Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

SESSION 3 : THE 'ROLE' OF THE 'CONTEMPORARY' 'ARTIST' David Wil l iams (Chair and Session Commentator) Yesterday the conference considered the overview or the big picture situation. Today this session bri ngs us to a more detailed consideration of the role of the contemporary artist with special reference to the Asia-Pacific Triennial. In thinking about the role of contempora ry artist we usually think more generally about the person who expresses visually various viewpoi nts about their personal and particu lar situation . The artist is often thought of as the person who best expresses the hopes, the aspirations and the despair of our society - very often to our d iscomfort and our displeasure. As Alison Carroll reminded us yesterday, contempora ry art is by its very nature subversive. I n thinking about the role of contemporary artists i n the APT context a very wide range of themes emerged , and again Rhana summarised them and you have seen them for yourselves. The voice of the APT artist reveals concerns for the body, the physique and the social, and while a l l of that certainly is obvious to us in witnessi ng the exh ibition, perhaps what is not so obvious to the general public is the role the artists have played in the formulation and presentation and the promotion of the APT. Consider the role of the artist in a range of activities which have helped inform the development of the project. I can think of three fairly prominent th ings. Firstly, there are the obvious various ad hoe international connections the artists have always made and continue to make, and which have actually been the basis of much of the i nformal exhibition exchange and i n the last five to ten years some of the formalities of the art school academic exchanges which are now very active in our reg ion. Secondly, again mentioned yesterday, was the ARX initiative. Now that is almost two decades on, the artists involved with ARX have played a very critica l role in Australia/Asia/Pacific relationships. I think in the absence of well developed infrastructures artists have been very generous in shari ng their networks, and in many cases establishing the introductions wh ich have provided the entree for the Asia­ Pacific Triennial curatorial effort. In some cases the artists have actually assisted in the advisory work and the co-ordination work of the APT. Then perhaps there is a fourth point which is one that I think of in the context of planning for the APT. I remember a very lively discussion about the focus of the exh ibition and the conference, and I believe it was consideration of the role of the contemporary artist which galvanised ideas around the theme that we are exploring today. This actually brings us to the stagi ng of the APT itself. The role of the artist now is to install the work - i n some cases making the work in situ - their presenting it, perform ing it, tal ki ng about it, discussing it, meeting the press, bei ng available for photo opportun ites, creating the ambience for the opening at the weekend , the artistic presence (if you like) and I think all of that sees artists taking on a new dimension in the representation of their work. I think that actually has raised expectations for artists themselves, they have certainly established new levels of artists' involvement in the organisational as well as the i nstallation arrangements for their exh ibitions. It has probably set new thresholds for cu ratorial practice and it certai n ly stimu lated audiences i n the way which has seen the event itself become a piece of theatre, almost l i ke a festival . Now all of that seems to me to describe a preferred exhibition model with some exciti ng new d imensions which can only assist the development and promotion of the visual arts and as also one that has established a reference point for use elsewhere if it has not already been picked up. However, it does raise some questions wh ich m ight be tackled in this session. I n the first instance , what do the artists make of this kind of role and are they wil l i ng participants? They are all here, they all seem to be fully engaged , nobody is taking exception to that. Then there is the question of what I am calling the post-production issues. What happens when the party is over and the artists go away? How is the aud ience going to 51