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WALL WORKS II

organised by Stephen Bram
with W.J.M. Kok, Gerard Kodde & Jan van der Ploeg
at Tounge and Groove Furniture Store

Wall Works II was a touring exhibition of work by W.J.M. Kok, Gerard Kodde and Jan van der Ploeg, three Dutch artists and the Australian artist Stephen Bram. The project extends across four locations in three different countries; Germany, Belgium and Australia. It consists of site specific works, each of which expresses a direct relationship with a wall, or the wall in general. Responding to the differences in the interiors of the four venues, each exhibition is unique and related to the space of its installation.

The idea of the exhibition has its origin in an earlier show simply titled Wall Works, which took place about six years ago at the Galerie Stadt München in Amsterdam. Both projects include the same artists. These artists share certain interests, for instance within the area of abstract painting. Each of them however, have developed their own, more or less conceptual practice.

Wall Works II began its tour at Konsortium in Düsseldorf, in October 2005. Following this the exhibition was held at H29 in Brussels (during November and December, 2005) and at FLEISCH in Berlin (in January 2006). The final venue (yet to be decided) will be hosted by CLUBSprojects, in March 2006.

All these spaces are non profit organisations, which distinguish themselves with ambitions programs, international orientation and positioning within related parts of the art world. Their open environment presents Wall Works II as a competition and agreement of images. The resulting contrast intensifies the representation of the artists’ personal practice.

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MARCH 2006

CUCKOO/SILVERCLOUDS
& CLUBS COLLABORATION
FOR THE NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL
on the rooftop of order and progress

CUCKOO/SILVERCLOUDS is a collective based in Auckland that operates by taking over people's galleries/projects and installing its own programme. The hospitality principle is an important part of Cuckoo’s practice and, in the spirit of being perpetually provisional, CLUBS project opened its doors for the opportunity of a grand play-off. CUCKOO produced work at the CLUBS Next Wave container, as well as at the CLUBS offsite location on the rooftop of the store; Order and Progress.

LOCATION + PROJECT LAUNCH
Monday March 13th at 3pm for a BBQ
on the rooftop outside Order & Progress
level 6, Curtin House, 252 Swanston Street
(above Metropolis Bookstore)

ROOFTOP DATES FOR SILVERCLOUDS: Monday 13th – Friday 17th February

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APRIL 2006

STUART RINGHOLT BOOKLAUNCH AT JOURNAL CAFE

Hashish Psychosis: What it's like to be mentally ill and recover
by Stuart Ringholt: with introduction by Benjamin Armstrong
at Journal Cafe

It was a Saturday when I arrived at the embassy. I quickly explained to the guard that I was being 'hunted down to be killed'......I was soon told to come back on Monday as the embassy was closed. On hearing this, and in fear that George would turn up any minute, I threw all my belongings over the gates, including my passport, credit card and a large wad of 100 rupee notes.

In 1994 after finishing university disillusioned and working dead end jobs, Stuart Ringholt found himself in India experiencing cheap drugs and the hippie lifestyle. Bingeing on hashish he soon became grossly thought disordered and descended into psychosis and psychiatric hospitals. In honest and simple terms, Stuart reflects on his illness and subsequent ten year recovery process involving drawing, performance art and learning to socialise drug and alcohol free.

Stuart Ringholt, born in Perth, currently lives and works in Melbourne as an artist.

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MAY 2006

CLUBS HOSTED BY;
(and hosting) OCULAR LAB

a letter sent to Ocular Lab committee:
…We hope you are interested in this proposal and look forward to hearing your response and questions. If you can determine the piece that you would like packaged, re-sited and documented in the next two weeks - we will then be able to contact you individually to arrange a time to pick up the work.

Thanking you in advance for your involvement in this potentially
exciting exchange.

Yours sincerely, CLUBSproject Inc
with James Deutsher, Alicia Frankovich, Helen Johnson and sound
padding by Castle Mice

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AUGUST 2006

MICHELLE USSHER
THE DRAWING GAMES PROJECT
PB Gallery, Swinburne
INCLUDING Laresa Kosloff, Kath Huang, David Keating,
Alex Pittendrigh, Masato Takasaka, Oscar Yanez,
Toni Anne Kenna Dowd, Koewhy Kenna Dowd,
Helen Johnson, Jeremy the, Kunihiko Maki,
Alice Davies, Rob McHaffie, Alicia Frankovich,
Andrew McQwalter, Julie Gorman, Cleo Furnell,
Rob McKenzie, Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Mira Gojak,
Nick Selenitsch, Chris Hill, Michelle Ussher.

Drawingames is an ongoing workshop exploring ways of making and building drawings in collaboration.

This is the first exhibition of the drawings, with the addition of a wall drawing made over Thursday 17th - Friday 18th of August, on the central wall.

Initially coordinated by Michelle Ussher and Laresa Kosloff the workshop is loosely based on a model of a general drawing group where ideas, techniques and compositions can be exchanged and shared openly prompting discussions on the success and failure of drawing experiments. The aim was to open up a usually private area of art making and make it more communal and fun.

Originally meeting regularly in the GreenRoom of Clubsproject.inc when it was located above the Builders Arms Hotel, the group moved to the outdoor balcony and more recently to Michelle's current studio at GCAS. The drawing session usually last 2 - 3 hours.

Varying artists attend, some continuously while others are one timer. The group usually begins with a warm up game removing the mind of identifiable objects and images we house in our heads.

One of the more regular games played is the passing of a drawing one begins and passes on at intervals of 2 - 15 minutes. Sometimes objects are brought and swapped between players and used as a prompt when needed.

Often the drawings evolve through free association and response to the received drawing, building with no knowledge or control of the final outcome, continually changing with each engagement.

Different rules are made during the games. Depending on the participating artists. Rules vary, sometimes in the form of colour restriction or action, such as drawing with your opposite hand or mirroring anything drawn, or compositional rules such as the continuation of an existing structure within the drawing with one slight addition or subtraction. Progressively, participants introduce different rules.

At the conclusion of the session drawings are shared and discussed. Piles are made of finished drawings and un-finished drawings, that can be re-worked at another session.

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OCTOBER 2006

ESCAPE: ARTIST RUN ARTIST PARTY
Organised by Chris LG Hill

at High Street Projects
During the Christchurch Bienale
New Zealand