2019 Public Programs

Panel Discussion
Empire of mind: the shape of media companies’ influence on culture
21 February

Empire of mind: the shape of internet companies influence on culture was a panel discussion looking at the omnipotence of internet companies such as Netflix, Facebook and Google and their imperialistic impact on culture. The question of the debate asked: are these companies, founded on American values, staging a modern form of imperialism which is not about military force or land acquisition but more a soft power endeavour using culture to control the minds of the masses?

Empire of mind was moderated by Mashable Australia’s Web Culture Reporter Johnny Lieu, with panellists Aim Sinpeng, Ariel Bogle, Justin Balmain and Sabella D’Souza.

About our moderator and panellists:

Johnny Lieu is a reporter who covers the intersection of culture of technology, splitting his time between the latest emojis to Facebook’s latest woes. He quietly wishes he still had his Bebo account.

Justin Balmain lives and works between New York and Sydney. He received his Masters of Art through the School of Media Arts UNSW (CoFA) and has exhibited widely. Significant group and solo exhibitions include Gertrude Contemporary, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Firstdraft Gallery, Minerva, Linden Contemporary Arts Centre, Yuill Crowley, MOP Projects, ALASKA, West Space, Substation and National Art School Gallery. Balmain has received support for his practice through the Australia Council for the Arts, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, NAVA and Copyright Australia. He was co-director of the artist-run organisation Firstdraft (2012–13), and a founding member of the art collective SLUSH.

Ariel Bogle is a technology reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) science unit. She writes and makes radio about technology, science and culture. Her work has been published in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Australian Financial Review and Slate, among other places.

Sabella D’Souza is a Sydney-based artist whose performance based practice considers the notions of ownership, cultural identity and the use of public and private spaces, in particular, cyberspace. Sabella has worked in tangent with various online-curtorial teams and recently showed at the ICA in London with The White Pube. Her current research focuses upon autonomous women of colour collectives born out of a need for safer spaces online. Sabella is currently completing a combined Bacholer in Fine Arts and Arts in Creative Writing at UNSW Art & Design.

Dr Aim Sinpeng is an award-winning educator whose research interests centre on the relationships between digital media, political participation and political regimes in Southeast Asia. She is particularly interested in the role of social media in shaping state-society relations and inducing political and social change. She is the co-founder of the Sydney Cyber Security Network and a Thailand country coordinator for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre.Aim received a Teaching Excellence Award in 2017 and was named an ‘Emerging Female Leader’ in 2018 by the University of Sydney. Aim has served as the Expert Contributor for Varieties of Democracy and Bartelsmann Transformation Index, which measure degrees and types of democracy, and continued to consult for a number of international agencies. Her other scholarly works examine popular movements against democracy in democratising states, particularly in Thailand. Prior to her academic career she has worked for the World Bank, a Toronto-based investment bank, governments of Thailand and the Czech Republic and the New York State Democrat Party. Aim is also a regular commentator on Southeast Asian politics for the ABC, SBS, CBC, Channel News Asia, Al Jazeera, CNBC and Sky News.

Running Dog at Verge
Survival of the Critic: Arts writing in 2019
14 March

Verge Gallery partnered with Running Dog in 2019, presenting several events across the year. These events expanded on Running Dog and Verge Gallery’s commitment to fostering critical dialogue around creative practice and engaging with audiences. Survival of the Critic: Arts Writing in 2019 is the first of these events and is curated by Running Dog’s founding editor Naomi Riddle.

As a young publication, Running Dog is often told that arts criticism is a dying form, and that its audience no longer exists. This event aimed to find out if this claim is true.

‘Survival of the Critic’ brought together Pedro de Almeida, Lauren Carroll Harris, and Neha Kale—three established writers and editors—to tackle the thorny issue of arts criticism in 2019.

Is independent and rigorous criticism economically feasible or sustainable, and do people actually want to read it?
Is there space for experimentation and playfulness in arts writing, and what is its value to the community at large?
What is the relationship between artists and curators and the writers reviewing their shows?

Can criticism work to create a particular ethics or politics of looking, and how do we decolonise the practice of gate keeping while still encouraging critique?

In posing these questions, we wanted to investigate both the constraints and freedom of the online publishing space. We wanted to consider fragility as a productive force, which allows us to open up the conversation around what it means to write about contemporary art.

Pedro de Almeida is a curator, programmer, arts manager, writer and editor. He has been Program Manager at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art since 2012. Curatorial projects for 4A include Dacchi Dang: An Omen Near and Far (2017); Sea Pearl White Cloud 海珠白雲 (2016, co-curated with Anthony Yung); MASS GROUP INCIDENT (2015, co-curated with Toby Chapman and Aaron Seeto); and Beijing Silvermine (2014). Pedro’s writing on art is published regularly, appearing in ArtAsiaPacific, Art Monthly Australasia and Broadsheet Journal among others, as well as several exhibition catalogues and artists’ monographs. He is editor of 4A Papers.

Lauren Carroll Harris publishes widely on cinema and contemporary art, working as the TV Critic for The Screen Show on Radio National. She writes a column for the Guardian Australia, is a contributing editor of Kill Your Darlings and has a doctorate in film from UNSW.

Neha Kale is a writer, journalist and cultural critic. She writes features, criticism and essays about art, culture, people and places and her work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald’s Spectrum, The Saturday Paper, SBS Life, the Guardian, VICE, ABC, Broadsheet and many more. She is the former editor and editor-at-large of VAULT magazine.

Running Dog is an online arts platform that publishes weekly articles about exhibitions and events taking place in Sydney and regional New South Wales. Running Dog is committed to covering the work of emerging and established artists through circulating regular content about artist run spaces, collectives, commercial galleries, institutions, one-off events and festivals.
www.rundog.art

Album Launch
We Make Each Other Up
26 March

Verge Gallery was honoured to be a part of the inaugural March Dance program by hosting the launch of Megan Alice Clune’s composition for ‘We Make Each Other Up’, the dance work of choreographer Rhiannon Newton. Envisioning a world that is deeply and sensitively networked, We Make Each Other Up conjures a “vespertine biosphere” where care, multi-species cooperation and alternative speeds for living saturate the fibres of being. Released under Sydney record label, World’s Only, Clune’s “powerfully earthy and enveloping” score was performed live with uniquely vegetal collaborators and video from the original performance.

We Make Each Other Up is a Dancehouse Housemate Production, originally developed and presented in 2018 at Dancehouse, Melbourne

Artists:
+ Megan Alice Clune
+ Rhiannon Newton

Image credit: Rhiannon Newton and David Huggins ‘We Make Each Other Up’, photo by Gregory Lorenzutti

Megan Alice Clune shifts between musician, composer and artist. Primarily, her work consists of a dissection of musical elements and contexts through verbal or text-based scores, sound installation and collaboration. Megan has presented work and undertaken residencies across Australia, Europe and North America, including the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival (MA), Underbelly Arts, Next Wave Festival, Performa 15 (NYC) and Vivid Live at the Sydney Opera House.

Rhiannon Newton is an Australian dancer and choreographer. She creates performance works that inhabit theatre, public and gallery spaces. Ongoing themes in her work include repetition and the study patterns that give rise to change and stasis within the body and our world. Rhiannon has been commissioned by Dancehouse Melbourne for Housemate 2018 (We Make Each Other Up) and Dance Massive 2017 (Bodied Assemblies). Her works have been presented nationally and internationally in contexts such as Brisbane Festival, The Powerhouse: Festival 2018, Firstdraft Exhibitions Program, Nagib On Stage (SL), Tanzhaus Zurich (CH) and Movement Research at the Judson Church (USA). She has developed her practice in residencies throughout Australia, Europe and the USA and been a part of international exchange programs involving Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia and Singapore. Rhiannon works as a collaborator/performer with artists such as Mette Edvardsen, Elysa Wendi, Martin Del Amo, Amrita Hepi, Benjamin Forster, Rosalind Crisp, Paea Leach and Brooke Stamp.

Megan Alice Clune’s website: http://www.meganaliceclune.com

Rhiannon Newton’s website: http://rhiannonnewton.com/#we-make-each-other-up

March Dance link: http://www.marchdance.com/we-make-eachother-up

Artist Talk

Adam Stone (Curator)
Still Life Pt. II

Marilyn Schneider
Disappear Here

6 April

On the final day of exhibitions Still Life Pt. II and Disappear Here, artists and curators discussed their practices and the themes of each exhibition.

Curated by Adam Stone, Still Life Pt. II united twelve artists working from ‘life’ or ‘fiction’ to meditate on the notion of what a still life is in our current times.

With her installation Disappear Here, artist Marilyn Schneider questioned the constructedness of both architectural spaces and exhibition environments. Schneider empowered her audience to reconfigure the architectural environment around them according to their own preferences and aesthetics.

Running Dog at Verge
Writing with/about desire
8 May

Writing with/about desire brought together Enoch Mailangi, Loc Nguyen and Athena Thebus in conversation with Running Dog contributor Em Size to discuss desire, text and creative practice.

Language and desire are often problems that resist our attempts to solve them, and this conversational event created a time and place for contemplating how and why contemporary artists represent desire with text. The night gave each artist the opportunity to share excerpts of their work, before jointly discussing the art of encountering and representing desire in ways that are intimate, provocative, reparative, subtle, bold, hot, social and solitary.

Topics of discussion included: how does focusing on desire relate to your politics? How and why do you represent your own body in your practice? Is auto-pornography, or auto-erotica, a thing? Is your body ever your own if audiences read your body as a stand-in for all bodies that look like yours? How do you approach representing—or not representing—the subjects of your desire? What is the relationship between desire and community? Does making work about libidinal facts/fictions turn you on or stress you out? Do you consider selfies and thirst traps to be an extension of your artistic practice? Are you sick of being called ‘brave’?

Enoch Mailangi is an Indigenous and Polynesian writer and text-based artist. Their work focuses on three main ideas: who Indigenous characters are on screen when they’re not busy responding to whiteness, Blak Mediocrity as a legitimate tool against the dangers of Blak Excellence, and celebrity culture as a vehicle of colonisation. Their works explore larger themes of desire and shame.

Loc Nguyen is an artist, activist and advocate interested in exploring creative, productive and diverse ways of critiquing and changing the whitewashed spaces of homoeroticism. Focusing on video, image and performance in their artistic practice, in 2018 they performed in a PACT Salon and PACT x Performance Space’s Queer Nu Werk, as well as presenting a solo exhibition of docu-porn at Firstdraft. Their curatorial practice most recently saw them curate an extensive night of performance for Kudos Live: Ritual Bodies, on site at the Flinders Hotel.

Athena Thebus is a contemporary artist whose practice tells stories of Desire and Pleasure. Using several mediums in chorus, her works have incorporated tattoo, studded leather, neon lights, holes in walls, and burning blankets. These are held together by impressions of a celestial Catholicism as influenced by her Filipina heritage, but from the position of the damned. Athena is guided by the force of Desire, pursuing a path of pleasure that is often of an unrecognisable shape. Her practice offers to light a way, with an intentionality that is Filipina, oceanic, and diasporic within the neo-colonial context of Australia.

Em Size is interested in laughing and being laughed at, flirting and being flirted with, and loving and being loved. They’re currently trying to bring back Jim Carrey’s arse-related physical comedy in a big (queer) way; write a response to Jordy Rosenberg’s The Daddy Dialectic called The Daddy Diorama; and start a lucrative career writing erotica. If you think any part of this bio is a joke then you obviously haven’t met me, I resent you, and I wholeheartedly (with a wink, a tap of the foot, and a nod to Legally Blonde), object.

Running Dog is an online arts platform that publishes weekly articles about exhibitions and events taking place in Sydney and regional New South Wales. Running Dog is committed to covering the work of emerging and established artists through circulating regular content about artist run spaces, collectives, commercial galleries, institutions, one-off events and festivals.
www.rundog.art

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, it's arts funding and advisory body

Running Dog at Verge
Curatorial Symposium: Independent Curating // Concepts, Challenged and Collabs
10 May

Panellists included: Andy Butler, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Sebastian Henry-Jones & Maeve Parker (Desire Lines), Kōtare (fka DJ Sezzo), Tahjee Moar, Talia Smith and Tian Zhang.

Facilitated by Nanette Orly

Independent Curating // Concepts, Challenges and Collabs was a one day symposium which focused entirely on independent curating, providing access for curatorial students or emerging curators seeking real-life advice from local independent curators to answer any practical questions around entry level opportunities and freelance curatorial project management.

While having a degree in curating is definitely beneficial in terms of accessing art theory and curatorial methodologies, it isn’t until you have to commit to curating an exhibition or project for the first time, that the real learning begins. Through shared experiences from a variety of independent curators based in both Sydney and Melbourne, this program provided critical and candid insight into the array of concepts, challenges, and collaborations one can expect from pursuing a career in independent curating.

Symposium program
10:00am-11:00am Concepts panel
11:00am-11:15am Morning Tea
11:15am-12:15pm Collaborations panel
12:15pm-1:00pm Lunch (light lunch provided to attendees)
1:00pm-2:00pm Challenges panel
2:00pm-3:00pm Networking and close 

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, it's arts funding and advisory body

Artist Talk

Izabella Pluta, Ellen Dahl & Yvette Hamilton
Resurfaced Geographies

Akil Ahamat
a world that breathes out

18 May

On the final day of exhibitions Resurfaced Geographies, and a world that breathes out, exhibiting artists discussed their practices and the themes of each exhibition.

Resurfaced Geographies was an artist-led exhibition by Izabela Pluta, Ellen Dahl, and Yvette Hamilton that charted the intersections between topography, place and photography in the age of the Anthropocene.

Akil Ahamat’s exhibition, a world that breathes out was comprised of an installation made up of the traces of a speculative therapeutic technology. In a duet with the water that it superceded, the sonic shower sang a slow lament before it is washed back into the earth.

Artist Talk

Ohni Blu
Obliteration, Creation

Connie Anthes
Beta Blockers

22 May

On the final day of exhibitions Beta blockers and Obliteration, Creation the exhibiting artists discussed their practices and the themes of each exhibition. Beta Blockers was an exhibition by Connie Anthes that consisted of wearable/tactile sculptural installations exploring political, fleshy and spatial resistances. Obliteration, Creation by Ohni Blu explored ritual practices through the body creating a collapsing of stable categories into a production of new truths.

In conversation with Connie Anthes
Beta Blockers
25 May–18 June

Verge Gallery played host to a live conversation series between Connie and invited activists, thinkers, archivists and Waterloo residents, looking at how bodies bear their own histories of resistance and refusal. These conversations took place on Tuesdays and Saturdays during the exhibition

In conversation with:

Ian Millis, Saturday 25 May, 2-4pm
Dr Jenna Condie, Tuesday 28 May, 2-4pm
Wendy Bacon, Tuesday 4 June, 2-4pm

Catherine Skipper Thursday 13 June, 12-2pm
Clare Lewis Tuesday 18 June, 2-4pm

Artist Talk

Katy Plummer
Armours for flowers

Min Wong
Karma is a bitch

1 August

On the last days of Armour for flowers and Karma is a bitch, the exhibiting artists discussed their practices and the themes of each exhibition.

Armour for flowers by Katy Plummer was an video installation project that considered the unstable, entropic relationship between a mystical and a prosaic encountering of the world, through the lens of spectator sports. 

Karma is a bitch by Min Wong examined metaphysical and utopian impulses of the recent past, such as the visual cultures associated with 1960s and 1970s American West Coast counterculture, ‘New Age’ spirituality and more recent tendencies towards self-help and therapeutic culture.

Artist Talk

Peter Johnson & Tesha Malott (Curators)
In Character
10 August

On Saturday 10 August, the exhibiting artists and curators discussed their practices and the themes of the exhibition.

Curated by Peter Johnson and Verge Director Tesha Malott, In Character brought together Australian and international artists who use character and personae as a way to critically explore identity and social relations.

Grounded in performance and portraiture, the exhibition posed questions around authenticity, sovereignty, personal histories, gender and cultural identity. By taking on or creating a variety of alternative identities, artists are able to explore heightened versions of themselves and the world around them—revealing truths about power, selfhood and the forces that bind us together.

Running Dog at Verge
Usapan Sa La Mesa
5 September

Usapan Sa La Mesa was a decolonizing process and gathering of Filipinx/Filipinos/Pinays on stolen Gadigal land, organised by the interdisciplinary artist Eme and Running Dog contributor Soo-Min Shim. It involved practicing Kapwa (shared identity), the sharing of experiences, knowledge and unpacking together in the hopes of achieving communal solidarity within the diaspora – Bayanihan! Usapan Sa La Mesa originated from the ongoing conversations we have around the table with family we’ve made over the years. By bringing this community and family ethic of love and care to the gallery we hope to interrogate institutional power.

Activists, artists, poets Jennifer Estellore, Bridget Harilou, A’isyiyah, Carielyn Tunion, RJ Dela Rosa, Eunice Andrada and Peter Murphy shared their individual stories on diasporic decolonisation. They will be provoking a number of questions: What is community? How can we create safe spaces? What does it mean to be displaced, only to be complicit in settler-colonialism here? How can diaspora decolonise? Where does activism and art meet? 

With food provided from Filipinx-run businesses, the sharing of food was the catalyst for the sharing of love and knowledge. This event was an open conversation to open up more dialogue around the diaspora and decolonisation. 

Eme is an interdisciplinary, Filipinx artist based in Warrang/Sydney, Australia – unceded Gadigal land of the Eora nation. Their practice explores reflections drawn from personal lived experiences and layers of oneself that is marginalised by society. This queer, trans non-binary artist works with a decolonial framework based on research and bayanihan (communal solidarity). It is often expressed through community connectivity, representation and action by transforming stories of subjugation into strength. They showcase the communal experience to celebrate the nuances of being – utilising art as a tool for expression and survival. Their works experiments with photography, print-media, ceramics, sound, video, events and installation. Eme completed their Bachelor of Visual Arts Honours (First Class) at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University and now works with activists and organisations to continue the anti-colonial resistance in support to fight all forms of oppression.

Soo-Min Shim is an arts writer and arts worker living on stolen Gadigal land. She received her Bachelor of Art History and Theory (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney and is currently a Director at Firstdraft Gallery 2019-2020. She is currently a studio resident at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art Creative Studios. She has written for several Australian and international publications including Art & The Public Sphere, ArtAsiaPacific, The Artling, Art + Australia, Art Almanac, Artist Profile, Runway Conversations, un Extended, and Running Dog.

Running Dog at Verge
MIGHT DELETE LATER
13 November

MIGHT DELETE LATER  brought together Sophie Penkethman-Young, Emma O’Neill and Danielle Karlikoff in conversation with Running Dog contributor Mariam Arcilla to discuss artworld habits, online personas and algorithms in an Instagram era.

The panel explored how contemporary art is digested and refreshed through social media feeds, and involved personal reflections and forecasts by digital marketers, writers and an artist & designer. Topical questions included: How do artists, institutions and programs translate social media metrics into authentic experiences? In what ways has Insta-gratification contributed to artworld fatigue and invisible labour? Is it conflicting or liberating for writers or marketers to be ever adaptive to internet slang, emoji-speak and image-driven narratives? How is creative output and career currency  amplified or hindered by having (or not having) an Instagram presence? 

Running Dog is an online arts platform that publishes weekly articles about exhibitions and events taking place in Sydney and regional New South Wales. Running Dog is committed to covering the work of emerging and established artists through circulating regular content about artist run spaces, collectives, commercial galleries, institutions, one-off events and festivals. www.rundog.art

SPEAKERS
Sophie Penkethman-Young – FIRSTDRAFT Comms & Engagement Coordinator, Artist, Curator.
Sophie Penkethman-Young is a Sydney-based artist and arts administrator. She has been a finalist in several prizes including The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane (2018) and the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney (2017). Sophie currently works as Communication and Engagement Coordinator at Firstdraft. She gained a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the Australian National University School of Art & Design in 2013 and completed her Honours at The Sydney College of Arts, University of Sydney in 2014. She is currently completing a Master of Art Curating at the University of Sydney focusing on digital museum culture and internet-based practice. Sophie is the current Digital Manager of Runway Australian Experimental Art (2019-2020). Sophie has made videos for Performance Space, FBi Radio, Remote Control Records and Fashion Label, Lee Matthews. Sophie has worked collaboratively with dancer and artist Amrita Hepi on The Ropes (2019), A Caltex Spectrum (2018) and Passing (2019) which was presented in association with Darebin Arts and Next Wave Festival. Sophie works with DJ and producer Andy Garvey on record label and FBi Radio show Pure Space.|

Emma O’Neill – Art Month Sydney Festival Director, Writer, Editor, Marketing Professional
Emma is an arts marketing professional, editor, writer and current Festival Director of Art Month Sydney. Prior to her role as Editor of Art Collector magazine from 2016 until 2018, Emma edited ArtAsiaPacific magazine in Hong Kong, wrote and edited auction catalogues for Christie’s Southeast Asian Painting Department and was Research Manager at IslandArts, Indonesia for publications focusing on Southeast Asian antiquities. Her writing has appeared in VAULT, Art Collector, ArtAsiaPacific, Art Guide, The Urban List, Voiceworks and commercial galleries, among others. In a marketing capacity, Emma has workshopped mobile experience, managed client retention and controlled social media, web and marketing across multiple arts organisations, most notably Art Month Sydney where she is now Festival Director. 

Danielle Karlikoff – Jewellery designer, Artist, Video Producer
Danielle Karlikoff is a jewellery designer and artist working primarily with precious metals and plastics. Danielle views the process of crafting jewellery as a fertile springboard to explore a broader range of techniques, materials and functions. Whilst strengthening the distinct visual language of her brand through Instagram stories to experimental sculptures, Danielle has completed over 400 custom pieces in 3 years. She has also developed ready-made collections and retail experiences. Furthermore, Danielle creates all the graphics and photographic imagery for her brand – an integral aspect of her practice.

Mariam Arcilla – Gallery manager, Arts marketer, Writer, Copy editor, Producer
Mariam Arcilla is a marketer, writer, curator and cultural researcher, and is currently gallery manager at STATION Sydney. Since 2006, she has worked at museums, commercial galleries, start-ups, ARIs, creative agencies and governments in Brisbane, Sydney, and the Gold Coast. Born to a Filipino artist and a Singaporean air hostess, Mariam spent her childhood zigzagged between studios, museums and make-shift homes. Finessing her zest for art—and the many avenues for showcasing it—led her to work with creative people and institutions to help brighten the connections between people and their cities. On the Gold Coast, Mariam co-founded tinygold artist-run initiative and also directed a creative precinct and gallery. She has since produced and curated programs with Home of the Arts, Institute of Modern Art, THE WALLS and City of Gold Coast, and worked on multimedia marketing content with Arts Queensland, BRISBANE ART DESIGN / Museum of Brisbane, Art Incubator, Asia Pacific Design Library and Liquid Architecture. Mariam’s passion for creative strategies and legacies steered her towards the Queensland public sector for five years, where she managed campaigns and digital platforms for art, design, fashion, technology and science. As a writer of profiles, essays and reviews, she has been published in Running Dog, VAULT, Art Collector, ACCLAIM, Design Online, Broadsheet and Neue Luxury. Mariam moved  to Sydney in late 2016, and continues to work with creative groups on ideas and projects that explore new communication models within digital culture.

Podcast Launch
Toksave: Culture Talks
14 November

In celebration of the UNESCO International Year of Indigenous Languages, PARADISEC, The Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Verge Gallery presented the podcast launch of Toksave: Culture Talks. PARADISEC is the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures. The podcast is a series of discussions with people who have personal and cultural connections to the archive.

Toksave was a listening party featuring stories and personalities from the podcast as well as performances by Black Birds, Barayagal Choir directed by Nardi Simpson and Fijian cuisine from Lomani Vale Events.