UNSW alumna featured in ABC iview series

If we are now all media makers, what does video tell us about who we are and what we might become?

These questions and many more are explored in the ABC iview series Video Becomes Us.

Directed by UNSW Art & Design alumna Kate Blackmore, the series features an array of UNSW alumni in company with video artists from around Australia.

“Video appealed to me because it was a relatively cheap medium to work with,” she said.

“It has a short history, unlike sculpture and painting, which has long been dominated by men.”

“We selected 15 artists for the series, who communicate urgent political ideas using video. Instead of answering the question, we leave it open for the audience to decide.”

Fellow artists Soda_Jerk, Dr Christian Thompson, Justin Shoulder (Club Ate) and The Kingpins members, Angelica Mesiti, Emma Price and Techa Noble, all completed degrees at UNSW Art and Design.

Video Becomes Us also includes past student Susan Norrie and PhD candidate James Nguyen.

As part of the UNSW Art & Design's Professional Experience Project (PEP), Honours student Maya Mulvey-Santan took part as a production assistant.

The series offers an exploration around the different ways that artists encompass video techniques as a means for artistic expression and political agitation.

“Each of the artists in the series use the intimacy and immediacy offered by the medium of video to communicate potent political ideas,” Kate Blackmore explains.

“In doing so, these artists encourage us to question how we see ourselves, offering a refreshing vision of Australia that is more open, culturally diverse, queer and feminist.”

Comprised of five 10-minute videos, each episode profiles an artist alongside excerpts of their work – some of which are being seen for the first time outside a gallery.

You can watch Video Becomes Us on ABC iview.