From their bedrooms, on the internet, 9 people aged between 9 and 25 talk about anything and everything.
Members of infinity speak about ‘Anything & Everything’ with The Substation's Curator Emma Valente.
Sacred View
NOV 13 - DEC 11 2020
Joshua Maxwell de Hoog is a Geelong based multidisciplinary maker, with strong spiritual influence, both in style and message. Their work explores the nowness of making, glorifying the output as a means of being present within an age of disconnection. They make in varied forms so as to preach the same message to those who appreciate different art forms, but honour the naivety in exploring mediums they are unfamiliar with. Their work can be seen in print format, within a gallery setting, but also in public performance or installation, making it readily accessible and annoyingly regular.
This body of works was a means to taking me back to my roots as a maker, focusing solely as using art as a way to not push forward one idea, but to document the many ideas that come and leave ones mind. The works have been made over a year long period, and focus on grief, love and loss. I wanted to pay particular attention to the search for beauty, which is something I often disregard in output. This show shines on the importance of colour pairings, and a delicate final product, but allows for the curation and density of the pieces to show the diversity of our thought process. The use of watercolour allowed for a layering procedure, which highlights the fact that our emotions are non linear and have complex narrative upon inspection. Over all, my intention was to brighten what can be a dark place, the place of reasoning, the place of true reflection.
Learn more about Joshua Maxwell de Hoog and their work via Platform Artists.
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*The easing of Covid-19 restrictions may mean that the gallery can be physically open during this time
INK
NOV 13 - DEC 11 2020
Levi Warren is a Geelong based (b. 2001), multidisciplinary artist, working across ink and digital illustration, film and video. He is currently undertaking his Bachelors of Fine Arts at RMIT, Melbourne. Levi’s work explores ideas of escapism, storytelling and freedom of expression, through the drawn line and the written word — working extensively with inks, alongside producing short films and scriptwriting. He is interested in experimenting with different mediums within his art practice.
Levi Warren is interested in ideas surrounding fictional story writing and escapism, along with the way in which fact and fiction are represented through visual compositions and complex narratives. His works border on the chaotic and hark back to the curious and cluttered aesthetic of the Wunderkammer — referencing their diversity and dispersal of things — and their ability to encapsulate an encyclopaedic version of existence. Levi applies this thinking to a contemporary context, interweaving images that speak to the beautiful and yet complicated nature of contemporary life, especially when coming of age. Warren uses this theme to encapsulate the sensation of sonder within his audience, the feeling that the outside world, and the individuals within it are all as vividly complicated as one’s own life.
This body of work has been developed for Levi’s first solo show at Platform Arts, after receiving 1st prize at the 2019 Brackets Art Prize.
Learn more about Levi Warren and his work via Platform Artists.
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The End is Glorious, If We Only Persevere
OCT 9 - NOV 6 2020
The project is a poetic expression Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson has used to convey her mother’s experience of displacement after escaping Iran in 1979, during the revolution.
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Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson (Perth, 1996) is a Bahá’í video artist. She explores the Iranian diaspora within the Australian community and uncovers her family’s experience of displacement during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Eshraghian-Haakansson’s research examines the inter-generational dialogue between the first (those who were displaced) and second generation (children of those displaced) in an attempt to understand her mother’s experience of displacement and escape. She addresses the emotional impact felt and the need for empathy in response to the current global social and political climate. It is through the affective poetic space of installation art and aesthetic devices of choreographed performance, archival documentation, and symbolic cultural indicators that allow for a greater understanding of the experience of loss and grief that takes hold through states of displacement.
Eshraghian-Haakansson graduated with first-class Honours in Fine Arts from the University of Western Australia, School of Design (2017) and is currently continuing her research at the university. Eshraghian-Haakansson received the Dr. Harold Schenberg Art Fellowship Award during the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art’s Hatched Exhibition (2018) and the Jean Callander Art Prize for her work, Bohrân. Recently, Eshraghian-Haakansson has exhibited in the Lock up Gallery, Newcastle (New South Wales, Australia), the WA Emerging Artists Exhibit in Heathcote Gallery and for the Brilliant; Undercurrent Exhibit, Fremantle Moore’s Gallery. She has exhibited in Melbourne as part of C3 Contemporary Arts Exhibit, a finalist for the John Stringer Art Award held at John Curtin Art Gallery and was recently awarded an Artist-In-Residence at Frabica, Treviso in Italy, to take place in the coming future.
Learn more about Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson and her work via Platform Artists.
Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on socials for the latest information and updates on programming and Covid-19 restrictions.
An exhibition by Samantha Taylor that addresses transcultural identity and highlights Asiatic customs.
In this online conversation facilitated by artist Anindita Banerjee, Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson and Samantha Taylor will dive deep into their current exhibitions at Platform, broader artistic practices and the diasporic experience in art-making. Both artists explore transcultural practice within an Australian context, using various media to explore the notion of a third culture - a space in which culture combines and intermingles between the Diaspora and the country of migration - and unpack what it means to be on the periphery of belonging.
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Anindita Banerjee is an interdisciplinary artist based in Ballarat, working in video, textiles, ephemeral installations and visual art juxtaposed with performance. She describes herself as a “twice uprooted Indian” and the memories of ritualistic ceremonies and mark-makings and reconstruction of them informs her practice. She is pursuing a creative practice-led PhD at Deakin University, and her area of interest is the identity of the cultural other and their perpetual search for home.
Samantha Taylor is a Singaporean-Australian multidisciplinary artist who currently resides in Geelong, Victoria. Her practice involves installation, sculptural objects and photographic documentation to address the importance of preserving cultural traditions. Through extensive research, Samantha examines transcultural identity and the intrinsic urge to collect and archive sentimental entities.
Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson is a Bahá’í video artist based in Perth, Western Australia. Through her practice, she explores the Iranian diaspora within the Australian community and uncovers her family’s experience of displacement during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Eshraghian-Haakansson’s research examines the intergenerational dialogue between the first (those who were displaced) and second generation (children of those displaced) in an attempt to understand her mother’s experience of displacement and escape.
See more from these artists via Platform Artists.
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A WORKSHOP WITH LOCAL ARTIST JANE BARTIER.
A short introduction to weaving. For one hour we will use materials that are close by to make a small woven object.
Established artist Jane Bartier will take you through basic introductory weaving techniques using everyday materials that you can find around your house. Jane will take you through step-by-step to create your own woven object.
Instructions & materials can be found in this document. Guidance will be provided during the session.
This workshop is for participants aged 12 - 25.
This will be a free online workshop and participants must register for the event in order to gain access to the link required to join. This workshop will be run through Zoom.
This workshop is generously supported by Central Geelong Marketing's 'Central Geelong Kids Fun Guide'. Platform proudly partners with Central Geelong Marketing on our School Holiday Programs.
A WORKSHOP WITH LOCAL ARTIST RACHEL MORLEY.
Participants will learn how to collect and respond to found material through the medium of collage.
Participants will learn how to collect and respond to found material through collaging in this workshop facilitated by photo and collage artist Rachel Morley. Each attendee is encouraged to bring a photo, ticket stub, or other found image they would like to use. They will have a chance to discuss the significance of this image with the group, and then source accompanying materials from their immediate environment.
Instructions and guidance will be provided during the session on choosing photos, scraps or magazines. Further instructions & materials can be found in this document.
This workshop is for participants aged 12 - 25.
This will be a free online workshop and participants must register for the event in order to gain access to the link required to join. This workshop will be run through Zoom.
This workshop is generously supported by Central Geelong Marketing's 'Central Geelong Kids Fun Guide'. Platform proudly partners with Central Geelong Marketing on our School Holiday Programs.
A WORKSHOP WITH LOCAL ARTIST VANESSA CONTE.
Participants will be able to reflect and practice self expression through colour and text in this workshop facilitated by Vanessa Conte.
Each person attending should bring 2 ‘Plein air’ (outdoor scenery) photos. These photos can be archives or new, either taken by the participant or sourced from elsewhere. They will have an opportunity to journal out their thoughts and draw or paint some studies with inspiration from their photos.
Instructions & materials can be found in this document. Guidance will be provided during the session.
This workshop is for participants aged 14 - 18.
This will be a free online workshop and participants must register for the event in order to gain access to the link required to join. This workshop will be run through Zoom.
This workshop is generously supported by Central Geelong Marketing's 'Central Geelong Kids Fun Guide'. Platform proudly partners with Central Geelong Marketing on our School Holiday Programs.
A WORKSHOP WITH LOCAL ARTIST JESS WALTERS.
Participants will have the chance to express a message straight from their personality & into poster form!
Create something small that draws you in with a secret or something huge that says ‘HEY, I’M A POSTER & I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY’. We want you! Forage the house for coloured paper, patterns, old magazine/comics & your favourite markers. Get yourself caught in the brainstorm of what you want your poster to say! Hang in there kitty? Be yourself? CAUTION: THIS POSTER IS AWESOME?! The possibilities are endless …
Instructions & materials can be found in this document. Guidance will be provided during the session.
This workshop is for participants aged 12 - 25.
This will be a free online workshop and participants must register for the event in order to gain access to the link required to join. This workshop will be run through Zoom.
This workshop is generously supported by Central Geelong Marketing's 'Central Geelong Kids Fun Guide'. Platform proudly partners with Central Geelong Marketing on our School Holiday Programs.
Ask your questions about working in an interdisciplinary youth arts space during this virtual Q&A with Curator Amber Smith.
We’re joining museums and galleries worldwide for the 10th anniversary of #AskACurator Day. This is an opportunity for emerging artists, curators and students to be part of the online global conversation about curatorial practice, arts institutions, collections and careers.
Have a burning question for our Curator? Submit your enquiry early through the form or join the discussion on the day via social media. You can tag us on Twitter @PlatformGeelong or Instagram @platformartsgeelong, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #AskACurator.
Amber Smith is an emerging artist, curator, creative programmer and writer working within the sphere of objects, thing theory and collection practices. Their practice manifests in the physical – through assemblage, abstract workings of objects, archive systems, unique and abstract typological arrangements, performative actions and installations, and the written – through collecting, compiling and assembling words, a poetic practice that runs alongside their work with objects.
Amber Smith is a current PhD candidate at Deakin University in the School of Communication and Creative Arts. They hold a bachelor of Design Arts (Visual Arts) and a First-Class Honours Degree in Creative Arts at Deakin.
Learn how to create and use field recordings in this workshop facilitated by experimental Australian musician, Vicki Hallett.
In this one hour online workshop with Vicki Hallett, you will learn how to create your own composition like Habitat. Habitat is an experimental music project by Vicki Hallett, Jeremy Alsop and Steve Falk which combines field recordings of the endangered African forest elephant and improvised live music.
Vicki will show you how to make field recordings using common household technologies, such as phones and laptops. Using your immediate domestic space as your site, you will explore the aural possibilities of your direct environment.
To mark World Elephant Day on Wednesday 12 August, Platform Arts streamed the last pre-COVID Platform Arts performance of Habitat. You can watch the recorded livestream here.
Vicki Hallett is a composer, musician and sound artist. She has composed, produced and performed in live concerts, solo recordings ranging from chamber music to sound art and acoustic ecology. Through a unique approach combining acoustic ecology, scientific analysis and innovative performance practices, Hallett reshapes the role of interdisciplinary research. This exploration has led her to develop a collaborative concept with Cornell University's Elephant Listening Project as well as performing in South Africa on Mabolel Rock with a pod of Hippopotami.
The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory (NEAL) is an epicentre of exciting creative practice in music, sound and visual art for Geelong.
www.newandexperimentalartslaboratory.com/
This will be a free online workshop and participants must register for the event in order to gain access to the link required to join. This workshop will be run through Zoom.
Catch local bands The Kite Machine and Rach Brennan & The Pines in this double-header livestream concert.
An immersive experience combining field recordings with improvisation.
The second iteration of Geelong’s contemporary art prize for emerging artists.
$500 First prize
$250 Runner up
$150 Third prize
$100 Highly Commended
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2020 Platform x Central Geelong Marketing Storyfest Competition. This year, we asked young writers to tell their stories of social connection.
It was tough to choose only a few winners from all the wonderful applications we received. In recognition of some outstanding entries that didn't quite secure a place, we also included two 'Highly Commended' awards for each age group.
Congratulations to the finalists in each category:
8 - 12 years old:
First Place ($500): Thomas Taylor, Rap of Isolation
Second Place ($250): Shosana Thomas, Rolly
Third Place ($150): Harry McDonough, The Story of Jimmy and Bob
Highly Commended ($100 each): Madison Rafter and Jack Burgess
13 - 18 years old:
First Place ($500): Naomi Chang, Mirror Girl
Second Place ($250): Hayley Hunt, A Sparrow in the Castle
Third Place ($150): Jordan Matchan, Friend Next Door
Highly Commended ($100 each): Zoe Taylor and Aliya Ahmadi
CAMP is Back to Back Theatre’s annual weekend in March of delightfully ruthless theatre-making workshops for people with and without disability who love, or are curious about, performance making.
Frances Cannon reimagines biblical sluts, sex-workers, and victims of abuse through a feminist and queer perspective.
Symposia, exhibitions and workshops presented by Platform Arts and Deakin University,
A performance ensemble incorporating interactive sound and visuals.
As part of Energetical 2020, this exhibition highlights work by regional women practitioners.
This exhibition runs alongside the 2020 Port Fairy Folk Festival.
When considering the meaning of human nature and pondering what is universal to all, folk music is an undeniable truth of the human condition. All cultures, from all generations have expressed their histories, experiences and knowledge through song. Folk music in a sense is what defines a culture, but it is also what brings different cultures together. Folk music and the arts have shown to provide a forum where diverse peoples can come together, share their histories with one another, and gather in a respectful and nurturing environment.
For the past 44 years, peoples of all backgrounds and ages, from every continent have gathered on Peek Whurrong country, to immerse themselves in the beauty and power of folk music at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. ‘The Force of Folk’ explores the history of this folk festival and explores the diverse histories and experiences it has brought into discussion. Through archives, discussion with key members of the Australian folk community, audio and visuals, ‘The Force of Folk’ will bring to light the power folk music has in connecting and galvanising communities, continuing knowledge, stories and histories- and most importantly how it truly is the essence of the human condition.
Somewhere in deep Africa a forest elephant rumbles. Introducing Habitat. Field recordings are the basis of Habitat’s music composition.
Habitat improvises and reacts musically to images and sounds of species in crisis within their natural habitat to create an immersive and captivating live performance. Sounds and images of the endangered African forest elephant were recorded by the Elephant Listening Project (ELP) from Cornell University.
HABITAT are:
Vicki Hallett - winds
Jeremy Alsop - bass
Steve Falk - percussion
‘pneuma’ is an experimental work from an ongoing explorational project into the relationship between sound and our surrounding landscape. In response to recent extreme weather conditions, Sophia D’Urso began to experiment with the repercussion of sound and how it can be embodied in miscellaneous objects. ‘pneuma’ will showcase two sound sculptures formed during this exploration on Platform’s upstairs balcony along with additional off-site documentation.
Sophia D’Urso is a multi-disciplinary artist working primarily within installation and performance. She is interested in the structure of space, often working within site-responsive environments. Her concepts are centred around her investigation into the fields of perceived rules, parameters and constructed limits that exist in relation to space and subject.
Please note: due to the nature of this work, there will be no official opening event for this show. The work will be available for viewing during PLATFORM opening hours.
Musician and architect J.J. Ham performs his Improvising Polyrhythmic Space solo show.
My Other Closet is first and foremost a celebration of LGBTQ people’s ability to triumph in the face of extreme adversity. My Other Closet: the Cabaret is also a community education project that raises awareness about domestic violence in LGBTQ relationships and celebrates the survivors. The cabaret format is a powerful way of reaching one of the most marginalised and difficult to access parts of the rural LGBTQ communities; people experiencing DV.
The show presents strategies for avoiding or leaving potentially abusive relationships, and provides tailored information for victims and potential victims as well as intervention methods for bystanders. This project functions as a unique health promotion tool that builds empathy, understanding and the will to act through the emotional impact of musical theatre, while celebrating the resilience it takes to proclaim “I Am What I Am”.
The message of My Other Closet: The Cabaret is: Everyone deserves to feel safe, and to love and to be loved without fear. Everyone.
You can also attend a workshop facilitated by Rainbow Health Victoria with the performance on Thursday 6 February. Tickets here.
This exhibition curates a selection of the best emerging photographers in the Geelong region, working in both digital and film disciplines.
Curated by Geelong based contemporary artist, Jessica Walters - participating artists will receive a secret prompt from Jessica, which will shape the work made for the show.
Expect something immersive, emotive and atmospheric.
Improvisational jazz by Amsterdam trio Achim Kaufmann, Frank Gratkowski and Wilbert de Joode.
Featuring Ingar Zach, Alessandra Rombolà, Esteban Algora and Aviva Endean.
