BEFORE ALL ELSE

BEFORE ALL ELSE

QUT Visual Arts

Graduate Honours Exhibition 2015

In the field of visual arts, the Honours year of study often represents a covenant between art students and their futures:

they have usually made the deliberate decision to pursue careers as professional artists, curators or writers - sometimes all three. Contemporary art has enabled practitioners to be involved in our field in a range of roles, and QUT Visual Arts'

distinctive open studio model encourages this, but it also requires self-belief and a sense of purpose. We encourage our students to see courage and a community as essential components of success in our industry because these occupations, while exciting and deeply rewarding, are regularly misunderstood. We are pleased that these students, by taking the step of completing an Honours degree, have committed themselves to making a significant contribution to our cultural landscape.

For many students the Honours year is their first taste of professional practice in the visual arts. During this year they have been engaged in a sustained investigation that will help to define their creative lives. It can be gruelling. They quickly develop a sense of how their practice sits in its conceptual and historical context, they take a crash course in the processes of academic research, and they produce a substantial body of work. But it is an investment of time and energy that lays the groundwork for lifelong learning and professional development. ·

Recent survey research has revealed that young people are more anxious about 'the future' than anything else. The accelerated change that is taking place in both education and the world of work presents exciting opportunities for new graduates, but it can be a leap into the unknown. In many ways, artists are amongst the best prepared for the transformed future we hear so much about. A visual arts education fosters resilience, adaptability, ingenuity and creative thinking. By engaging in the complex research process of Honours study, these students have added sophisticated critical thinking, stamina and tenacity to their skill set. By naming their graduate exhibition Before all else, these students are affirming their optimism for the future. Many of this year's graduates have exhibited widely and participated energetically in the cultural life of our city- they are already looking forward.

Visual Arts at QUT is very pleased and proud to present the Honours class of 2015. We wish them the very best for their futures and offer our ongoing support and encouragement. Before All Else gives us a glimpse of the exciting work yet to come.

Courtney Pedersen Head of Visual Arts

HOLLY BATES

NAOMI BLACKLOCK

SAMANTHA COURT

JESS DUDAS-BERNAL

TALLARA GRAY

TAYLA HAGGARTY

MATTHEW HUTCHISON

MARGOT KELLY

ANNIE MACINDOE

BONNIE STURGESS

PARALLEL PARK

HOLLY BATES

Baby (BOO%), still from digital video, 35:07 minutes (2015).

Couples Portrait, sculptural installation, polyurethane resin, polyester hair, 25 x 26.5 em (2015).

I'm Your Venus, I'm Your Fire (your desire), painted wooden easel, sea urchin shell, purple polyester hair, 40 x 14.5 x 20cm (2015).

NAOMI BLACKLOCK

Soiled, performance and sound installation, soil, metal, amplifier, microphone, effect pedals (2015).

Purification, still from digital video and sound work, wood, fire (2015).

My Mother was the Moon, production image (2015).

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SAMANTHA COURT

Hold on a second, still from digital video, 3:00 minutes (2015).

So Scully (detail), digital image from photo album, 40 x 20 em (2015).

Scullyscape 0.5 (detail), installation documentation, photographs, 530 x 122 em (2015).

You know what? I actually think your heart is colder than this corpse.

Like Mr Ferguson here, whatever happened between us is dead and will probably stay that way.

JESS DUDAS-BERNAL

Egoismo (Te Amo!), still from digital video, 1 0:00 minutes (2015).

Was it hard to learn english? series 2, digital photographic series (2015).

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TAL LARA GRAY

ill· You are this country's consciousness, rope, islets, acrylic paint, calico, 378 x 402 em, This Is Not A Drill, The Hold Artspace (2015).

I'm pretty sure I'm black (detail), adhesive colour paper, 423 x 87cm (2015).

Untitled (detail), collaboration with Jess Dudas-Bernal, digital image (2015).

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TAYLA HAGGARTY

Lesbian Mating Call (talking laughing loving breathing fighting fucking crying drinking writing winning loosing cheating thinking kissing dreaming), site specific sound installation, cement mixer, pine, floor grit, extension cord, two litres of lube, WET, Oral Ari (2015).

,, Early Clam Adoration, sculpture, clam pools, constructed wheelbarrows, rope, pine, 150 x 300 em, :li ALONE TOGETHER, boxcopy (2015).

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Well Bent, sculpture, copper pipe, colbult blue string, 900 x 900 em, WET, Oral Ari (2015).

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Sing To Me Like I Once Sang To You II (installation view), interactive sculpture, painted timber, various electronic components and computer circuitry, 3D printing, LED lighting, speakers, plants and soil. 160 x 20 x 70 em (2015).

Ultraviolet Hue 1.5 (detail}, photographic series, lightboxes, painted timber and ply, various electronic components, LED lights, A4 transfer photographs, 33 x 24 x 8 em (2015).

Sing To Me Like I Once Sang To You II, interactive sculpture, painted timber, various electronic components and computer circuitry, 3D printing, LED lighting, speakers, plants and soil, 35 x 30 x 45 em. This Is Not A Drill, The Hold Artspace (2015).

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MARGOT KELLY

Kangaroo Point (detail) from the series Moonlight Gazing, digital photograph, 21 x 29.7cm (2015).

Primrose Street (detail) from the series Goog/e Map Searching, digital image, 21 x 29.7cm (2015).

Palace Barracks (detail) from the series Goog/e Map Searching, digital image, 21 x 29.7cm (2015).

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ANNIE MACINDOE

Parallel Things, single channel video installation, CRT television monitor, dimensions variable (2015).

On the Other Side, stills from two channel digital video, 2:00 minutes (2015).

Backwards and Forwards, installation, vinyl text and two wall clocks on opposing walls, dimensions variable (2015).

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Ladies Bring a Plate (Dinner Party), detail from digital photographic series (2015).

Over-sensitive (detail), white thread on toilet paper, 1 0 x 11.5cm (2015).

Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab: When Girls Walk the Streets (documentation of performance), 65 x A4 posters displayed around Victoria Point (2015).

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PARALLEL PARK Tayla Haggarty & Holly Bates

Boneyard (101), sculptural installation, gypsum cement, dimensions variable (2015).

Sexual Athletics, still from digital video, 4:02 minutes (2015).

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Special thanks to:

Mark Webb

Daniel McKewen Anita Holtsclaw Courtney Coombs

Courtney Pedersen

Charles Robb Gretchen Coombs

Andrew McNamara Victoria Garnons-Williams Mark Pennings Daniel Mafe lan Copson Jacinta Howard Stuart Worthington Jacob Broomhall

Joseph Breikers Michael Riddle Sarah Follent

Rebecca Cason

Many thanks also to Rachael Haynes for examining our work, and to David Fenton (CEO Metro Arts)_ for opening the show.

~creative -industries