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Fusion Strength as
a project began by seeking to address and invigorate various links / networks by advocating contact and process above product.
It has had the opportunity of testing itself at two different places, namely Singapore and Indonesia, where assumptions were
put to the test and barriers were broken. FS (in short) has affronted each of the artists' immediacy, inventiveness and resoluteness
of engaging with the various issues put forth by FS as a project. Primarily, FS still seeks to create a room for further growth
within the discourse of performance by utilising 'intervention' and 'collaboration' as modus operandi.
Retaining the basic structure of FS; a systematic cycle where a group of artists responds / interacts / intervenes with previous
groups' installation and performance, FS: Darwin is where an expansion or concentration on FS core structure occurs, as time
and resources have always been an issue. Contact with foreign artists and collaboration time is limited much less an ongoing
dialogue on practise, methods and an objective assessment of the collaborative enterprise. With this in mind, we are proposing
at a single already existing component within FS framework to extrapolate Fusion Strength's system of responses.
Fusion Strength at 24hrt Art, Darwin will be entitled as FS'05 = 24hr Art, Darwin. An equation. The titling refers to a symbiotic
relationship between a project and a space/place, which is in effect, a partnership that equals each other in an atmosphere
of equal giving and taking.
Travelling, is FS'05 = 24hr Art, Darwin's subtext. It is not a theme. It is rooted in the very act of travelling. Be it Singaporean
artists travelling to Darwin, Australia and coming into contact and context with Australia's Northern Territory Darwin artistic
community. Or, the Australian artists very journey of meeting someone new. Removed from their comfort zones, what happens
when artists from different countries and with etc, etc, interact and attempt a collaboration?
FS'05 = 24hr Art, Darwin, is an intense and fruitful project for all. For Darwin, we are proposing shorter cyclic system of
collaboration, intervention and performance.
FS'05 Blog
24HR Art's website
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A fusion. Not fusion food! But the fusion of art, ideas, art practises and art approaches. Fusion Strength is as the title
suggests a fusion of strengths.
It is an adventure for the participating artists and equally for the audiences. Amalgamating strengths, rooted within these
three notions; collaboration, intervention and performance and its discourse, FS (Fusion Strength) is a heady mix. A Singaporean
blend concocted by Juliana Yasin, its initiator and artist, has proved remarkably successful in Singapore (26 May –
13 April 2001) and Indonesia (20 Jan – 20 Feb 2003). FS'05, NOW, makes its round in Australia.
FS humble beginning is an inquiry into the many question marks, commas, what ifs and in between spaces of an artist's life
and art practise, namely Juliana Yasin's very own. This search for an approach that seeks an open and mutual parting and exchange
of knowledge and ideas became its driving force. Fusion Strength is about collaborating through intervention and performance.
At the heart of it is the artist’s own interests and practises. FS creates a situation where time and other factors
are taken into consideration, yet what ultimately surfaces is an Artists' resolve, creativity and inventiveness to various
problems that arises within FS.
FS is structured around the idea that an art practise is organic and rhizoid. It is a living organism that breathes, expands
and contracts, and grows.
FS'05 subtext is travelling (tourist/agent). It is not a theme. It is a strategy where each of the participating artists has
already considered the subtext with regards to their own practise or possibly in the very act of travelling itself. Execution
of the project begins by a Singaporean artist selecting an Australian counterpart forming a single cell. Each cell will then
be given the opportunity to work together (pre and on site) but nothing is made nor prepared before arrival at Darwin. At
24Hr Art is where it all sets into motion. Tapping into the community and Darwin, the first cell will work towards a piece
that will take form in any shape or form (Installation, performance or otherwise) the cell decides it to be. This work, then,
could be altered in any way by another cell, based on a planned schedule. Three cycles of actions then form for FS in Darwin,
Cells A to C, with three outcomes. All potentially beguiling.
This structure was also introduced in Indonesia but with a larger number of artists. Managing such an enterprise proved to
be difficult, thus, in 2005 the numbers are cut back.
A chaotic experience ensues within the gallery. The fresh white walls of a gallery space then become a conference room, an
archive, a workspace, a performance space, a studio, a lab, a gathering spot for these cells to interact, intervene, and perform
in. What and where could be more explosive than six artists given the creative freedom, the space and time to collaborate?
Fusion Strength is where you will find such an experience.
FS' 05 = 24hr Art, Darwin will be showing from 16th to 30th September 2005.
The Artists
Elka Kerkhofs
Born
in Belgium, Elka Kerkhofs has lived in Darwin since 1997 and now works in the performing arts industry as a hybrid artist,
sound and lighting designer, writer, director and filmmaker. She has a Masters in Visual Arts (Photography) and a Diploma
in Contemporary Music.
In 2000 Elka started “Karelka Productions” with Karen Maxwell, creating
short films and selected multimedia theatre shows. The company produced “The Tube” in Darwin’s unique 170m
World War II Oil Storage Tunnels in 2001. Elka was the Multicultural Artist in Residence with Darwin Theatre Company from
2002 – 2003 where she produced “Site 3” of “Site and Sound the Home Show” and her one-woman
show “What’s That Donkey For?”.
Elka received an emerging new media artist grant
in 2000 and created the work “Blood Vs Wine” in collaboration with Tracks Dance Theatre. Last year, she collaborated
with Tracks Director David McMicken on a multimedia dance performance entitled “Rust”. All these projects have
been very well received by the public and attracted an excellent critical acclaim. Now she is working again with Tracks Dance
Theatre on their latest show “Angels of Gravity” for the 2005 Darwin Festival.
Karelka Productions’
short film “Miss Tackle Goes To Europe” has been screened on SBS “Eat Carpet” and the recent short
film “Miss Q mishandled” won an award at the 2004 Darwin “Fist Full of Films” competition. Elka’s
unique perspective and varied talents contribute to her being considered amongst the finest multimedia/performance practitioners
in Australia as evidenced by her attendance to Time_Place_Space 4 in Adelaide in July 2005.
Hayley West
Hayley
West, has recently resettled in Darwin. Her practise stands as a testament to a need for open engagement with her communities,
not only her dilemma, but many other artists. This is her fount of inspiration.
Hayley is currently
engaged at exploring concepts of disengagement from place and self. ‘Am I There Yet?’ was shown at PICA and 24HR
Art. The work is a sculptural installation created from the concept of linear relationships between people, space and place.
Exploring and extending, her fascination with journeys and the movement through eternal and (un)determined routes. The physical
piece became a representation of the production (and performance) of the work – charting the hours spent while recollecting
the journey, and drawing the long (250 metres) thin, black line.
Hayley, is the Coordinator for Blind
Date. It is an exhibition and a networking project bridging artists and art centres which are based and working within the
Northern Territory; namely from Darwin, Maningrida, Katherine, Pine Creek, Alice Springs and Yulara.
Hayley
works as the Administrator for Darwin Visual Artists Association(DVAA).
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| Lucas IHLEIN |
Lucas Ihlein
Lucas Ihlein is an artist based in Sydney. His art activities create social situations through collaborative process.
Since 2000, Lucas is an active member of the SquatSpace Collective which engages in the politics of space in Sydney.
In 2004, he was the co-founder of the Network of Un-Collectable Artists, which produced a set of bubblegum cards featuring
Australia's 50 most Un-Collectable Artists. In 2003, Lucas was awarded the Freedman Foundation Scholarship, thus he spent
a month long research visit to London with interests in Expanded Cinema and film archives such as the LUX and St. Martin's
College of Art. Lucas has also lived in a gallery for a month in an exhibition titled Bilateral, which took the form of installation.
Lucas graduated with BFA in 1996 from University of Western Sydney. This year, Lucas is commencing his practise led research
PHD with Deakin University.
Jason Lim
Jason Lim is a well established and respected artist in Singapore. Trained as a Ceramicist at St Martin's College of Art -
England, Jason's visual vocabulary and knowledge encompasses his passions within sculpture, ceramics, performance and installation.
In 2003, he graduated from RMIT with a MFA.
Jason has taken many residencies across the globe; Japan, Australia and the Netherlands are amongst some places. During such
periods of study, Jason has produced some intricate and beguiling shapes and forms in ceramics. The works are also installed
as installations.
An active performer, Jason has participated at many international performance festivals. Best viewed as live performances,
he has ventured to the shores of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, Poland, Greenland, Germany and Australia.
In 2004, he was the Co-Artistic Director of Future of Imagination 2, an international art event in Singapore. This year, he
organized StopOver, a performance art meeting in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur between artists from Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Jason's future projects include, International Performance Art Conference (Chile), Wolves(UK), PVA MediaLab(UK) and
Vermot Studio Centre (USA).
Lina Adam
Lina
Adam, a Singaporean artist is an active member of The Artists Village. She has worked with Kent Tyler as an apprentice screen-printer
in New York and later at Singapore Tyler Print Institute for several years before completing her BFA. Her current works take
form of screen prints on canvases, hand-made objects and soft sculptures.
Lina is no stranger to Fusion
Strength. Her input and experience for Fusion Strength as past participant for both instalments has proved useful and insightful.
In 2002, she participated in Asiatopia 2002, an international performance art event in Bangkok and Chiangmai. The Artist Village
and Lina presented a group performance entitled, ‘Singa Dance’.
Your MOTHER gallery, is
Jeremy Hiah and Lina’s brainchild. The gallery provides young artists in Singapore with an alternative and affordable
art space to showcase their works. Originally set in the tiny kitchen of their residence, the gallery is now thriving
Juliana Yasin
Juliana
Yasin is a familiar face within the Singapore art scene. An active artist in her practise; Juliana does not only exhibits
but performs with various solo / group initiatives and at various performance festivals since 1989, locally and internationally.
Having spent numeral years away from Singapore pursuing her studies in Australia and working in Malaysia, Juliana is well
versed in installation, performance and two dimensional works.
Her face has appeared countless times,
not as an egoistical nor as a narcissistic attempt at marketing herself as the ultimate artist but rather, it is a point of
initiation for many of her collaborative projects with other artists from around the globe. It always begins with a Xerox
copy of her.
Situation, Museum of Contemporary Art - Sydney, is a group exhibition which Juliana is
a participant. The exhibition involves artists collectives from Berlin, Sydney and Singapore. Fusion Strength was initiated
by Juliana, it is an on-going travelling project which was first presented at Plastique Kinetic Worms (2001) and later at
Benda Art Space (2003). The Project - Fusion Strength addresses working methods and networks by manner of collaboration and
intervention by artists who actively investigates and is passionate about the many issues surrounding installation and performance
art.
Juliana is an active member of The Artists Village and Plastique Kinetic Worms and she is also
the Singapore researcher with Asia Art Archive.
text by Juliana, June 2005
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