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Month September 2008

Art Deco: 1910-1939 – NGV, Melbourne – Gallery

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Art Deco: 1910-1939 is a comprehensive exhibition celebrating the significant period in which its glamour and style influenced design worldwide. Direct from London’s famed Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the exhibition is staged exclusively at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV); the fifth exhibition in the extremely popular ‘Melbourne Winter Masterpieces’ series, and the first to feature the decorative arts with over 300 works on display.

Art Deco: 1910-1939 – NGV, Melbourne

Oliver Bernard (designer) England 1881–1939 Strand Palace Hotel staircase 1930–31 glass (lit), chrome 370.8 x 447.5 x 444.7 cm (main); 261.0 cm (stairs) Victoria and Albert Museum, London © V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

View Gallery | Visit Website | Print & File [Members] | Return to DG magazine 131

Kate McCurdy


Art Deco 1910-1939

Art Deco: 1910-1939 is a comprehensive exhibition celebrating the significant period in which its glamour and style influenced design worldwide. Direct from London’s famed Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the exhibition is staged exclusively at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV); the fifth exhibition in the extremely popular ‘Melbourne Winter Masterpieces’ series. The first exhibition to feature the decorative arts, there are over 300 works on display.

Exhibition structure
The exhibition explores the chronological development of Art Deco, from its origins in Europe during the years leading up to the First World War, to the explosion of the movement at the 1925 Paris Exposition, and its enormous popularity and influence on design to countries across the globe. Art Deco 1910-1939 pays particular attention to the major influence of Deco in Australia, dedicating an entire section to Australian architecture, fine arts and product design.

AWA, Sydney (manufacturer) Australia 1913– Empire State, Fisk radiolette and cigarette box 1936 bakelite, glass, metal 28.5 x 28.5 x 18.0 cm Private collection, Sydney © Peter Sheridan

AWA, Sydney (manufacturer) Australia 1913– 'Empire State, Fisk radiolette and cigarette box' 1936 bakelite, glass, metal 28.5 x 28.5 x 18.0 cm Private collection, Sydney © Peter Sheridan


A global influence

The scope of Art Deco’s influence is accurately represented in the exhibition by the display of a wide range of artistic media including painting, jewellery, ceramics and glassware, fashion, industrial design, graphic design, film, architecture and interior design, automotive design, photography and furniture design. Also well represented is the spread of Art Deco at a global level, with featured art and design pieces from Europe, the USA, Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Origins
Art Deco first appeared in Europe, in the years before the First World War. The movement developed in many of the cities where Art Nouveau was popular, and in the years following the war Art Deco’s own popularity and influence on art and design grew quickly, its influence spreading worldwide. The highpoint of this time was the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the first world fair dedicated to modern decorative arts. In the 6-month duration of the exhibition, 16 million visitors came from around the world to view the latest offerings in Art Deco design, which also served to reassert France’s reputation as the arbiter of taste and producer of luxury goods, as well as the centre of fashion, internationally.

Pablo GARGALLO Spain/France 1881-1934 Kiki de Montpamasse 1928, cast 1978 Bronze, ed. 2/3 27.5 x 16.5 x 17.0 cm Musée dArt Moderne de la Ville de Paris Gift of Pierette Anguera-Gargallo, 1981

Pablo GARGALLO Spain/France 1881-1934 'Kiki de Montpamasse' 1928, cast 1978 Bronze, ed. 2/3 27.5 x 16.5 x 17.0 cm Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Gift of Pierette Anguera-Gargallo, 1981


Inspired by the ancient, the exotic and the Avant-Garde

Art Deco itself is influenced by many factors, most significantly by ancient and exotic inspirations as well as styles from the avant-garde movements. Motifs, symbols and imagery from exotic cultures were widely appropriated to the style of Art Deco designs. Paul Colin’s depiction of cabaret dancer Josephine Baker, featured in the Exotic section of the exhibition, illustrates Art Deco’s fascination for the exotic.
The Avant-Garde also had a strong influence on the development of the Art Deco style, in which the art of French Cubism, Orphism, Italian Futurism and Russian Constructivism gave designers a fundamentally new and modern language of forms. These ideas were applied to graphics and textile designs, decoration of ceramics and glassware, as well as architecture, interior design and photography.

Paul Colin France 1892–1985 Josephine Baker 1927 from Le Tumulte noir (The black craze) portfolio, Paris: Editions d’Art Succès, 1927 lithograph and pochoir 47.3 x 63.6 cm (sheet) Victoria and Albert Museum, London © V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London © Paul Colin/ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney

Paul Colin France 1892–1985 'Josephine Baker' 1927 from 'Le Tumulte noir (The black craze)' portfolio, Paris: 'Editions d’Art Succès', 1927 lithograph and pochoir 47.3 x 63.6 cm (sheet) Victoria and Albert Museum, London © V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London © Paul Colin/ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney


The 1925 Paris Exposition

The 1925 Paris Exposition can be regarded as the belated ‘launch’ of Art Deco; the moment at which the style exploded onto the main global stage, while reinstating France’s position as a trendsetter and world centre for style at the time.
The Exposition included paintings from Jean Dupas; furniture design from Jacques-Émile Rulhmann, Sir Edward Maufe, Louis Süe and André Mare; François Pompon’s sculptures including the famous Polar bear; silversmith Jean Puiforcat’s designs; glass pieces from René Lalique, Maurice Marinot and Edward Hald; glamorous jewellery by Louis Cartier and fashion by couture houses Madeleine Vionnet and Maison Myribor.
Also exhibiting at the Exposition were works from designers Jean Dunand , Henri Rapin, Pierre Legrain, Rose Adler, Thayaht, F. Gregory Brown, Gio Ponti and Josef Hoffman.

The Art Deco streamlined lifestyle
A number of these pieces are exhibited in Art Deco 1910-1939, including Louis Cartier’s Tutti Frutti strap bracelet and double-clip brooch, a complex arrangement of coloured precious stones including ruby, emerald and sapphire. These pieces were sold to Cole Porter’s wife Linda Lee Thomas, whose fame adds to the glamorous appeal of this jewellery.
Other glamorous pieces featured in the exhibition are Coco Chanel’s dresses. Extending ideas from pre-First World War designer Paul Poiret, Chanel and Jean Patou created dresses that were designed to reflect the 1920s lifestyle of attending cocktail bars and the cinema. Hair and dresses were cut shorter, the latter to allow women to dance the Charleston, and accessories were designed to match.
The Art Deco style of streamlining influenced not only products and architecture, but the streamlined silhouette was also a coveted style in dress design. A significant practice in fashion design in this time was that of the bias cut in garment construction. This involves the woven fabric being cut on the diagonal to the direction of the weave, which provides greater elasticity and more fluid draping. Designers such as Charles James used this practice to produce sleek designs in matt silk crêpe or smooth glossy satin, which were sophisticated and very Art Deco.

Tamara DE LEMPICKA Poland 1898–1980, emigrated to France 1918, worked in United States 1939–69, Mexico 1962–80 The telephone II (Le téléphone II) 1930 oil on wood panel 35.0 x 27.0 cm Wolfgang Joop Collection, London © Tamara De Lempicka/ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney

Tamara DE LEMPICKA Poland 1898–1980, emigrated to France 1918, worked in United States 1939–69, Mexico 1962–80 'The telephone II (Le téléphone II)' 1930 oil on wood panel 35.0 x 27.0 cm Wolfgang Joop Collection, London © Tamara De Lempicka/ADAGP, Paris. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney


The telephone and the skyscraper

Other highlights of the exhibition include Tamara de Lempicka’s The telephone II from 1930, and the stunning installation of the original architectural elements from the foyer of the Strand Palace Hotel from London’s West End, rescued by the V&A during the demolition of the foyer space in 1969.
Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of Art Deco’s influence on architecture is that of the skyscraper. As well as a striking symbol of modernity, the spectacle of the towering skyscraper also signifies the impact of the new modern style on the art and lifestyle of America. As the style of Art Deco spread from Europe to the United States and the rest of the world, so the American interpretation of Art Deco was shown and promoted to international audiences via the Hollywood film.

Travel and transportation
Travel is also an important inclusion in the exhibition, particularly film footage of the interior design of the Normandie, is featured in the Travel and Transportation section. The depictions of other modes of transport of this era, including grand luxury liners, streamlined trains and motor cars, as well as the exotic tourist destinations communicates the extent of Art Deco’s influence on mass culture and the modern world. Motor vehicle design is featured with the 1937 Cord 812 Westchester sedan, produced by Auburn Automobile Company in Indiana, USA,  given a prominent position in the exhibition.

AUBURN AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, Auburn and Connersville, Indiana (manufacturer) United States 1900–27 Cord 812 Westchester sedan 1937 160.0 x 180.0 x 500.0 cm Private collection, Melbourne Photo: Courtesy of Brian Scott

AUBURN AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, Auburn and Connersville, Indiana (manufacturer) United States 1900–27 'Cord 812 Westchester sedan' 1937 160.0 x 180.0 x 500.0 cm Private collection, Melbourne Photo: Courtesy of Brian Scott

Deco Down Under
One section of Art Deco 1910-1939 has an entirely Australian focus, displaying its architecture, fine arts and product design.
Historical photographs highlight the Sydney Harbour Bridge as being one of the most striking examples of this country’s architectural design, although local architecture in cities, suburbs and towns throughout Australia were strongly influenced by Art Deco. From the mass-produced objects of glassware and ceramics to distinctive handcrafted items of similar products, Australian Art Deco reflects unique national characteristics while at the same time embracing international modernity and Australia’s enthusiasm to be considered part of the global community.

This extensive exhibition is at once a nostalgic tour of the past and also a celebration of style that has never truly gone out of fashion.


Art Deco 1910-1939

28 June – 5 October 2008
NGV International
180 St Kilda Road
10am-5pm
Exhibition fees apply

Further information:
www.ngv.vic.gov.au

View Gallery | Print & File [Members] | Return to DG magazine 131

MADC Creative RAW Competition

The 3rd Melbourne Advertising and Design Club (MADC) Creative RAW Competition will be held on Friday 19 September. In conjunction with The Age, the MADC are once again giving young creative talent the chance to create a campaign and get their work published!

The Creative RAW competition allows upcoming advertising juniors the opportunity to showcase their skills and talents to top names in the creative industry. Melbourne advertising agencies are also encouraged to put forward a team for the competition to give their juniors practical hands-on experience with a live client.

The competition is a one-day event, held on Friday 19 September, with the winning campaign to be published in The Age.

For more information, visit MADC’s website.

Illuminating Melbourne: Maxims of Behaviour

Maxims of Behaviour - Alexander Knox

Maxims of Behaviour - Alexander Knox

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Illuminating Melbourne
The Royal Mail House is very 1960s style architecture. By day, its design seems strongly prescriptive of sixties’ architectural maxims. But from dusk till late during winter 2008 until 15 September, the Royal Mail changes its colours, literally. The Royal Mail’s facade ‘comes alive’ with Alexander Knox’s kinetic light design entitled Maxims of Behaviour. Mounted upon protruding ledges, each light acts as a pixel. The imagery which moves across the face of the building is produced from abstracted video footage of the city’s light, colour and movement.

Phantasmagoria
Knox is particularly interested in mythical and spiritual values. Knox also found further inspiration for the title of this work from the poem, Phantasmagoria by Lewis Carroll, where a male human is visited by a little phantom. A conversation ensues, and the little ghost explains to his human acquaintance ‘The Five Rules of Etiquette’. Like humans, ghosts apparently respect a heirarchical pecking order, and observe strict rules of etiquette. The little ghost also comments insightfully about common ground with humans:

‘ …Ghosts have just as good a right
In every way, to fear the light,
As Men to fear the dark. ‘

from Phantasmagoria, Canto 1, The Trystyng, Verse 7, in Phantasmagoria and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll

The artist
Alexander Knox’s huge kinetic light work contains 88 multi-coloured LED lights which run on green power, have a life span of 100,000 hours, and are very low maintenance. Each night, the average energy consumption is equivalent to running a 2400W small electric heater.

Alexander Knox studied Public Art at RMIT. He is a Melbourne-based artist who uses a combination of lighting, optics, audio, kinetic and formal elements in his work. He has a background in film and industrial design. Winner of the 2006 Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award at Werribee Park, he has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas. His residency in Bangkok’s New Multi-Disciplinary Art Venue produced a large sound and light work entitled ‘Little God’, based on ancient geometries. He has recently been commissioned to design two major works for Melbourne’s Docklands.

- Anne Paterson

The City of Melbourne: Illuminating Melbourne
Maxims of behaviour, a kinetic light work, 1030m2
Alexander Knox
Where: The Royal Mail House building on the eastern corner of the Bourke and Swanston Streets intersection
When: Visible every night from dusk till late, during winter every year until 2012.

This artwork is visible Monday-Thursday, sunset till 12 midnight, and Friday-Sunday, sunset till approximately 2am, closing 15 September 2008.

Further information: The City of Melbourne website

Print & File [Members] | Return to DG magazine 131

Laneways Commission 2008

The City of Melbourne
July 2008 – February 2009

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The City of Melbourne Laneways Commission program for 2008 is well underway. This is an exciting opportunity for everyone to experience new public art in public spaces, for a limited time only: six unique artworks in six very specific sites around Melbourne.

2008 Projects
In 2008, a new group of artists has responded to specific lanes or alley spaces by creating works, not all of them three-dimensional, which are now available for you to experience. Take the tour.

1. Place: Niagara Lane (between Lonsdale and Little Bourke Streets, and Elizabeth and Queen Streets)
Work: Organization for Future Good Steps by Raafat Ishak
When: 4 July 2008 – 15 March 2009
A non-functional staircase, made of steel, coloured white, connects two buildings. Elevated, high above the ground, the staircase has no beginning and no end; it does not lead anywhere. Parts of the staircase are missing. Anxiety, delirium, ascent, descent, distance – the aesthetics of proximity, are some of the elements which the artist, Raffat Ishak, would like the work to express.

As It Appears - Beth Arnold and Sary Zananiri

As It Appears - Beth Arnold and Sary Zananiri

2. Place: Small unnamed alley north of 22 McKillop Street (between Bourke and Little Collins Streets, and Elizabeth and Queen Streets)
Work: As It Appears … by Beth Arnold and Sary Zananiri
When: 18 July 2008 – 23 November 2008 (waking with the city and resting at night)
One of the alley walls looks different. A large spherical shaped swelling pushes out into the alley. Is the building breathing? What is happening? Artists Beth Arnold and Sary Zananiri represent growth or change within a city in an organic, recognizably human form.

Agony/Ecstasy - Phebe Parisia, Eddy Carroll, John Howland

Agony/Ecstasy - Phebe Parisia, Eddy Carroll, John Howland

3. Place: Manton Lane (enter from Little Lonsdale Street between William and King Streets)
Work: Agony/Ecstasy by Phebe Parisia, Eddy Carroll, John Howland
When: 25 July 2008 – 22 February 2009
Look up high on the wall – another neon advertising sign? Look again. This sign points to nothing. An image of a classical figure – at the nexus of agony and ecstasy stares out of the frame. Neon – the advertising industry inciting desire and saturation, epitomised.

4. Place: Union Lane (between Bourke and Little Collins Streets, and Swanston and Elizabeth Streets)
Work: The Speed of Sound Nau Interactive Bells by Anton Hasell, Terence McDermott
When: 8 August 2008 – 26 January 2009 (morning to sunset)
The ancient Chinese bell design – Nau Bells – are rung by worshippers at the Golden Temple in Bangkok as they encounter each bell. The bell is a sound of single purity when rung, or entirely silent at rest. In Union Lane, as we walk, the bells alert us to the sonic qualities of our path, and our presence upon that path. The artists compare the lanes and alleys with fissures within which the sounds of the city fall and come to rest. Each bell marks our journey through an eitherwise silent world. Listen to the silence.

5. Place: Cocker Alley (off Flinders Lane, between Swanston and Elizabeth Streets)
Work: Welcome to Cocker Alley by Bianca Faye, Tim Spicer
When: From 15 August until it dissolves completely over the following year
A golden pipe structure climbs up one of the alley walls. The artists have covered these man-made pipes in gold leaf, signifying the importance of the gold rush in Melbourne’s history. The building on which the pipes climb, the Nicholas Building, was built on the back of the gold rush in Victoria which brought prosperity and accompanying development to Melbourne. Enjoy letting your eyes climb the lines of the golden pipes to the sky above.

6. Place: Various public places in CBD
Work: Time and Again by John Alexander Borley
When: Repetitive walks to take place between early June and late July 2008
Eight people answered a newspaper advertisement to participate in this project. All eight met people they did not know in city laneways in early June, and for one hour pairs walked with no definite route around Melbourne. For the next weeks until late July they all tried to repeat their journeys until every walk was repeated a total of eight times. Each person discussed their experiences with one writer, and the resulting work was published as a catalogue available at retail outlets in Melbourne and around Australia, as well as free online at www.timeandagain.info.

Laneways Commission program
Every year, a fresh group of artists, individuals and groups of two or more submit proposals to the City of Melbourne for public art works to be erected in lanes or alley ways of their choice around the city. The Laneways Commission was launched in 2001. It has become an important part of the city’s arts program, providing both experienced and up and coming artists with opportunities to write and submit proposals for the exhibition of works specifically designed for a public place, or public space.

The prescence of the past: laneway history
The history of the lanes and alleys began at the time of the early surveying of the site chosen for Melbourne. When Governor Richard Bourke arrived at Melbourne in 1837, he insisted that the surveyor, Robert Hoddle, include lanes and alley ways within the grid pattern of the town plans, as a means of servicing the many buildings on the subdivisions. Each of these smaller access pathways has a colourful history of its own. Over time many were renamed, and after 1945, many were built over. However, in Melbourne’s early history, the lanes and alleys were home to a diverse and lively evolving culture which included homes, hotels, stables and coach houses, horse bazaars, hide and skin stores, drapers and importers, bakers and pastry cooks, gunsmiths, locksmiths, workshops and warehouses, and more. The lanes were also notoriously unsanitary, and many were home to well known brothels and other forms of illegitimate business. This rich history is social, economic, architectural and cultural, and the concepts created by artists for today’s public art works are informed by the past in some way.

As it Appears - Beth Arnold and Sary Zananiri

As it Appears - Beth Arnold and Sary Zananiri

Reawakening curiosity
The Laneways program has been very important in reawakening the curiosity of both the art community and the people of Melbourne in these narrow access pathways: the lanes and alley ways of Melbourne. Each one, and there are many, has a different ambience. Some are commercially busy; some have an overwhelming aroma of coffee, people talking around tables, pretending they are in Paris or Rome; many lanes appear rather uninviting, with water dripping, rubbish skips and bins overflowing, and with a lingering repellent odour; and then there are those lanes and alleys which continue to fascinate: they have a mysterious quality that beckons, and they are quiet. There are shadows and shapes, and often a haunting feeling of time standing still. Volcanic bluestone pitchers under one’s feet date from the city’s early history, reminding us that when all else in Melbourne is renovated or replaced, these pavements, lanes and alley ways continue to provide an intriguing time portal to the past.

Public Art projects
The successful design, production and installation process of any public art work is always a challenging undertaking. While the role of the artist in a studio involves working through creative ideas, designs, form and materials, the work is often produced alone, and often exhibited within some kind of gallery space. A public art project has many more demands and implications. Public art also challenges artists to work collaboratively, in a cross-disciplinary team effort, rather than a solo performance.

Public place, public space
Public space, unlike gallery space, brings with it other complicating factors such as pedestrians and vehicles, commercial requirements and local by-laws. An artist or artists may have responded to a particular site with passion to create a particular work, but each must also consider the added challenges of the site itself. How will the work impact upon surrounding inhabitants and the immediate environment? Community consultation is an essential part of the process. Public artists meet with stake holders to consider their needs and concerns, which may often influence and/or change the artist’s original proposal. The ability to be flexible about ideas, and to be capable of making changes, while still maintaining a clear focus on the unique artistic elements of a proposal to a brief, are vital prerequisites for the public artist. Alongside philosophical and personal challenges, there is a practical list of necessary skills, such as, being able to cost projects, to satisfy all elements of a brief, to design and produce the artwork, to choose suitable materials, to arrange for the sub-contracting of some or all of the components, and to arrange for the hire of equipment for installation and dismantling (if necessary). Working in a public space demands a clear understanding of public risk issues and their legal implications, and the health and safety issues associated with a building site – while installation is taking place, during the exhibition, and after the exhibition is finished.

Sustainability
Public artists also need to have a good understanding of the concept of sustainability – which is now an established philosophy adopted by all local, state, and federal organizations, government and private. For public artists, it means having respect for the public spaces they are invited to use as exhibition spaces, and leaving them as they found them. While the historic lanes and alleys of Melbourne offer exhibition sites for the Laneways Commission public art works of 2008, and will keep on providing inspiration for artists for years to come, their history is part of our heritage, and their value is priceless. Artists have an important role in demonstrating respect and care for the sites they work on, which is the key to maintaining a sustainable environment for future generations.

Anne Paterson

Further information: The City of Melbourne website

Print & File [Members] | Return to DG magazine 131