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JAMES DODD Shed Time June 2017 from James Dodd on Vimeo. Here’s a little vid that offers a bit of behind the scenes in my studio. I have been working with Sam Roberts to document my work for a long time now and this video is the result of testing some new equipment and testing a candid presentation style, perhaps a bit like a DIY or hardware demonstration video. 
Dream Machines brings together five artists and collaboratives who are modern day Da Vinci’s – contemporary polymaths – whose practice intersects art, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. They are simultaneously artist, scientist, engineer, thinker and inventor. The artists, James Dodd, Wade Marynowsky, David Lawrey & Jaki Middleton, Cameron Robbins, and Tricky Walsh, are at the forefront of contemporary art practice in Australia. They produce functional artworks and imagined machines which audiences can engage and interact with: a remote controlled painting machine, a machine that interprets the movement of the sun, a theoretical communication device, three automatons created from vintage gramophones, and robots that perform an opera. At the core of this project are ideas centred around DIY aesthetics, backyard inventors and the suburban shed, the adaptation of existing and utilitarian objects, the machine aesthetic, hacking and re-purposing, and how creativity is integral to innovation. The exhibition launches on Friday the 21st of July and I will be working in the gallery over the weekend immediately following. I will also be presenting a master class in association with the exhibition in which I will offer a full day’s experience of working on a version of the Painting Mill. My participation in this project has been generously supported by the South Australian Government via Arts South Australia. 
Nowhere, 2016, Acrylic on linen (137 x 96cm) has been shortlisted as a finalist in the inaugural Hadley’s Art Prize. The winner will be announced on Friday July 14th and will be awarded a whopping $100000! ‘Nowhere is a painting produced as part of a suite of works responding to sites along the Murray River, within South Australia. The work incorporates visual impressions of the cliff faces that are iconic to this region and interprets the colours and textures of the landscape as a heightened, almost synthetic experience. All of the text, marks and inscriptions that are integrated into the representation have been collected from physical surfaces of the region. This is to say that the original marks are the scrawled residues from people who have passed through and inhabited the region over an extended period of time. I have a long standing interest in the ways in which graffiti, marked and found on public surfaces might be incorporated into representation of landscape in such a way as to imply the people and histories of places.’ 
I’m quite stoked to announce that next week will see the launch of a solo exhibition that will tour regionally across SA and looks back at a range of my outcomes over the last five years or so. This is the result of a long period of work together with Country Arts SA, especially Eleanor Scicchitano and Brad Lay. We have a very sharp looking catalogue which features a cracker essay from the inimitable Leigh Robb and lots of sumptuous images courtesy of Sam Roberts. Saturday July 1st will see the first version of the show open at Walkway Gallery, in the place that I grew up, Bordertown, SA. The exhibition will subsequently be presented in Murray Bridge and Goolwa, throughout the remainder of 2017 and early 2018. This really has only been possible with the help and support from lots of people over a long period of time. I look forward to sharing this show with a whole bunch of new and old friends across the state! James Dodd, Painting Mill v3, Wonderwalls Festival, Port Adelaide, Aptil 2017 from James Dodd on Vimeo. This is the third significant variation of the Painting Mill project. It was a great pleasure to be part of the Wonderwalls festival and to be able to connect with such a large and diverse audience. Similarly, it was great to pursue a mural – like outcome and work at a larger scale in a similar context to other large paintings occurring during the festival. In many ways this was a bit of a test run for the new variants, though maybe I find myself always testing things when I present the Painting Mill. 
This year’s Port Adelaide Wonderwalls festival will add an exhibition component to its already overflowing line-up of visiting artists and over-sized wall painting. I’m pumped to have been invited and have been working on a new variation of my Painting Mill project to present. Come down to Hart’s Mill on the weekend after Easter for a squiz. In the meantime you can check out recent updates on my project here. 
On tour through March with the very excellent Branch Nebula team as an SA representative for the SA dates of their national tour. The above image is a moment from our Whyalla presentation. More pics and words in due course. 
The City of Tea Tree Gully is offering up and coming public artists the chance to spend 2 weeks working together with a group of more established artists in order to brainstorm, develop and present concepts for new outcomes. I will be participating in a mentoring role alongside Gerry McMahon, Rachel Harris and Jessica Laughlin. Applications close March 20 for a work period in April. Image courtesy of Fortrose. |
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