http://www.pilotlondon.org
http://www.looseprojects.net
Bronia Iwanczak , Heart fetish object, Arctic fox fur (summer), 2002
Locate information on any of the ‘large-scale international contemporary art surveys’ on the world wide web and you can generally begin with the accompanying extensive if not comprehensive ‘official’ website. Critical responses to such exhibitions in particular and as a general response to this ‘phenomena’ are located elsewhere.
At this initial point of research I thought it beneficial to cast the net wide and then draw it in. Pilotlondon and looseprojects emerged in this initial search for critical responses on the web. Neither site is specifically devoted to the research topic; in fact content relating to the topic amounts to a very small portion of each site. With both sites addressing broader critical investigations into a diverse spectrum of contemporary art practice.
Both sites are part of the extensive activities of two artist run initiatives, Pilotlondon, London, UK and looseprojects, Sydney Australia.
Pilotlondon in the UK is an annual event, begun in 2004 in response to the increasing difficulty of ‘unrepresented’ emerging artists, internationally, finding a public forum for their practice, Pilotlondon providing an opportunity and means of critical exposure and dialogue.
The annual Pilotlondon ‘event’ encompasses the exhibition of the work one hundred selected artists, public forums and talks, gallery tours, a comprehensive website which includes an artist archive consisting of images, bios and CV’s, audio archive of event forums, publication content and an extensive link listing.
It is in the publication section of this site that information relating to the research topic is found, in the 2006 archive in the form of the published text of the commissioned book; Pilot 2: The Book which compiled responses to questions among others: Why do you go to art fairs and biennales?; Is the growing diversity of models presenting large surveys of artists a good development for producing networks?
looseprojects is a newly emerged artist run initiative located in Sydney Australia. looseprojects’ activities incorporate an exhibition space, publications and other various platforms for critical debates on contemporary art.
The site includes a calendar of past events and exhibitions including images and archived audio. Information about the initiative clearly states that the ‘collective
of artists’ running looseprojects also comprise the main exhibitors in the space, it is interesting to note that whilst a number of the artists have their own websites listed in the ‘exhaustive’ links page of the site, the site does not explicitly detail information about the artists or their practices.
As with the Pilotlondon site information relating to the research topic is located as part of broader concerns and responses to contemporary art practice. However a critical and specific response to the current event-taking place in Sydney (2006 Biennale) is a prominent feature of the site.
As part of it publication activities looseprojects has produced the limited edition publication Cones of Zontact – a zine-styled anti-Biennale catalogue looking at the practices of Sydney artists.
The website also reproduces in its entirety the essay ‘Grasping the thistle’ by Lisa Kelly from the ‘official’ 2006 Biennale publication, ‘Zones of Contact – 2006 Biennale of Sydney: A critical reader. (Natasha Bullock and Reuben Keehan editors, Artspace visual Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia).
It is interesting to note at this stage of research that content relating to the research topic is drawn from sources other than the web ie from public forums text from public forums/discussion and ‘traditional’ areas of publication ie non electronic, and recontextualised as part of web content.
At this initial stage of research, critical response to the ‘large-scale international contemporary art surveys’ does not appear to be located on sites dedicated or primarily focused in this area, which is unexpected given the sheer number of these ‘exhibitions’ which form and influence so much of contemporary art practice.