Layers are for Losers (Rococo Vanitas)
Layers are for Losers (Rococo Vanitas)
History
Location
NAS GalleryOpen access
- Yes
Start date
2023-03-31End date
2023-06-10Research statement
Background Algorithms play an invisible but pervasive role in shaping contemporary life - from directing financial systems, to curating our digital experiences and even shaping our epistemic frameworks. Hence algorithmic systems have also become an important interdisciplinary field of study. The visual arts have long used rule-based procedures to generate new forms that potentially renegotiate authorship, agency, perception, originality, and subjectivity. Most of this practice however has been confined to abstract idioms which do not adequately reflect the ways in which algorithmic systems interact with our everyday realities. Contribution Layers are for Losers is a depiction of figures in an elaborate rococo interior. By drawing with multiple pencils simultaneously the rococo animations, rhythms and congestions become amplified and entangled. This process of filling in and complicating pictorial space is pushed further still by folding-in the mechanism of the art competition itself. That is, with each competition rejection a new element or layer is added, thus deploying the work’s own failure as a recursive pictorial strategy. Hence the art world’s wider system of curators, judges, and other gate keepers becomes another algorithmic procedure in the elaboration of the work. Significance This work was a finalist in the 23rd Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia's most prestigious prize for drawing. The work was exhibited with 63 other finalists selected from 1062 entries. The work was also selected for the regional touring exhibition (45 artists which tours regional NSW for 2 years including the Bathurst, Grafton, Cowra, Blue Mountains, Port Macquarie, and Tamworth regional galleries. The exhibition is accompanied by a substantial catalogue and includes essays by Steven Alderton, (National At School Director), Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis, (Sir William Dobell Art Foundation); and Dr Maryanne Coutts (National Art School Head of Drawing).Publication classification
JO1 Original Creative Works – Visual Art WorkScale
NTRO MediumExtent
1 large framed drawing. Pencil on paper, (114 x 148 cm unframed).Recognition, awards & prizes
Finalist, Dobell Drawing Prize#23Event
Dobell Drawing Prize #23Publisher
The National Art SchoolPlace of publication
Sydney, N.S.W.Usage metrics
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