[un]Bored | Concourse Gallery
In concert with the Visual Arts Department’s graduate conference, Boredom, [un]Bored offers an opportunity for students and Visual Arts community members to consider the myriad of issues boredom brings forth. Repetition, duration, monotony, and the mundane are some of the challenges [un]Bored asks the viewer (and artist) to tackle. Does the tedium of repetitive or temporally focused practices begin to take a mental and physical toll on the artist? Are today’s viewers bored if they are not actively entertained? Can artists become bored with their own work? In the hyper-mediated reality of present day, does the occasional lack of competition for our attention make us more likely to become bored? In reaction to increasingly rapid-paced lifestyles and consumption, this relational art project offers an opportunity to slow down and engage critically with what it means to be bored. [un]Bored seeks to reframe the attention we give our everyday encounters with visual culture, blurring conventional expectations of the relationship between art object, artist, and viewer. Channelling the spirit of John Baldessari’s refusal to make boring art, visitors to the Concourse Gallery will be invited to contribute thoughts and doodles in a participatory mural project that compels us to reflect on the nature of boredom.
Guest Curated by Kelly McKenzie and Kim Barton
