By Holly Hammond
and Tamara Desiatov
PERTH — It's Artrage time again, Perth's annual arts festival. Artrage has become a predominantly mainstream arts festival, with a lack of dissenting art and hence a lack of "rage".
Artrage has become increasingly institutionalised and elitist. It is sponsored by the WA government through the Department of the Arts. Gwalia Consolidated is the major sponsor, showing the festival's corporate nature. It has become more of an opportunity to advertise corporations, restaurants and fashion boutiques, than to explore the diversity of art.
The magazine and program for Artrage had surprisingly little pictures, which didn't correspond to the events. It is bland in presentation and lacks artistic merit. Advertising content was large, with many full-page spreads featuring exploitative photos of women. The magazine did not represent the art or the artists involved, but focused on the sponsorship.
These following art installations were shown at PICA (Perth Institute of Contemporary Art).
Portraits from a Pavement — A series of black and white photographs taken by Daniel Palmer of unknown faces on Barrack St in Perth. It is an exhibition about social interaction: "While 11 people are strangers, one of them is a close friend, and you can't tell who it is from the pictures".
SKIN — Gay and Lesbian Art — Part of Pride festival and Artrage. "Understand that sexuality is as wide as the sea. Understand that your morality is not law. Understand that we are you." This is an exhibition by different artists presenting the diversity of gay and lesbian experiences. This amounts to some very political messages and images.
The Cornucopia Piece — "This fruit is tired of being treated as a sexual object". A group of artists have come together in an installation around the theme of fruit. It looks at the idea of taking fruit beyond the narrow stereotypes of fruit as sex, fertility, sexuality towards fruit liberation.
Northbridge on the Edge is an artistic protest against the proposed freeway through Northbridge. The multi-media exhibition includes a video, slides, shop front images and walls to draw on.
Spearhead — "New World Order US = UN". A multi-media viewing station including images of Saddam Hussein and George Bush during the Gulf War. This is a powerful reminder of the Gulf War and the US propaganda and anti-Arab racism of the time. "The meek shall inherit nothing." "This species has amused itself to death. Amused. Itself. To. Death." Roger Waters 1992.
Now, Then and Tomorrow — Black and white photographs by Helayne Short of Aboriginal activists and the protests at the old Swan Brewery (sacred site of the Waugal) over the Multiplex development. Protest poetry and text complemented the photos. One text quoted Judith Watson, who was state minister for Aboriginal affairs during the brewery protests: "WA will never have land rights".
Run ... The CyberIndians are coming!! is an exhibition put together by Colectivo, a multi-media arts group that has a commitment to exploring the politics in the interaction between dominant social structures and minority groups such as isolated women and youth, people from non-dominant cultural backgrounds and others. This is subversive art combining cyberfeminism and indigenous art and performance with a critique of Artrage. Images, text, cyberheads, televisions, slides and videos are used. Five shows were presented.
There has been an alternative magazine floating about and disappearing attacking the Artrage magazine and its heterosexist and sexist advertising.