Nine artists had the opportunity to present to a captivated audience last Thursday at the annual Slide Night, hosted by Luke Wilcox and this year taking over The Lab space at SALA’s new Light Square hub ILA.
Each presentation consisted of 20, 20-second slides, which the artists used as their backdrop in a storytelling format known as PechaKucha. The strict time parameters led to a diverse range of innovative responses.
Sculpture and installation artist Christina Peek kicked off the night with creative charm when she proceeded to run a five-minute public-service announcement about the risks of finding yourself hit with an oh-so-dangerous crush. Her PechaKucha was energetic and entertaining, while providing the audience with insights into the intimate, passionate, awkward and romantic themes that her arts practice explores.
Christina Peek proved an energetic and entertaining presenter. Photo: Sam Roberts
Billy Oakley, a local painter, had prepared a script that delved into the inner workings of himself as an artist, revealing his self-described “partnership” with painting, and the love and drive he has for his practice. It felt genuine, and all was going to plan until he finished what he had prepared before the five-minute PechaKucha was over. This led to the last section of his presentation being improvised, enabling his light-hearted personality to shine. Oakley’s work is part of A Resting State, a SALA group show currently on at The Mill which contains colourful, textual renditions of everyday environments.
Next, Cynthia Schwertsik offered a confident and sincere look at herself and her practice. She utilised her own collaborative, photographic works as the backdrop for free-flowing conversation that explored what it means to think, to be human, to exist in this time and place.
The other wonderful artists who shared parts of themselves and their practices included Makeda Duong, Naomi Hunter, Micheal Tye, Tikari Rigney, and Mickey Mason. They all have unique practices, approaches and personalities worth celebrating.
The Slide Night concluded with Post Office Projects’ director Eleanor Scicchitano using the PechaKucha format as a means to share words of advice on how to be a happy, successful artist or arts worker. She brought enthusiasm to her presentation, which included a midway costume change because “real curators wear black”.
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Scicchitano stretched the boundaries of the format with an unexpected encore containing life advice – because as we all know, art and life are sometimes one and the same. Post Office Projects is currently hosting two SALA shows: Anna Horne’s 21 Sensational, Must Visit Objects and Christina Gollan’s Past intertwined with present.
The 2024 SALA Festival continues throughout August. Photos and videos from previous Slide Nights can be seen here.
Read more SALA coverage here on InReview.
Brooke Ferguson, an emerging visual artist and arts worker, is the 6th recipient of the Helpmann Academy InReview Mentorship. She is working with experienced visual arts writer Jane Llewellyn to write a series of articles for publication in InReview.
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