Pat Brassington

 

Ventriloquism is a short cautionary tale I penned in 2001. For 52 ACTIONS I have punctuated the text with appropriate or otherwise images from my repertoire.

Artist bio

Working predominantly in photomedia, Pat Brassington is recognised as one of Australia’s most highly respected and pre-eminent artists. Over nearly four decades she has developed a singular practice that draws on ideas from psychoanalysis, feminism and surrealism, consistently producing visually and psychologically intriguing work.

Brassington was awarded the Australia Council Award for Visual Arts in 2018 and in 2017 was the recipient of the inaugural Don Macfarlane Award for her contribution to the visual arts. In 2016 she was awarded the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize and in 2013 the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize. Solo exhibitions include Pat Brassington: The Body Electric, AGNSW (2016); Pat Brassington: A Rebours, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2012) and touring Australia and New Zealand; Pat Brassington, 10 Cubed Gallery, Melbourne (2012); In Search of the Marvelous, CAST Gallery, Hobart (2012); Pat Brassington, Lönnstrom Art Museum, Rauma, Finland (2008); and Pat Brassington: Works in Progress, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne (2002). Her work has been presented extensively in national and international group exhibitions and is held in all major national, state and university collections throughout Australia. Brassington is represented by Arc One Gallery, Melbourne and Bett Gallery, Hobart.

10.05.2021

Just now I’m thinking about ventriloquists; those who practice the art of delivering sounds in such a manner that they appear to be uttered by another person or object.

Playing at animating objects appeals to me. To give an old battered doll a voice implies imagining just what those perished lips might say. It’s a small voice so listen intently … ‘Life’s a shit.’


11.05.2021

Artworks can be stages for a play in which china chats and Barbie dolls and kids in prams, Mars Bars, Melting Moments and once-worn shoes converse with your words. Artists are ventriloquists; as the shiny red pedal car and the smooth-skinned sex vibrator chorus, ‘get it all happening’.


12.05.2021

The ventriloquist imagining what comes out of the mouths of babes and giving mouths to the disadvantaged in-animates; what the world needs now is more ventriloquists. Hold it. Ventriloquists in their thousands are indeed on the march. Department stores have shelves and racks full of examples. They are jamming the airwaves, clotting our dreams. Giving out ticks to elite sports. They are beguiling you with their superficial smiles as wide as watermelon slices, and, they all seek to speak to you.


13.05.2021

And every two bit politician starts with “What the Australian people are telling us is …” or “what the population undoubtedly wants is …” or “This is, or is not, the Australian way …” These true knights of the realm are ventriloquists par excellence, all speaking out of my mouth as if I was some battered doll without a voice of my own.


14.05.2021

When I come to think about it, to answer the question “what the world needs now” requires a major act of ventriloquism. My voice just won’t carry.


16.05.2021

Weighting is an animated flipbook presentation comprising a small selection of works from 1984–2020 that illuminate in varying degrees the sentiments penned in the accompanying text.



Past Actions

07 Jun - 13 Jun 2021

Unbound Collective

31 May - 06 Jun 2021

OLC Art Collective

24 May - 30 May 2021

Naomi Hobson

17 May - 23 May 2021

Adrft Lab

10 May - 16 May 2021

Pat Brassington

03 May - 09 May 2021

Eddie Abd

26 Apr - 02 May 2021

Loren Kronemyer

19 Apr - 25 Apr 2021

Guo Jian

12 Apr - 18 Apr 2021

Kenny Pittock

05 Apr - 11 Apr 2021

Jannawi Dance Clan

29 Mar - 04 Apr 2021

Gillian Kayrooz

22 Mar - 28 Mar 2021

Nathan Beard

15 Mar - 21 Mar 2021

Pilar Mata Dupont

08 Mar - 14 Mar 2021

Michael Cook

01 Mar - 07 Mar 2021

Seini F Taumoepeau

22 Feb - 28 Feb 2021

Dani Marti

15 Feb - 21 Feb 2021

Lill Colgan & Sab D'Souza

08 Feb - 14 Feb 2021

Chris Yee

01 Feb - 07 Feb 2021

Rochelle Haley

25 Jan - 31 Jan 2021

Karrabing Film Collective

18 Jan - 24 Jan 2021

Nici Cumpston

11 Jan - 17 Jan 2021

Johnathon World Peace Bush

07 Dec - 13 Dec 2020

Aphids

30 Nov - 06 Dec 2020

Raquel Ormella

23 Nov - 29 Nov 2020

Léuli Eshrāghi

16 Nov - 22 Nov 2020

Rolande Souliere

09 Nov - 15 Nov 2020

TV Moore

02 Nov - 08 Nov 2020

Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu

26 Oct - 01 Nov 2020

Ivey Wawn

19 Oct - 25 Oct 2020

Naomi Blacklock

12 Oct - 18 Oct 2020

Sancintya Mohini Simpson

05 Oct - 11 Oct 2020

Yhonnie Scarce

28 Sep - 04 Oct 2020

Ruha Fifita

21 Sep - 27 Sep 2020

Kaylene Whiskey

14 Sep - 20 Sep 2020

Adam Linder

07 Sep - 13 Sep 2020

Archie Barry

31 Aug - 06 Sep 2020

Min Wong

24 Aug - 30 Aug 2020

Hayley Millar-Baker

17 Aug - 23 Aug 2020

Erin Coates

10 Aug - 16 Aug 2020

Diego Bonetto

03 Aug - 09 Aug 2020

Tyza Hart

27 Jul - 02 Aug 2020

Larissa Hjorth

20 Jul - 26 Jul 2020

Louise Zhang

13 Jul - 19 Jul 2020

Henri Papin (Meijers & Walsh)

06 Jul - 12 Jul 2020

Stelarc

29 Jun - 05 Jul 2020

Rainbow Chan

22 Jun - 28 Jun 2020

Jason Phu

15 Jun - 21 Jun 2020

Abdul Abdullah

08 Jun - 14 Jun 2020

Patricia Piccinini

01 Jun - 07 Jun 2020

Brook Andrew

25 May - 31 May 2020

Radha

18 May - 24 May 2020

James Tylor