STEPHEN PAVLOVIC UNVEILS HIS PROGRAM FOR VIVID LIVE  AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE 2011 MAY 27 – JUNE 5

2manydjs  / ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI /  THE AVALANCHES DJs /  AZARI & III / BAT FOR LASHES / CHRIS CUNNINGHAM /  CLUB KOOKY  / THE CRYSTAL ARK /  CUT COPY /  DOM / HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE /  LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIND /  OFWGKTA /  SNEAKY SUNDAY / SONNY ROLLINS  SPIRITUALIZED: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE ARE FLOATING IN SPACE /  TAME IMPALA / TOM KUNTZ  / WU LYF /  YO GABBA GABBA! /  CANYONS / THE SWISS / BENI / VAN SHE / FLIGHT FACILITIES / SOFTWAR /  BAMBOO MUSIK / CHANGES / BAG RAIDERS

Sydney Opera House today announced the program for Vivid LIVE 2011, curated by Stephen Pavlovic of Modular.
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House (May 27 – June 5) is part of Vivid Sydney (May 27 – June 13), the city’s annual festival of light, music and ideas.  Vivid LIVE celebrates Sydney as a leader in the field of the creative and cultural industries both nationally and throughout the region.

Each year, Vivid LIVE asks a different artist or individual to curate a program of events in and around the world’s most iconic venue.
Following Brian Eno’s debut festival in 2009, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson brought their unforgettable downtown New York vibe to Sydney in 2010.  This year local music industry legend Stephen ‘Pav’ Pavlovic, founder of the hugely successful Sydney-based record label, touring company and international brand Modular, brings fresh Australian eyes to this growing international festival.

Sydney Opera House Head of Music, Fergus Linehan says, “Working to realise Stephen Pavlovic’s Vivid LIVE program has been an exhilarating ride for all of us at Sydney Opera House.  Pav is meticulous, tenacious and fearless in his approach and while his season is host to countless artists who are outstanding in their own right, this is a festival that can only be fully understood in its entirety.  It has also been an honour to work with our colleagues at Events NSW to build a festival which we hope will have real meaning for the people of NSW, draw visitors to the city and celebrate the creative powerhouse that our state has become.”

See the full program here

Bill Viola’s The Raft

Thu 7 Oct 2010 – Sun 20 Feb 2011
Gallery 2, Australian Centre for the Moving Image

Curated by Alessio Cavallaro and Kate Warren

“Viola’s filmic eye channels light like a Caravaggio brushstroke.”
- Australian Financial Review Magazine

“Viola’s videos are not only mind blowing in concept, they are stunningly beautiful”
- Vogue Australia

Renowned American video artist Bill Viola brings to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) his powerful video installation The Raft, for a celebration of this acclaimed artist’s work as part of the 2010 Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) and the 21^st Kaldor Public Art Project.

The Raft (2004) shows a group of men and women from various ethnic and economic backgrounds waiting in line. Suddenly they are struck by a massive onslaught of water that knocks over some, while others brace themselves and fight for survival. Water flies everywhere, clothing and bodies are pummelled, faces and limbs contort in stress and agony against the cold, hard force. Then, as suddenly as it arrived, the water stops, leaving behind a band of suffering, bewildered, and battered individuals.

The action in The Raft is recorded in high-speed film and unfolds in extreme slow motion to reveal subtle nuances of the light and colour in the explosive impact of the water and the individual expressions and gestures of the figures in the face of an overwhelming assault. Described by the artist as “an image of destruction and survival”, this powerful and extremely moving work is a symbol of hope in the difficult times we find ourselves.

The ACMI exhibition will be shown in conjunction with Viola’s major works Fire Woman and Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), both on display at St Carthage’s Catholic Church, Parkville. For the duration of the Festival the Church is turned into a video art shrine complete with the latest technology, surround sound and enveloping operatic narrative. Shown in a continuous loop, these two works combine for a 20-minute visual and aural experience that extends Viola’s lifelong engagement with the human condition into ancient themes of life, love and death.

The Raft is a free admission exhibition in ACMI’s Gallery 2 opening on Thursday 7 October as part of the 2010 Melbourne International Arts Festival’s visual arts program. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 6pm until Sunday 20 February, 2011.

More information at ACMI
See more at Melbourne International Arts Festival

Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Robert Lepage, Jack Charles, Hotel Pro Forma, Michael Clark Company, Thomas Adès, Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Akram Khan Company, The Black Arm Band & Beck’s Festival Bar

The 25th Melbourne Festival, and the second under the artistic direction of Brett Sheehy, announces a dynamic and emotive program of work from some of the finest creative minds of our times. Over 16 days, from 8 to 23 October, the Festival presents an unparalleled feast of music, dance, theatre, opera, visual arts, multimedia and outdoor events from renowned and upcoming Australian and international companies and artists.

Festival highlights this year include free outdoor aerial spectacular K@osmos; Hotel Pro Forma’s awe inspiring, large-scale operatic spectacle, Tomorrow, in a year, featuring the groundbreaking music of electro-pop masters The Knife; world renowned recording artists Sinead O’Connor (in her exclusive Australian performance), John Cale and Meshell Ndegeocello; one of Australia’s most highly regarded performers in his one-man show, Jack Charles V The Crown; the residency of British composer, Thomas Adès, the most inventive contemporary composer of his generation. As part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival: Beck’s Festival Bar at the Forum Theatre, will be featuring some intriguing acts: Boredoms (Japan), Low (USA), Ponzu Island (Australia), The Drones (Australia), Dead Meadow (USA) and more.

Boredoms

Ponzu Island

The Festival features two Australian premieres. come, been and gone, the bold new dance work from the world renowned Michael Clark Company featuring the music of the legendary David Bowie with Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno and internationally revered director, film maker and actor Robert Lepage’s  magical journey to modern China with The Blue Dragon, a heart-wrenching love story told with Lepage’s trademark striking theatrical vision.

Come, Been and Gone, Simon Williams, Photography: Jake Walters

The Festival closes with a one-off spectacular finale, Seven Songs to Leave Behind, a unique concert featuring international music legends Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Meshell Ndegeocello and Rickie Lee Jones, with award winning Indigenous artist Gurrumul Yunupingu and festival favourites Black Arm Band and Orchestra Victoria at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Oct 23.

For more info see the festival site here

During September in select cinemas around Australia, Madman presents REEL ANIME 2010, showcasing five of the freshest anime feature films this side of Tokyo.

Following the sold-out success of the 2008 Showcase, which featured ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ and ‘Appleseed: Ex Machina’, this latest crop of films has something for everyone: from the rebuild of the Evangelion universe, ‘Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance’ and ‘Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone’; the masterful storytelling of ‘Summer Wars’ (from the director of ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’); the adrenaline fueled ‘Redline’; and the thrilling ‘King Of Thorn’.

Summer Wars, Reel Anime 2010

Redline, Reel Anime 2010

King Thorn, Reel Anime 2010

Evangelion: You Can [Not] Advance, Reel Anime 2010

See more at Madman

AWARD, Australia’s pre-eminent creative industries body, has announced changes to its 2011 awards programme. AWARD, the Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association, counts some of the finest creative minds from Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia amongst its members. It is a non-political, non-profit organisation that aims to set standards of creative excellence, to promote creativity in the business arena, and to educate and inspire the next creative generation.

“As champions of commercial creativity, AWARD aims to raise standards of creative excellence across a range of disciplines – emerging as well as established,” said Craig Davis, AWARD Chairman.
“In the annual AWARD show, we can create more space and opportunity to recognise and celebrate great creative work, reflecting how the marketing and communications industries have evolved and are evolving.”

Accordingly, several new categories have been created for 2011, including music video, applications, social media, environmental design, and branded content. As well, a new award for Creative Innovation will challenge entrants to contribute a solution that defies convention. It is anticipated that the award will draw unexpected ideas from industries both connected to, and beyond, advertising.

“Creativity is a prerequisite of commercial success and of prosperity,” said Craig Davis. “We believe it is the single most valuable asset for business today, and that through inclusiveness and collaboration, that value can only increase.”

The AWARD 2011 Call for Entries will be launched in coming days. The AWARD show will take place on March 11, 2011, as part of the Creative Festival taking place from 9-11 March.

See the AWARD site for more information.

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, in association with the Goethe-Institut, presents - Berlin on Film
Thursday 4 November – Monday 8 November 2010

To coincide with the Berlin Dayz cultural festival and the twentieth anniversary of the reunification of Germany, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) presents a program of films devoted to the country’s capital in Berlin on Film this November.

Berlin has a unique rhythm which infuses its architecture, its culture and its citizens. This filmic celebration of the historical city brings together six documentaries; from the challenges of a country divided, to the process of reunification and the infinite possibilities of a Berlin without borders.

ACMI Film Programmer Kristy Matheson, with the assistance of the Goethe-Institut, has composed a program which reminds us of the challenges Berliners overcame and the sense of euphoria of reunification. “With a remarkable and catastrophic history, Berlin has played many roles throughout the 20th century, emerging in the new millennium as one of the world’s most fascinating and enduring cities,” she said.

The program opens with Rhythm Is It (2004), directed by Thomas Grube and Enrique Sánchez Lansch, which intertwines music and contemporary dance in an ambitious project by Conductor Sir Simon Rattle, the Berlin Philharmonic, choreographer Royston Maldoom and 250 young Berliners from disparate ages and backgrounds. Their performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is a joyous and inspired tale of triumph over adversity. The screening precedes the Berlin Philharmonic’s visit to Australia this November.

Rhythm Is It (2004), ACMI: Berlin on Film 2010

Former East German model turned director Marco Wilms presents an exciting portrait of youth in revolt and subversive creativity in East Berlin in Comrade Couture (2009). Inspired by new wave and punk fashions from the West, East Berliners took to crafting their own fashions – turning their limited materials to an advantage and parading avant-garde creations made from plastic, bed sheets and disused medical supplies. As one of East Germany’s most daring stylists, Frank Schäfer, puts it in the film; “A tiger in a cage is much wilder than a tiger that is free to roam.” Drawing on personal memories, interviews and extensive archival research, Wilms offers a unique view of this heady artistic outpouring under ever watchful Stasi eyes.

Wilms’ earlier Berlin Vortex (2003) taps into the wave of euphoria among youth in the Eastern block prompted by the reunification of Germany in 1989. With the wall down and capitalism still at bay, young Berliners occupied empty residences and began preparing for their futures bringing change through art and social programs. Featuring celebrated choreographer Sasha Waltz, Jochen Sandig, Christian Lorenz of ‘Rammstein’ fame, social workers and still struggling artists, Wilms’ discovery of what became of five citizens and their utopian dreams for the new Berlin is as fascinating and diverse as the city itself.

The director of Comrade Couture and Berlin Vortex, Wilms will be in Melbourne for the season.

Scored by Einstürzende Neubauten and featuring internationally acclaimed architects, Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano and I.M. Pei, Berlin Babylon (2001) offers a rare glimpse into an international city, under construction. In a post-wall era, Berlin found itself as a metropolis in great need of physical change to fully realise the promise of reunification and to repair the destruction the 20th century had wreaked upon it. With its astonishing aerial photography and subtle verite style, Hubertus Siegert’s film has a dreamlike quality that allows the viewer to float above and wander through of one of the world’s great cities as it transitions into the future.

A heartfelt declaration of love to a city and its people, In Berlin (2009) traces the changes that have taken place in the twenty years since the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Featuring a vast array of Berliners including, actor Angela Winkler, Alex Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten, architects, fashion designers, performers and store owners, long term Scorsese cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and co-director Ciro Cappellari have crafted a visually stunning and engaging portrait of one of the world’s most lively and creative hubs.

In Berlin, Rhythm Is It, Berlin Babylon and special guest director Wilms’ films Comrade Couture and Berlin Vortex, will all be introduced by Berlin-based film critic and radio journalist, Carsten Beyer.

The bustling streets of 1920’s Berlin are writ-large in the entrancing Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt) (1927). Like other famous ‘city films’ such as Man With the Movie Camera, director Walter Ruttmann’s portrait of Berlin is a dynamic mix of man and machine, social norms and daily life, a captivating vision of Berlin between the wars. This black and white silent treasure will enjoy a free screening on the big screen in Melbourne’s Federation Square.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt) (1927), ACMI: Berlin on Film 2010

Berlin on Film is programmed as part of Berlin Dayz, the German-Australian Festival coordinated by the Goethe-Insitut in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Germany’s reunification. Berlin Dayz events will be held across Australia throughout October and November to coincide with the official Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) on 3 October, this year being hosted by Bremen in the country’s North West. Operating from its Melbourne base, Berlin Dayz events are designed as a dialogue between two cultural capitals: Berlin and Melbourne.

Berlin on Film will screen at ACMI from Thursday 4 to Monday 8 November, 2010
More here

Semi‐Permanent a celebration of all things art and design is back in 2010 to inspire Melbourne’s thriving creative community yet again. While some may think it’s the forum where design nerds gather to fight against the evils of Comic Sans, Semi‐Permanent offers an eye‐opening insight into the broad streams of design, and where those varying crafts can take you.
Designed to inspire and educate, renowned artists and specialists in their field will come together at the Melbourne Convention Centre on Friday 17 September and Saturday 18 September to share their knowledge and passion for their work. Semi‐Permanent Melbourne 2010 boasts a line‐up of 12 speakers including newly announced Simon Allen from Academy Award winning animators Pixar, photographer Claire Martin, Art Director for Girl Skateboards Andy Jenkins, UK post production house Framestore, Melbourne based visual artist Leif Podhajsky and creative agency and artists representatives Big Active.

Buck, Semi-Permanent 2010

Brought to life by Sydney’s Design is Kinky, Semi‐Permanent is a conference which unites exceptionally talented artists and designers to speak at a conference which sits within a broader program of side events including exhibitions, workshops and parties. “It’s not only our speakers that make the event special. It’s the atmosphere and spirit that the audience brings with them,” said Design is Kinky’s Andrew Johnstone. “It’s a casual atmosphere where new friends are made and new colleagues discovered. It’s this that sets Semi‐Permanent apart from other conferences, a shared feeling that you belong to a community.”

Now in its eighth year and with 22 conferences under it’s designer belt, Semi‐Permanent is the internationally acclaimed conference of its kind, year on year, proving an exciting line‐up of talented speakers spanning the art, film, motion graphics, illustration, photography, and visual effects disciplines.

Framestore, Semi-Permanent 2010

Semi‐Permanent is on at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 17 September and Saturday 18 September 2010. The official program is yet to be released but for regular updates and tickets check here

Winner: Sea Change by Rosie Clements and Joe King

Kate McCurdy

Visit website | Print & File [Members]

In an attempt to support and promote the myriad disciplines that fall under the umbrella term ‘digital moving image’, this year the Jerwood Moving Image Awards was established to provide a platform for exploring and debating the artform as it exists today, as well as its future prospects.

Of the 350 entries received, three winners were selected by the judging panel as leaders in their field: Sophie Clements, Johnny Kelly and the creative partnership of Rosie Pedlow and Joe King. They have each received £10,000 as winners of the first ever major award in the UK for artists working in the relatively new discipline of digital moving image.

Winner: Procrastination by Johnny Kelly

Digital moving image is a ‘uniquely exciting creative discipline of almost limitless possibility,’ says Roanne Dods, Director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. She adds that ‘the three winning films wonderfully fulfil the potential of putting digital technology in the hands of the artists, and will hopefully encourage audiences, artists and critics alike to engage more closely with this artform’.

The fact that the judging panel was led by Wayne McGregor of the Royal Ballet displays the breadth of this new discipline into all areas of the arts. McGregor observes that ‘the staggering diversity of practices that we’ve seen [in the award's entries] from dance film and documentary to animation and video art, reveals a discipline that is vigorously creative and consistently challenging its own boundaries.’

Winner: Evensong by Sophie Clements

The three winners’ work are prime examples of this blurring of disciplines, as they combine elements of filmmaking, sound design and music, screenwriting, visual arts, as well as animation and digital effects to create the films.
A collection of their work as well as the other five finalists, and twenty-two other shortlisted films can also be streamed online at the Jerwood Moving Image Awards website.

Visit website | Print & File [Members]

Pilgrimage From Scattered Points by Luke Fowler

View Article in DG magazine 129 | View Gallery

The inaugural Jarman Award took place at The Serpentine Gallery last night and Glasgow-based artist film-maker Luke Fowler humbly collected the coveted prize.

Film London and More4, in partnership with The Serpentine Gallery, supported The Jarman Award – a distinction created in celebration of the experimentation and imagination of UK artist film-makers who resist boundaries and conventional definition in the spirit of Derek Jarman.

Representatives from all partnership organisations sang the praises of the artists that were shortlisted – Duncan Campbell, Andrew Kötting, Emily Wardill, and the eventual winner, Luke Fowler. Maggie Ellis, the Head of Production at Film London, made the announcement.

Luke Fowler stood out for his vision, ambition and integrity . He is a key catalyst and collaborator within Glasgow’s vital arts scene and his work is a rigorous and energetic testament to film’s ability to transcend its own limits as both art form and document.

As the winning artist, Luke Fowler receives £20,000 plus a commission of four short films for Channel 4’s documentary shorts strand, 3 Minute Wonder, to be aired in Autumn 2008. Campbell, Kötting and Wardill each receive £1,000.

View Article in DG magazine 129 | View Gallery