Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Chorale

Articulate Project Space
December 2011


Timber, nylon builders line, lead sinkers.
In this installed work I am attempting to express in a light-hearted way the connections I feel between the ways in which I work as a visual artist and the ways in which musical language is structured, both in sound and in the visual impact of notes on a page.
The patterning of the weights which tension the strings is based on a twelve tone melody - the melody constructed (rather than composed) using all the half tones of the scale. This melody has then been manipulated through inversion and retrogression.

I chose to position this work under the stairs. The stepped form (in inversion) may suggest the stepped ranks of a choir. The result I hope reflects the visual joy of performance and particularly our tradition of choral music.


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

construct as metaphor






Construct as metaphor
A show at the Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Leichhardt featuring Barbara Halnan and Rose Anne McGreevy.
Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is applied to another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.
In this exhibition the two artists who have worked jointly on many projects come together again to explore the way in which their "art" is constructed and the metaphoric levels of meaning inherent in visual imagery, whether it be film or video, large scale constructions, or the intimacy of painting and drawing.

Saturday, August 20, 2011




"Wavelength" was a piece I installed in 2001 at Sculpture by the Sea. It was a cubic structure 3m x 3m x 3m with cords supporting weighted plates (recycled offset printing plates). The weights drummed against the plates in the wind, making a constant murmur which rose to quite a loud sound as the wind got stronger. The piece was about that moment when a swimmer in the surf has to decide whether to go with the wave as it breaks or dive through it.

Thursday, August 18, 2011


Notations
an installed construction
Barbara Halnan
at Factory 49
Opening Wednesday August 24 6 - 8 pm

In this work Halnan is exploring the kinetic qualites brought about by layering elements which interact
with one another creating visual disturbance. This work is revisiting concepts and materials she employed in the making of large scale site specific ephemeral works in the years 1995 - 2001.


Factory 49 Showroom is open every Thurs to Sat, 1 - 6pm
49 Shepherd St, Marrickville, Sydney 2204

model for Notations factory 49 August '11


notations : factory 49 August '11

In this work Halnan is revisiting concepts and materials she was exploring in the making of quite large scale ephemeral works in the years 1995 - 2001. She defined these works (Books I - III, Dumbbell, Wavelength etc.) as "installed constructions" as they were fabricated within the constraints of certain particular spaces or environments, and relied to a large extent on these environments for their form. To this extent they were site specific in much the same way this present work is dependent on this particular space for its existence. They were also, for the most part, constructed in such a way that the viewer was able to move around or through the work, thereby creating a more intimate relationship with the work than is usual with more formal object sculpture.
The kinetic quality of these works was an essential element in their construction. Disturbance created by shifting relationships between layers made for visual excitement, even irritation, a quality which has also been one of the motivations within Halnan's painting practice over the past few years. In both two and three dimensional work she uses visual rhythms which interact with one another in much the same way in which harmonics work in musical composition. Dissonance is as important as assonance.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

about continuous line

This work looks at the relationship between three and two dimensional images. The line forms a three dimensional drawing in space which is rendered in chalk in the associated wall drawing.

Monday, January 31, 2011

From a show called Series and accumulations. Three canvases with lines - 30 lines in #1, 60 in #2, 90 in #3. Each canvas 135 X 150 cm. Shown at Factory 49 in Marrickville, NSW 2009.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Series and accumulations
Through the looking glass
Factory 49 2009
This work consisted of two sets of 25 panels with stripes of shades of grey. The second set was a reflection of the first, as if viewed in a mirror. The stripes ran from one stripe on #1 in each set to 25 in #25.