SEAN LOWRY | Performance Stripped To The Bone
- Zana Kobayashi
- Sep 7, 2015
- 2 min read
ART TALK WITH SEAN LOWRY - A SURFER OF THE MIND
Dr Sean Lowry speaks with a witty intelligence that is easily identified in the conceptually driven practice of the prolific Sydney-based visual artist, musician and academic. Currently the Convener of Creative and Performing Arts in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Newcastle, Lowry is internationally recognised for his research & creative work in contemporary art. This month Lowry is set to facilitate an in depth exploration into the relationship between performance art & philosophy during a two-day performance and symposium event at The Lock-Up Art & Cultural Centre.
Having taught at the University of Newcastle for the past eight years, Lowry has been a keen witness of the cultural revolution that has been evolving throughout the city’s cultural spheres. Lowry believes much of the shift in Newcastle’s contemporary arts culture has come from the practitioners & artists developing the ideas which then have prompted local institutions to rethink the ways art can be experienced.
‘There are so many local practitioners & artists who are pushing against the typical white wall tradition’ says Lowry.
Lowry describes Newcastle as a rich playground for artists, citing our predilection for site-specific work & DIY art as part of our defining cultural features. Unlike other post-industrial cities Lowry says Newcastle has been able to find a new way of understanding itself from its culture expression.
When it comes to the local art scene Sean says that Novacastrian artists seem to have a defiant sense of ‘f**k you’ about them, a sentiment which can be seen reflected in his own work. The Ghosts of Nothing, a collaborative project between Lowry and Newcastle PHD student lmar Taimre, aimed to push the furthest conceptual boundaries of what a band could be. The project involved the world tour of a band that did not exist consisting of street performances from mimes outside of abandoned buildings.
Dr Lowry is also the Founder and Executive Director of Project Anywhere, a global peer reviewed exhibition model and research platform.
‘It rejects the idea of the curator as a cultural gatekeeper. We are trying to develop a more democratic model that shows art can be anywhere’
The forthcoming symposium NEXT TO NOTHING: ART AS PERFORMANCE is yet another mode intended to push our current understandings of arts practice. Lowry will bring artists from a variety of disciplines together to explore the bare bones of performance with the hopes of developing a dialogue between practicing artists across the fine arts, music and performing arts.
‘There is a lot of value in finding a space where practitioners from different backgrounds can listen to one another. It can be limiting …language’
Lowry believes that philosophy will be the glue to create the much needed inter-disciplinarily cohesion. And with the likes of philosophy heavyweights such as Jenny McMahon & Steve Dutton joining the conversation the weekend is set to be a mind-bending experience!
‘NEXT TO NOTHING: ART AS PERFORMANCE | A MEETING OF ART AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE AGE OF POST-DEMATERIALISATION’ will be hosted by THE LOCK-UP ART & CULTURAL CENTRE on the 26-27 SEPT.
For more on Sean Lowry visit-
Images provided by the artist
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