Artist Bjoern Rainer-Adamson has been announced as the 2019 winner of the prestigious John Stringer Prize. His two epic kinetic works, Cluster and Protozoon, now hang at the John Curtin Gallery alongside new mixed media artworks by five of his fellow contemporary Western Australian artists and nominees.
Through the methodical deconstruction of machines and analogue technologies, winner Bjoern Rainer-Adamson assembles kinetic sculptures built to take on a life of their own. The application of tools to make every day work more efficient has always been fundamental to human development.
Rainer-Adamson’s Cluster is a device that processes typewritten information by modifying sequences and reinterprets it through old audio records into unpredictable sound compositions. This chaotic collection of noises reflects the helplessness one might feel when confronted with the incomprehensible reasoning of artificial intelligence. How do we navigate a non-human set of signifiers?
Rainer-Adamson’s Protozoon can be considered the first of a proposed new race from this advanced machine age. The sculpture levitates, intruding the gallery like a spaceship. It is a composition of various mechanical algorithms, moving in random motions, creating its ‘independent’ audiovisual performance.
The other five nominees, Ngamaru Bidu, Rebecca Dagnall, Elham Eshraghian, Kendal Gear and Holly O’Meehan will show their work alongside Bjoern’s winning pieces as part of an exhibition that is now open to the public.
The artists were selected by invitation early in 2019 by an independent selection panel of industry professionals consisting of Sandra Murray, Independent Art Curator; Lia McKnight, Visual Artist and Collection Manager at Curtin University; and Sarah Yukich, Collection Administrator at the Kerry Stokes Collection.
Throughout the year, The Collectors Club members engaged with the nominated artists in a series of artist talks and studio visits. In the days leading up to the Award Night, a secret ballot was conducted,with each member allocated one vote to the artist they feel to be most deserving of Prize – an innovative model designed to enable art collectors’ intimate insights into important contemporary, local practices.
In 2019, John Curtin Gallery has continued its partnership with the John Stringer Prize, enabling members of the public the opportunity to view and enjoy the high-quality survey of Western Australian art practice. The exhibition will be on show at John Curtin Gallery until Sunday 8 December.
Ends……………….
A free artist talk will be held at the John Curtin Gallery as part of the public program:
Wednesday 6 November 2019
Join 2019 John Stringer Prize finalists Rebecca Dagnall, Elham Eshraghian and Holly O’Meehan in conversation with Sarah Yukich, Collection Administrator at The Kerry Stokes Collection and 2019 John Stringer Prize selection panel member.
JOHN CURTIN GALLERY
Building 200A, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia
Gallery opening hours:
Mon-Fri: 11 – 5pm
Sun: 12 – 4pm
