Artbox and Monash University’s Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture (MADA) are pleased to announce a new partnership to support and present the inaugural Wonder Cabinette Artists-in-Residence program taking place in regional Victoria this year.
Three artists working in VR/AR and digital media will be supported to explore the natural and built landscapes of the Wimmera Mallee region, for an intensive pilot residency program in a partnership between Artbox, MADA, Working Heritage and Yarriambiack Shire Council.
The Artists-in-Residence program runs between 1-16 February 2023. The three artists featured during the program are Archie Barry, Brett Leavy and Kim Munro.
The Monash Art, Design and Architecture ‘Afterlife of Cities’ research team will be participating in the Open House at the re-imagined Warracknabeal Courthouse on Saturday 4 February 2023.
Jason Crow, Matthew Bird, Tom Morgan and Charity Edwards will be delivering a ‘star party’ within their public programming for the day. This includes an introduction to stargazing, free BBQ, and digital projections after dark.
The residency program pilots a new model of a two-week intensive on-site followed by a supported remote development period and a return-trip for the presentation of works – embedding a reciprocal exchange between artists and communities.
A modular tech-embedded mobile art studio, The Wonder Cabinette is being developed and built by The Afterlives of Cities team, and will become an additional artist-residency site in 2023.
The futuristic Wonder Cabinette will be based at the Warracknabeal Courthouse, with capacity to travel through the Wimmera region and beyond, transporting artists, digital artwork, and equipment throughout the landscape.
The design is based on the Ranchu goldfish, whose form derives from 200 years of crossbreeding experiments across Asia. This design form is a provocation for innovation, adaptation and creativity – focusing on the relationship between technology and the natural world.
Archie Barry is an interdisciplinary visual artist from the coastal regions of the Eora Nations/Sydney. Their work is autobiographical, somatic and process-led, spanning performance, video, music composition and writing.
Brett Leavy is a First Nations, self identified Digital Aboriginal artist descending from the Kooma people. His ongoing work seeks to represent the arts, cultural stories, heritage, traditional knowledge and histories of First Nation people using new, immersive and interactive technologies through virtual heritage design company Bilbie XR Labs.
Kim Munro (she / her) is a documentary maker with an interest in expanded forms and practices. Kim’s work has screened on the ABC as well as at local and international galleries and festivals. Kim has also written on a range of documentary styles and practices which have been published in books and journals as well as Metro Magazine and The Conversation.
Key dates and events
1-16 February 2023 | Artists-in-residence on location and working across the Wimmera region, primarily based in Warracknabeal, Hopetoun, Patchewollock, and Woomelang.
Artbox Artbox is an artist-led organisation and creative consultancy that operates at the intersection of art, technology, cultural tourism, placemaking and economic development. Founded by Alex Gibson and Leo Gester, Artbox works collaboratively with partners in a range of sites and contexts to deliver creative projects that are meaningful to places and the people that inhabit them.
