Pelican
UWA Student Newspaper

Arts

1. Hello Dolly
2. Great artists, eh? Well maybe they were just..Self-ish

Hello Dolly

Every year Artrage opens its doors to starving miscreant young graphic artistes and operates a large scale soup kitchen in the form of a poster competition. Entrants are given a ladle full of wall space at an exhibition and a blessing from Arch Director Peter Grant. One particularly lucky vagrant is chosen from up on high to recieve a pat on the back, Perth-wide exposure of their work and a wad of hard cash. Sometimes an entrant makes dolls. This one did. So, lets give it up for Tracey Ladner.
It's only fair to point out that Tracey Ladner did not design this year's Artrage poster, but she did have a hand in it. The Curtin fine arts graduate, now part-time waitress and artist, entered a scanned image of her gothic style doll into the Artrage 2000 poster competition on a spur of the moment whim. A good move so it would seem; the eye catching tribute to ancient art now features in the advertisement of Perth's most successful alternative arts festival.

'Zelda' (renamed 'Dolly' by Artrage), the spooky doll named after a character in the Stephen King film Pet Cemetary, is hand weaved through a process known as 'coiling' an ancient form of basketry with moulded porcelain face, hands and feet. Add hair of an aging Robert Smith, a few Xena-style cuffs and musical influence by The Pixies and you get one eerie little person. "It's strange looknig alright," admits Ladner, "I'm driven by a need to create something different even if it seems everything has been done before". Zelda features on a magenta background of nails alongside fun-in-the-sun Barbie who resides amongst pretty greenish flowers. "I thought it would be good to have something different, from Artrage's previous two dimensional images, a three dimensional object gives the festival a kind of mascot or icon."

The virtues of three dimensions has been made abundantly clear in a series of animations featuring Zelda, equipped with space helmet and laser gun, dancing in time to furious beats and getting worked into such a frenzy that she shoots nasty ole' Barbie in the face.

Nice one.

Or is it? When asked what the creator of the doll thought about the placing of Barbie alongside Zelda by Artrage designers, the reply was succinct: "really pissed off". Why? Well it all seems to be due to the idea that the commercialisation of Barbie is projected onto the image of Zelda, thus undermining the motives behind the juxtaposition of the two images which sought to highlight the difference between the mainstream and the alternate. Seems like ladner is suffering from the inevitable strain between advertising savvy and artistic creation, though she is quick to point out that the exposure of her work on such a large scale is worth it. "I guess I just would have liked more control in the final product...I'm way too obsessive about art which is good in a way but it can also be very frustrating". Oh well... such is the lot of a perfectionist (as she describes herself) who has to watch their art being manipulated. Still, given that her future plans consist of "making a living out of art and nothing else" it's probably safe to assume that there is not too much disenchantment in the air and that Tracey Ladner will continue to churn out the artwork.

Tracey, who has already won the City of Perth Photography Open Award and will be entering the Melville Painting competition later this year, has been making dolls since 1995 as well as working in photography and watercolour painting both in Perth and in Melbourne. Doll-making being her favourite medium, she was a little peturbed that she had been credited by various sources as having designed the poster, but has had little mention that she made the doll. So, made doll, yes, design, no. There you go Trace, sorted.

Great artists, eh? Well maybe they were just..Self-ish

Artists in their own art.

FRIDA KAHLO

Frida Kahlo, painter, revolutionary and proud bearer of an astonishing monobrow, is probably the most famous female artist associated with surrealism. She lived surrounded by mirrors, allegedly to 'restabilise' her elusive sense of self in the more troubled times of a life torn between chaos and order. Ech, maybe she was just vain. Despite that wild accusation of vanity I just hurled at her, I like Kahlo a lot. particularly when she paints herself with monkeys. Look at the silly monkey. Look at it!

JENNY SAVILLE

Jenny Saville's oil paintings are all distortions of her own body. To get the effect she wanted, she would first position a camera beneath a large suspended plastic sheet, lie on it and photograph her naked body pressed against the plastic. Then she'd paint from the photos. Well, somebody's got to...

CLAUDE CAHUN

Claude Cahun, born Lucie Schwob (Yeah, I'd change my name too,) was one of the most prominent openly lesbian artistes in Paris in the twenties. Her Autoportraits depict her as blokes, girls and bi-cranial baldies.

Big Daddy surrealist Andre Breton was apparently so put off by her that he would hide or run away when he saw her. Could be the extra head. When she became old she photographed herself in 'child of nature-ish' poses lying in beds of plant-things. I believe she was preparing herself for her return back to the soil from whence she came as all old people do when they realise they are old. If there's a better reason why they garden so much, I'd like to hear it.

CINDY SHERMAN

Cindy Sherman's photographic opus, the Untitleds all feature Sherman in a series of guises; everything from fifties nymphettes, to old masters to grotesque spooky nightmare creatures from beyond. She progressively used more and more prostheses until one day in mid '94 they formed a union, went too far, became corrupt and took over the pictures. Things were never quite the same after that. Cindy was banish-ed from set while the prostheses made prosthetic porn. You think I'm making this up dont you? Go look for yourself.

JEFF KOONS

And so, like Mr Burns, I momentarily regret ending the tour with the basement: Jeff Koons. The more I think about this despicable character and his airbrushed buttocks the more I realise that I have very little left to say about him. To say he is very much at home with pigs is an insult to the fine animals who selflessly sacrifice thier lives to bring us bacon and other such meat products. Yes, the bottom left-hand picture is what you think it is. Still, after the cover, who among you can honestly say they are shocked?

MICHELANGELO CARAVAGGIO

Caravaggio was a troubled soul. Best known for his violent and tragic tortured-artist style existence, he would continually paint himself as protagonist, usually as a victim of violent demise. An early self-portrait as a child Bacchus is an all too innocent rendering of one who was heavily into ciagrettes, whiskey and wild, wild women, making it a weeny bit disconcerting. Not quite as disconcerting as the one of himself as a severed head, that one's a corker.

VINCENT VAN GOGH

Van Gogh painted for only eight years, during which he was scorned by almost everybody which drove him into a twisted torrent of madness and made him think that drinking his paint was the answer to it all. He drank absinthe too, which didn't help the ol' sanity. He painted numerous self-portraits over his eight year stretch as a painter. One of which, featured here, depicts his bandaged ear, which seems to be all he is remembered for these days. He really was quite mad.

Credits for this Edition

Editors: Gawain Davies and Henry F.Skerritt Advertising: Ben Hammond Arts Editor: Gababrielle Holly Film Editor: Simone Mossenson Music Editor: 'Fancy' Dave Bower Eardrum Bleeder: Marty Blum Women's Editor: Emma Wynne Sub-Editors: Alison Jensen, Gretta Luow, Nick Tapper, Kirstyn Lee and Alistair Duncan of which none are to blaime Web Master: James Devenish Design: Kirstyn Lee, Dave Bower, Marty Blum, Simone Mossenson, Gabrielle Holly, Carly Smith, Emma Wynne, Cliodhna Quigley, Nick Tapper, Edward J. Grug III, Gawain Davies and Henry F. Skerritt Artwork: Catherine Traicos, Edward J. Grug III, Lucas, Annemarie Blades, Victor Wycocomo, Peter Blake, Tom Cleave and Jimmy. Photography: Gabrielle Holly (who had the "privilege" of taking the editors' naked photos. We are assured she will make a full recovery), Gawain Davies and Nicola McDougall Thankyou: to Lee Hislop, Caroline Moss, Tim Huggins, Arnold Lee, Jennifer Moore, Christine Goh, Nick Stevenson, Anna, Adam Booth, Kate Rundas, Catherine Green, Nelson Loh, Renata, Ullrike Schumacher, Paul Kilmurray and Lana Whittleton for their various contributions in all forms to this edition. There are other people we should thank such as anyone who has had anything to do with PELICAN this year including you, the reader. Maximum respect to our main man, Noel Holly, for his wonderful cover photos throughout the year. Thanks y'all for putting up with us.