Calling upon innovative practices, get inspired by the winners from the past five years of the Aesthetica Art Prize. From bold techniques to new technologies, these practitioners push the boundary of concept and form.
David Birkin鈥檚 work reflects on the way war is depicted. At its core is a concern for censorship and the edges of visibility, often focusing on omissions and redactions. Profiles addresses the relationship between spectacle and loss, specifically, the representation of civilian casualties from the Iraq War and the paucity of such images.
2017:听
Everyday electronic objects of commercial technology and communications assume new roles in the installations of Adam Basanta, taking on sculptural forms. In聽Curtain (white)聽the ubiquitous white earbud headphone鈥檚 connotations of a retreat from the outside into a private 鈥榖ubble鈥 are expanded upon, as a three metre-long array of them generate white noise patterns.
This Much I鈥檓 Worth聽is a self-evaluating artwork that continually displays its own sale value. The work sources its value from the internet, assisted by complex data mining algorithms called 鈥渢he endorsers.鈥 It seeks to question the values we place on objects and people, and who has the right to apportion these values.
Keane鈥檚 paintings draw on images from the great Stalinist terror of the 1930s. They are sourced from mug shots of arrested victims (some well-known, some anonymous) at a time when no-one, from the top of the Bolshevik hierarchy to the humblest worker, was safe from accusation of sabotage, betrayal or political deviation.
Aiming to investigate the relationship between humans and nature,聽Song for the Last Queen聽refers to the endangerment of bees. As a species that plays a vital role in maintaining the earth鈥檚 ecosystem, Neumeyer addresses the phenomena found in science, culture and the natural world.
Entries for the Aesthetica Art Prize are currently open.聽Categories include: Photographic & Digital Art; Three-Dimensional Design & Sculpture; Painting, Drawing & Mixed Media; and Video Installation & Performance.聽There are two awards for entry: the聽Main Art Prize聽and the聽Emerging Art Prize.聽Prizes include 拢5,000, group exhibition聽and publication in an inspiring anthology.
Credits:
1. David Birkin,聽Profiles, 2018. 8 inch x 10 inch photographic transparencies on hospital X-ray light boxes.
2. Adam Basanta,聽Curtain (white), 2016. Sound installation. 240 pairs white earbuds, acrylic, electronics, 24 channel sound. 300cm x 20cm x 200cm.
3. Rachel Ara,聽This Much I鈥檓 Worth, 2014 鈥 2016. 60cm x 60cm x 23cm.
4. John Keane, Fear No. 25171541, 2013. Oil on linen, 200cm x 150cm. 漏 John Keane. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York
5.听Sybille Neumeyer,聽Song for the Last Queen.
