Looking ahead to a full 2014... Hoping to complete my Masters in Fine Art at Monash University's Art, Design and Architecture faculty in early 2014 (watch this space) and then part of an exciting touring exhibition throughout Asia (watch this space again). And then, back to the studio for realz to make some new work, the first of which to show at BLINDSIDE ARI mid-year. 2013 has been wonderful- highlights including shows at Screen Space (thanks Simone and Kyle for your support!), c3 (thanks Jon Butt), the Channels Festival of Video Art (long live Channels! Sah proud to be part of it... thanks Jessie and co), QView public projection at Albury City Council as well as the Ballarat Foto Biennale.... Now time to get the glad rags on to send in the new year (briefly), before getting back to the library and that darned thesis...

I was recently fortunate to present a paper at the recent Contesting Identities Symposium hosted by the Photography Studies College (PSC) at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. My paper, "Funny and Feminist: Playing the Comic Anti-hero", spoke of the potential for humour to liberate the viewer, and thus humour's use for revolutionary feminist thought. My paper looked at writings on humour by Sigmund Freud, Henri Bergson, Jo Anna Isaak, Simon Critchley, with a nod to those comic anti-hero's par excellence, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Jill Orr gave an expansive keynote, and Ann O'Hehir from the National Gallery of Australia gave a wonderful opening address on the work of artist Carol Jerrems. Of particular note was Jerrems fastidious archiving, a dream for curators and conservators alike (artists take note was the none too subtle hint!) My session included papers by Lucia Rossi and Clare Rae that collectively interrogated the rich field of female subjectivity.

http://ballaratfoto.org/symposium/