culture. Discuss how you think his
background has informed his art practice.
Also examine the role of the audience—
what associations do you have with white
vans? What different interpretations could
be bought to Van Rorschach by people
from different cultural backgrounds?
• Research Ben Quilty’s practice further.
Write an essay that compares and
contrasts his work with the work of two
other Australian painters who examine or
critique Australian identity. One artist
should be contemporary and one should be
historical. For example, Howard Arkley or
Lindy Lee; Margaret Preston or Sidney
Nolan. Consider subject matter, scale,
material and techniques and
cultural/historical influences.
Activities
• Ben Quilty often paints his works from
photographs, completing an initial sketch on
the canvas with a can of aerosol paint.
Think about your cultural background
and how this background has informed
your sense of identity. Were there any
rituals or rites of passage that you
participated in that have informed your
identity? These could be traditional and
ceremonial, such as a Bar Mitzvah, or
contemporary and un-traditional, such
as your first day of school, or your first
rock music concert.
Find a photograph of this event and
make an initial sketch onto a canvas or
paper with crayon, pencil or textas that
focuses on the most significant part of
the photograph.
Using oil, acrylic or watercolour paint,
paint over your sketch leaving some of
the sketch visible.
Think of a title for your work and display
it with a short written statement that
explains why this event was significant
in forming your identity.
Page 18
MCA Education Kit
LOUISE WEAVER
Louise Weaver
It would seem that eyes can live without hearts (Oracle Fox) 2005
hand crocheted lambs wool over high density foam. Hand painted glass (various pieces of glass animal taxidermy eyes), felt, nylon and cotton thread.
Customised section of a Comme des Garcons shirt panel, Autumn-Winter collection 2004-2005. Mirrored perspex, plastic, lurex thread, Swarovski crystals.
Meji period (19th century) Japanese tree trunk hibachi (charcoal brazier) with fine patina. Marine plywood, enamel paint.
Fox 53 x 50 x 30 cm, Base 37 x 61.5 x 67 cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with the assistance of Andrew and Cathy Cameron, Jill and Michael Hawker, Dr Mark and
Mrs Louise Nelson, Dr John B Reid AO and Ms Lynn Rainbow, and the
Silent Pledge Donors at the MCA Bella Dinner 2006
Image courtesy of the artist and Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
© the artist
Photograph: David Callow
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MCA Education Kit
LOUISE WEAVER
Born 1966 Mansfield, VIC. Lives and works
Melbourne, VIC.
Louise Weaver creates sculptures and
installations that reference nature, fashion and
history. She often uses taxidermy models or
actual taxidermy animals and then covers them
with a ‘skin’ of decorative crocheted lambswool,
silk, cotton or synthetic fibres. Sometimes her
animals are accompanied by found objects.
Weaver is interested in the transformations that
occur in nature such as decay, camouflage
and metamorphosis.
The title of the work, It would seem that eyes
can live without hearts (Oracle Fox) (2005) was
inspired by the poetry of German writer Unica
Zürn who wrote of ideas related to reality,
hallucinations, desire, compulsion and a split
between our inner-self and outer expression.
In Weaver’s work, a taxidermist’s model of a
fox is covered in bright green crocheted,
tapestry lambswool. The fox is decorated with a
panel from a Comme des Garçons shirt
modified to include glass animal taxidermy
eyes and has Swarovski crystals hidden
beneath its ruffles. Comme des Garçons is a
high-end Japanese fashion brand (the designer
is Rei Kawakubo) and Swarovski is a Swiss
company that sells crystals. These brands are
associated with luxury, wealth and beauty. The
fox sits on top of a Japanese tree trunk hibachi
(an old fashioned Japanese heater, or brazier
that burned charcoal).
In the title, the artist refers to the fox as an
‘Oracle Fox’. An oracle is ‘a priest or priestess
acting as a medium through whom advice or
prophecy was sought from the gods in classical
8
antiquity’. Foxes are symbolic of mischief,
danger, magic, intelligence and cunning
behaviour. The artist’s choice of the colour
green is significant, as green is symbolic of
8
Judy Pearsall (ed.), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford
University Press, 1998, p.1303
envy. Weaver’s title for the work draws
attention to the fox’s numerous eyes and
supports its fantastic and surrealistic feel. It
could be imagined that the fox is a result of the
evolutionary process—an imaginary or futuristic
hybrid creature that has adapted to survive in
our changing world.
Weaver plays with notions encasement in this
work. This interest stemmed from a traumatic
time in the artist’s childhood where due to an
accident, Weaver was required to spend time in
a full-body plaster cast. Her experience of
immobility is translated in this work by the
tightly woven outer layer of the fox. A usually
agile creature—the fox has now been rendered
static by its restrictive covering.
Ideas of concealment and revelation are also
apparent. The fox appears to be blind, yet has
glass eyes sewn to the black ruffled garment
around its shoulders; Swarovski crystals are
included in the garment, but hidden from our
view. Weaver introduces the idea of
‘secondary’ sight—vision once removed or
reflected from the glass cube on the fox’s
shoulder. In this way, the fox becomes a sort of
seer, or visionary.
Even though its eyes are crocheted over, the
fox might still see—perhaps only in a distorted
way—its sight going beyond the normal realms
of perception.
Page 20
MCA Education Kit
LOUISE WEAVER
Knowing about art and making art
JUNIOR
Questions
• List the different things the artist has used
to make this artwork.
• How many eyes does the fox have?
• Research where foxes come from, their
habitat and what they eat.
• Find stories or artworks that have foxes in
them. What characteristics have writers and
artists given foxes?
Activities
• Draw a picture of a fox that has evolved to
survive in a different environment. For
example, a fox that has grown wheels for
feet so it can live in the ‘concrete jungle’ of
the city.
• Write a story about this fox living in its
environment.
• Choose an everyday object from your
home. Find some wool or fabric and wrap
up the object to change its appearance and
meaning. Choose colours carefully and
consider their associated meaning.
Consider giving the object eyes to see with
by sewing or gluing on old buttons, googly
eyes, or shiny pieces of paper.
SENIOR
Questions
• Louise Weaver has included the brand
names ‘Comme des Garçons’ and
‘Swarovski’ when listing the materials used
to make the work. She could have called
these ‘found objects’. Discuss why she has
chosen to include the brand names. Why
does she list all the materials used to create
the work, even though we can’t see all of
them? How do these decisions bring
meaning to the work?
• One of the artist’s interests is to play with
ideas of revealing and concealing. Discuss
how this is apparent in Oracle Fox. What
are the many things revealed and
concealed in this work? What impact does
this have on your understanding of the
work?
Activities
• The fox is a symbol of mischief, danger,
magic, intelligence and cunning behaviour.
Draw a series of quick sketches of other
symbols that represent these ideas.
• Create an installation using only found
objects that explores the idea of
metamorphosis or camouflage. Choose
your objects carefully—considering their
history, cultural associations and
materiality. Install the objects in your
classroom and explore how the placement
of the objects in that environment creates
meaning. Think of a title for your
installation.
Page 21
MCA Education Kit
GLOSSARY
appropriate
to take something for your own use.
anthropomorphic
attributing human characteristics to a nonhuman form.
camouflage
the physical characteristics of an animal that
allow it to blend in with its environment.
colonialism
the practice of occupying or acquiring another
country and controlling it politically and
economically.
commission
an artwork that is produced specially to an
order.
discourse
written or spoken communication or debate.
gothic
an architectural style prevalent in western
th
th
Europe in the 12 – 16 centuries (revived in
th
th
the 18 – 20 centuries); something gloomy or
horrifying from the dark ages; relating to ‘Goth’
– a subculture associated with punk or heavymetal music with apocalyptic lyrics, whose
members favour black clothing
montage
selecting, editing and piecing together separate
sections of film to form a continuous whole.
nocturnal
occurring at night.
postcolonialism
the set of theories that examine the legacy of
colonialism.
postmodernism
th
a late 20 -century concept in architecture and
the arts which represents a departure from
modernism and characterised by a general
distrust of grand theories and ideologies.
retrospective
an exhibition that shows the development of an
artist’s practice over a period of time.
romantic
suggestive of an idealized view of reality.
seer
a person of supposed supernatural insight who
sees visions of the future.
surrealistic
having dreamlike qualities.
symbol
a thing that represents something else.
hybrid
something that is made from a combination of
different elements.
taxidermy
the craft of preparing and stuffing the skins of
animals so that they appear lifelike.
impasto
the technique of applying paint so thickly that it
stands out from a surface.
vernacular
concerned with the domestic and functional.
melancholy
deep or pensive sadness.
metamorphosis
the change of a thing or person into something
completely different.
All definitions (except ‘postcolonialism’) modified from
Judy Pearsall (ed.) The New Oxford Dictionary of
English, Oxford University Press, 1998
Page 22
MCA Education Kit
READING & RESOURCES
David Noonan
Daniel Boyd
Ashley Crawford, ‘A dose of cinematic horror’,
The Age, March 27, 2004
Ashley Crawford, ‘Broad, otherworldly stroke’,
The Age, June 4, 2005
E. Phillips Fox
Ruth Zubans, E. Phillips Fox 1865 –1915,
(exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of
Victoria, 1994
National Gallery of Victoria website,
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection/australian/
painting/f/apa00178.html
Postcolonialism
Gaurav Desai and Supriya Nair (eds.),
Postcolonialisms: An anthology of cultural
theory and criticism, Berg, 2005
Todd McMillan
Rachel Kent (curator), Masquerade:
Representation and the self in contemporary
art, (exhibition catalogue), Museum of
Contemporary Art, 2006
Rachel Kent, ‘Pun to Paradox: Bas Jan Ader
revisited’, Parkett, no.75, 2005, pp.177 – 181
Johanna Fahey, David Noonan: Before and
Now, Craftsman House, 2004
‘David Noonan Artist Profile’, Roslyn Oxley9
website,
http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/29/Davi
d_Noonan/profile/
Ben Quilty
Michael Desmond, ‘Ben Quilty: God’s Middle
Children, (catalogue essay), GRANTPIRRIE
website,
http://www.grantpirrie.com/artist.php?a=10&e=
59&s=2, March 2007
Clare Lewis, ‘Ben Quilty: Ache’, (catalogue
essay), GRANTPIRRIE website,
http://www.grantpirrie.com/artist.php?a=10&e=
47&s=2, March 2006
‘Alone Alone’ (exhibition press release),
GRANTPIRRIE website,
http://www.grantpirrie.com/artist.php?a=7,
January 2006
Lenny Ann Low, ‘The hot seat: Ben Quilty’, The
Sydney Morning Herald, March 17, 2007
Kate Murphy
Jason Smith, ‘Louise Weaver: An imaginary
realm of post-natural things’, Art and Australia,
Vol.44 No.3, Autumn 2007, pp.404 – 412
Australian Centre for the Moving Image website
http://www.acmi.net.au/remembrance/r2/kate_
murphy/about_work.html
Frances Dyson, ‘Interlace’, Broadsheet:
Contemporary visual arts and culture, vol.33
no.3, September – November 2004, pp.22 – 23
Rachel Kent, ‘Contemporary focus: vox pop to
urban diary’, Art and Australia, vol.43 no.4,
Winter 2006, pp.574 – 581
Louise Weaver
‘Louise Weaver’ (artist’s page), Darren Knight
Gallery website,
http://www.darrenknightgallery.com/artists/wea
ver/artist.htm
‘Louise Weaver in conversation with Rachel
Kent’, Art and Australia, Vol.44 No.3, Autumn
2007, p.413
Page 23
MCA Education Kit
MCA Collection Resources
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Glenn Barkley and Katie Dyer (curators),
Multiplicity: Prints and multiples from the
collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art
and the University of Wollongong, (exhibition
catalogue), Museum of Contemporary Art,
2006
MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2007 produced
by MCA Learning, April 2007
Rachel Kent (curator), MCA Collection: New
Acquisitions 2007, (exhibition catalogue),
Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007
Bernice Murphy, Museum of Contemporary Art:
Vision and Context, Museum of Contemporary
Art, 1993
Russell Storer (curator), MCA Collection: New
Acquisitions 2006, (exhibition catalogue),
Museum of Contemporary Art, 2006
Vivienne Webb (curator), MCA Collection: New
Acquisitions in Context, (exhibition catalogue),
Museum of Contemporary Art, 2005
‘Multiplicity: Prints and multiples from the
collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art
and The University of Wollongong’ (education
kit), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney,
2007. Available on the MCA website,
http://www.mca.com.au/default.asp?page_id=2
0
Kit written by Elise Routledge, MCA Educator.
Thanks to Rachel Kent for permission to reproduce
and extract exhibition wall texts and room labels.
Published April 2007 by the Museum of
Contemporary Art Limited, Sydney, Australia. ©The
Museum of Contemporary Art Ltd, the artists, authors
and photographers. All rights reserved. The publisher
grants permission for this education kit to be
reproduced and/or stored for twelve months in a
retrieval system, transmitted by means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying and/or recording only for
educational purposes and strictly in relation to the
exhibition MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2007.
MCA Collection: New Acquisitions 2007
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
27 April – 12 August 2007
www.mca.com.au
Exhibition organised by the Museum of
Contemporary Art. Curated by Rachel Kent.
The Museum of Contemporary Art is assisted by the NSW Government
through ARTS NSW and by the Australian Government through the
Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and the Visual
Arts and Crafts Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and
Territory Governments.