“If This Fall into they Hand, Revolve”!

Now I trust a few of my smarter readers have recognised the quote above straight away. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, of course, one of the greatest comedies ever written. And the recipient of that instruction is the overwheening Malvolio; he’s reading a letter purporting to come from his boss, Olivia – in fact it’s from his enemy Maria.

In most productions of the play, poor old Malvolio turns round at that point – as you would! But, just last week on the Phillip Adams program (ABC Radio National), I learnt to my joy that the old Bard didn’t have anything as mundane as circular movement in mind at all. He understood ‘revolve’ to mean “Think about it real hard”!!! More

Day 32: AGNSW
The Pope being in town may have wrecked havoc with the traffic, but in terms of art viewing on Day 32, the Pontiff was a blessing. The gallery was quiet and feeling prone to contemplation (perhaps due to all the holiness seeping through the city, holy-rollers rocking through the streets and talk of our own Sister Mary Mackillop finally being canonised) I found myself in a saint spotting mood.
If this Biennale had a patron saint, who would it be? More

Revolution Elsewhere?

I’m afraid I’ve been slacking, BOS-wise. The distraction came in the form of the magnificent tome that Colin and Liz Laverty have just published – ‘Beyond Sacred’. They’re collectors of abstract art; whether it’s of Western or Aboriginal origin. But they’ve become famous for their persistence and selectivity in the indigenous area, building a mighty collection since they first saw Papunya painting at the Brisbane Expo in 1988. More

This years Biennale promised to focus on ‘interactive works’ - kinetic sculptures that buzz, spin and whir. With this in mind, my latest trip through the Art Gallery of NSW felt like an episode of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. With buttons and switches leading off many works, the temptation and anticipation was strong… The internal dialogue began… ‘What will happen if I press it?’ Am I ‘allowed to touch’ in a venue such as the esteemed Art Gallery? Will I be promptly escorted out after setting off the sprinkler system or fire alarm by Security? Do I dare give into temptation and reach out my arm? Are you a wo(man) or a mouse? More

The Do-It-Yourself Biennale

A full seventeen pages of the mighty BOS2008 Catalogue list the many people and organisations that have given something to bring this year’s Biennale into being - from the Malabar Art Unit at Long Bay Jail to the Maccarone Galllery in New York, and from Transfield Corporation to Mary Zournazi. Only one and a half pages of that are Australian government bodies; this is a highly privatised operation – with one consequence being that this is one of the most impoverished biennales in the world – Chairman Luca Belgiorno-Nettis claiming that its budget for 2008 is matched by most of the single artist shows at curator CCB’s Turin art institution. More