Amelia Douglas
Recipient of the 2009 Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD, University of Melbourne
Pierre Huyghe and the Association of Freed Time
What is at stake in the making and recording of history, and what does it mean for a contemporary artist to work as an historiographer? The contemporary French artist Pierre Huyghe is well-known for his multi-faceted works that operate in the gaps between history and story. In this lecture, Huyghe’s practice is shown to facilitate a new model of contemporary history. History as a discursive concept is pliable; its meaning shifts depending on contexts. In presenting an historiographic reading of Huyghe’s practice, this lecture reflects upon how the coalescence of story and history may be a key factor in pulling together the diverse strands of Australian and international art histories.
Pierre Huyghe is one of the most significant artists of the 21st century. His work – encompassing film, architecture, situations, installations and events – has been shown at the TATE Modern, Centre Pompidou, the Guggenheim Museum, the Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and recently at the Biennale of Sydney (2008), where Huyghe transformed the Opera House into a tropical rainforest. This lecture focuses on a few of Huyghe’s major works, including A Journey That Wasn’t (2005) and Streamside Day Follies (2003) and will include clips from several of Huyghe’s works not previously exhibited in Australia, courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York and Paris.
6.00 pm Tuesday 17 November (drinks from 5.30)
Prince Philip Theatre, Architecture Building, University of Melbourne
All Welcome
For a map of Parkville Campus see http://www.pb.unimelb.edu.au/CampusMaps/Parkville.pdf building number 133, grid reference F18 or click here.