March/April 2010
A good ARI isn’t hard to find > NSW
Artist Run Initiative (ARI) Read More
Art Month Sydney > Precinct 1: Paddington/Woollahra > NSW
The first week of Art Month Sydney kicks off across
Paddington and Woollahra, collectively crowned ‘Precinct 1’ Read More
Art Month Sydney > Precinct 2: Surry Hills/Darlinghurst > NSW
In reality Sydney’s gallery scene is a broad and vibrant kaleidoscope. Read More
Art Month Sydney > Precinct 3: Waterloo > NSW
Precinct 3 takes in the suburb of Waterloo, home to the Danks Street Complex which includes ten of Sydney’s commercial galleries. Read More
Art Month Sydney > Precinct 4: Redfern/Chippendale/CBD > NSW
Serendipitously there are two galleries in Precinct 4 that
showcase Asian art, Read More
Discipline ain’t what it used to be
Donald Judd, one of the more influential founding fathers
of minimalism couldn’t hack New York’s claustrophobia. Read More
The legacy of two great artists > NSW
Two significant Indigenous exhibitions, staged as part of
Art Month Sydney, are East Kimberley Painting Revisited at
Michael Reid at Elizabeth Bay and Museum III at Utopia Art. Read More
Satellite Projects
By Nicki Wynnychuk
Satellite is a new contemporary arts agency that was launched recently in Melbourne. Director Simon Maidment says that while there may be similarities with other international organisations (such as Artangel in the UK), this ground-breaking new team has plans to deliver some unexpected results.
> Can you explain what Satellite is about?
Simon Maidment: Satellite has been formed to work with artists to initiate, develop and present ambitious projects, within a critically engaged framework. We aim to forge a close working relationship with artists, to give them the space, time and support to develop their ideas, and together generate projects that they wouldn’t be able to realise on their own. Satellite puts in place the most exciting, appropriate and expansive partnerships with funders, patrons, sponsors and existing cultural organisations and institutions to best present their project. Being led by the ideas of artists to this extent is unique in the Australian context, and to do justice to this process we seek to develop projects that might not be possible without it. We want to realise the kinds of projects others can’t, either because they take too long, are too complex, or shift away from their original direction, and in doing so open up the possibility of working with other organisations without replicating the work others are doing. We have a focus on fostering new works, new discussions and new audiences. It’s important to understand that Satellite doesn’t focus on ‘public art’, rather on art projects that operate outside the gallery context. The works in the public sphere we embrace certainly include publications, film, broadcast, and performative outcomes alongside more sculptural art projects.
> Where do you see Satellite fitting in to the contemporary Australian art scene?
SM: Satellite neither represents artists nor has a gallery space. Satellite’s work is situated firmly in the public realm, and the organisation places emphasis on the generation of bold new work as well as the advocacy for artists and art within that context. Eschewing a familiar gallery structure of fixed exhibition space, rolling program of exhibitions, and an irregularly changing roster of artists, Satellite subverts all of these tropes by responding to artists. Satellite bears far closer likeness to many of the organisations overseas I have met with in the development of our model, ground-breaking agencies such as Artangel (www.artangel.org.uk), Creative Time (www.creativetime.org), Situations (www.situations.org.uk), Litmus (www.litmus.org.nz), Locus+ (www.locusplus.org.uk), the Trussardi Foundation (www.fondazionenicolatrussardi.com), and the expansive Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (www.tba21.org). In Australia we would acknowledge the work done by Kaldor Arts Projects, Global Art Projects, Art Projects Australia and others in embracing and furthering ambitious projects, but we of course plan to bring something new to this area.
> Can you describe how the agency works with artists and those involved with the projects? You recently coined the term ‘Emergent Project Model’- how has this new philosophy or system come about?
SM: I used the phrase ‘Emergent Project’ in a recent article for the NAVA Quarterly (published by the National Association of Visual Arts) to describe what I saw as an increasingly prevalent and effective way that arts institutions, organisations and collectives where coming together to
create projects and programs across venues, cities and states, without ongoing infrastructure or budgets. Specifically I was discussing two major projects I managed, Rapt! 20 Contemporary Arts from Japan and Making Space: artist run initiatives in Victoria and I related the activity to the theory of emergence, where self organising entities come together to form or produce something greater than the sum of its parts (as opposed to ‘emerging’ taken as meaning young or new artists or art practice).
This also relates to Satellite’s way of working. As reflected in the membership of our board, we aim to work with other organisations and institutions, rather than replicate their own activities and undertakings. This process exemplifies the collegiality we feel stamps the Australian cultural context as unique, and provides the opportunity to produce projects that explore possibilities of working together, to value add, and to push beyond the comfort zones of practitioner and institution alike to enable truly memorable and surprising results. We see Satellite as being the nexus in a network that morphs with each undertaking, rather than an institutional edifice. Along with this mode of presenting/producing projects, there is an undertaking to work closely with artists that we approach, to be in ongoing conversation with them about developments and potential directions in their practices. We want to tease out possibilities over an extended period of time and have our projects led by the ideas and directions of artists we’re working with. We’re looking to support the artist in their next step beyond what they might already be undertaking, and help realise the ambitions they have within their practice.
> It appears that temporary, transient, and timely outcomes are on the agenda. Why is this kind of work of particular interest to Satellite?
SM: I’ve always been particularly drawn to the lasting impact on histories, art histories and collective consciousness that ephemeral or temporary works can have, ripple effects that far outlast the materials (Smithson), performance (Abramovic) or event (the Duchamp-Cage chess game), even on an architectural scale (Matta Clarke or Whiteread).
In my mind, time and timeliness are of equal importance to the way art works function and are read as other elements that are discussed more often, such as site or scale. A key part of ‘context’ is the work’s appearance, placement and presentation in this continuum, and it’s worthy of consideration along with the other factors that impact a work, its reading and reception, Regularly opportunities
to play or work with time present themselves when approached this way.
> R.U.R by Ronnie van Hout was Satellite’s first project launched at the 2008 Melbourne Art Fair. Can you give us some insight into what’s in the pipeline for 2009?
SM: Natalie King (curator) and I are in the process of finishing a series of briefs for some commissions at Melbourne’s Docklands that we’re curating. They’re permanent and temporary projects that will respond to the history and past uses of the sites we’re working with.
We are in conversation currently with a handful of artists, and hope to double the number over the next four to six months. We’re tuned in to see if there are any discrete, short turnaround projects of interest during those discussions as well as working towards more ambitious or complicated undertakings, so something may bubble up during the year.
Also, in that vein we are working with two international artists who are coming to Australia for exhibitions at galleries, and we’re going to present performances while they’re here as a series of adjunct activities, which will be really fun.
