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Art as a Verb

Marina Abramović, Vito Acconci, Bas Jan Ader, Paweł Althamer & Artur Żmijewski, Francis Alÿs, Billy Apple, John Baldessari, Brown Council, Catherine Or Kate, Clark Beaumont, Martin Creed, Damp, Aleks Danko, John Davis, Harold Dover, George Egerton-Warburton, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Emily Floyd, Ceal Floyer, Heath Franco, Alicia Frankovich, Andrea Fraser, Ryan Gander, Philip Gerner, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Matthew Griffin, Bianca Hester, Hi Red Center, Christopher L G Hill, Tehching Hsieh, Tim Johnson, Allan Kaprow, Peter Kennedy, Mike Parr, Sister Mary Corita Kent, Anastasia Klose, Laresa Kosloff, Jiří Kovanda, George Kuchar, George Maciunas, Basim Magdy, Paul Mccarthy, David Mcdiarmid, Ian Milliss, Kate Mitchell, Bruce Nauman, Rose Nolan, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Ariel Orozco, Jillian Orr, Deborah Ostrow, Campbell Patterson, Kenny Pittock, Stuart Ringholt, Sarah Rodigari, Robert Rooney, Martha Rosler, Eva Rothschild, Tony Schwensen, Jill Scott, Kateřina Šedá, Christian Thompson, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Ken Unsworth, Gabrielle De Vietri, Franz West 

 

 

#ArtAsAVerb

Exhibition Dates
4 June – 26 August 2015

Exhibition Opening
Thursday 4 June, 6 – 8pm

Art as a Verb is a major thematic exhibition that takes as its departure point the concept of art as action, both inside the gallery and beyond.

Overview

Art as a Verb is a major thematic exhibition that takes as its departure point the concept of art as action, both inside the gallery and beyond. From the energy and anarchy of Fluxus, happenings and performance art, to contemporary relational and situational practices, Art as a Verb presents a range of projects from the 1960’s to today that challenge the traditional role of the artist, the art object and the site of exhibition. 

 

With over 60 artworks, and drawing on the notion of the dematerialisation of art, Art as a Verb looks broadly at art’s relationship to the world and what constitutes the work of an artist. How do the varying roles of an artist (as instigator, facilitator, teacher, performer, consumer or visionary) fit within broader society? And how does the museum or gallery support art forms that function beyond the art object? 

 

The exhibition showcases actions and performances, situational pieces, instructional works, manifestos and interactive props, bringing together iconic artworks from a wide range of Australian and international practitioners. 

 

MUMA Curatorium: Charlotte Day, Francis E. Parker and Patrice Sharkey
Artspace Curators: Talia Linz (lead) and Alexie Glass-Kantor
Exhibition Design: Shahmen Suku 

First conceived by Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) in 2014, Art as a Verb has been reworked for Artspace and includes additional works unseen in previous iterations. 

Artspace Curators: Talia Linz (lead) and Alexie Glass-Kantor

Art as a Verb

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Sarah Rodigari, 'Strategies for leaving and arriving home', 2011, stack of offset prints. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Ken Unsworth, 'Five secular settings for sculpture as ritual and burial piece', 1975, 10 gelatin silver prints, edition 2/10. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Flinders University Art Museum Collection Gift of the artist. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Alicia Frankovich, 'Between us and them', 2013, 16 inkjet prints, Installation view, 'Art As A Verb', Monash University Collection Purchased 2013. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Tehching Hsieh, 'Tehching Hsieh 1978-1999', posters and statements mounted on boards in 6 parts. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb', courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly, New York. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Andrea Fraser, 'Official Welcome 2001/03', performance, Kunstverein, Hamburg, 9 September 2003, single channel video, colour, sound, 30 minutes. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Cologne & Berlin. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Clark Beaumont, 'The Descent', 2015 seven-channel video installation, 13 minutes 3 seconds, looped. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • (Left) Franz West, 'Adaptive (Passstück)', 2010 (cast 2014), metal, epoxy resin, emulsion paint. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of Franz West Privatstiftung, Vienna. (Right) Christian Thompson, 'Desert Slippers', 2006 video, 34 seconds. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Brown Council, '15 Actions for the Face', 2014, 2-channel video, sound. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for the Jackson Bella Room, 2014. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Heath Franco, 'WUNDER CLOSET', 2011, HD digital video, stereo sound, colour, 5 minutes 34 seconds. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie pompom, Sydney.

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Anastasia Klose, 'One Stop Knock-Off Shop', 2014-15, custom-made t-shirts, furnishings. Installation view 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy the artist and Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Bas Jan Ader, 'I’m too sad to tell you', 1971, 16mm film transferred to DVD, black and white, silent, 3 minutes 21 seconds. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the Estate of Bas Jan Ader and Meliksetian | Briggs, Los Angeles. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Martin Creed, 'Work No. 189 Thirty-nine metronomes beating time, one at every speed', 1998, Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Collection: Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane. Purchased 2008. The Queensland Government’s Gallery of Modern Art Acquisition Fund. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Tim Johnson, 'Induction', 1972, 4 photographs. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist; Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne and Milani Gallery, Brisbane. Photo: Zan Wimberley.

  • Damp, 'Punchline', 1999/2005, video documentation of performance; ceramic plates; acrylic on cardboard, 14 minutes, video editing: Spiros Kalantzis and James Lynch, reconfigured installation by Rob Creedon, Narelle Desmond, Sharon Goodwin, Debra Kunda and James Lynch. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Zan Wimberley.

  • Campbell Patterson, 'Lifting My Mother For As Long As I Can', 2011, digital video, 5 minutes 58 seconds. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Bianca Hester, 'Fabricating propositions', 2010-2014. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Basim Magdy, '13 essential rules for understanding the world', 2011, Super 8 film transferred to HD video, 5 minutes 15 seconds. Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Courtesy of the artist and Gypsum Gallery, Cairo. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

  • Installation view, 'Art As A Verb'. Photo: Zan Wimberley

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