By Van Thanh Rudd

 MELBOURNE - Over a long period of time, like many visual artists and students, I was carrying my artworks on trams and trains to my studio either wrapped up or facing inwards, away from public view. I began to ask, ‘why should an artist deny the public this opportunity to view art, especially if the artist feels strongly about issues facing society at large such as inequality, racism and war?’ 
 

What if I was to simply face my paintings outward – towards the public when on a train, tram or street?
I knew that if I were to execute this simple strategy, it would open up my artistic practice into a much more active agency of social change.

And so I began The Carriers Project in 2004 where carrying my paintings on foot through public and private spaces was to be a legitimate form of artistic exhibition. And social change through art was to be high on my agenda from that time onwards.

After committing The Carriers Project to various festivals such as Fringe 04 and 06, Big West 05, and protest rallies such as Free The Refugees 2004, IR Rally 05 and The Stolenwealth Games 06, I was fortunate enough to obtain a grant to take the project nation wide. The grant was through Kultour – a national touring company that obtains funding from Australia Council for touring multicultural art and artists around Australia.

Under the title “The Carriers – Local Terrain”, I was to carry a selection of paintings around the CBDs of Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Fremantle, Perth and Mt Macedon (Vic). The aim was to inspire discussion and debate within local communities about multiculturalism, war, refugees and global economics.

By this time, I had familiarized myself with negative reactions to the project from authorities and certain members of the public. Not only was carrying a large painting in crowded public spaces seen as an obstruction to the smooth flowing of consumers, the content of my paintings were increasingly becoming more direct in there analysis and critique of global capitalism.
 

By 2006 I was producing paintings that were dealing quite directly with the global reality of terrorism. One particular painting called “Portrait of an Exploding Terrorist” was a response to Israel’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon. I wanted to capture in paint, the violence of the act of terrorism that has been left to the imagination of many Australians including myself. I also wanted to ask who the real terrorists are.

I took this painting on this tour to Sydney, Brisbane and Mt Macedon. After experiencing great public feedback on the streets of Sydney and the usual threats from security personnel to ‘move on’, the project had to be cut short in Brisbane. It seemed the Brisbane City Council Officers and Queensland Police had been watching my movements in Brisbane’s CBD and I was given a public nuisance arrest threat. This came as no surprise, as the Haneef case had just kicked into gear triggering a more intense climate of ‘terror’ in South East Queensland.

Throughout incidences such as the above, there is one major point that is still working in my favour and I feel warrants some sort of conceptual, artistic integrity. It is the limitless nature of what constitutes ‘exhibiting’ my artwork. From the moment I take my painting out of the studio and it comes into public view, it is being exhibited. Also, the fact that it is mostly mobile in nature allows for a much less intimidating viewing experience on the part of the audience. Audiences are more comfortable in observing something that is traveling from ‘A’ to ‘B’. The painting’s presence has become incidental.

The Carriers Project, to me, does raise some important questions. To what extent should politically driven art be hidden from public viewing? Does public space exist anymore? Is ‘public space’ limited only to the movement of ‘consumers’ from one private enterprise to another? One thing that can’t be ignored so far, is the fact that a majority of people on the streets showed positive interest in all of the paintings I have carried so far throughout cities in Australia.

This demonstrates to me that The Carriers Project is still worth pursuing. To this day, I still carry out and plan for future exhibitions. Some have already involved carrying art unannounced into major Art Fairs and other private spaces. This is another area I would love to discuss – maybe at another time.

Van Thanh Rudd is a visual artist based in Footscray, Victoria.
http://www.van-thanh-rudd.net

Youtube Video Link: “The Carriers Intrusion – Melbourne Art Fair 08”
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=z3CWXglG5G8