School of Art - Theses
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ItemPut to work( 2010)Put to work is a practical fuelled research project supported by a thesis. The topic of work is explored as a fundamental human activity with a certain emphasis on labour in art practice. The paper is written in two sections and the methodology employed is dependent on two closely related factors – a combination of description and critical reflection on significant works of art within the realm of performance. The first section is titled Art, Life and Work. This triad forms the major themes running parallel to the topic of the factory. An early exposure to the working processes of the factory has formed a fixation on repetitive actions, discipline through routine and production systems. As an environment the factory is examined in relation to a labour intensive art practice. A romantic conception of work that is born from a childhood nostalgia is overturned as the realities of the hardships of factory life are unraveled through the research. The seduction of the factory image is predominantly discussed to reinforce and reveal the true punishing nature behind the aestheticized façade of the factory depicted in past and contemporary artistic explorations. The photographs of Edward Burtynsky, the documentary film by Jennifer Baichwal titled Manufactured Landscapes, 2006 and narratives by author Leslie T. Chang in her book Factory Girls focuses China as a major trading nation in the manual labour of production. Reflections are made on the interconnected theme of industrialization in preceding films such as Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi trilogy, 1982-2002 and Ron Fricke’s Baraka, 1992. Karl Marx’s theory of alienation is briefly referenced particularly its association with production in art practice. Personal aspects of the experience of work provide an alternative to a labour mediated by commerce. The second section is titled The Performative Through the Process of Work. Performance art defines the context for the research undertaken inside the practices of three key artists. One work by each key figure is discussed – One Year Performance 1980-1981 by Taiwanese born artist Tehching Hsieh, The House with the Ocean View, 2002 by the female pioneer of Performance Art Marina Abramović and Occurrence, 2009 by contemporary Melbourne based artist Mark Themann. Fundamental features in the engagement of Performance Art such as the concept of time, duration and endurance, production through repetition and the similarities between life and art offer the basis for the research. The labour embodied within artistic production is an integral facet of performance and propositions to celebrate and embrace this aspect are put forward.