Michael Goldberg
| Name | Michael Goldberg BFA(Hons)Capetown, GradDipHEd Johannesburg, MFA(Hons) UNSW, COFA |
| Current Role(s) | Studio Chair, Sculpture Performance and Installation |
| Contact | michael.goldberg@sydney.edu.au www.michael-goldberg.com www.michael-goldberg.blogspot.com |
Biography
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Emigrated to Australia 1988. Worked at the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney before taking up teaching appointments at the University of Western Sydney School of Art, UNSW College of Fine Arts, the University of Sydney Faculty of Architecture and SCA. Appointed full-time to SCA 2003.
Research
Goldberg's early projects (1995–2000) examined Australia’s colonial period. Installations were located in heritage sites such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Tusculum House and Elizabeth Bay House, 1830s residence of the Colonial Secretary, Alexander Macleay. 'The Well Built Australian' produced for the AGNSW Project Space in 1999 critiqued the real estate development of the Sydney Harbour foreshore.
From 2001 Goldberg began a long-standing interest in global capital markets and financial speculation. Several projects featured direct engagement with the stock market. Anxieties emerging from the 'War on Terror', and the resulting restrictions on airline travel, were addressed in 'Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes' (2008).
Curatorial projects such as 'Artists in the House!' (1997), produced for the Historic Houses Trust of NSW and 'Swelter' (1999/2000), at the Royal Botanic Gardens, featured installations by prominent Australian artists. The 'Butterfly Effect' (2005) responded to and interacted with the displays of the Australian Museum, the country’s oldest museum of natural history.
Financial markets were again in focus with 'The Force of Desire/The Force of Necessity', a project for the 2009 10th Havana Bienal. The installation/performance, incorporating two Havana artists, addressed the isolation of the Cuban economy from American speculative capital.
Public and community art is also a research interest, and has resulted in a number of curatorial and consultation commissions for the City of Sydney Council.
Recent Exhibitions
Strengths and Convictions, Nobel Peace Centre, Oslo, Norway, March 2010
The Force of Desire/The Force of Necessity, 10th Havana Bienal, Havana, Cuba, April 2009
Remote Predictive Viewing, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Canada, October 2008
Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes, Artspace, Sydney, March 2008
The Curatorial Moment, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa, January 2008
Glebe Point Road Public Art Project (Curator), City of Sydney, August 2006
Many Voices/Merging Visions , City of Sydney, July 2006
The Butterfly Effect, (Curator/Artist), Australian Museum, Sydney, January 2005
catchingafallingknife.com, Artspace, Sydney, August 2003
The Well Built Australian, AGNSW, Sydney, September 1999
Recent Publications
The Butterfly Effect (Paper), The Inclusive Museum, Leiden, Holland, 2008
Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes, Artspace, Sydney, 2008, ISBN: 9781920781378
Digital and Democratized Visuality (Paper), London College of
Communication, London UK, 2007
The Déjà vu of Synthetic Photography (Paper), Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire, Republic of Ireland, 2007
The Natural History Museum, Visual Art and the Suspension of Disbelief,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006
Catching a Falling Knife,DLuxe Media Arts, 2003
A Study in Greed, Fear and Irrational Exuberance,
Art Association of Australia and New Zealand, 2003
Research Supervision
Jennifer Brown, PhD, ‘Contemporary art practice that develops broader engagement'
Celia Morgan, PhD, ‘An appraisal of the unknowing’
in the public sphere’
Barry William Hale,MFA, ‘Minoritarian hordes’
Amanda Williams, MFA, ‘Everything is emptiness’
Awards & Grants
2010/11 Australia Council: New Work ‘Toward a New World Order’
2006 Australia Council: New Work ‘Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes’
2001/02 Australia Council: New Work Grant ‘catchingafallingknife.com’
1998 Australia Council:Presentation and Promotion ‘Ground Zero’
1997 Australia Council: New Work
1996 Australia Council: New Work ‘Artists in the House!’
Professional Membership
College Art Association Member
Holroyd City Council Art Advisory Board Member
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