The Art Life

The Art Life is a blog about the art scene in Sydney, Australia and an ongoing television series shown on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Art Life Blog

Established in 2004 using the Blogger online service, The Art Life [http://www.artlife.blogspot.com] established itself as an independent voice of art criticism in the Australian art and media world.

Written anonymously, the Art Life's irreverent tone, humorous articles, polls and lively reader discussion provide many readers with an introduction to the often obscure Sydney art world, from commercial galleries to artist-run initiatives, art events, personalities and news.

The identities of The Art Life writers and editors has been the subject of speculation [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/18/1097951630879.html?from=storylhs] . In October, 2004, The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Andrew Hornery reported that arts-writer Andrew Frost and artist Simon Barney were widely believed to be responsible. Although both denied authorship of the blog, the subsequent appearance of Frost on television as the "face" of the blog seemed to put an end to that speculation.

More recently, some contributors to the blog have been named on posts and have included Bonny Dot Cassidy, Carrie Miller, Marcus Trimble, Margaret Mayhew, Ian Houston and Isobel Johnston.

The Art Life TV series

Although many bloggers around the world have been published off line in old media formats [such as in magazines and books] few have had their work translated into television programs. "The Art Life" [2007] was a TV series first broadcast in Australia by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in June, 2007. Produced by Frank Haines for Frank Haines Films, directed by Brendan Fletcher and written and presented by Andrew Frost, the series of three programs examined aspects of contemporary art in Australia.

Episode 1 "Out There" looked at the often troubled relationship artists have with suburban Australian life; episode 2 "Millions of Images" examined the ongoing influence of post modernism on Australian art, specifically through the way artists view and utilize photo-media such as photography and video art; and episode 3 "Always Busy Dying - The Life & Death of Painting" looked at the many 'deaths' of painting and why the idea of death actually creates the idea of a rebirth.

The Art Life TV series was made by the same production compnay as "Not Quite Art", a three part TV series written and presented by Marcus Westbury.

Art Life Specials

Following the success of the initial Art Life series, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation commissioned a two subsequent specials.

"A Year in The Art Life" was broadcast on November 13th, 2007 on the ABC that took a humorous and informative look at art news from the year December 2006 through to November 2007. The special was presented by Andrew Frost and directed by Brendan Fletcher.

"The Art Life At The Biennale of Sydney 2008", broadcast on ABC1 on July 22, 2008, was a 27 minute documentary about the bi-annual international art exhibition. The program featured interviews with international artists exhibiting in the Biennale of Sydney including among others Pierre Huyghe,George Bures Miller, Dora Garcia and the curator of the 2008 exhibition Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. Written and presented by Frost, the documentary was directed by Simon von Wolkenstein.

ee also

*List of blogs

External links

* [http://www.artlife.blogspot.com The Art Life blog]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/18/1097951630879.html?from=storylhs "Web Of Intrigue", Andrew Hornery, "Sydney Morning Herald", October 2004]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/badboy-blogger-now-auntys-favourite/2007/06/07/1181089238764.html 'Bad boy blogger now aunty's favourite", Clare Morgan, Sydney Morning Herald, June 8, 2007]
* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/from-blog-to-screen/2007/06/05/1180809522543.html "From blog to screen", Brad Newsome, "The Age", June 7, 2007]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv-reviews/the-art-life/2007/06/11/1181414197923.html "The Art Life", Robin Oliver, Sydney Morning Herald, June 12, 2007]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/wives-less-ordinary/2007/06/14/1181414441387.html "Wives Less Ordinary", Ruth Ritchie, June 16 2007, "Sydney Morning Herald"]