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| Alexander Boynes - Helen Musa Photo: Anni Doyle Wawrzynczak |
Gorman Arts Centre, 17 July 2017
by Michelle Potter
Alexander Boynes’ career
has already been hugely varied. He is currently program manager at the Canberra
Contemporary Art Space and his personal arts practice includes painting,
photography, print media, light-based work, and video installation. In
addition, with his sister Laura Boynes, a dancer, and cellist and composer
Tristen Parr, he works with the Perth-based multi-disciplinary collective
PRAXIS as the group explores connections between dance, visual art and sound.
Not only that he is closely involved with artist Mandy Martin (Boynes’ mother)
in a project with indigenous communities in Arnhem Land to preserve their
cultures and ecology. So it was no surprise that the discussion at CCC’s second
winter conversation ranged across many different topics.
What I found most
interesting in what was a robust discussion was Boynes’ personal approach to
art making, especially collaborative work. He suggested that there were two
essential elements to successful, collaborative art making — playfulness and
honesty with a need for absolute trust between those involved. Never be afraid
of failure he said.
He also made the point
that the arts should not provide answers but raise questions for the audience
to consider and ponder upon. At the core of art is how it makes the audience feel,
how it speaks to their emotions. Boynes’ passion for the local arts scene also
came through strongly, and he acknowledged the influence on his work of Robert
Foster.
As for his current
projects, he is most excited about an environmental series he is working on
with Mandy Martin. They are examining, amongst other issues, the collapse of
industry in Geelong. And having recently returned from Geelong where I was
recording an oral history interview with illustrator Robert Ingpen, I can
understand why.
Perhaps my favourite
remark of all though was Boynes’ statement that art needs to say something. It
needs content as well as being aesthetically pleasing.
