The Artist is (Not) Present

What happens when a group of comedians, anarchists and independent theatre makers decide to put on a festival that is designed to “challenge, stimulate and disturb, and also make you laugh.” The second Festival of Critical Comedy presented by Awkward Giraffe was held at the Melbourne Unitarian Peace Church last weekend and exceeded the expectations of the organisers, performers and audience members. Described by the event’s MC Sofie Prints as “an ambitious event well beyond our skill set” what unfolded was a celebration of meta-comedy; comedy about comedy. What makes you laugh? I never expected such a benign question could lead to an analysis of socio-political structures.  What was radical wasn’t the content of the acts but the way the festival created a community. I discovered that what makes us laugh is as universal and diverse as what makes us human. What I found delightfully subversive was the collective resistance to being told by the morality police and the self-appointed ar...

Medium: Mixed(up) Media   Artist: Maria Rizzo Description: Conceptual art installation featuring a replica of an administrator’s computer workstation embellished with semi-autobiographical references and decorated with art historical artifacts. The 564 word artist statement/essay is an integral part of the installation.   Artist statement/essay Welcome, friend. You may well be wondering, what is a computer workstation doing in the middle of an art gallery? Whose workstation is it and where is the staff member? Is she on a lunch break or is the internet connection down? Has she been replaced by AI? You may also be asking yourself, why should I be giving it my undivided attention (statistically-speaking no more than 3 minutes). How are time and effort measured, and more crucially, how are they valued? And while we are on a philosophical roll here, what is art? These are pretty obvious questions and they are central to this art installation. Oh, and by the way, this art...