Video

not absolute

Not Absolute was a collaborative exhibition at the Flinders University City Gallery, 24th July – 27th September, 2009, featuring work by Ian Gibbins, Catherine Truman, Judy Morris, Gabriella Besetto, Vicki Clifton and Rachel Burgess, curated by Janice Lally.

with my eyes closed
with my eyes closed
with my eyes closed

The following is from the curator’s comments in the exhibition catalogue:

“NOT ABSOLUTE has been a collaboration over some time by artists and scientists … to discover and communicate new understandings of the human body derived from interconnections between science and art practices. The visual, aural and tactile aspects of the works offer others opportunities to gain fresh insights into notions of what the body is and how it might be understood by the individual. The nature of the creative processes of artists and scientists is also part of the investigation.

“Knowledge about the body, in the abstract and from a personal viewpoint, is a concern for us all. The daily experience of living within and communicating about our bodies is central to all of us. How we wash and dress ourselves, how we move, or see, or hear, how we communicate, our … Click here for more.

projects

Collaboration is absolutely the norm in modern science, so perhaps it is not surprising that much of Ian’s creative work involves collaborative projects with other artists. Click here to see a full list of Ian’s collaborations.

Follow the links or the menu items to see some of them:

The Taken Path: a durational project with Catherine Truman

The Microscope Project with Catherine Truman, Deb Jones, Angela Valamanesh & Nicholas Folland

Floribunda with Judy Morris

not absolute with Catherine Truman, Judy Morris, Vicki Clifton & Rachel Burgess

Vocem Video, a video interpretation of Impossible Music by Sean Williams

Body of Evidence, curated by Carollyn Cavanagh

Signs of Life and Way to Go: Tramstop 6 with Mike Ladd & Cathy Brooks

the art & science of embodiment with Catherine Truman

heartsong with Cheryl Pickering, Richard Chew, Dwani Oak and Sally Francis

Australian Dance Theatre with Garry Stewart

bio

in case you were wondering…

Ian Gibbins was born and bred in Melbourne, not far from Caulfield Racecourse. After completing a PhD in Zoology at Melbourne University, he spent two years in Pharmacology Departments in the USA, before coming back to live in a hilly suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. For 30 years, he was a neuroscientist and Professor of Anatomy for 20 of them in the School of Medicine at Flinders University. Along the way, he managed to pick up an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. In March 2014, he retired from his academic position to spend more time to write poetry , compose electronic music, produce videos, build a few websites, windsurf, and cook… Nevertheless, he has been awarded Emeritus Professor status at Flinders University.

neuroscience…

Ian has been internationally recognised for his research on the microscopic structure and function of the nerves that monitor and control the activity of the internal organs, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. His work used sophisticated microscopy techniques to see directly how different types of nerves connect up with each other, as well recording the electrical behaviour of nerves as they communicate via … Click here for more.

Ian is now a fully established video artist. His poetry videos have met great success, having been published in literary journals and websites, shown at festivals, galleries and installations around the world, including UK, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France, Portugal, Croatia, Ukraine, USA, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Brazil, India, as well as many locations around Australia. Several have won or have been short-listed for awards and prizes at international festivals. Some recent videos that have received critical acclaim are in the gallery below.

Ian has contributed videos to art-science installations including Not Absolute, The Microscope Project, Floribunda and Body of Evidence, which commissioned two of Ian’s video works for the Adelaide Convention Centre. 42nds was commissioned as a public art work by Adelaide City Council and the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT): it has been projected onto a department store wall in Rundle Street; onto a water screen on the River Torrens during Hybrid World Adelaide 2018; and shown at the Adelaide Festival Theatre Digital Screens. More recently, he has collaborated with artists for both gallery installations and documentary work, including Catherine Truman, Tony Kearney, and … Click here for more.