Interview with Fleur MACDONALD
the ephemera interviews
In this series of interviews artists directly involved in ARIs and artist-run culture 1980- 2000 speak about the social context for their art making and provide insights into the ephemera they produced or collaborated on during this period. Artist ephemera includes artworks, photocopies, photographs, videos, films, audio, mail art, posters, exhibition invites, flyers, buttons and badges, exhibition catalogues, didactics, room sheets, artist publications, analogue to digital resources and artist files.
BIO
PA:
Fleur Hi and thanks, why does a public archive mapping artist testimonies and artist histories about the ephemeral nature of the vibrant Queensland 1980-1990 artist-run scene matter to you?
FM:
This is a great opportunity for those that were involved and experienced artist-runs in Brisbane during the 80’s.
I attended Art school (QCA) in Brisbane in the early 80’s and soon after started working on my first solo, thankfully this happened at an artist -run Initiative at Belltower Design Studio and with so many Artist’s involved it was the most amazing experience this little girl from Rockhampton had ever had.
From then on there was an introduction to other Artist’s and other ARI’s in the area of Brisbane, THAT Space, John Mills National, Dunstan House and a few others that I can’t seem to remember.
Collating information for this task you have set yourself would be mammoth, it’s all those plastic tubs that are under people’s beds collecting dust and bringing them out to the long overdue light and since social media’s involvement.
It’s been great to talk to all those long lost fellow artists.
Back then in the 80’s we didn’t have anything like social media via the internet, somewhere where we can post photo’s for all the world to share so yes it is extremely important for this project to document the ARI heritage and place it on public record.
