Summer Artifacts 11_proof.indd - Art Gallery of Western Australia
Summer Artifacts 11_proof.indd - Art Gallery of Western Australia
Summer Artifacts 11_proof.indd - Art Gallery of Western Australia
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and I wanted to transcend these forms and not stay in a state <strong>of</strong> arrested development. Being in Europe<br />
now for so long has brought me back to the heart <strong>of</strong> my work and has reminded me <strong>of</strong> who I am just like<br />
meeting great people like Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Neville Bonner and Charlie Perkins when I was a kid.<br />
They woke my spirit. I have accepted that I am an artist and when everything goes shite some days it is always<br />
my work that is there for me and reminds me <strong>of</strong> what is important. Some days I really miss my darling<br />
<strong>Australia</strong>, she is such a wonderful lady!<br />
Q:The urban and remote Aboriginal dichotomy is quite prevalent in <strong>Australia</strong>n art discourse. Do<br />
you think the romanticisation <strong>of</strong> old, remote artists as the end <strong>of</strong> Eden is relevant? Or do you feel<br />
younger artists, such as yourself, will recreate their dreaming with as much intimacy as the elders?<br />
CT: God it’s like the art versus craft debate, talk about flogging a dead horse! I like in Japan how the little<br />
trinkets on people’s phones have religious significance. I think we can find magic and spirituality in everyday<br />
life we just need to put it there! In witch craft the word for ‘Dreaming’ is ‘Astral’, it means another<br />
dimension, we can all have a dreaming <strong>of</strong> sorts, I think it is about unlocking that in ourselves. There are<br />
springs in the city Bath in the UK and people used to travel miles and miles because it was said that you<br />
could see visions in the water. What drove people to do this? It was belief in magic and it was so much a<br />
part <strong>of</strong> people’s lives. I think we are all just balls <strong>of</strong> energy and the fact that we can even just move something<br />
is a marvelous and magical action that we take for granted but can have a pr<strong>of</strong>ound effect on someone<br />
else’s life.<br />
Q:When I look at works by younger Aboriginal artists such as yourself, Richard Bell and Tony<br />
Albert for example, I get the sense that as a nation we’re on the cusp <strong>of</strong> an Aboriginal Revolution.<br />
What do you think?<br />
CT: Well Richard is like 60 or something, so I don’t know if that still is considered young? I would actually<br />
disagree, we are not getting enough <strong>of</strong> our kids through University and when I heard the statistics the other<br />
day I almost choked on my grande venti soy chai latte! Seriously,we need Aboriginal kids going through<br />
mainstream art courses, none <strong>of</strong> this special program crap. I want to see a generation <strong>of</strong> young kids who<br />
are making the most experimental crazy stuff out there and in dialogue with their non Indigenous peers. I<br />
want to see young Aboriginal kids who know who Tracey Emin is, who like the Chapman brothers, who go<br />
and see Marina Abramovic’s performance at MoMA, who bitch about Olaf Breuning, who rave on about<br />
speculative realism, who idolise Mona Hatoum!!<br />
There is also such a huge absence <strong>of</strong> critical discourse and no one dares to say that work is bullocks even<br />
if that’s what they think! Years ago I had a show in Melbourne and Robert Nelson wrote a critical review in<br />
the paper. I emailed him after to clarify some things about the work but also thanked him for being critical<br />
and for his honesty without crumbling under a prevailing cloud <strong>of</strong> political correctness. If he hadn’t made<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the observations he made I would not have known how to change them. It is so important and artists<br />
need this to grow, it is not happening and there are no Aboriginal people reviewing and critiquing other<br />
Aboriginal people’s work in the context <strong>of</strong> world art and current critical discourse. We need Aboriginal kids<br />
studying art history and or curatorial studies.<br />
My fear is that we may see a generation <strong>of</strong> repackaged Brendas, Traceys, Vernons, Brookes, Destinys,<br />
Fionas, Judys, Richards, Reas and Gordons. Those artists did it so well in the eighties and it was relevant<br />
to their generation and continue to make great work that is truthful to their generation but what is important<br />
to my generation now? What is the next stage in a world <strong>of</strong> globalisation and capitalism? I did a project at<br />
the <strong>Australia</strong>n Centre for the Moving Image called the MHUL workshop and we invited Kresna Cameron<br />
and Marita Smith from Warabinda because I heard about them having fashion parades in the desert and<br />
when I went up to Garma I saw kids making rockabilly music and I thought this stuff is <strong>of</strong>f the hook, these<br />
kids need a platform and they need encouragement and guidance. When that happens I think we may see<br />
a real revolution <strong>of</strong> the most wildest degree!<br />
ARTIFACTS 10
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