In Review Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire

Corille Fraser is a Canberra Repertory stalwart. Her next directing gig for Rep is Deathtrap by Ira Levin, playing at Theatre 3 this fortnight.

EX: What happens in the play? Who is involved in the action?

CF: I can't give too much of that away! The situation is that a writer of murder plays who has not had a real success in 18 years, is in the midst of a complete writer's block when a student's script arrives through the post. It is a brilliant thriller, 'highly commercial' and he is sorely tempted. The story of Deathtrap is what he does about it. There is a cast of five: the writer, his wife, the student, his solicitor and a strange neighbour.

EX:Deathtrap has been described as 'comedy/murder mystery/thriller'. How do you walk the line between these three quite different genres?

CF: [Ira] Levin has done most of that! My aim has been to keep the balance he has built in. I have read about some versions that have gone overboard on one or other aspect, trying to make it all comedy or all scream and gore.

EX: What are the challenges you face as a director of this blend of theatrical genres?

CF: Bringing all the bits together and stopping some of them getting out of hand. A major concern is to keep the cast members alive and injury-free. No production is ever a one-person job and this one has an unusual lot of unfamiliar challenges. So the first and most important thing I did was assemble the best possible team. Russell Brown and Hazel Taylor have acquired or manufactured some extraordinary props and were assisted graphically by Don Fraser. Anne Kay has designed a functional but imaginative set based on the idea of a deathtrap.

EX: What sort of design aesthetic have you used with this production?

CF: The idea of a trap, which is easy to get into but, once in, almost impossible to escape. Every effort to do so just draws you further in. The design must be functional, but should have an ambience of threat. Hence the idea of the Venus Flytrap which appear on the poster and flyer and which Anne has echoed in her set design.

EX: Have you enjoyed working with the cast?

CF: Hugely. They are a healthy mix of familiar Rep actors and some more often seen on other stages around town. Old hands Ian Croker and Helen Vaughan-Roberts are joined by James O'Connell, Kerrie Roberts and Pat Gallagher. They have all had to learn some new and quite unusual skills. So have I.

Canberra Repertory presents Ira Levin's Deathtrap, directed by Corille Fraser, at Theatre 3, Thursday July 23 to Saturday August 15 @ 8pm. Matinee performances 2pm Saturday 1, 8 and 15 August, twilight performances 2 and 9 August @ 4pm. Tix $35/$27. Call 6257 1950 for info and bookings.

"What is the role of the painting - is it just to hang on the wall?" asks Canberra painter Linzie Ellis. "[Then] it becomes an art-object rather than a painting,"

Ellis has recently graduated from the School of Art and, with fellow painter Shakira Longmore, sat down to talk to Exhibitionist about their show at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space in Manuka, Second In Line.

Ellis and Longmore have teamed up with fellow graduate painters Sarah Faline and Rose Allen to create Second In Line specifically for the Manuka gallery space.

"The actual themes of our work aren't collaborative," says Longmore, "but we do collaborate in terms of support and feedback. That support is really important."

Ellis and Longmore both explore painting through abstract "design... rather than representational" work, says Longmore, while Allen and Faline both paint from photographs in order to explore the images of popular culture. But the painters all share an interest in "different ways of applying paint," says Longmore.

The painters eagerly discuss the meaning of art over coffee at The Street Theatre.

"Who are you making your art for, and what do you want it to say?" asks Longmore.

"For me the viewer is very important," says Ellis. "I want other people to take something from it. I'm not just making it for myself."

 "You want that engagement, you want discussion," agrees Longmore. "To stimulate a response, to shock them."

The exhibition has allowed Ellis and Longmore to hone their skills and to work creatively for a common goal. These young women both possess amazing passion for their work, work which - in the absence of the eternally-yearned-for-yet-elusive studio space, or even simply "a quiet space where you can think about art", as Longmore puts it - they conduct in garages and living rooms. "That's the struggle at the moment," says Ellis.

And if the end product is then simply bought to be hung on a wall as mere decoration, then certain questions need to be asked.

"It comes down to: why do you do it?" says Ellis.

For Longmore, the process of creating a painting is the important part, trying to work "intuitively", developing new techniques of laying down the paint, while Ellis enjoys the sheer grit of "making something". Both painters relish the opportunity to create work for an established exhibition space like CCAS, which has "a community,"

"We've realised how important that is, that there is a place for emerging artists," says Ellis.

Longmore chimes in, echoing the dream of every emerging artist: "A place for art, and about art."

Second In Line opens at CCAS Manuka, Furneaux Street, on Thursday July 30 at 6pm, and runs til August 9. The gallery is open Wed - Sun, 11am til 5pm. Entry is free.

It seems that every week there is another film festival hitting Canberra, and while in the short film festival category Tropfest currently reigns supreme, there is a rival hunkering down in Canberra this fortnight - the St Kilda Film Festival. This year, the festival takes residence at the amazing Arc Cinema at the National Film and Sound Archive.

The festival whittled around 500 entries down to 100 finalists, including Tropfest Best Comedy winner Being Carl Williams, animated short Chicken of God from comedian Frank Woodley, and The List, written and directed by Joel Edgerton. The festival has now taken a selection of the films on the road around Australia, and one of the films to be shown in Canberra is Shockwaves from local boy Serge Ou.

Shockwaves centres on radio host Terry Adair, the host of talkback program Talk Town, who receives a phone call that will change the town forever. The film stars Aussie film stalwart Tony Barry (Australia, Doing Time for Patsy Cline) and local actor Dallas Bland.

I spoke with Serge about the film festival and why Canberrans should get out to support it. Serge is a fan of the format of the St Kilda Film Festival and believes that it is "right up there with the best film festivals of its type in the country." Serge pointed out that "Canberra is a sophisticated audience that understands film."

He's also a fan of short films in general because "in the same period of time that a feature film will run, audiences are able to enjoy a plethora of different opinions and view points from short film directors."

The most striking aspect of the films being shown is the high production values on display. The films look expensive. There are many famous Australian actors featured. The films offer a variety of view points and aim to make the audience think, laugh and maybe even pull a tear or two. The touring festival will also show winners from the SoundKILDA Music Video Competition - Australia's only dedicated competition for music videos.

The film festival also allows the audience to catch a glimpse of the makings of a star on the rise. As Serge explains, "short films allow film makers to present themselves to the public. To show who they are and what they want to say. It's normally short films and music video clips that are a starting point for feature film directors of the future."

So get out of the freezing Canberra cold and support some fine young Australian film makers.

The St Kilda Film Festival screens at ARC Cinema at the NFSA, McCoy Circuit Acton, on Thursday July 30  at 7pm and Saturday August 1 at 2pm. Tix $10/$8 at the door.

We are introduced to the concept of self-portraiture from the earliest age, beginning with scrawled efforts consisting of bubble-like bodies with stick arms and legs, proudly positioned alongside our bubble-stick-leg families. Further down the track who can forget slaving over drawings in high school art class, perched self-consciously in front of a mirror and sweating on details like individual freckles and your too-big nose?

For most of us, unless our parents frame these hideous sketches of us in our most awkward years, and force us to relive them every time we walk through the living room, we might not make a foray into self portraiture ever again. That is, unless there is a $10,000 sweetener!

Last year, the National Portrait Gallery coughed up that sweetener (with help from the Tallis Foundation and the Association of Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies), as the first place prize for the inaugural National Youth Self Portrait Prize (NYSPP).

The NPG has long been a supporter of young artists. Since 2000, it has hosted Headspace - an annual exhibition of self portraits from students in years 10, 11 and 12. The NYSPP is the next logical step, taking that support to a whole other level by offering not only the generous cash award but valuable exposure to big-name media and art world heavies.

In 2008, from the nation-wide pool of entrants, the NYSPP was deservingly awarded to  local Jessica Herrington, and succeeded in instantly catapulting her into artistic recognition. This year, the prize is up for grabs again; open to all two-dimensional and screen-based art forms and ready to launch another young up-and-comer into the limelight!

To assist with judging of the prize this year, the Portrait Gallery called upon former Canberran Stuart Bailey, who now calls Sydney home and is currently a lecturer at the Sydney College of the Arts. I caught up with Stuart as he was finishing up his day of judging at the NPG.

"We just decided on a winner. I won't say who though," he laughs. "We're going to wait and announce it when the exhibition is launched, and that's when the winner will find out they've won $10,000!"

Now that he is an esteemed judge of art prizes, I challenge Bailey to explain what he thinks defines a self portrait: "My definition would be pretty broad," he admits. "I can see elements of portraiture in many works that would be considered outside the genre. Really, any image that contains a representation of some personal aspect of the artist would be considered a portrait in my eyes."

And they're eyes that have been hard at work, given the difficult task of selecting a shortlist of works to be exhibited from this year's crop of entries. I'm desperate to know: what were the judges looking for?

'We were really won over by works that drew you into the artist's world. Works with a strong concept behind them are engaging, but ultimately it was the works that seamlessly combine imagery, process and concept into a moving experience that really stood out."

Bailey may have the talk, but he's also got the walk, being a widely exhibited practicing artist himself. As it so happens he even dabbles in self-portraiture: "Even though my practice is not based in portraiture I like to implicate myself in the issues my work attempts to engage with, so I guess that occasionally involves my likeness popping up in my work."

And in the work of other artists, do any self-portraits by well-known favourites come to mind? "Probably German artist Martin Kippenberger's painting of himself bruised and bandaged after an attempted robbery, or perhaps a big night out! Later in his tragically short life he created many unflattering images of himself as an out-of-shape man heading towards middle age."

The term 'youth' is bandied around a lot, but for the purposes of the NYSPP entrants had to be between the ages of 18 and 25. A narrow window, yes, but a time when many up-and-coming artists are beginning to hit their stride. Portraiture prizes seem to be dime a dozen, but I am curious to know: does the way young people approach self-portraiture differ from their more 'mature' counterparts?

"I think many young artists are focused on presenting an image of themselves as a whole being that may subconsciously map out the kind of life they are looking forward to,"' Bailey muses. "Older artists are more likely to engage with the unexpected twists and turns in life that tend to crop up when you've been around for a bit longer!"

There is a lot of money to be had in the art world, if you know where to look for it, with prizes for every medium and subject matter. The hard part for artists it seems is simply getting their arses into gear to submit an entry! Being that the NYSPP is taking place in our own backyard, I push Bailey to reveal how the local entries held up against the interstate competition.

"The contribution of young people from the ACT was very strong," he assures me. "Having said that it would be great to have more involved in the future."
So does he have any advice for young portraitists, who might want to give it a crack next year?
"Well, works that seem to give a real insight into an individual or an aspect of an individual, regardless of the medium, always engage viewers. You always need to give away something of yourself to create a compelling artwork."

So, if you missed out on entering the NYSPP this year, don't delay: start thinking now about an entry for next year's competition. Remember - you only have until you're 25!

The 2009 National Youth Self Portrait Prize launches on July 23 and continues at the National Portrait Gallery until September 13. Get down there to check out the best of what your contemporaries have to offer of themselves.