“Organisation for Cultural Exchange and Disagreement”
John Barbour, Derek Barnett, Sandra Bridie, Jane Finlay, Alex Gawronski, Ruark Lewis, Mark Soo, Nicole Kahms, Ryan Cockburn, Kathleen Ritter and Brett Jones
8 Oct → 23 Oct 2004

Organisation for Cultural Exchange and Disagreement (OCED) is an exchange project with exhibitions in Vancouver, Canada and Melbourne, Australia.

Curated by Brett Jones and Jonathan Middleton, Organisation is an ongoing series of projects that emerged from West Space’s active interest in working with artist-run organisations and artists in different parts of the world. The first Organisation project (OCEM) in 2003 involved Australian and Hong Kong artists in cross cultural dialogue.

This iteration features John Barbour (Adelaide), Derek Barnett (New York), Jane Finlay (Perth), Alex Gawronski (Sydney), Ruark Lewis (Sydney), Mark Soo (Vancouver), Nicole + Ryan (Vancouver), and Kathleen Ritter (London, Ontario).

Organisation for Cultural Exchange and Disagreement (OCED) is a two-part Australia-Canada exchange project. OCED features work by local and international artists looking at the current state of institutional critique, institutionalised dissent, and utopic disarray.

This project asks questions about the bureaucratic/administrative overlay on the development of creative ideas and their modes of formation common among artist-run initiatives, and corporate or institutional identities used by artists. These questions were framed through the ‘Disagreement’ as a device intended to implicate all of those involved.

John Barbour: Whatever – thinking about your project brings to mind Georges Bataille’s idea of the formless – as developed by Rosalind Krauss and Yves-Alain Bois – as being a systematic ‘operation’ aimed at undoing all forms of form – institutional, architectural, moral, philosophic. The never ending work of Whelan the Wrecker.

Alex Gawronski: Actually I have a BIG problem with email as a medium for extended or complex exchanges. I even have doubts about it is as a communicative tool probably because of its disembodiedness. I also find it, inherently bureaucratic and do not generally enjoy or feel inspired by spending long periods writing emails. All I see at this stage is a space filled perhaps with hundreds of emails.

Brett Jones: So why do artist-run organisations cling so tightly to the aspirations and ideology of the historical avant-garde? The easy answer is that we no longer have one. But perhaps we need to ask why are we so obsessed with the effects of institutionalisation, bureaucratisation and normalisation of art practice and artist-run organisations. We have so many references to historical precedents and have built such bases of specialised knowledge surrounding the activity of artist-run organisations, that ‘inevitably’ we, hey presto, now have our very own institution!

Jane Finlay: I find the term ‘cultural exchange’ to be one of the most problematic forms of language that artists and organisations have inherited or more pertinently appropriated to fit the confines of the various hegemonic structures that support art practice and related discourses. True, it is perhaps a necessary tool for cross-cultural engagement but could this also be attributed to a self-perceived homogenisation of art forms? This leads me to question how ‘cultural exchange’ is utilised, measured and ratified across cultures.

Jonathon Middleton: I had a thought recently about Monty Python’s ‘Argument Skit’ as a possible example of institutionalised critique (as opposed to institutional critique).

“Look if I argue with you I must take up a contrary position.”
“Yes, but that’s not just saying ‘No it isn’t’.”
“Yes it is.”
“No it isn’t.”

OCED is presented as part of the West Space Projects Program. This program provides support to ambitious projects negotiating innovative approaches to cultural debate, production, presentation, collaboration and exchange.

Coinciding with the West Space exhibition is the OCED publication, featuring essays and visual material by each of the artists and project co-ordinators, drawing together some of the issues discussed in the project, while contrasting the similarities and differences between artist-run activity in Australia and Canada. This publication is supported through Arts Victoria.