Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

2010 Bundanon Residency

Into the [B]Void: A residency experience at Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon

by Daniel Kojta

Daniel Kojta, Stand up for your self, HD Digital still, 2010.

The initial surprise at my selection to participate in the Bundanon Residency at Arthur Boyd’s Artists retreat filled my mind with the incredible opportunities this would provide.

As an artist with a disability it is a challenge to acquire residency positions within significant locations without interrogating access issues to ensure full use of the facilities and opportunities. In this case Bundanon had successfully addressed my own personal version of requirements due to my physical limitations. This afforded me the privilege of applying my artistic intentions to the conceptual explorations I wished to pursue without the hindrance of physical acrobatics. In short I was able to use this opportunity for its intended purpose: to research my artistic practice and produce a series of works based on the submitted proposal.

The benefit of working within the hallowed grounds of Bundanon, surrounded by the creative expressions left by the forebears of Australian art history, presented both an honor to walk within the subjects of so many of their works, and a pressure to produce creations to a standard far exceeding my own.

I arrived with several series in mind to pursue through research and experiments in various mediums, predominantly new media in the form of projection onto natural elements such as granite boulders in natural settings, which Bundanon offered in plenty. I had secured a month long residency, so I intended to pace myself in several stages of research and production. All were planned with some degree of discipline (a term used lightly).

My initial surprise at the lack of stairs, tight doorways, inaccessible bathrooms and pathways (usually to the most attractive location), allowed me to focus on preparing my equipment for four weeks of intense production and research into my scheduled project of Yowie hunting and expeditions into the Boyd presence. This disciplined plan lasted around five minutes following the seduction of the property’s beauty and entrancing views.

The guilt of not engulfing myself in the planned workload took around a week, submitting to the many pathways leading me through glorious morning mist, afternoon golden hour, and naturally formed lounge chairs of sand by the beautiful Shoalhaven river. These journeys introduced me to the marsupial locals and feathered  lecturers that punctuated my imagination with introductions to the Bunyips and Yowies who made cameo entries into my video installation plans. This first week was a severing from contemporary life’s pressures and surrender to creativity and fate.

Daniel Kojta, Art Collector Trap – Type V, HD Digital Still, 2010.

Through the following weeks I welcomed the spontaneity of inspiration and it’s bearing of creative gifts in the form of new and fresh concepts. These works were both new directions and extensions of previous interventions. One of the most significant differences of this residency experience was the social atmosphere. Enhancing the incredible staff experience and geographical location was the architectural and ergonomic success of the studio accommodation. The layout of the studios encouraged a social interaction of the participating artists. This encouraged a unique atmosphere of friendly interchange and collaboration rare in residency situations. A constant interchange of creative exploration enhanced the artistic process that all benefited from, creating friendships that will last far beyond the residency experience.

As an artist with a disability, it was refreshing to be working within a community where physical position was without relevance. This environment focused on the creative development of each artist, benefiting from the remote location separated from the concerns of contemporary existence and the shared intention of each participant to immerse themselves in the creative endeavors proposed.

In conclusion the experience of Bundanon has provided me with several unique opportunities including a solo exhibition at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, many significant promotional opportunities including an article in the NSW Gallery Magazine, and opportunities to continue collaborative practice and friendship with some of Australia’s most innovative practitioners.

As a residency opportunity I cannot praise this organization and venue enough. With a staff that invites you in as a member of the family, you find yourself becoming one of the subjects within the many Boyd landscape paintings of Bundanon. The border control between reality and fantasy present no boundaries and through the course of the residency it becomes difficult to define the two.

I am indebted to all concerned who nurture this residency program making it possible for creative practitioners, researchers, and artists with or without a disability to participate within the residency, including and highlighting the exemplary staff of Bundanon and Accessible Arts NSW. There are still many issues confronting the disabled community. However, it is important to understand that these issues affect all, not just those with a disability. The focus of access should be the primary element within the planning stages of all developments, removing the divide that currently exists between accessible and inaccessible ventures to the entire community. Dividing Black and White as in ‘white at the back of the bus and black at the front’ has long been an embarrassing stain on the annals of history. Dividing the disabled from abled is a reflection of this archaic travesty and it is ventures such as Bundanon which highlight the question of why it was needed in the first place when so much can be gained from this common sense practice.

Daniel Kojta & Wade Marynowsky, Void Explorer – Journey to Boyd, HD Digital Still
Series, 2010.

During the residency I gained many experiences that will stay with me for life. Unexpected adventures with cows, wombats and kangaroos during creative expeditions to the river on my quad bike, which happened to run out of fuel due to a leaking hose leaving me contemplating the conceptual possibilities of my predicament around a kilometer from the residency, summoning the effort to either direct my energy to movement (I had left my wheelchair back at the residency) or voice (screaming cooee) then deciding on both in shifts. It began to rain. I climbed off the quad bike and crawled backwards through the remains of wombat, cow, and kangaroo left overs, stopping every forty paces (dragging my legs in a seated position) and speaking to the cows who by now were familiar with the rhythm of my pace and dialect. I pushed the forty paces and paused again and again, and it rained, and again, and each time I stopped for the forty second break – the cows would stop with me, looking at me as if to say ‘What are you doing fool – get up and walk?’

Thankfully one of the artists, Wade Marynowsky, heard my cooee and came to my assistance somewhat perplexed at my predicament. This was just one of the many adventures that coloured my daily jaunts.

The environment that is Bundanon peeled away the veil of fear which surrounds contemporary expression as a language of pretentious freedom. Our discomfort with the joy that escapes the confines surrounding uninhibited expression is occasionally dismissed in moments of pure experience. This landscape, the history, and the people of Bundanon provided brief entries into this void. This was my experience of Bundanon and the physical evidence has manifest within the series of works that will continue to punctuate my installations and practice with immortality.

I extend many thanks to the staff of Bundanon, Accessible Arts and of course Arthur and Yvonne Boyd for the residency experience that will no doubt inform the artistic journeys to come. A special thanks to Oni, Tracey, Josie, and Gary for their particular patience and assistance.

Daniel Kojta 2010 Residency Recipient

Daniel Kojta, Metholated Spirit, 2007

Blue Mountains based new media artist, Daniel Kojta has been awarded the 2010 Accessible Arts Bundanon Residency. This is the second residency developed by Accessible Arts in partnership with the Bundanon Trust, to further opportunities for NSW artists with disability. Kojta will undertake the residency in April 2010.

In 2004, Kojta graduated with an Honours degree in Visual Arts from the University of Western Sydney, where he was awarded the university medal. Kojta’s current new media practice investigates the parameters of human form as well as bringing life and movement to unnatural elements of the everyday. Kojta’s work is concept led and his concerns are often explored through video, installation, sculpture and photography.

In 2008, Bathurst Regional Gallery invited Kojta to curate a New Media exhibition, which would showcase emerging and established artists working in this field. The exhibition titled Showing Off was presented as a new media arts survey and was held in 2009.

Kojta has since furthered his enquiry into new media by attending the Super Human Symposiumpresented by the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) in November 2009. This experience proved to be an important professional development opportunity for the artist.

Kojta spent four weeks at Bundanon’s Fern Studio in April 2010.

Further

• Read the full transcript Superhuman Probabilities by Daniel Kojta from the Super Human Symposium presented by ANAT Nov 2009.

• For more information about Daniel Kojta visit the artist’s website.