This Is Not Art
Encyclopedia
This Is Not Art is a national festival of new media and arts organised in Newcastle, New South Wales
, Australia
each year over the October long weekend. Since its humble beginnings in 1998, it has become one of the leading arts festivals in Australia
dedicated to the work and ideas of communities not included in other major Australian arts festivals. The program includes the festivals Electrofringe
, the National Young Writers' Festival
, Critical Animals, Sound Summit
the Crack Theatre Festival and other projects.
(then known as the National Independent Electronic Labels Conference) and several other smaller events necessitated the invention of an umbrella term to cover all of the disparate events. In 2002 Vital Focus Productions (now Minski Media) made a 25 minute open source documentary about TINA called Dancing to Architecture - a motion picture about TINA. For the first 3 years, This Is Not Art was directed by Marcus Westbury
who had previously been the founding director of The National Young Writers' Festival
.
Association. Each festival has an Independent Director or Directors and they cooperate with each other in sharing logistics, guests and other resources.
Kevin Blechdom
, Sage Francis
, Cold Cut
, The Light Surgeons, Caribou
, Concord Dawn
, Mad Professor
, anticon., Fat Cat Records
, b(if)tek
, The Herd
, Hrvatski
, Thomas Frank
, John Safran
, Stephen Mayne
, Margo Kingston
, Nasenbluten
, Marieke Hardy
, DJ Scotch Egg, Leaf Cutter John, Tim Hecker and many more.
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
each year over the October long weekend. Since its humble beginnings in 1998, it has become one of the leading arts festivals in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
dedicated to the work and ideas of communities not included in other major Australian arts festivals. The program includes the festivals Electrofringe
Electrofringe
Electrofringe is a festival of digital, electronic and new media arts. Its focus is on emergent forms and techniques within media based arts practice and places a particular emphasis on encouraging young and emerging artists to interact with established artists...
, the National Young Writers' Festival
National Young Writers' Festival
The National Young Writers' Festival occurs annually in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, over the New South Wales' Labour Day Holiday Weekend in late September/early October...
, Critical Animals, Sound Summit
Sound Summit
Sound Summit is an annual independent conference / festival focusing on exploratory and innovative independent music that takes place in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia as part of the annual This Is Not Art Festival...
the Crack Theatre Festival and other projects.
Naming
This Is Not Art takes its name from a prominent piece of graffiti on what was Newcastle's tallest building, Latec House (now completely refurbished and converted to apartments), which had been derelict for several decades. The name also refers to the content of the event, which is outside the ambit of traditional Australian arts festivals.History
This Is Not Art evolved from the National Young Writers Festival and National Student Media Conference which were established in Newcastle in September 1998. In 1999, The National Young Writers Festival combined with the Electrofringe Festival (which had previously been an independently organised part of the now defunct Newcastle Fringe Festival) and moved to the October long weekend. In 2000, the addition of Sound SummitSound Summit
Sound Summit is an annual independent conference / festival focusing on exploratory and innovative independent music that takes place in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia as part of the annual This Is Not Art Festival...
(then known as the National Independent Electronic Labels Conference) and several other smaller events necessitated the invention of an umbrella term to cover all of the disparate events. In 2002 Vital Focus Productions (now Minski Media) made a 25 minute open source documentary about TINA called Dancing to Architecture - a motion picture about TINA. For the first 3 years, This Is Not Art was directed by Marcus Westbury
Marcus Westbury
Marcus Westbury is an Australian festival director. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia where he filmed the TV series Not Quite Art...
who had previously been the founding director of The National Young Writers' Festival
National Young Writers' Festival
The National Young Writers' Festival occurs annually in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, over the New South Wales' Labour Day Holiday Weekend in late September/early October...
.
Structure
This Is Not Art consists of several independent festivals. Each of the festivals comprising This Is Not Art are independently organised with the assistance of the Director of This Is Not Art and the OctapodOctapod
Octapod is a not for profit independent arts and new media organisation based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Octapod supports a number of projects, community groups and creative types by providing an administrative base and important resources including a large meeting space, web...
Association. Each festival has an Independent Director or Directors and they cooperate with each other in sharing logistics, guests and other resources.
Notable Guests
Over its lifespan a wide variety of guests have appeared at This Is Not Art including:Kevin Blechdom
Kevin Blechdom
Kevin Blechdom, born Kristin Erickson, is an American experimental electronic musician/performance artist from San Francisco, California.-Life and career:...
, Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, Cold Cut
Coldcut
Coldcut are an English dance music duo, comprising Matt Black and Jonathan More. Their signature style is electronic dance music, featuring cut up samples of hip hop, breaks, jazz, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia.-1980s:In 1986, computer programmer Matt...
, The Light Surgeons, Caribou
Caribou (musician)
Daniel Victor Snaith is a composer, musician and recording artist under stage names Caribou, Manitoba and Daphni. Under the supervision of Kevin Buzzard, he obtained a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London.- Career:...
, Concord Dawn
Concord Dawn
Concord Dawn, is a New Zealand drum and bass group, active since mid 1999. It consists of Matt Harvey and Evan Short...
, Mad Professor
Mad Professor
Mad Professor is a dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music’s second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He is a prolific producer, contributing to or...
, anticon., Fat Cat Records
Fat Cat Records
Fat Cat Records is an independent label based in Brighton on England’s South Coast. Their output includes electronica, post rock, indie, downtempo, minimal techno, noise and punk-pop...
, b(if)tek
B(if)tek
Btek was an Australian electronic music duo comprising Kate Crawford and Nicole Skeltys, originally from Canberra, who released three albums between 1998 and 2003. In 1999, Btek was nominated for an ARIA as "Best Dance Release" for the track "Bedrock" which appeared on their second album 2020...
, The Herd
The Herd
The Herd may be:* The Herd , the 1960s UK band that launched Peter Frampton's career* The Herd , a hip-hop outfit from the suburbs of Sydney, Australia* The Herd , a 1978 Turkish film...
, Hrvatski
Hrvatski
In Croatian, hrvatski is the masculine adjectival form meaning "Croatian", used in the same form for plural and singular. Feminine forms are hrvatska and hrvatske...
, Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank
Thomas Frank is an American author, journalist and columnist for Harper's Magazine. He is a former columnist for the Wall Street Journal, authoring "The Tilting Yard" from 2008 to 2010....
, John Safran
John Safran
John Safran is an Australian documentary maker and radio broadcaster, known for combining humour with explorations into religion and other issues...
, Stephen Mayne
Stephen Mayne
Stephen Mayne is an Australian journalist, local government councillor and self-described shareholder activist. Mayne is also considered “serial runner”, continually running for elected office and election onto company boards, more often than not in futile attempts, or just to make political...
, Margo Kingston
Margo Kingston
Margo Kingston is an Australian journalist, author and commentator. She is best known for her work at The Sydney Morning Herald and her weblog, .Kingston was born in Maryborough, Queensland and was raised in Mackay...
, Nasenbluten
Nasenbluten
Nasenbluten were a Newcastle, Australia recording and performance group, who pioneered hardcore techno, gabber, amigacore and cheapcore music. The group was founded in the early 1990s by Mark Newlands, Aaron Lubinski and David Melo...
, Marieke Hardy
Marieke Hardy
Marieke Josephine Hardy is an Australian writer, broadcaster, television producer and former television actress.-Early life and family:...
, DJ Scotch Egg, Leaf Cutter John, Tim Hecker and many more.
See also
- National Student Media Conference
- List of festivals
- List of Australian music festivals