Transit of Venus opens

The Transit of Venus

A ballast stone from The Endeavor, shells gathered from Tahiti, a human skull, a telescope, a series of rare books including an 1893 edition of Captain Cook’s journal and 1875 edition of the Observations made of the transit of Venus, some stuffed parrots – these are some of the items from the collection at the Macleay Museum that will be on display in the Tin Sheds Gallery during the exhibition The Transit of Venus. The objects have been chosen by Daniel Boyd and will be combined with his own paintings, video works, installations and drawings to explore the impact of the Transit of Venus on Australian history.

June 6 this year marks the second passing of the Transit of Venus since Australia was colonized in 1788. The Transit of Venus is rare astronomical event that happens in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart. To mark this auspicious event Tin Sheds Gallery and the Macleay Museum are hosting The Transit of Venus - An exhibition with Daniel Boyd. The exhibition will explore the ramifications of Captain Cook’s fateful journey, not just for the Aboriginal people of Australia, but also more broadly for our understanding of the connections between science, art, astronomy and geography.

Curated by Matt Poll (Assistant Curator Indigenous Heritage, Macleay Museum, The University of Sydney) and
Zanny Begg (Director Tin Sheds Gallery, faculty of Architecture, Design andPlanning, The University of Sydney)

Exhibition opens: May 24th 6pm - Tin Sheds Gallery

Public Programs:

June 14th 6.30pm, Tin Sheds Gallery

Human Remains: Museum Object or Crime Scene? A discussion on the repatriation of human remains from museum collections. Daniel Boyd and Matt Poll, Sydney University Repatriation Project.

June 21 6.30pm, Tin Sheds Gallery

Mapping the size of the Universe: The Transit of Venus, Dr. Andrew Jacob, Astronomy Curator Sydney Observatory, Powerhouse.

Zanny Begg | Social Networking (GOMA)

Launch of The Bull Laid Bear

New film by Zanny Begg and Oliver Ressler,
Screening at Artspace as part of the Occupy Art International Day of Action
Guest Speaker Steve Keen

2.00pm The Bull Laid Bear followed by Q+A with Zanny Begg
2.30pm Boom, Boom, Doom - Debunking the Economic Crisis, Steve Keen

Sunday February 12
Artspace
43-51 Cowper Wharf Road,
Woolloomooloo, Sydney

The Bull Laid Bear “lays bare” the economic recession (bear market) that hides behind each boom time (bull market). The film is structured around a series of interviews with US economists and activists including: William K. Black, a white-collar criminologist; Yves Smith, the author of the blog Naked Capitalism; Tiffiniy Cheng campaign coordinator for A New Way Forward; and Gerald Epstein co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute. The material gathered from these four interviewees has been blended with hand drawn animations to create a quasi-fictitious criminal world of gangster bankers and corrupt courts.

Sydney based performer Singing Sadie provides a sound track for the film with a reinterpretation of Billie Holiday’s classic lament on money, God Bless The Child.

Steve Keen

Steve Keen, Professor of Economics & Finance at the University of Western Sydney, has made a name for himself debunking economics (incidentally the title of his best selling book). Calling himself a post-Keynesian, he has taken on the shibboleths of neoclassical economics, renaming the “Efficient Markets Hypothesis,” for example, the “Financial Instability Hypothesis.” Steve’s iconoclastic brand of economics allowed him to predict the current financial crisis warning back in 1995 that a period of apparent stability could merely be “the calm before the storm”. Steve’s pithy, controversial and insightful critiques of debt and his daring proposals for fiscal change have earned him a global reputation as an economic commentator able to provide insight into these troubling times.


The Bull Laid Bear
Concept, film editing and production:
Zanny Begg & Oliver Ressler
Animation and drawings: Zanny Begg
Camera and interviews: Oliver Ressler
Vocals: Singing Sadie
Piano: Mick Hanna
Other music: Captain Ahab
Camera Singing Sadie: Arunas Klupsas
Sound Singing Sadie: Jon Hunter
Sound and image editing: Rudi Gottsberger
Special thanks to Nancy Folbre, Brian Holmes, Jon Hunter, Pascal Jurt, Arunas Klupsas and Singing Sadie.

Financial assistance provided by Kulturamt der Steiermärkischen Landesregierung and Australia Council for the Visual Arts New Work Grant.