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Speech Acts: Richard Grayson and Matt Mullican illuminates the video-based practices of these two internationally acclaimed artists, who use the format of the monologue to construct and narrate hypothetical worlds.
British artist Richard Grayson imbues vernacular culture with a sense of classicism, extracting layers of meaning from an array of subject matter, including scientific explanations, flash-mob videos, dinner party conversations and purposefully bad jokes.
By contrast, American artist Matt Mullican examines the circularities of language, conducting performances under hypnosis to vacillate between primal and public speech. Who is it we are watching as Mullican performs in an hypnotic state? How do we interrogate and categorise what is being created?
The book includes video excerpts of Mullican’s first ever performance under hypnosis in Australia (staged in collaboration with Sydney’s National Art School at the iconic Cell Block Theatre, a former nineteenth-century women’s prison) and a selection of Grayson’s scripted compositions, which combine political acuity with dry wit.
Author Wes Hill, having curated Grayson and Mullican in a 2015 exhibition at UTS Gallery, unpacks them further in a fascinating essay on both artists, examining their obsessions with language, performance and the nature of interpretation, which arise in their works to engage and sometimes unsettle viewers.
Book Details
Lace Narratives: A monograph, 2005 – 2015 documents Cecilia Heffer’s innovative lace-making practice over a decade, including major exhibitions and commissions. This publication examines ways that Cecilia’s research practice responds to changing ideas and technologies as a means to extend our perception of textiles. It presents an in-depth reflection on studio practice in a discursive spirit, responding to the question: What has the studio enquiry revealed that could not have been revealed through other modes of research?
The publication is composed of a digital edition of the book, along with a seven-minute video documenting Cecilia creating the lace-work Drawn Threads. A print-on-demand version of the book in either hard cover or paperback is available for purchase.
Drawn Threads - A Process Video (Cecilia Heffer) from UTS ePRESS on Vimeo.
Additionally, a limited edition artist’s book with lace samples bound into the pages will be publicly available through selected libraries and museums, including the UTS Library.
Through these different components, the audience can watch Cecilia’s lace-making innovations in the documentary video, read critical reflections on her research and creative process, and handle lace samples. This combination affords a holistic understanding of Cecilia’s practice-led research and material output.
This is an experimental publication model conceived by Zoë Sadokierski for the MediaObject book series and produced with support from the UTS Library.
Book Details
