1856

Melbourne life: Charlotte Posenenske United Workers Union, Melbourne December 18, 2019 – January 14, 2020 Organised by Nicholas Tammens with Imogen Beynon and Eloise Sweetman Images courtesy of 1856, Melbourne. Photos by Tom Ross.

feeling the need to post to mark endings and beginnings (or?) cut my hair off, been spending time at my new desk at ros and camille, raphi and ru’s place, sliced into this radish heart, some hopes from time spent delivering a speculative syllabus on hope with footscray city primary students, sparkling creek, my first pomegranate that’s made it this far from a cutting off mum’s tree, ru as dog away from home companion, a moment from absorb, bullet holding my head to help contain my thoughts, cashu’s beautiful ‘good boy’ cap from safa, my favourite people laughing all in a row, handy cam zoom on hannah quinlan and rosie hastings, dad doing up mum’s shoelace, me and cashu, a picture of a balloon animal high in the sky that mum sent me, grandma turning 90, black swans at williamstown beach, jesse gall self portrait on sprouting potato, dagny best and bravest swimmer.

Art + Organising Index is a growing database of projects in which artists and other cultural workers have mobilised to improve their working conditions. We worked on this a while ago but in light of the current strike / industrial action at The VCA School of Art and University of Melbourne more broadly it feels like a good time to give it a push. The database is open to contributions! With @1856program @artists.union.au @imogen_alex @public.office

As a part of the strike at Uni Melb, Imogen Beynon is presenting on Artists, Unions, and Radical collective strategies: a brief exploration of radical actions in which artists and arts workers have mobilised to improve their working conditions, including the current and historical relationship between the artists and labour movement in Australia. @imogen_alex @artschoolstrike @nteu_au @nteuunimelbbranch

Last day to see @realjobexhibition at @seventhgallery Gallery open 12pm-6pm (Exhibition continues at @counihangallery until May 21) #artiswork

Repost • @1856program We are super excited to finally launch the Art + Organising Index, a long term project developed by @artists.union.au and @imogen_alex and published by 1856. The index is a growing resource archiving union organising in the art and cultural sectors—it is open for contribution through the website. Web programming by @public.office with design by @testen.studio Find and engage with the Art + Organising Index in person at @seventhgallery on display until April 28 as part of @realjobexhibition , physical presentation by Stephen Palmer @stephen_pal and Will Foster. Explore an ongoing catalogue of artists organising and labour movements. LINK IN BIO ^

Now in the shop: HANNAH QUINLAN & ROSIE HASTINGS - THEY WILL FLEE LIKE CHAFF SCATTERED BY THE WIND OR LIKE DUST WHIRLING BEFORE A STORM (Link in bio) • Published by 1856, Melbourne, 2020, two offset lithographs reproducing pencil drawings (b/w ill.), 42 × 29.7 cm, English, €20 • They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind or like dust whirling before a storm was produced as a commission by British artists Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings for 1856, with proceeds going towards future programming. • This edition of two prints brings together the Michelangelo sketch, Archers Shooting at a Herm, with a scene of modern revolt against a hostile white police force, depicting the tense relationship between states of power and the LGBTQ+ community. Quinlan & Hastings’ diptych represents an unruly clash of registers such as the disciplining power of the state, here depicted in a moment of crisis, and the rebellious energy of the people who protest and occupy public spaces. • A special edition signed and numbered by the artists can be purchased directly from 1856, details can be found via link in bio. @1856program #hannahquinlanandosiehastings #nictammens

In the series "Wall Pieces" (since 2017), Boyd produces negative casts using a home-made mixture that includes recycled cooking grease collected from restaurants. The objects cast include components of an office chair and turntable purchased by the artist at a liquidation auction. When first exhibited, each sculpture is embedded into the wall of the gallery it is shown in. After the initial exhibition, the work is extracted along with the surrounding section of wall in which it was enclosed, which thereafter remains permanently attached to the cast. . Installation view 1: Patricia L. Boyd, “Lumbar Formation IX (Christian Andersen, 25/09/2019-21/12/2019),” 2021; "Aeron, Extended (1856, Melbourne, 08/31/2018-09/28/2018),“ 2019; “Absorption, Elimination (Aeron Arm) I-IV (Secession, 06/29/18-09/02/2018),“ 2018 in “Hold” at Kunstverein München, 2021. Courtesy the artist; photo: Constanza Meléndez. Installation view 2: Patricia L. Boyd, “Lumbar Formation IX (Christian Andersen, 25/09/2019-21/12/2019),” 2021 in “Hold” at Kunstverein München, 2021. Courtesy the artist; photo: Constanza Meléndez. . Supported by Outset Germany_Switzerland and the Bayrisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst. . #kunstvereinmuenchen #patricialboyd #hold

I had the pleasure to chat with Nicholas Tammens about the great project @1856program and more. On @almanac_eu ! Link 👆

In the first episode of the new series 'Almanac Talks: Praxis — art, ideas and communities', Francesco Tenaglia is in conversation with curator Nicholas Tammens. Link in bio. Nicholas Tammens (b. Australia) is Assistant Curator at Kunstverein Hamburg. He is also founder of 1856, a curated program of exhibitions and events at a workers’ union parliament in Melbourne, Australia which focuses on conditions of labour and cultural production. He has produced exhibitions with artists such as Jef Geys, Yale Union (2018), Patricia L. Boyd, 1856 (2018), Fred Lonidier, 1856 (2017), and B. Wurtz (2015); presented talks at Wiels, Brussels (2019), and Kunsthalle Zurich (2019). 'Almanac Talks: Praxis — art, ideas and communities' is a series of podcast episodes organised and hosted by art critic and curator Francesco Tenaglia which explores curatorial and artistic practices focused not only on exhibition making, but also on public programs, workshops, reading groups, civic activism and other forms of community engagement, as well as emerging theoretical and sociopolitical issues. The project is supported by Fondazione CRT and Compagnia di San Paolo. #francescotenaglia #nicholastammens #almanacpeojects

Stephen Palmer and Madeleine Thornton-Smith - artists, arts workers and members of the Artists’ Union working group - talked with Blindside Chair and curator Chloé Hazelwood about collective action, institutional recognition of artists’ labour and the union movement. We as artists and arts workers need to learn how we can come together to collectively improve our conditions across the sector. Visual artists and many art/s workers don't currently have union representation in Australia - what can we do about this? TRACTION is a four-part discussion series that will examine ideas of modification and renewal within creative practice, the needs for upholding artists’ rights, the power of mature knowledge, and new modes of education and exchange.  Under the umbrella title of TRACTION, BLINDSIDE will present four artist-focused professional development online presentations: PIVOT, ACCUMULATE, GAIN and PRIME. Conversation #3 in the series, GAIN, explores what a visual arts union in Australia would look like, the push toward a more equitable visual arts sector, and why collective action is pivotal to this process.  Speakers @madeleinethorntonsmith Stephen Palmer @stephen_pal Convenor @who.cares.wins Visit @blindside_ari for link!