Present Tense

Contemporary Photography from the La Trobe University Art Collection

Visual Cultures students respond to the La Trobe University Art Collection

Borchardt Library, Bundoora campus

Artists: Brook Andrew, Janet Burchill and Jennifer McCamley, Michael Cook, Petrina Hicks, Ben McKeown, Narinda Reeders, Naomie Sunner, Darryn Sylvester, Anne Zahalka

Responses: Eartha Bennett, Greta De Bie, Elizabeth Laverty, Cath Mackie, Isabelle McKenna, Robert McRobbie, Simpson Myers, Donna Picton, Alena Popovich, Beau Scorgie-Smith

This exhibition showcases a curated selection of contemporary photographs from La Trobe University’s collection which informed a series of creative responses by third-year students in the Visual Cultures program. Developed as part of the subject Painting to Pixels: Contemporary Visual Cultures, the project encourages students to explore the complex interplay between images and power in today’s visually saturated world.

In Painting to Pixels students engage with a range of political, economic and ethical perspectives through contemporary art and visual culture. For one of their assignments, students were tasked with producing an interpretive text or multimedia response to a singular artwork from the University’s collection. This real-world application of their learning encouraged creative research, curatorial enquiry and critical analysis.

The resulting responses—ranging from experimental and creative to analytical and critical—reflect the students’ engagement with pressing global issues such as identity, globalisation, and capitalism. These artworks and their accompanying responses demonstrate how artists contribute meaningfully to contemporary cultural discourse.

Visit the exhibition to explore the students’ responses by scanning the QR codes located on the wall labels alongside the artworks.

Tile image: Darren Sylvester, Don't Substitute a Life to Satisfy Mine, 2010. La Trobe University Art Collection.