Between October 2010 and February 2012, MAAP’s major touring exhibition, Light from Light, immersed Chinese and Australian library-goers in a collection of neon art objects, light-sculptures, sounds generated by the sun and illuminated texts. The exhibition visited the State Library of Queensland; the Shanghai Library; the National Library of China and the National Art Museum of China; and lastly, the Hangzhou Public Library.
While the full de-installation of the exhibition in Brisbane will be completed at the end of February, MAAP is working energetically on the Light from Light publication, to be completed at the end of this year. The book will feature high-quality photo documentation of the exhibition in situ across the 6 library venues along with essays by international academics and cultural commentators discussing the exhibition from a variety of critical perspectives, including: the geopolitical and cultural context of contemporary Chinese art; art inside and outside the traditional museum; the nature of cultural exchange between Australia and Asia; and, the position of art within the 21st century sustainability dialogue. Essays will also profile the artists and their work.
MAAP plans to take the exhibition to a final destination in Regional Queensland, with details to be announced shortly.
Light from Light was on display at the State Library of Queensland for the entirety of the exhibition period, whilst a duplicate ‘mirror’ exhibition toured China.
A major outdoor solar-powered sculpture, titled ‘Light from Light’, by Australian artists Janet Burchill and Jennifer McCamley, shone brightly outside the State Library of Queensland for 15 months, with its Chinese counterpart also on display at each venue of the Chinese tour (positioned outside the National Art Museum of China, rather than the National Library of China, whilst in Beijing).
Meanwhile, recent artworks by Eugene Carchesio, Joyce Hinterding & David Haines, Lin Tianmiao, Archie Moore, Grant Stevens, Josef Strau, Pak Sheung Chuen, Wang Gong Xin, and Wang Peng consumed the libraries’ collections areas, reading spaces, and other spaces that are not usually used for exhibitions.
About the exhibition
Light from Light reflects on the multi-dimensionality of light: it is a fundamental life-sustaining energy source, a powerful physical property, a trope of the dynamic modern city, as well as a metaphor for both rational thought and spirituality.
Accordingly, the artworks interpret and use light in very different ways. Burchill and McCamleyʼs 5-meter-tall geodesic sculpture harnesses the energy of sunlight, in a nod to both the city of the future and the utopian experiments of the past.
Fellow Australian artists, David Haines and Joyce Hinterding enable audiences to hear the sound of light. Taking another approach altogether, Chinese artists Wang Gong Xin and Pak Sheung Chuen, explore light as a metaphor for the libraryʼs knowledge systems.
Since October 2010, the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia has hosted a carbon copy of the exhibition. Light from Light connects Hangzhou Public Library and the State Library of Queensland, enabling audiences in Australia and China to experience the same artworks at the same time. The cross-cultural nature of the exhibition is a strong source of inspiration for the artworks.
Through the use of translation, both Australian Aboriginal artist Archie Moore and Chinese artist Zhang Peili investigate the way language both constructs and betrays meaning, enabling audiences in Australia and China to take away quite different impressions of the work.
Meanwhile, Chinese artist Lin Tianmiao constructs a private reading space within the libraries of Brisbane and Beijing to help audiences in Australia and China share a similar experience.
Light from Light is an initiative of Brisbane based organisation MAAP – Multimedia Art Asia Pacific that has worked with contemporary media art in Australia and the Asia Pacific regions since 1998.
The Chinese tour commenced at the Shanghai Library between November 2010 and February 2011, and then toured to Beijing at the National Library of China and the National Art Museum of China between April and June 2011, and finally, the Hangzhou public library between July 14th and September 18th 2011.
The exhibition opened in Australia at the State Library of Queensland on the 1st of October 2010, and remained on display until February 2012.
媒体发布:
在杭州图书馆观看“光源自光”艺术展
在中国最后的机会
自在中国国家图书馆、中国美术馆和上海图书馆启发、引起读者挑战性兴趣之后，“光源自光”澳大利亚中国当代艺术作品巡回展，将其最后一站设在杭州图书馆。请不要错过在中国观看这独特展览的最后机会！
2011年7月14日至9月18日，杭州图书馆将让读者和研究者们沉浸在这一汇聚了霓虹灯艺术品、灯光雕塑、太阳的声音和由发光的文字产生的作品的展览中。届时，由澳大利亚的艺术家Janet Burchill,和Jennifer McCamley 联合制作的一件室外太阳能雕塑作品将指示着图书馆的入口，名为《光源自光》。同时，Eugene Carchesio, Joyce Hinterding 和David Haines,Lin Tianmiao(林天苗)，Archie Moore, Grant Stevens, Josef Strau, Pak Sheung Chuen（白双全）、Wang Gongxin(王功新)、和Wang Peng（王蓬）等艺术家的近期作品将在图书馆的藏书区、阅读区和其他通常不被用来展览的空间展出。
本次艺术展体现的是光的多维性。光既是维持生命的基本能源，也是强大的物质财富。既是现代城市活力的象征，也是人类理性思考与精神的隐喻。相应地，此次艺术展的艺术作品以光作为媒介，通过不同的方式对光的隐喻和特征进行诠释及使用。Burchill和McCamley利用太阳能创作了5米高的光电雕塑，以此向城市的未来和乌托邦的过去致意。澳大利亚的艺术家David Haines和Joyce Hinterding让观众聆听到光的声音。中国的艺术家王功新和白双全，以完全不同的手段对图书馆的知识系统作为启迪和光明的寓意予以探索。
自2010年10月以来，在澳大利亚布里斯班的昆士兰州立图书馆也在举行“光源自光”复本展览。“光源自光”连接了杭州图书馆和昆士兰州立图书馆，让中国和澳大利亚的观众同时体验相同的艺术作品所带来的艺术享受。
展览的跨文化性是这些艺术作品的一个强大的灵感来源。澳大利亚原住民艺术家Archie Moore和中国艺术家张培力通过对翻译的使用，探索语言的构建和对原意的背叛，使中国和澳大利亚的观众领略到不同的艺术表达形式。同时，中国艺术家林天苗在布里斯班和北京的图书馆均设立了私人阅览空间，让澳大利亚和中国的观众体验相同的阅读经历。
“光源自光”是布里斯班亚太多媒体艺术MAAP倡议的项目，该组织自1998年起便从事与澳大利亚和亚太地区当代媒体艺术相关的工作。“光源自光”巡回展于2010年11月至2011年2月在上海图书馆举办，2011年4月至6月在北京国家图书馆举办。此展览在澳大利亚昆士兰州立图书馆的展出将一直持续到2012年。详情请访问www.lightfromlight.net 和 www.maap.org.au。
由Janet Burchill 和Jennifer McCamley在昆士兰州立图书馆录制的网络视频流媒体可以在http://lightfromlight.net/live-webcam/上观看。
“光源自光”是“2010-2011‘想象澳大利亚’— 澳洲文化在中国，澳大利亚文化年2010-2011”的组成部分。
“光源自光”得到了以下单位的支持：昆士兰政府（来自艺术+场地昆士兰公共艺术基金）、澳大利亚艺术理事会、澳大利亚外交贸易部（通过澳大利亚国际文化理事会和澳中理事会）。同时，“光源自光”也得到了以下项目合作伙伴的支持：昆士兰州立图书馆，上海图书馆，中国国家图书馆、中国美术馆-北京、格里菲斯大学昆士兰艺术学院，中国美术学院，城市艺术项目，快速设计概念公司、南岸集团，再生能源工业及艺泛嗣艺术品咨询服务有限公司。 亚太多媒体艺术同时鸣谢澳大利亚大使馆、澳大利亚驻北京、上海领事馆的鼎力相助。
