1939...PROJECT CONCEPT

WHY 1939?

About a decade ago I was living in Glenorchy, Victoria (Australia)...population less than 100 not including pets! I had bought an old pub there...built circa 1861...huge place! Naturally with so much storage space (originally 12 rooms before I knocked out half the walls) my rubbish tip scrounging was at its zenith.

One windy day I arrived at the tip to see newspapers flying everywhere. I picked up a loose page and saw the date...1939. A mad scramble ensued until I had collected every piece of every newspaper. Fascinating reading at the very least but the papers had obviously been in someone's shed for ages and the paper was very brittle and quite dirty....flying around the tip didn't help either!

As a leading item in the 'They Will Come In Handy One Day' collection, I kept thinking about uses for them. This year I decided to go for an Arts Council art grant. The first time I have sought any art financing. The outcome of my application won't be known until July 2008 but my mind is reeling with ideas.

I wish to create a nostalgic look at Australia in pre-WWII days, how the announcement and involvement of war changed lives and how Australians saw their own country and abroad through the pages of the 'Sun News Pictorial' newspaper.

I contacted the 'Herald Sun' as the 'Sun News Pictorial' merged with the 'Herald' and ceased to be an individual newspaper. I asked what copyright restrictions were on the news and staff photos in the 1939 newspapers I had found. To my delight I was informed that they were now all copyright free.

I will use the actual newspapers (or parts thereof) in mixed media works. I have also been boosting the incomes of various ebay sellers by purchasing original 1939 items such as stamps, coins, cigarette cards, documents etc. These will all be used in various ways within the art forms. I am not abandoning my traditional fine art...it will be in the project as always...but I want to mix miniatures, photorealism and collage as effectively as possible. Textiles will also play a part as I try to recreate life size dressed figures entirely from scratch.

An equally large collection of 1938 and some 1940 newspapers which came from various free sources will provide valuable pre- and post- 1939 information. They will also be used for mixed media works.

Even if I am not successful in obtaining the grant ($20,000) I will forge ahead with this now. Doing research on events and products is taking time but so enjoyable. I'm even dragging out old clothes I've hardly worn and sporting them to 'feel' 1939-ish...knitted vests, cap etc.

At least when it's complete it will be an interesting record of those times. Whether or not it sells as individual art works or stays as a whole I don't know. Getting it shown is another major challenge but I have some early interest from galleries.

Stay tuned for news and photos of more references and concept sketches.

The Sun News Pictorial 1939 editions just after the declaration of war and every page has some reference to it.

1938 and 1939 editions of the Sun News Pictorial illustrating the build up to declaration.

The 1938 Herald is like all other newspapers, covering the developments of Germany's invasions.

7:56 PM - 28/4/2008 - post comment