BAGGAGE
Due to severe wanderlust over the past thirty years I have become highly adept at packing my bags in order to cross borders and oceans. A selection of films and printed material dealing with my artwork entangled around an unstill life may explain somewhat why, when, how or where.
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Cill Rialaig. Irish art residency. 2019
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L.A. U.S.A Residency. 2019
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Cargo container residency. Indian Ocean. 2018
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Norwegian art residency 2017
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Malaysian art residency 2017
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TANK
refers to a complicated time I had in Burkina Fasso, Africa some years ago. These Simulated Vehicles are driven equally by imagery and language to present the essence of travel experiences. Based on true stories from many years of wanderlust, referencing numerous modes of transport and all fuelled with a concern for our enigmatic human condition. |
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STROLLING
In Antarctica I often went on long and surreal strolls around the station. These walks were especially wild when katabatic/blizzard winds blew in. Inspired by Japanese Haiku each Simulated Vehicle can be seen as a short visual poem. Landscape/location replace the seasonal words of classical minimalist Haiku lines and the seventeen sounds used in these traditional poems I extend to a dozen sentences. |
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“are you telling the truth?”
The typical questions one must answer on entry forms before someone is permitted into a foreign land. These questions somewhat simplified to sharpen what information is really desired before access is permitted. The drive through the tunnel seems bloody and surreal. It could be a birth canal or a drug induced trip or are we inside a blood vein? We are moving and the white light is at the end of the tunnel. Soon we arrive and get out of the vehicle where there will be further inspection so I hope I am telling the truth. Ambient fear is the nebulous deep anxiety about the ‘other’ or the barbarian/foreigner who could be anywhere and do anything to harm us at any time. This film is one of many in my Ambient Fear series. |
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“It only hurts now and then…”
I focus on personal fear spawned by travel. To be sick on tour or overseas is to be very sick as you are alone, away from your family, your doctor, often unable to communicate and way out of your comfort zone. Travel insurance, local friends and language skills can help but complications caused by being away from home can make travellers feel insecure and afraid. Even if there is no need to be afraid and the trip goes splendidly the nerves get a workout especially at airports where this ‘ambient fear’ seems to proliferate just like a disease. |
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In 2009 at Mawson station in East Antarctica artist in residence Stephen Eastaugh grows a beard.
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Art Nation profile on artist Stephen Eastaugh. ABC TV. July. 2010
Tony WYZENBEEK |
