London’s Tate Modern, Musée National d’Art Moderne of Paris, New York’s MoMA and Byron’s Splendour in the Grass – can you spot the difference? Nup, neither can we.
Each year Splendour Arts creates an unpredictable, boundary bending and totally ‘gram-able contemporary art experience that leaves festival goers feeling enriched, inspired and sometimes perplexed.
Curated by internationally exhibited artist Craig Walsh, Splendour Arts 2016 will feature six major pieces across the event site. From intoxicating visuals and video art, mysterious communities and miraculous inflatable houses of worship to poop ice creams (yes you did read that) – from July 22 to 24 the green fields of North Byron Parklands will become the ultimate outdoor, contemporary art space.
“We’re really interested in introducing new art forms to the Splendour experience. Establishing a new outdoor space to present and profile significant video artists is the latest addition. What better way to launch this space, than presenting the work of Shaun Gladwell, one of Australia’s most significant contemporary video artists.” said Walsh.
Splendour in the Grass proudly presents Splendour Arts 2016!
ARCH TUNNEL RESPONSE
The Tunnel
Ash Keating
Arch Tunnel Response is a site-responsive painting by Melbourne artist Ash Keating, commissioned especially for the entrance tunnel to the Splendour in the Grass site. Keating used a palette of white, yellows, oranges and magenta to create long, continuous and gestural streams of colour.
RENDERED
Video Art Space
Shaun Gladwell
The Video Art Space is a new addition to the Splendour Arts program that will feature a different artist each year.
Known for his investigation into contemporary forms of human movement, spatial experience and transformation, Shaun Gladwell has explored these themes through video and photographic recordings, both of himself and other extreme sport athletes. He uses activities such as skateboarding, parkour, BMX bicycle riding, graffiti, urban exploring or “buildering”, as well as completely invented actions, as a means to rethink the function of objects and environments. Gladwell has been exhibited extensively throughout Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe since 2001. He will exhibit four video pieces at Splendour 2016…
Thursday – Pataphysical Man (2005)
Performer: Daniel Esteve Pomares | Videography: Gotaro Uematsu
Friday – Skateboarders VS Minimalism (2016)
Commissioned for the 40th Anniversary of the Sydney Festival, Skateboarders VS Minimalism illustrates Gladwell’s interest in juxtaposing popular sports culture with art history and museum culture. The video features skateboarders (including professional Rodney Mullen) riding on exact replicas of well known minimalist artworks. The soundtrack for this video features the music of Phillip Glass.
Saturday – Pacific Undertow Sequence (2010)
Videography: Josh Raymond | Sound: Kazumichi Grime
Sunday – Midnight Tracer (2011)
Performer: Ali Kadhim | Videography: Judd Overton, Evan Papageorgiou
UPPER DOWNS
The Barn
Bennet Miller
Splendour has seen the evolution of Barnraiser, Rumspringer and Anabaptister, and 2016 brings the 4th instalment of this unique community: Upper Downs.
In Upper Downs you can once again find yourself mingling amongst the mysterious community residing within the walls of The Barn. Some of the inhabitants will lose their way and abandon their values in favour of gambling and liquor. The struggle will be real when temptation is waved right in front of their eyes with this year’s instalment of an Amish casino including spinning wheels, a roulette table and a range of card games.
PROGRAM 2
Sam Songailo
This Melbourne based painter and installation artist approaches each artwork as an experiment. Using Splendour attendees as his ‘test subjects’ he releases them into his artwork and watches as their reactions unfold. Program 2 explores the limits of perception and the phenomenology of consciousness.
Keep your eyes peeled for Songailo’s creation that will be scattering smoke and throwing light in all directions.
UN INTELLIGENT DESIGN
Tent of Miracles
Andy Forbes
The Tent of Miracles guarantees to have the audience in stitches with their infamous Splendour wedding show. Grab your three-night stand and pre-book a festival wedding so that the love lasts forever.
Forbes’s iconic inflatable church, inspired by freaky side shows and circus art, will also be home to a potent mix of live theatre, dance comedy and rock n roll.
MR POOPIE
Cool Shit
Everybody poops and everybody likes ice cream. Coincidence? Mr Poopie thinks not. The infamous poop emoji is the inspiration for Mr Poopie, who attempts to explore this uncanny relationship in a delicious and disgusting manner.
Jump in and marvel at the indulgent and delicious substance excreting from the ice cream dispensers. Dine-in or take-away, either way you wont forget Mr Poopie!
And for those who like to get trigger happy with the hot glue gun, Splendour in the Craft is back, and we’re packin’!
Splendour in the Craft 2016
After another bedazzling year in 2015, Splendour in the Craft is back with more scissors, paper and rock-n-roll crafting than ever before!
Expect a pom-tastic array of workshops from some of Australia’s premiere craft masters – we’re looking at you Beci Orpin, Meet Make Create, Each to Own,Apomogy, The Craft Parlour, Art Park and Craft Mafia!
Roll up to Splendour in the Craft across the weekend and you can get down and dirty with a bunch of awesome workshops including…
Paper Chandeliers with Beci Orpin
Charms for the Charming Bracelets by Each To Own
Lantern Making with Amac
Smash those Bad Dreams: Dream Catchers with Regular Wildcat & Meet Make Create
Apomogy with Rachel Burke
Fake It ‘Til You Make It (yourself) with Fancy Free (Rachel Burke and Patience Hodgson)
Totes, Totes with Art Park
and much more…
The craft Jedi’s from SPOTLIGHT are back and their awesome staff will be using their sewing machine powers for good on the Mend It Like Beckham stall where festival goers can get their mending done for free! (in case your felt fedora blows out!).
Punters can also pom pom the day away in our outdoor garden or pick up a red skin cookie and coffee from our very own café, SouthSide Tea Room, which is run by Aussie indie band The Grates.
Sew much goodness and all the workshops are free! First in, best dressed!
Learn more at splendourinthegrass.com
