The Anne Landa Award 2013

By Andrew Frost

One of the country’s leading art awards is back for its 2013 outing.Known to all as “The Landa” its full title is now The Anne Landa Award for Video and New Media Arts 2013: The Space Between Us. This name change from the far simpler Anne Landa Award signals a course correction for the curated prize, now explicitly acknowledging the shifts in art practice and the difficulties of defining what is “video art”. So what does the Landa offer?

Curated by Charlotte Day, director of the Monash University Museum of Art, The Space Between Us takes in Lauren Brincat’s endurance performance High Horse, Laresa Kosloff video of people milling around in the Art Gallery of NSW’s grand courts, Angelica Mesiti’s four-screen video work of musicians from distant lands performing in Paris, Kate Mitchell’s video installation of the artist running through glass sheets and James Newitt’s video documentation of a staged protest rally. Alicia Frankovich will also stage a performance with joggers in the AGNSW foyer and Christian Thompson has an immersive and meditative soundscape based on the sound of the djuldibha [bullroarer].  Is any of this work really new media? Not to worry, an iPad app will soon be available so punters can enjoy documentation of the show from the comfort of their homes.

Until July 28

Art Gallery of NSW, The Domain

www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media-office/space-between-us