The Border Crossing Art Project
Project Curator: Wendy Grace Allen (nee Dawson)
Collaborating Artists: Wendy Grace Allen (nee Dawson), Dr Apichart Pholprasert and Helen Stacey
At The Art Center, Center of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University
February 5 – March 6, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday February 5, 2010, 6-8pm
Brief Description of the Project
The Border Crossing Art Project is an exploration of collaborative art practice, where the artists involved in the project experiment by using multi-layered collaborative processes that traverse geographical and cultural boundaries. Within this framework, the artists reflect on current issues relating to land ownership, and/or the nostalgia for a lost rural idyll, relating to their specific cultural context. The project culminates in a series of exhibitions and workshops to be held in several countries within the Asia Pacific region. The inaugural exhibition and workshop is to be held at The Art Centre, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.
Summary of the Concepts and Methodologies Explored in Border Crossing
• An experimental collaborative art practice between artists from different cultural contexts.
• The implementation of fine art reproduction as a collaborative tool.
• The issues arising from the use of contemporary information technology to communicate across geographical and cultural divides.
• The negotiation of the project's themes within each artist's cultural landscape.
• Challenging notions of originality, ownership, copyright and authenticity.
• The resolution of the conflict between individual artists freedom of creative expression and respect for another artist's work.
Aims/Objectives
The aim of The Border Crossing Art Project is to conduct an experiment between artists who originate from different cultural contexts within the Asia Pacific region, utilising contemporary digital and communication technology to expand the possibilities of creative practice, culminating in a series of exhibitions and workshops in several countries. Fundamental to the process is the way the artists communicate across geographical and cultural divides. Border Crossing questions how issues of dissemination of information, image reproduction, ownership and copyright law are resolved and acted upon. The use of fine art reproductions challenges the authenticity and originality of the artwork. Who owns and therefore receives any monetary reward for an artwork that several people have worked on? Is it the artist who creates the first painting, the artist who paid for the fine art reproduction, or the person who finishes the artwork? Unlike the master apprentice relationship, all three artists are acknowledged equally in contributing to the artwork, although the artist who finishes the painting has the main responsibility and freedom to resolve the completed artwork. Inherent in the process is an element of respect and acknowledgement of another's differing painting style and the necessity of adapting accordingly. It is the prerogative of each artist to select which elements of an artwork to retain and which parts to erase or adapt, with the option to completely paint over the other's work. The process challenges Modernist notions of the artist as “hero or genius”, where alternatively the artists defer their rights to sole authorship and ownership of the work. In addition, the exhibited artworks, enabled by the contemporary technology of fine art reproductions on canvas, create a phylogeny of paintings where the evolution of the completed work can be traced, resembling a family tree.
In addition to the concepts addressed by the process of creating the works, the artists reflect on current issues relating to land ownership, and/or the nostalgia for a lost rural idyll, relating to their specific cultural context.
The intended outcome of the exhibition and workshops is to deliver artwork that engages viewers in a multi-country dialogue, stimulating discussion about the concepts/issues presented, whilst promoting collaborations between artists from different cultural backgrounds. There will be a forum via http://thebordercrossingartproject.blogspot.com and Facebook social networking page available for viewers to respond directly to the works thereby continuing the conversation.
Wendy Grace Allen (nee Dawson)
Helen Stacey
Dr. Apichart Pholprasert
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