support letter steve mayhew to myer fdn 25.2.2013

7/28/2019 Support Letter Steve Mayhew to Myer Fdn 25.2.2013

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Stephen ArmstrongProgram Manager

Sidney Myer Fund & The Myer Foundation

17 Bennetts Lane,

Melbourne

VIC 3000

25th

February 2013

Dear Stephen,

I first came across Punctum Inc and the name Jude Anderson through attending the brilliant

locative, participatory headphone work en-route by One Step at a Time like This, at the

2010 Adelaide Fringe.

This work, made me a tourist in my home town of Adelaide simply by allowing me to follow

instructions via earphones from an iPod, chalked onto a sidewalk, or through lovingly crafted

notes left in strategic places.

The work was of the place that I lived, but it was originally from Melbourne, Victoria. The

interactions I had with unknown Adelaide residents along the way were all very real but theywere also slightly predetermined by a sublime mixture of pre-recorded instructions and fate.

At the end of the experience I found myself chatting to one of the artists of the work

Suzanne Kersten, who, when I revealed who I worked for and that I thought the work would

sit beautifully in a regional town or area, she informed me that its development was assisted

by a little company situated in Castlemaine called Punctum and by its Artistic Director Jude

Anderson and maybe I should contact her. It was also the first time I had heard the term

Live Art. Now I use the term frequently to describe a work that is interactive, porous in

structure and / or content to the audience and the artist, a way of interacting with the world

through an artistic construct.

Since meeting Jude in that same year, we have discovered that we both hold a mutual

attraction to why we prioritise our work in regional Australia. It includes but is not restricted

to;

a passion to allow artists the space to explore and the develop their work in aregional setting without the worries of urban life;

a mutual understanding of a dramaturgy that takes into account a time, a place anda space when developing a work;

and

the effect any innovative creative activity can have in the small communities wework with and in.


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Judes rigorous intellectual approach to the art form is as much a match to my pragmatics.

Since 2010 en-route has gone its own way by touring Britain and the US and in that time

both Jude and I have struck up a professional and organisational relationship and

partnership that was cemented through a cultural leadership program The Coriolis Effect

www.thecorioliseffect.org a 12 month investigation for 10 artists to collaborate around liveart and civic engagement.

Country Arts SAs association with Punctum primarily through The Coriolis Effect took a

very public consequence when we as the organiser and I as the Artistic Director of the 2012

Regional Arts Australia National Conference placed the investigation at the centre of the

discussions around resilient, sustainable and invigorating arts practices. We also intimated

that some of the civic engagement strategies used in a Live Art process could very well

invigorate a flagging Community Cultural Development practice and language.

Not even 2 months prior to the conference, in August 2012 Launcestons Junction Festival

held a program primarily consisting of Live Art and community engagement strategies. It isworth noting that Launceston was the location of the previous Regional Arts Australia

National Conference in 2010.

That two places in regional Australia decided to focus on interactive arts works and practices

in the same year did not go unnoticed by Realtime Magazine where they featured the

programs of both conference and festival side by side.

http://www.realtimearts.net/article/110/10738

http://www.realtimearts.net/article/110/10739

Live Art has emerged from the UK travelled to Australian shores where it has been incubated

by urban and metropolitan artists for close on 10 years. It is only just now getting a trueAustralian make over via the expansive regional landscape we live in. Punctum and Jude

Anderson have been instrumental in introducing Live Art to the Australian regional

landscape.

Myself and Country Arts SA are very interested in continuing a relationship with Punctum Inc

and Jude Anderson well into the future.

We have already begun planning a major collaboration and 3 year project 2015-17 to engage

communities along the Murray River in South Australia for a project that will commence

with artists, a set of civic engagement strategies, growing outwards in a series of evolving

live art outcomes and deep engagement with the rivers diverse communities.

We are dedicated to being on Punctums curatorium for their Seedpod Amplified. Not

only do we see this as a fantastic opportunity to advise and assist in the development of new

and innovative Live Art work but view it as a firm commitment to presenting and featuring

this type of work in other regional areas outside of Castlemaine, Victoria (please refer to

stage 5 of the Seedpod Amplified flow chart).

We are interested in taking the critical dialogue and prime examples of work that we are

shaping as a part of this relationship into other forums such as the 2014 Regional Arts

Australia National Conference Kalgoorlie / Boulder WA; Junction Festival, Launceston;

Campbelltown; and a proposed Live Arts Festival managed by Arts House, Melbourne,


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We at Country Arts SA are excited in the future of the relationship between us and Punctum

Inc and commend their work to you.

Kind Regards

Steve Mayhew

Creative Producer, Performance Development

Country Arts SA

support letter steve mayhew to myer fdn 25.2.2013

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