How we see ourselves
While
the term “the tyranny of distance” has become something
of a cliché in Australia, it remains for many of us an
uncomfortable reality. Visiting that relative in another capital
city is an exercise in careful planning and – more often
than not – financial pain.
So when it comes to art exhibitions, many of us
are naturally constrained in what we can actually get to and see.
It’s all very well for the Queensland Art Gallery say to
have a new exhibition of works by Andy Warhol (which they do,
by the way); but if you’re living in Melbourne, getting
to that particular show may be difficult if not impossible.
Thankfully however, thanks to the wonders of technology,
the country is getting smaller (to use another cliché)
and one major national art institution is embracing it by staging
their first-even online exhibition. The National Portrait Gallery
is presenting Animated: Self-Portraits Online, a virtual exhibition
of animated works from 14 artists depicting themselves for the
next 12 months, allowing anyone with a computer to access the
show.
Whether this is your particular cup of tea is of
course up to you. Some would prefer the “real” experience
of actually going to a gallery; but in terms of making art accessible
and affordable, it’s got to be a step in the right direction.
The
online exhibition features animated works which are, to the artist’s
mind, a “portrait” of themselves. There are some “traditional”
portraits – Jo Boag’s ‘Boyd Blue’ family
tableau, for example – but several are certainly not self-portraits
in the conventional sense of being a life-like representation
of the artist’s physical appearance. You certainly couldn’t
say that Rick Bull’s shadow play ‘Weissbeer, Dharma,
Becoming Small’ fitted the traditional description; but
I can see how it is a representation of himself, albeit an oblique
one.
Being animation, there’s a good deal of appropriation
from film culture in the works. Troy Innocent sees himself as
a video-game-come-anime character; Pia Borg uses stop-motion and
claymation in her piece and Jonathan Daw’s surreal live-action
portrait sees him as a scavenging seagull.
My personal favourite is probably Anthony Lucas’s
‘Infestation’, in which a “living” portrait
of the artist hangs in a gallery that’s being invaded by
some form of dark creatures which scuttle across the screen. It’s
a bit Harry Potter I grant you, but its dark foreboding says a
lot about the artist – and you can see what he looks like.
Australia has certainly embraced the Internet as
a form of communication. Animated: Self-Portraits Online is part
of the extension of that process, taking the communication out
of the prosaic and into the artistic. The NPG have taken a bold
first step, and one that hopefully more major galleries will mirror
as they expand their horizons. This is an intriguing exhibition,
definitely worth checking out. And the best part is, you don’t
have to travel to see it.
David Edwards
