Transmission

2012

Visual Arts; Music; Dance; Live Interactive Performances

Artist/s: Heath Franco & Andy Rantzen, Todd McMillan & Peter McNamara, Vicky Browne & Darren Seltmann, Rachel Scott & Mick Harvey, Renny Kodgers & Sweet Tonic Choir, Daniel Mudie Cunningham & DJ Stephen Allkins, Nell & Babymachine, Parachutes for Ladies & Sydney Chamber Choir, Justene Williams & Tina Havelock Stevens, What & Julian Day, Archie Moore & Stiff Gins, Carla Cescon & Kusum Normoyle

Transmission was a response to the idea that there’s a lot of untapped creative potential trapped between conventional disciplinary boundaries that wall off art forms from one another. These days, old categories and hierarchies in and around art that separate, for example, visual art from music. As well as ‘high’ art forms from more popular forms of culture are considered increasingly irrelevant. In this exhibition, twelve collaborations formed with visual artists and artists from the world of music composers, DJs, choirs and singer-songwriters to create works that emerge from the exciting, unpredictable and often frustrating process of collaboration. While visual artists are generally solo practitioners, musicians are instead accustomed to the compromise involved in working with others. As a result, participating in Transmission has presented different challenges for the artists involved, requiring them to reflect on the dynamics of their practice a sometimes intense and uncomfortable process. The result was a group of vibrant, interdisciplinary works which demonstrated that creative practices can thrive on being placed in new contexts and in new environments.