The 2007 Anne & Gordon Samstag
International Visual Arts Scholarships
Artist: ANTHEA BEHM
The Airhostess, from: The Chrissy Diaries 2005
DVD
still from synchronised four channel video installation
36 minute loop
parachute by ‘Parachutes for Ladies’
View the video
© the artist
The Bikini Model, from: The Chrissy Diaries
2005
DVD
stills from synchronised four channel video installation
36 minute loop
View the video
© the artist
In The Chrissy Diaries, Anthea Behm catalogues the female archetypes that girls dream of becoming when they grow up, but she portrays them with poignant disillusionment. The short film clips of Chrissy (played by Behm) fulfilling her fantasies don’t quite match the glamorous images a little girl might imagine.
A contestant in a beauty pageant is represented as the modern day princess. Just like a princess in a fairy story, the lucky winner wanders tentatively through a dark wood, but instead of bearing the title bestowed upon her, the sash Chrissy wears is emblazoned with her phone number. As a bikini model she smiles bravely despite the sun in her eyes. The shoot is neither on a beach nor beside a hotel pool, but in an anonymous waterhole, which can only be recognised as being beside the sea when an occasional wave breaks orgasmically over the horizon. The cheerleader’s solitary routine is performed in rather awkward silence at night on a deserted playing field. The only sound is the rustle of pompoms. Without the supporting context of other cheerleaders and the roar of a crowd, all the choreographed exuberance seems a bit silly and sad. Incongruous elements infiltrate the The Chrissy Diaries. As happens in dreams, there’s always something wrong with the picture.
Timothy Morell
from his Samstag catalogue essay;
Loose connections
| Born 1977, Sydney, New South Wales | ||
| 2005 | Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney | |
| Awards | 2007 | Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship |
| 2006 | Australian Postgraduate Award | |
| 2005 | The Kayell Photographic Award | |
| 1999 | Photo Technica Award – New Australian Photo Artist of the Year Kodak Australia Undergraduate Award | |
| Individual Exhibitions | 2006 | I like the way you move, Artbox, Sherman Galleries, Sydney |
| 2001 | 0293808430, ROOM 35, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney | |
| Selected Group Exhibitions | 2006 | Projector, Four Gallery, Dublin,
Ireland Rumours, Firstdraft, Sydney |
| 2005 | Sold Out, Truck Art, London,
United Kingdom I’m Interested in Everything, Rocketart, Newcastle Tag Team Tournament, Firstdraft, Sydney |
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| 2004 | Festivus04 – One Of, Sherman Galleries, Sydney The Schiaffo D’Anagni Travelling Arts Scholarship, Firstdraft, Sydney FIRST DRAFT IS DEAD! LONG LIVE FIRST DRAFT!, Firstdraft, Sydney |
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| 2003 | How long is a piece of string?, PHATSPACE, Sydney Are we there yet?, Watch This Space, Alice Springs three quiet rooms, BUS, Melbourne Murder in the Dark, Firstdraft, Sydney |
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| 2002 | The Alumni Prize, Kudos Gallery, Sydney Surveillance, Firstdraft, Sydney |
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| 2000 | CON/STRUCT, COFA Exhibition/Performance Space, Sydney | |
| 1999 | Pasturise; 1999 COFA Student’s Association Selection Exhibition,
Kudos Gallery, Sydney Photo Technica Award, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney Australian Perspecta: The Politics of Everyday Fear or The Order of Things or You Wanna Get Outte Here, You Talk to Me or The Aesthetics of Disappearance or…, Artspace, Sydney Me, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Tasmania, Hobart |
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| Selected Performances | 2005 | Performance for Richard Bell, at his exhibition: Settling Old Scores, Artspace, Sydney |
| 2004 | Containers Project, collaboration with Firstdraft, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne | |
| Collections | Australia China Business Council, Australia Whitford Fine Art, United Kingdom |
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