Shining a light on the power & delight of contemporary art in regional Australia
Initiated by Kim V. Goldsmith in 2014, #BTLP was about putting contemporary art in ordinary places.
#BRINGTOLIGHTPROJECTS (#BTLP) was not an exhibition or a festival, but an event that could happen at any point in time over one or two days, in a place or space where people congregate – cafes, bars, post offices, open-air malls, vacant lots, libraries…and even grain silos – the world was our oyster when it cames to location. The works were temporary and may only be seen for a few days or a few hours, depending on what you’re doing and where you are. Each year, works were mapped using Google Maps with details of how to find them.
#BTLP provided regionally-based artists working in multi-media, digital media, installation, projection, filmmaking, sound, performance, hybrid art and artforms not invented yet, a chance to try something different; to maybe collaborate with another artist or simply do something they haven’t done before. Audiences happening across these works were engaged and surprised…a great response for any artist.
It all started in 2014 with #bringtolightproject – the hashtag a nod to the use of social media in documenting audience interactions with the works. In 2015, the number of artists and locations grew. After a break for the national Regional Arts Australia conference, Artlands, held in Dubbo in 2016, we ran again in 2017 with even more artists and an interstate work from Victoria.
#BTLP AIMS
- To provide a platform and opportunity for regionally-based contemporary artists working across a range of mediums to be experimental, work together on an event, and to even collaborate on creating works;
- To bring art to the people by taking contemporary art outside the walls of the gallery, presenting it in unexpected places and encouraging interaction with the work;
- Take the art-making of regionally-based artists to a global audience through the power of social media using video, photo galleries, hashtags and some powerful marketing magic.
ARTISTS (2014, 2015, 2017)
Kim V. Goldsmith (2014-2017), Jack Randell (2014-2017), Dr Greg Pritchard (2015, 2017), Kelly Leonard (2017), Hero Fukutu (2017), Milena Sallustio (2017), Vicki Aland (2017), Jude Morrell (2017), Peter Aland (2014), Adrian Symes (2015), Jason Richardson (2015), Julie Williams (2014)
13 AUGUST 2014
A group of artists from Dubbo and Lithgow worked together to bring contemporary art to the public spaces and places of their respective cities on in a contemporary art project titled #bringtolightproject. It was a synchronised, 24-hour pop-up showing of digital works across the two cities, utilising a range of spaces including public areas, empty shop fronts, a pub/restaurant entrance and an old pottery. Some works were installed for the day, such as Lithgow’s Julie Williams’ video installation at the old Lithgow Pottery, others were even more temporary, like Dubbo’s Kim V. Goldsmith’s 30 second stop motion video shown on a hand-held projector at four locations around and near Dubbo. Peter Aland’s looped video installation made use of an empty shopfront and Jack Randell’s projection of a lit candle in a dark ally at the entrance of a pub/restaurant made for some interesting audience interactions.
WEDNESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2015
Adrian Symes, Terror of Tiny Town, an apocalyptic vision of civilisation under attack constructed from toys and related objects by a lake near Sunny Corner (Central West NSW), check the Google Map for directions.
Greg Pritchard, from 6.30pm, When Desire Becomes an Illness, Video projections of animations with soundscape, Geurie Silos (Western Plains, NSW)
Jack Randell, 6.30pm – 8.30pm, Do Cockatoos Tell Fart Jokes?, digital video projection, black and white, +/-300x800cm, 1.25min on continuous loop projected to the southern wall of the Milestone Hotel, 199 Macquarie St Dubbo (Western Plains, NSW)
Kim V. Goldsmith, 9.30am – 10.30am only, Rock. Feather. Space, real-time video recording/playback, a 1m square, a rock, a feather, cotton thread, DSLR camera & TV set up in Church Street Mall (near the rotunda), Dubbo (Western Plains, NSW)
Jason Richardson, 10am – 4pm, Coffee at Trent’s, music video on iPad (will also be available on YouTube prior to the day – check for updates), Trent’s Cafe, 114 East Street, Narrandera (Riverina)
SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER – MONDAY 2 OCTOBER 2017
The 2017 event saw an increase in artist numbers, the days the event ran, and the inclusion of an interstate work. Aimed at putting contemporary art in ordinary places every artist has been given the brief of putting an interactive, thought-provoking work together for a public space during the October long weekend. The 2017 event also included two collaborative works resulting from a meeting between artists during the 2016 RAA Artlands Dubbo conference and festival.
It’s estimated several hundred people interacted with the art works and the artists over the two days of the event – based on engagement with the works themselves or activities being undertaken by the artists on site. Social media plays a role in sharing audience interactions with the works over the event – using Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with this year’s dedicated hashtag #BTLP17.
Kelly Leonard and Dr Greg Pritchard, 30 Sept & 1 Oct 10am-1pm, Slow Book Haiku, handwoven unbleached linen, hand stitched albaca, amulets including pebbles, coins, gumnuts, Shoyoen Japanese Garden, Botanical Gardens, Coronation Drive Dubbo
Kim V. Goldsmith and Kelly Leonard, 30 Sept & 1 Oct 10am-2pm, Bee Box Sounds, installation of 13 bee boxes with handwoven linen and gumnuts in a double weave technique with accompanying four-channel soundscape, Cyril Flood Rotunda, Church Street Mall, Dubbo
Fishdog Jack, 1 Oct only 7.07pm-7.32pm gather for screening and jam 7.30pm-8.30pm, Near and Far (an open jam in D), animated ambient video of a landscape near Dubbo, 5’14 loop, Basement Studio, at the rear of Leading Edge Computers on the cnr Talbragar St and Macquarie Sts Dubbo
Jude Morrell, 30 Sept 9-5pm; 1 Oct 9-5pm, Sending a Message, an invitation to find and send on messages you may find as you wander through Dubbo, Victoria Park Duck Pond and surrounds, Dubbo
Vicki Aland, 30 Sept 10am-3pm; 1 Oct 11am-3pm, 2 Oct closed, From Here To There And Back Again, cut paper book, Macquarie Regional Library Dubbo Branch, cnr Macquarie St and Talbragar Street, Dubbo
Milena Sallustio, 30 Sept 10am-3pm; 1 Oct 11am-3pm, 2 Oct closed, Chancers Are, installation of book pages and card, Macquarie Regional Library Dubbo Branch, cnr Macquarie St and Talbragar Street, Dubbo
Hero Fukutu, 30 Sept & 1 Oct 7.30pm-8.30pm, Untitled, site-specific guerrilla light installation, Natimuk Lake Jetty, Victoria
kvgoldsmithart.com 