Mike Parr Social, Cultural, Historical Context Mike Parr is an Australian performance artist and printmaker. Born in 1945 he grew up in rural Queensland and was born with a misshapen arm that featured heavily in his performance works. In 1965 he began a law degree at the University of Queensland however he discontinued it the year after, instead opting to move to Sydney and enrolling in the National Art School to study painting in 1968. In 1970 he established an alternative art space for conceptual and performing art and video with Peter Kennedy, known as Inhibodress. Parr’s performances involved exploring the physical limits of the body as well as the memory and subjectivity, most depict self mutilation or present extreme physical features …show more content…
All his performances are documented either photographically or via video, and his works are exhibited internationally. Parr’s printmaking contrasts greatly with his performance pieces. His prints consist of emotionally and visually beautiful etchings that consist of a barrage of raw and sharp lines. He is fascinated with observation and the possibilities of memory distortions, his ‘landscape’ prints examples of his experimentation with memories of views passed by. When he began his art career his pieces were designed to get a reaction out of the audience, to really shock them. This is a continual theme throughout his performing works. Parr is considered one of the most if not the most successful artist of his decade. He has been influenced by …show more content…
According to Michelle Jamieson of Artlink, ‘The work has politically motivated a social conscience that is strongly opposed to Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.’ The similarity to Parr’s other performance pieces emerges through him testing the boundaries and limits of his body and of his mind. The use of a blindfold suggests anonimity, as well as grouping everyone as the same, that this message not only applies to everyone but it is about the equal treatment of all refugees who suffer at the detention centres. By restricting his only arm Parr is suggesting that by treating the refugees as such and placing them in these detention centers only for some to be sent back to where they came from we are cutting off all options, paralysing them to the fact that they have no opinion or choice in the matter of whether or not they are allowed refuge. Secondarily the blindfold reinforces the idea that the refugees are metaphorically blind throughout the whole process, they are not included in the decision of whether they be granted asylum or not. The metal chair that Parr is seated on represents the false welcome the refugees are gifted with when they arrive at Australian shores. They are bought straight to the detention centres and locked up only provided with the necessities. The non-descript clothes Parr is wearing again suggests anonimity as well as
To an extent, the characters in the play represent aspects of the Australian identity and experience. However, Rayson's vivid grasp of speech patterns to evoke character, and her ability to manipulate the audience with humour and pathos move the text beyond mere polemic and stereotype. In an almost Brechtian way, she positions us to analyse as we are entertained and moved.
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
· 1999: Private commissions (2). Continues to work on paintings for traveling exhibition, Visual Poems of Human Experience (The Company of Art, Chronology 1999).
Watching the documentary “Go Back To Where You Came From” regarding the issues of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, I am disgusted about the way that Australia has been treating Asylum Seekers and Refugees. That is why I am writing you this letter to promote and voice my view on the treatment to refugees, the Stop the Boats Policy and ways to minimise this Issue.
It is true that the essence of any story is emphasised through distinctively visual images created for the audience. The ability of any composer- an artist with paint brushes, a musician with chords or the writer with words- to entice and evoke is at the centre of a narrative. Both Peter Goldsworthy’s novel Maestro and Beneath Clouds by Iven Sen evoke emotions in the responder through distinctively visual elements and exploration of the concepts appearance versus reality and influence of environment.
Throughout Australian history a racist attitude towards Aboriginals has been a significant issue. From the moment the early settlers arrived on our shores and colonised, the Aboriginals have been fighting for the survival of their culture. The Aboriginals haven been take in and dominated to bring them in line with an idealistic European society. These themes have been put forward by Jack Davis in his stage play, No Sugar, the story of an Aboriginal family’s fight for survival during the Great Depression years. Admittedly Davis utilises his characters to confront the audience and take them out of their comfort zone, showing them the reality of Aboriginal treatment. This is an element of the marginalisation that Jack Davis uses through out the play this starts from the beginning where he discomforts the audience by using an open stage. One character that Davis uses through out the play is A.O. Neville, Davis uses him to portray the issue of power, this is a very important issue that is carried through out the play.
The notable French-Canadian abstract expressionist Jean-Paul Riopelle is known for his signature large-format mosaic composition to establish explosive engagement. The monumental Chevreuse II (Figure 1) in his Mosaiques series was created during 1953 to 1954, measured in 3m x 3m. This work is currently on exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). The AGO decided to put up a co-exhibition of Riopelle and his romantic partner Joan Mitchell’s works, and titled the exhibition Nothing in Moderation.
Thus, this creates connotations to patriotism and pride towards the country the reader lives in. Coupled with the large image of Australia filled with smaller images of people of all ages, and race, sporting the Australian flag, influences the reader to enter the article with a positive attitude towards Australia Day, as it seems to put this day in high esteem, which consequently convinces the audience, before even commencing to read, that the day is about ‘unity’ and not division. The smaller images of a non-traditional and traditional stereotypical Australian prove that race play no part in this celebratory day, creating the sense of Australia being an accepting
What do I see in her performance? Her art performance “The Artist is Present” is the first career exhibition the MoMA under took for a performan...
...derstand what they are and are going through. If the reader belongs to another minority or is a new emigrant to Australia will identify itself with the anger and frustration other readers might feel guilty just because they thing they belong to a privileged group. I felt the injustice of inequality that emerges form this poem collection and the uselessness. There were no suggestions how repair what was done . The author shows in the poem that the hurt and anger are part of the aboriginal identity.
The movie depicts what it was like to be Australian in the decades of the 50’s and 60’s and the decisions of the Australian government over this period, through the journey of four Aboriginal women and one Irish man. The movie explores the treatment of indigenous people living in this era in comparison to white Australians. The unique ways in which the characters made their living provided for scrutiny, judgement and vulnerability. In the movie you see just how differently the Aboriginal community was treated compared to the white Australians during these era’s.
I was born in the late 90’s—an era where television was not necessarily incredibly new and shocking, but it was certainly still a privilege to have one in your household. Gratitude for this privilege was wildly illustrated through the use of the television. However, my parents were also adamant that my childhood would not be consumed entirely by the television. They shaped my current belief that though technology is an amazing feat, it is often used in a mindless manor that does no good to the human brain or human life. I immediately connected with this piece of Paik’s because of the contradiction, and yet intense synchronicity, of classical music, modern technology, and sexuality. These three components would never have been thought to coincide, but it is because of them that Paik’s underlying message is able to be conceived by viewers. Not to mention, I can vividly recall my father referring to the television as the “boob tube.” Though I’m positive he did not coin this phrase, it was a comical saying in our household and to see Paik reuse it brings a bout of nostalgia to mind. The simplicity of the black and white, as well as the intense yet plain expression on Moorman’s face, with her fingers poised perfectly on the strings, illustrates Paik’s message without use of words. I feel a strong compelling towards pieces of art that needn’t scrawl their theme in bright red letters across the canvas, but
Throughout both ‘Rainbow’s End’ and ‘The Rabbits’, the audience discovers the plights that the Aboriginal Australians faced, due to discrimination and assimilation, in intensely confronting, yet intensely meaningful ways. We see how the discrimination and forced assimilation of cultures was common in the lead up to modern times because of composers like Harrison, Marsden and Tan reminding us of these events, allowing us to discover and rediscover our past wrongs through their works, in order to pave the way for a brighter, harmonious future. Without these documentations and retellings of events such as these, history would repeat itself, conflicts would be more apparent and we as a species would not be able to thrive and prosper due to our prejudices and superiority complexes.
Bangarra Dance Theatre’s phenomenon entitled Mathinna entails the awe-inspiring, yet historically enlightening journey of an Aboriginal girl who was taken from her home and forced to conform to the westernised norms of the 1800’s. In an era plagued by racism and prejudice, Mathinna emanates the themes of colonialism, and cultural intolerance. Following the viewing of this scintillating production it is undeniably clear that the architect of Mathinna, Stephen Page, has deliberately intended to shed light on the immoral practice of forcibly removing Indigenous children as well as address the issue of social and cultural erosion to emotionally move those of modern audiences. This essay serves to further elaborate on the cultural undertones of
The lines, “As I said, it might help if we … we can imagine it’s opposite” use perspective to put the non-indigenous Australians into the shoes of indigenous Australians, to help them explore and understand the possibilities of not belonging.