Contemporary Australia: Women

179 Jess Olivieri and Hayley Forward with the Parachutes for Ladies Australia est.2008 Small states 2008–09
 HD Video and surround‑sound installation MOP, NSW, 2008; Inflight, Tas, 2009 Image courtesy: The artists Changing of the guard: Formation (production still) 2011 Single-channel video projection Videographer: Cindy Rodriguez Photograph: Jess Olivieri Image courtesy: The artists and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (KM): There is something about the immediacy of the body that I find enormously appealing, the way you can grasp its ‘existence’ in a brutally physical way, and, in particular, as Italian writer Lea Vergine said, ‘its ability to communicate something that has been previously felt but that is lived in the very moment of communication, to return to the origins without leaving the present, to lead the individual to relationships with both themself and others, to lead the individual, in short, back to their specific mode of existence.’ 3 What role have the abundance of new technologies had on the reception of contemporary performance, given it is now easier than ever before to gain access to live acts, events and actions? How do you think this shapes the experience of a work if this sense of ‘being there’ is experienced at a remove, temporally and geographically? (BC): New technologies have had a huge impact on the reception of contemporary performance, making it easier to experience performances after the event. Developments in recording and online technology have made it possible to watch archival material from your lounge room, which has meant that contemporary artists all over the world now reference and appropriate works from the past, and audiences are able to see work even if they weren’t present at the performance. No doubt there is a difference between experiencing a performance ‘in the flesh’ and watching subsequent documentation on a screen or reading an account of it later. As artists who make both performances for an audience and performances for the camera, we are very interested in exploring the differences between these two modes and our work often directly engages with the role of documentation in relation to notions of ‘liveness’ and ‘presence’. The experience of ‘being there’ provides a direct unmediated exchange between artist and viewer that can’t be recreated in the subsequent documentation; in the live moment there is always that sense that anything could happen. However, neither situation such as Marina Abramović, are now in prominent positions in the art world with their seminal performances becoming permanent fixtures (often through video and photographic documentation) in leading institutions all over the world. It is also worth noting that in our case, the interest in performance began organically and almost accidently while we were studying at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney. We were part of a group of art students who staged performance nights at venues across Sydney, just for the fun of it. Through collaborating in performance, we built a community of artists who still work together to create and present work ranging across theatre, comedy and the visual arts. Brown Council’s sustained interest in performance is due to the possibility of a direct communication with each other and the audience, which we feel is not achievable via any other medium. (LB): Performance art practices have always existed, though I agree they seem more present or in vogue at the moment. I am not sure what is driving the interest; however, the nature of performance art has compelling and unique aspects not as present in other mediums. There is also a huge influx of artists creating performances as part of their practice, which may heighten the awareness of performance art generally. The most fascinating thing about performance, to my mind, is the artist’s presence — physically and emotionally — it’s the only kind of art where you engage with the artist and the work at once. (PfL): One answer to this question is that many artists have expanded practices. Parachutes’ practice involves video, photography, installation and sound as well as live performance. It is curators who draw out trends from these nebulous practices and who at the moment are asking for performances. Another answer could be similar to Jan Verwoert’s cheeky residency title: Why Are Conceptual Artists Painting Again? Because They Think it is a Good Idea. Embodied Acts