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 3 – Visionary Image

Play the Real World
Artwork by Visionary Images

About the Work
“Play the Real World” publicly launches Visionary Images’ A-LURE Project, a locative media game that will be played on the streets of Melbourne in April 2008. The billboard image explores the intersection between the “real world” and the world of digital communication. “Play the Real World” is a call out for people to visit the website and get involved in a game that will take place in real time and space.

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

 

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

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