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Hypothesis: the art/architecture of prosthesis is a way of reassessing the role of art in public space.
The current fetishisationof the site and preoccupation with context has reinforced my resolve to locate work at the disjunction of architecture and public art – engaging constructively with a problematisation of that distinction.
Between body and architecture – prosthetics / exoskeleton
Between architecture and public art – parasite
Between urban infrastructure and public space – porosity
Each of the zones involves me in attachments or prosthetics rather than autonomous work.
For each of these scales I have formulated a theme or strategy that I have used in relation to the idea of prosthetics. Within the gallery, prosthesis is manifest as exoskeleton.
At the scale of the site-specific installation it is manifest as parasitism.
Within the urban landscape prosthetics are manifest as degrees of porosity.
The parasite of prosthetic attaches itself as an alternative proposition.
There is the possibility that the new limb replacement might create an itch, which provokes social or political change. Thus the appearance of function is subtly subverted by the new apparatus’s ability to question.
My work is located in the itch created by the attachment
Professor Richard Goodwin
B.Sc(Arch), B.Arch(Hons 1), M.Arch, PhD.
Biography 2008
Richard Goodwin has been an exhibiting artist since 1974, including 39 solo exhibitions, and 106 group exhibitions.
His work is held in major collections including the Art Gallery of NSW, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Nuremburg Museum and numerous Regional Gallery and private collections. Exhibitions include 3 Sculpture Triennials, 3 Australian Perspectas, The Third International Drawing Trienniale, Innensiete a Satellite of Documenta 10 in Kassel, Distance Tokyo and Kyoto, and Der Overkant a survey of Australian sculpture in Den Haag 2007.
In 2003 he was awarded the Sydney Water Prize for his work Carapace for Sculpture By The Sea. In 2004 he won the prestigious Helen Lempriere Award for sculpture with the work Prosthetic Apartment B.
Trained as an architect he graduated in 1977 and went on to gain a Master of Architecture in 2000. Currently he holds the position of Professor at the University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts, where he runs the Porosity Studio, a cross disciplinary studio which blurs the boundaries between art and architecture and uses the city as a laboratory. Goodwin’s position remains 0.5 enabling him to practice within his own studio through which he continues to exhibit both in Australia and overseas and to pursue public art and “parasitic” architectural projects.
In 2006 a monograph was published by Craftsmans House titled Richard Goodwin Performance to Porosity. Also completed and awaiting publication are the results of three years of Government funded research (Australian Research Council) into public space in the city (using Sydney as a model) which promotes the expansion of his ideas about the role of public art and “parasitic” forms in the transformation of architecture. This work is titled Porosity.
Goodwin has completed many public commissions including: Mobius Sea outside the Art Gallery of NSW, The Corvette Memorial on Garden Island, Exoskeleton Tower-Reach at the Galleries Victoria in Sydney, Cyclexoskeleton at 345 George Street, UTS Law School Commission, Exoskeleton at Lend Lease offices Sydney, Waterjacket 115 Pitt Street Sydney, Rhizome Gungahlin Drive Canberra, Charles Street Pedestrian Bridge, Bicentennial Park Bridge and 15 Freeway projects incorporating major public artworks including Gore Hill Freeway, Glebe Island Arterial in Pyrmont, Gungahlin Drive Canberra and City West Link Road.
His company, Richard Goodwin Pty Ltd, was established to further facilitate his work as an artist affecting architecture and urban planning. The company is now responsible for a significant range of architectural works, public space and urban planning collaborations as well as site specific sculpture.
Richard Goodwin is now at the forefront of the debate regarding the role of public art in redefining both art and architecture.
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