Virtual and real spaces of the regional artist

Abstract

'Regional Australia' the label, and 'the internet', the process are two significant phenomena impacting on the lives of artists outside metropolitan areas. It would be quite reasonable to consider them independently, however brought together as one subject these issues represent a complex area of social change for artists and their work. I want to examine this subject; first through the term 'regional art', then through the problems concerned with being an artist in regional Australia, followed by consideration of the impact the internet is having on art and art criticism more generally. From there I propose to bring these phenomena together, hopefully to discuss what I believe is a rich cocktail for art and social development in this country. As a methodology for the construction of this paper I have used a form of personal inquiry and reflection on how the issues of regional art and the internet have entered my life. To do so I have drawn on personal experience, my history, and held discussions with artists who occupy a place or space art where I live or who enter my world, via the internet.