Here and Now Billboard Art Program

City of Yarra initiative in partnership with Mediaworks

Young people participating in three City of Yarra key Youth Arts programs have been invited to produce a series of contemporary artworks in the form of billboards.

From November 2007 to February 2008 the participants of the Rotary Youth Arts Project, Napier Studios and Visionary Images, will produce four billboard artworks to occupy the billboard site located at the corner of Bridge Road and Church Street Richmond.

The project is an opportunity for young people to have an active and visible presence in a very public space.  Usually a space that tells young people what they want, the billboard space will be used by young people to make their own statements and observations about their lives and the world in which they live.

The billboard program is as follows:

Billboard 1 – November 2007 - Rotary Youth Arts Project
Billboard 2 – December 2007 - Napier Studios
Billboard 3 – January 2008 – Visionary Images
Billboard 4 – February 2008 – Visionary Images

Designed to engage, surprise and intrigue passers by, this series of four billboards gives the local community and visitors to the City of Yarra a chance to engage in contemporary public art as part of their everyday life.

The City of Yarra wishes to acknowledge Mediaworks for their generous sponsorship of this project.

Billboard 4 – Visionary Images

Banquet
Artwork by Visionary Images

About the Work
For almost a year now the young people and artists of Visionary Images (VI) have worked hard to realise a contemporary photographic retelling of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s “The banquet of Cleopatra” (1743–44).

The original 18th Century work was a pointed social commentary on the extravagance of the Italian aristocracy. Tiepolo chose to work across centuries and societies, connecting the decadence of his contemporaries with the infamous lifestyle of the last Pharoah of Egypt Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony. Cleopatra and Mark Antony had a wager over who could stage the most decadent banquet. The story conveyed in the painting is of Cleopatra poised to drop her pearl earring (the most expensive in the world at the time) into a goblet of vinegar. The pearl dissolves and Cleopatra drinks the mixture, consuming one of the world’s most precious objects, thereby winning the wager.

The young people and artists of Visionary Images’ have also chosen to work across centuries and societies, connecting today’s obsession with celebrities, consumption, excess and mass media with the lavish waste of Tiepolo’s time. In Visionary Images’ The Banquet, look alikes of famous celebrities and their coterie are portrayed in a contemporary dining setting. Paris Hilton and David Beckham, as two of the worlds most photographed and obsessed-over celebrities, replace Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Donald Trump, Hugh Hefner, the Olsen Twins, an Elvis impersonator and Mike Moore are guests in attendance, being waited on by young teenage fast food workers. Paris is portrayed tipping a glass flute of water over her shoulder with careless disdain. In conceptual development discussions for the piece, young people and artists identified that one of the most precious commodities today is water – particularly in drought-ridden Australia.

The final image will also appear as a large-scale light box in a Melbourne laneway in April 2008, as part of Visionary Images’ A-LURE Locative Media Game. Look out for it! Log on at www.a-lure.org for further information and to register as a game player.

Project Support
Many individuals and businesses supported the making of this work and without their kind assistance the artwork would not have been realised. All cast and crew gave their time generously for free. The main feast photo shoot was undertaken at CI Studios in Richmond, photographed by Paul Hickman and assisted by Nicole Reed. Gabrielle Bullard and Virginia Dowzer helped pull the lavish look together. Format Furniture supplied the designer furnishings. Harry H, Paula Sacco and Kit Sema from Biba Academy, Trish Sousa and Elise Rogers styled the cast’s hair and makeup. Cose Ipanema, Gwendolynne and Christine provided gorgeous gowns and accessories. Phillip Stokes Glass Studio supplied the extravagant glassware. Peter Jackson supplied suits and Camille from Shiboo provided elaborate dog collars.

The background shots were taken by Leo Farrell from CI Studios and James Widdowson and once again all cast and crew gave their time big-heartedly.  The Banquet required massive amounts of post-production to be undertaken and an incredible job of photo-montage and image refinement was done by James of James Widdowson.com.

Visionary Images would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful, generous people who made this work possible.  To all the cast, crew, businesses and individuals a huge thank you. Also a big thank you to the City of Yarra and Mediaworks for enabling this work to be displayed as a billboard.

A-LURE

A-LURE is a locative new media game developed and produced in urban and rural environments, created through a unique collaboration between youth communities and Visionary Images’ artists and designers.

The game’s concepts and play examine a number of questions: What are the modern cultural lures that tempt us away from confidence, self-respect and cultural acceptance? How do these lures affect us as a culturally diverse society? How do we resist them?  How can we create alternative lures that encourage empathy, understanding and respect?

In April 2008, A-LURE artworks will be installed as digital projections, interactive video & sound works and other innovative media throughout the City of Melbourne (with earlier outcomes in Shepparton and Millicent SA).  People of all backgrounds and ages will be encouraged to actively participate, communicate and play with the artworks of A-LURE.

Visionary Images
Visual Art + Social Change
Visionary Images (VI), a youth arts studio based in Richmond, utilises contemporary communication media, art, design and technology as tools for artistic intervention, exchange, accessibility and cultural determination with disadvantaged or disengaged youth.

VI is at the forefront of artists collaborating with marginalised youth and industry in the use of traditional advertising, media and public space to offer a powerful alternative expression for under-represented youth. Through active partnership development with a range of government, community, arts, and business partners, VI provides its members with the resources, support and access to professional expertise, innovative technology and exhibition opportunities that are otherwise out of their reach.

At VI young participants explore their ideas and views, translating them into forms of visual art and communicating them back to the broader community. Young people are encouraged to take ownership of the space, their artwork, the creative process and to be a part of all decision-making in the running of the studio.

Through the development of skills in various areas of art making, young people are exposed to diverse approaches of learning and methods of thought. They are then encouraged to take these acquired cognitive skills and extend them to other areas of their lives.

To find out more and get involved, visit:
www.a-lure.org
www.visionaryimages.org
Tel: 03 9427 1351
Email: info@visionaryimages.org

 

      

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Further information

Arts & Cultural Services
c/o Richmond Town Hall,

Telephone 9205 5555
Email info@yarracity.vic.gov.au

Links

Within this site
Billboard 1 – November 2007 - Rotary Youth Arts Project
Billboard 2 – December 2007 – Napier Studios
Billboard 3 – Visionary Image

 

Information supplied by: Electronic communications & design officer - 9205 5214

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