19 July 2013

NCAT Folio Preparation collaborates for Northern Exposure Success

A roving poet performs in front of the windows
NCAT Folio Preparation staff member Tracy Paterson has curated an exciting collaborative art installation called 'ABOUT FACE' for this year’s Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival

Wanting to reconnect, Tracy sent out a call for self-portraits from ex-students of the College’s long-standing Folio Preparation course. The reaction was fantastic, with many of the ex-students submitting fabulous images - 120 to be exact! They ranged from Facebook profile images to elaborate photo shoots. Students sent in digital files that Tracy converted to coloured duotones and printed onto transparency film. They were then connected together and suspended in the windows of a vacant High Street Shop, to make a screen of portraits. Backlit, the images produce a stunning glow.


Two of the ex students who participated took on other roles in the festival. Yasmin Yusuf Les (currently studying Visual Communication at Monash University) produced paste ups which can be viewed on her Tumblr Quietlines and Helen Tran (currently studying VPhotoimaging at RMIT) was the festival's official photographer. Her work can be seen on her Tumblr A/P

High Views – Art in Windows are installation-based projects of site specific artworks that engage with the High Street precinct and aim to provoke, surprise and delight the viewer. The Festival is an exciting feature on the Northcote, High Street calendar of events. The theme of this year’s Northern Exposure Festival is change, which fitted with the idea of bringing together ex students in an artwork. Inspiration came from this quote:
"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly" - Henri Bergson

The piece has been reviewed in this week's Northcote Leader. The review can be found here.

Participating ex-students Helen & Yasmin
About Face can be viewed in the windows of 238 High Street, Northcote (The old Disco Beans shop). It is best viewed at night to the full effect of the glowing back lighting. 

NCAT also produced work for Small works - Small Spaces and High Events as well as a Visual Art Town Hall Exhibition titled Troubadour.

Northcote's Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival opened on the 12th July and runs through to the 28th July, 2013.
A portion of the windows