Throw Shapes :: Sydney » Lucia Fischer

Lucia Fischer :: Analogue Travelling

amelia — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:03:06 +0000

Lucia Fischer’s photographs are just so beautiful they make me want to weep in to my burrito. I’m shit with a holga and can’t seem to really get it happening for me at all, but Lucia’s photographs are a perfect example of how to make analogue cameras really work for you. They’re traditional, black and white, and seem to capture an empty and nostalgic landscape, only slightly interrupted by some birds or a pretty girl every now and then. That said, they’re not twee – I’d buy one and put it right on this here wall. Her latest series of works are from travels through Europe, armed with her camera and her perfect photographer’s point of view. I spoke to her about photography generally, travel photography, she drops a Roland Barthes reference, we talk about her work and do all that art interview stuff.

+ Do you use digital cameras at all? Or just analogue?

> I love analogue. I’ve got a collection of about 20 old cameras and love experimenting with different films and techniques. I do have a digital SLR but I use it only to document my work, like exhibition opening night photos and archive shots of my paper and collage works.

+ Paper and collage, eh? So you turn your hand to other arts?

> I love working in a lot of art mediums and was a bit of a ‘jack of all trades and master of none’ before I began to focus my main efforts on photography. I still paint, draw, sew and work on collage pieces. I think for my next exhibition I would like to create some mixed media pieces.

+ I prefer to shoot on analogue because, for me, it makes the image more meaningful and it also makes me take more care when I choose to take a photo. How about you?

> I definitely agree that analogue is a different way of shooting. The instantaneous element of digital photography doesn’t allow ideas to develop in the same way as analogue. I also believe that there are a lot of creative analogue effects that can’t be created as effectively in digital.

+ Do you prefer black and white or colour photography, and why?

> This is a tough question. I go through phases in both. I think they are both equally valued but have different effects that express concepts differently and are therefore relevant to different projects.

+ What makes a good photograph?

> Good lighting and composition, interesting textures and a good tonal or colour range. I think a good photograph also needs to have a Punctum (a focal point of interest) that sets it apart from the millions of other photographs in our image-saturated world. A good image stands out from the crowd.

+ What makes a good photographer?

> Persistence! You need to take a lot of bad photos to work towards the good ones.

+ Whose work do you admire and who influences you?

> I spend a lot of time looking at other artist’s work and visiting exhibitions to gather inspiration for my own art making. I love a lot of classical stuff but also strongly believe in supporting local emerging artists. Some of my idols are Francesca Woodman, Friederike von Rauch, The Bechers and Diane Arbus.

+ Do you think you travel differently with a camera than without one? I find that when I travel with a camera I am a different kind of traveller…

> I travel much slower when I have my camera with me, spending time scanning scenes for photo opportunities and interesting features which I guess makes for a more contemplative experience. I kind of get lost in my own world. Some of my best holidays have been those travelling with just my camera and me.

Lucia Fischer is exhibiting her latest series of photographs at Ambush Gallery in Waterloo, opening Friday the 9th of April at 6pm.

Your Face :: Our Party

amelia and steph — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:45:30 +0000

We were basically 85% sure that no-one was going to come to our party. We figured that everyone had said yes just to be polite but were actually going to go do more important things, like knit a tiny jumper for the tiny cat they knitted for their real cat. So when we got numbers the next day of the ridiculously large amount of people who came, we were pretty surprised. And hugely delighted.

Everyone who came was supportive, attractive, witty, polite and dancefloor-friendly. At one stage we even saw a baby there and what she lacked in dancefloor-friendliness she totally made up for in being A REAL BABY.

And the art! Watch This Space had put together a huge group of talent, and a ridiculously high-tech sensory system. While it’s possible that the two didn’t work together exactly the way they were supposed to, we got treated to the best of both worlds in two different rooms. Win! The team also delighted Amelia right off the bat with conversation about how to turn a projector on (“Sweet talk it? Stroke it gently?”) Double win! The awesome interactive projection performance by Luke Tipene kept way more people upstairs for way longer than we anticipated, credit for which also goes to the fantastic DJ skillz of Greedy Hen and We Buy Your Kids. They kept everyone happily distracted while one of our projectors kind of exploded, and didn’t play a small amount of Paul Simon in the meantime.

And then came the bands. Steph’s totally amazing at booking bands. (Steph wrote that.) We were actually a little bit dorky and overwhelmed by Danimals, standing at the front and doing that look-around-at-everyone-like-”Woah-Are-These-Guys-For-Realz” kind of thing. Then we found out it was one of their first ever shows as a full band, and we almost started a label.

Megastick Fanfare were next. These guys are basically a consistent wow, but are actually somehow getting better and better every time we see them. So they’re playing tonight again, after midnight at a late night party called “Witching Hour” at OAF. We’ll be the ones right up the front with the happy dancey shoes on.

And unfortunately for him, Spod knows how to make a party that we don’t ever want to end. We secretly dragged the stage manager into a locked vault while Spod played, which (whoops!) trapped him in front of the decks for way longer than we agreed on. We wanted to keep dancing, and we’re sorry. (Not really sorry. It was worth it.)

Thanks so SO much to everyone who came, played, arted and danced. Thanks so much to the Wall and to the World Bar too. We love all of you. And your baby as well.

Ears Vs Eyes :: And You’re Invited Too

steph — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:41:14 +0000

We’re having a party this Wednesday night to launch this here blog. It’s another Ears Vs Eyes shindig – the first was a fundraiser art auction last year, where we nabbed $3000+ for Heaps Decent by selling art from people like EAMO, Beastman, We Buy Your Kids, Greedy Hen, and Simon Degroot. This one is a digital techy audiovisual extravaganza, because blogs are for nerds. That’s right, we’re calling you names already.

Anyway, the party is being held at our BFF’s house. Our BFF is The Wall, every Wednesday at the World Bar. For all you arty farty party types, the Wall let you exhibit your work for free in a delightful room upstairs, while a party happens around you and below you. They don’t take commission, they help you promote it, and goddamn do they know how to party.

But this Wednesday it’s all about us, because It’s Our Birthday – and you’re invited too.

For the EARS: Electronichaotic party band MEGASTICK FANFARE are headlining the night with the beeps and beats of super-hyped superman D’ANIMALS and his live band in support, and SPOD on the decks bringing us home. In a tag-team DJ battle fandango artist duos WE BUY YOUR KIDS Vs GREEDY HEN will show their ears work as well as their eyes, plus SLEATER BROCKMAN, the Gold Coasts’ walking house party THE SURECUT KIDS and all the Wall’s favourite regulars doing their party thing until the wee hours of the morn’.

For the EYES: Arts innovators WATCH THIS SPACE present INFORMAL DIALOGUE’s latest project “Pulse.” Supported by anarchi.org, Pulse will perform the atmosphere of the venue in an automated real-time digital projection. Works by local emerging artists like TONY CURRAN, SONYA GEE, MATT HUYNH, STEPHENIE KANHUKAMWE, LUCIA FISCHER, REBECCA MURPHY, LUKE TIPENE, MEL BLIGH, JAMES BROWN and more to be announced will reflect and re-shape the social landscape of the venue by communicating back to the audience atmospheric factors detected on the night by heat, humidity, noise and beat sensors.

And on top of all that, there’s no cover charge – although we will be jumping on the bandwagon and raising some funds for FBi radio – please bring along a gold coin to throw in a bucket.

Ears Vs Eyes. Who will win… Who will win……. (No one will win, it’s not actually a real battle. Settle down, you guys. Seriously. Settle down.)