The Art Life
Encyclopedia
The Art Life is a blog
about the art scene in Sydney
, Australia
and an on-going series of television
programs broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
.
online service, The Art Life http://www.artlife.blogspot.com established itself as an independent voice of art criticism in the Australian art and media world.
Written anonymously, the Art Life's irreverent tone, humorous articles, polls and lively reader discussion provide many readers with an introduction to the often obscure Sydney art world, from commercial galleries to artist-run initiatives, art events, personalities and news.
The identities of The Art Life writers and editors has been the subject of speculation http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/18/1097951630879.html?from=storylhs. In October 2004, The Sydney Morning Herald
journalist Andrew Hornery reported that arts-writer Andrew Frost and artist Simon Barney were widely believed to be responsible. Although both denied authorship of the blog, the subsequent appearance of Frost on television as the "face" of the blog seemed to put an end to that speculation.
More recently, some contributors to the blog have been named on posts and have included Bonny Dot Cassidy, Carrie Miller, Marcus Trimble, Margaret Mayhew, Ian Houston and Isobel Johnston.
Following the initial Art Life series, the ABC commissioned a two subsequent specials.
A Year in The Art Life was broadcast on 13 November 2007 on the ABC and looked at art news from the year December 2006 through to November 2007. The special was presented by Frost and directed by Brendan Fletcher.
The Art Life At The Biennale of Sydney 2008, broadcast on ABC1
on 22 July 2008, was a 27 minute documentary about the bi-annual international art exhibition. The program featured interviews with international artists exhibiting in the Biennale of Sydney
including among others Pierre Huyghe
, George Bures Miller
, Dora Garcia and the curator of the 2008 exhibition Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
. Written and presented by Frost, the documentary was directed by Simon von Wolkenstein.
In March 2009, ABC1 [formerly the ABC] aired The Art Life 2. The three episodes of this second series were linked by an investigation of a single question - what is an artist? Ep 1 Starry Starry Night looked at the history of the idea of the artist, from Vincent Van Gogh
to contemporary artists; Ep 2 Who Made Who met and interviewed artists who explore identity as their principal subject; while Ep 3 Lust For Life was a survey of art with an explicit connection to political issues.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
about the art scene in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and an on-going series of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
programs broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
.
The Art Life Blog
Established in 2004 using the BloggerBlogger (service)
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
online service, The Art Life http://www.artlife.blogspot.com established itself as an independent voice of art criticism in the Australian art and media world.
Written anonymously, the Art Life's irreverent tone, humorous articles, polls and lively reader discussion provide many readers with an introduction to the often obscure Sydney art world, from commercial galleries to artist-run initiatives, art events, personalities and news.
The identities of The Art Life writers and editors has been the subject of speculation http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/18/1097951630879.html?from=storylhs. In October 2004, The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
journalist Andrew Hornery reported that arts-writer Andrew Frost and artist Simon Barney were widely believed to be responsible. Although both denied authorship of the blog, the subsequent appearance of Frost on television as the "face" of the blog seemed to put an end to that speculation.
More recently, some contributors to the blog have been named on posts and have included Bonny Dot Cassidy, Carrie Miller, Marcus Trimble, Margaret Mayhew, Ian Houston and Isobel Johnston.
The Art Life on TV
The Art Life was a three part TV series that aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [ABC] in July 2007. The series was an overview of recent Australian art and was organised thematically: Ep 1 Out There looked at the context of Australian art inspired by the experience of the suburbs, Ep 2 Millions of Images surveyed the practice of photography and video art in the aftermath of Post Modernism while Ep 3 Always Busy Dying was an examination of painting in contemporary art. The series was produced by Frank Haines and directed by Brendan Fletcher. The series was written and presented by Andrew Frost.Following the initial Art Life series, the ABC commissioned a two subsequent specials.
A Year in The Art Life was broadcast on 13 November 2007 on the ABC and looked at art news from the year December 2006 through to November 2007. The special was presented by Frost and directed by Brendan Fletcher.
The Art Life At The Biennale of Sydney 2008, broadcast on ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
on 22 July 2008, was a 27 minute documentary about the bi-annual international art exhibition. The program featured interviews with international artists exhibiting in the Biennale of Sydney
Biennale of Sydney
The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is the largest and best-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country...
including among others Pierre Huyghe
Pierre Huyghe
Pierre Huyghe is a French artist who works in a variety of media from film and video to public interventions. He won the Hugo Boss Prize from the Guggenheim Museum in 2002.-Biography:...
, George Bures Miller
George Bures Miller
George Bures Miller is a Canadian artist noted for his collaborative works with wife Janet Cardiff. Miller and Cardiff represented Canada at the 2001 Venice Biennale...
, Dora Garcia and the curator of the 2008 exhibition Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is an Italian and American writer, art historian and curator. She is the Artistic Director of dOCUMENTA , which opens in Kassel on June 9, 2012...
. Written and presented by Frost, the documentary was directed by Simon von Wolkenstein.
In March 2009, ABC1 [formerly the ABC] aired The Art Life 2. The three episodes of this second series were linked by an investigation of a single question - what is an artist? Ep 1 Starry Starry Night looked at the history of the idea of the artist, from Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
to contemporary artists; Ep 2 Who Made Who met and interviewed artists who explore identity as their principal subject; while Ep 3 Lust For Life was a survey of art with an explicit connection to political issues.
External links
- The Art Life blog
- Web Of Intrigue, Andrew Hornery, Sydney Morning Herald, October 2004
- 'Bad boy blogger now aunty's favourite, Clare Morgan, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2007
- From blog to screen, Brad Newsome, The Age, 7 June 2007
- The Art Life, Robin Oliver, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 2007
- Wives Less Ordinary, Ruth Ritchie, 16 June 2007, Sydney Morning Herald
- What in Creation is so important about art?, Stephen Matchett, 17 March 2009, The Australian