I Must Stay on Task

Big thanks to Consuelo at Artsource for featuring I Must Stay on Task in her recent article, Semi-Permanence in the City.

[Show as slideshow]

Thank you to Tony Nathan for this collection of images of I Must Stay On Task. When other computers crashed trying to line up the very detailed text in a panorama, Tony stepped in to create the best full vision we’ve seen of David Turley’s work. Thanks Tony!

[Show as slideshow]

At 3pm Thursday May 5, a crowd of 40+ people gathered in Target Lane to meet David Turley and City of Perth staff for a discussion about I Must Stay on Task and the public art commissioning process. Some of David’s Central TAFE students, past and present, came along to support their teacher, along with representatives from Propel, City of Swan, Spacemarket and a strong cohort of local artists.

A film crew from the Northbridge Piazza documented the forum and interviewed David and an array of admirers. Keep an eye out for the final product, and browse through some stills below.

[Show as slideshow]

Some recent press about the work.

[Show as slideshow]

A man most deserving of a massage (or twelve), David Turley has now completed the epic task of installing his response to Target Lane, ‘I Must Stay on Task’. Hurrahs and raised glasses all round!

Beginning the writing process in earnest on Good Friday (April 22), David, with various members of the Yardley family helping out on line-marking duties, persisted with the task for ten full days. They finally completed the job on Sunday May 1, and I’m sure you’ll agree the results are outstanding.

To answer the question on everyone’s minds, David exhausted 100 paint pens during the install process!

Some point n click images are below – please check back for some photographic beauties from Tony Nathan soon!

[Show as slideshow]

Sneaky snaps at Wednesday Lunch. Images by Amanda Mannolini

Continue reading →

While most of us spent the Easter break munching ourselves into a chocolate and hot cross bun sugar stupor, David Turley and his assistants were powering through 12-hour days of marking up and writing lines.

The punishing process is about half finished, but David is staying on track and on task to complete the work by the end of the month!

Check out a series of install images below, including a lovely portrait of the artist courtesy of Al McEwen.

[Show as slideshow]

On Monday, the lovely chaps from AB&SA Painting Innovation primed the site with a deep shade of blackboard grey paint in preparation for David’s labour-intensive text application.

David and his assistant Caitlin will soon begin the seemingly endless process of marking out lines and writing text during the quiet Easter period.

Stay tuned for more working images soon, and if you’re a young contemporary artist interested in bringing your practice into the public realm, make sure you put the below deets in your diary:

Also, thanks to the Voice for this recent snippet.

Foodchain’s debut public art project, I Must Stay on Task, will be installed by 33 year old artist David Turley and his 26 year old assistant within Target Lane, off Murray Street Mall, from 18-29 April, 2011.

The artwork is informed by a document the artist discovered in a puddle outside a schoolyard. Bearing evidence of punishment, the child’s scrawled lines are repeated three times:

“I must stay on task without disturbing or distracting others. I will not use ‘put downs’ or harass others. It is important that I respect other people’s differences and opinions.”

David’s whimsical response to the site can be viewed as a punishment of sorts. Firstly the wall is primed blackboard grey; the artist then laboriously replicates the text by hand until the entire surface is covered. The artwork acts as a ‘skin’ for the site, embedding a young person’s voice within the public realm.

With a cheeky wink to street and traditional forms of mural art, the work addresses the youth demographic that frequent Target Lane. It acknowledges the social satire and institutional derision present in urban street art while remaining accessible to a wide audience.

The work is informed by the artists’ own art practice, which examines how “trapped histories” (found documents and keepsakes) can be used to shift the parameters of art and the exchange of narrative and history. In 2009, David obtained a Masters degree of Art in Public Space at RMIT University, Melbourne.

I Must Stay on Task is his first public art commission.

Upon the works’ completion, a series of free open forums will be delivered to Central TAFE students, Anglicare Step 1 young people and members of the public. The public are invited to gather in Target Laneway, off Murray Street Mall (opposite the Perth Underground) from 3pm on Thursday May 5, 2011, to participate.

David will be joined by City Design, Arts & Culture, Community Services, Economic Development and Approvals staff from the City of Perth. The forum will enable people to learn about the work, meet the artist, and demystify the processes involved in applying for public art commissions and working in public space.

Target Lane is considered a graffiti hotspot, so the brief for the artwork asked artists to address the site’s reputation as a thoroughfare for young people and consider a design that would aim to minimise graffiti and vandalism. The mural artwork and accompanying public forums are supported by the Office of Crime Prevention’s Graffiti Fund and seek to promote the use of contemporary art practices and dialogues with young people as a means of managing graffiti issues in the city.

The project runs concurrent to the City’s new Mural Art Program. The four artists considered as part of the curatorial selection of the Mural Art Program are prominent WA practicing artists who are all represented in public and private collections nationwide.

The artists have a strong exhibition history and are representative of a diverse range of artistic styles and thematic visions, from a strongly representational approach to more geometric, abstract and surrealist imagery.

For interview opportunities, press images or further information, please contact Youth Projects Officer Katie Lenanton on 9461 3181 or katie.lenanton@cityofperth.wa.gov.au.