Distinguished international scholar Professor Michael Fried will present the 2013 Mayne Centre Lecture on Tuesday 4 June at The University of Queensland (UQ).
In his lecture titled Thomas Demand’s Pacific Sun, Professor Fried will show contemporary artist Demand’s two minute long stop-motion film Pacific Sun (2011).
The film depicts the story of a cruise ship named Pacific Sun that was struck by seven powerful waves off the coast of New Zealand several years ago.
Professor Fried will analyse the film in detail, relating it to Demand’s labour-intensive way of making a photograph and suggest its broader significance for the visual arts at the present moment.
“Almost always writers don’t go far enough when discussing contemporary photography,” Professor Fried said.
“When talking about Thomas Demand for example, you’ll find essay after essay, article after article that will describe exactly what Demand does: he gets an image from the media, he re-makes it in cardboard and he then photographs it.
“But the question, for me is “why is that important?” Or “What is the further, deep significance of that?
“To put it really simply, what’s Demand’s project?”
The much-admired poet, art historian, art critic and literary critic, Professor Fried is, J.R. Herbert Boone Chair in the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US.
Professor Fried has written extensively about an array of subjects, from abstract painting and sculpture since World War II, to French painting from the mid-eighteenth century.
His prolific contribution to art historical discourse and criticism has included engagement with theoretical debates on the meaning of modernism and formalism. His seminal publications include Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before (2008).
UQ Director, Dr Campbell Gray said "the Mayne Centre Lecture is a highlight of the UQ Art Museum’s calendar”.
“This year UQ staff and students have the opportunity to hear from one of art’s premier critics and historians,” Dr Gray said.
“UQ is particularly grateful to Philip Bacon for his continuing support of this major annual lecture, and to our colleagues at the Power Institute at The University of Sydney, with whom we have partnered to bring Professor Fried to Australia for the first time.”
The Mayne Centre Lecture is a free public event and this year will be held in the Abel Smith Building (No.23), St Lucia campus.
Please RSVP by Friday 31 May to 07 3365 3046 artmuseum@uq.edu.au
Event Details What: UQ Art Museum’s Mayne Centre Lecture When: 6pm, Tuesday 4 June Where: Abel Smith Building (no.23) RSVP: by Friday 31 May at artmuseum@uq.edu.au or (07) 3365 3046
Media contact: Dr Campbell Gray, Director, UQ Art Museum, 07 3365 7952, 0408 387 473, campbell.gray@uq.edu.au Sebastian Moody (contact for images) Digital Communications Officer, UQ Art Museum, 07 3346 8761, 0419 789 006, s.moody@uq.edu.au
