EXIST - curating live art in Australia and on-line

When I got back from Indonesia at the end of 2011, I stepped up my commitments with EXIST, a live art artist run initiative thats been going in Brisbane since 2008.

This has culminated in me curating a few events

- Dimanche Rouge #21 Paris-Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane
DIMANCHE ROUGE IS A PARIS-BASED ARTIST COLLECTIVE (QUITE A LARGE ONE IF THE CONTACTS PAGE IS ANYTHING TO GO BY) FORMED IN FEBRUARY 2011 TO PRESENT A MONTHLY EXPERIMENTAL PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL. THEY PLACE STRONG EMPHASIS ON INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS AND ON NOVEMBER 18 WILL BE PRESENTING AN AUSTRALIAN COLLABORATION VIA THE WONDERS OF THE INTERNET.

They will team up with artist spaces/collectives in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and, in addition to the Paris program, will stream an hour of experimental performance to and from each venue. Nicola Morton from the Exist collective will be curating the Brisbane hour at Metro Arts; Zoe Scoglio has put together the program for Tape Projects in Melbourne (see RT111 for review or her receent show Shifting Ground); and Sari Kivinen an ex-pat Australian who runs Ptarmigan, an artist collective in Helsinki, Finland and Taalin, Estonia, will be in Sydney curating an hour of performance taking place at Alaska Projects
... from http://www.realtimearts.net/article/111/10867

- exist@Metro: Friday Night: May 'Cold Metal'
exist as part of Metro Arts’ new Friday Night event series; is excited to be programming a series of works from live artists in the Metro Arts’ Carriageway.
First up is ‘Cold Metal,’ inspired by the theatre of black metal, it is curated by Nicola Morton and stars Stasis Duo and Alrey Batol. Belief in disbelief gets thrown out of the back of a ute.. It could look and sound like nothing, but these artists’ take on black metal challenges you to perceive the unperceivable.

Cold Metal ft Stasis Duo and Alrey Batol from nicola morton on Vimeo.
 ....Read more

- exist@Metro: Friday Night: June
June 7... text and video coming..

and co-curating

- exist@QCA: Zierle & Carter Live Art Intensive Residency
Between Lands: A Sense of Belonging Enquiry begins by looking at personal stories, individual definitions, sensory factors and exploring how displacement influences notions of identity and its social/cultural expressions. The artists’ have been gathering materials/experiences/conversations throughout their residency in Melbourne, which will form the initial material and basis of their exploration at the POP Gallery. During their week-long residency, Zierle & Carter will extract and allow their findings to percolate into new experimentations and performances. These will include direct interactions and multisensory experiences, which will build a conversation with the audience, whilst infusing bold images and weaving inner and outer landscapes into a rich fabric of encounters.
Outcomes from their residency will feed into the artists’ process of making a Living Room Opera with the facilitation of Chamber Made Opera and In Between Time Productions, with its premiere in Bristol (UK) at IBT13, returning to Australia in October 2013


exist@QCA Zierle&Carter Opening night from nicola morton on Vimeo.

- EXIST-ENCE 5
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exist-ence 5 offers five full on days of radical and uncompromising live art, performance,  talks and installations! Emerging, mid-career and established artists from across the city, nation and globe descend into Brisbane exploring unknown terrain, unanswered questions and unresolved conversations.  Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to be challenged by preeminent practitioners - the bold will be rewarded with free entry to all events!! Proudly supported by Brisbane City Council, Queensland College of Art, MAAP Media Bank and the Foundation for Contemporary Music and Culture.

For more information and full program, please visit www.existenceperformanceart.wordpress.com Artists: Labanna Babalon, Jade Boyd, Holly Childs, Zierle & Carter, Botborg, Leif Gifford, Stasis Duo,  Onnie Art, Dracopede, **** ****, Eloise Maree, Melanie Jade Simpson, Unique Oil Free Air, Velvet Pesu, Makeshift Dance Company, Anna Carluccio, Sari TM Kivinen.

Nude Bike Ride is Art?

My good friend Miranda was telling me that I am actually part of an artistic cannon of nude bike riders from New York, but I can't find any other information on it. I got in THE local papers online version. Brisbane only has one daily local newspaper that you pay for. Unfortunately I was trying to promote a show at Metro Arts, but the article was all about me and hardly mentioned the show at all.

Here is some text:

 "Nude bike rider Nicola Morton stages new show, promises to keep clothes on"  

AN ARTIST who staged a nude bike ride along one of Brisbane's main roads is keeping her clothes on for her latest project.

 Nicola Morton of Moorooka posted a video of the stunt on YouTube in November which showed herself and another woman removing their clothes down to their underpants before they set off on the ride. Sightings of the pair sent the Queensland Police Service's Facebook page into overdrive on November 24 after the duo were seen riding along Ipswich Rd at Moorooka around 9pm.

Ms Morton said the ride was to promote a performance by a fellow artist and to raise awareness of cyclists. ''I wanted to raise public dialogue about biking,'' she said. Ms Morton and her friend were spoken to by police on the night but were released without charge. ''It was good that everything went
without a hitch and we managed to do the (Moorooka Magic) Mile and the police let us go,'' she said.

''It's also about having fun.'' Ms Morton wouldn't rule out doing something similar in future, but for now is curating an art show at Metro Arts in the city on Friday. ''It's about taking people to places where they have to delve into imaginary landscapes, being able to suspend all your judgments and walk into this separate theatre where there are ghouls and goblins,'' she said. It features a band playing on the back of a ute and a webcam surveillance installation showing live footage of the event.

''It's a general art exhibition crowd that are going to come along. I hope the general public will come along too because that's a little bit more exciting for us.''

- Jasmin Lil.

If you want to make a comment here is the link http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/nude-bike-rider-nicola-morton-stages-new-show-promising-to-keep-her-clothes-on-this-time/story-e6freon6-1226633243989?from=public_rss

Here is an embed of the youtube video

Psychedelic Love, It's Like No Other

Psychedelic Lover

Bad Intentions "Hemloch" from nicola morton on Vimeo.

Club Sound Witches Put A Spell on Sydney

"we are nice dickheads"

Sydney dates:

Jan 14 (today) at AV Union with Francis Plagne and Half High (Naked on The Vague)
Jan 19 The Pharmacy with Polyfox, Cock Safari and more
Jan 20 The Hollywood Hotel with bands TBC
Jan 24 Live to Air on Ears Have Ears FbI Radio 9.30pm
Jan 27 Mini-Festival with xnobbqx FITZ FEST, Old Fitzroy Hotel Wooloomooloo, 2.30pm WE ARE ON FIRST!!!
Jan 31 Live to Air on Spiral Sounds 2SER 10pm

Review: The Wire December 2012 - Club Sound Witches

Heres the text from the review in the Wire..

“Recording as Club Sound Witches, the duo of Earle and Nicola Morton do just that, moving towards something that – like an extended Pink Floyd “interstellar Overdrive” circa 1967 – feels both connected to a real-time physical jam and, at the same time, psychedelically unhitched from earthly reality. Here, low synth burble and female vocal murmurs pick up a juddering energy, mophing into insistent, throbbing heartbeats like an internal bodily Techno. It’s a heck of a long way from “Loui Louie.” – Daniel Spicer

There is also a review up on Crawlspace

http://crawlspacemagazine.com/2012/09/11/club-sound-witches-club-sound-witches-cd-r/

Ecstatic Breath Workshop for exist@QCA

Im a co-director at exist, an artist-run initiative that desperately needs more volunteer helpers. Anyway, this is part of a performance for the residency of amazing UK artists Zierle and Carter

I have been having a tuff time lately and been working on my ecstatic breath, unfortunately my crying breath has been winning out lately, but if people encourage me on the ecstacy hopefully ill get better.

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Nicola Morton Ecstatic Breathing Workshop (26.09.2012) Performance 10min, Costume (contact microphones, cabling), Sound (body, contact microphones, newspaper, effects) at POP Gallery, Brisbane.

This performance presents Nicola’s latest research into shamanic trance, using a quick breath pranayama with the Butterfly pose. Her body is miked up and surrounded in newspaper. Effects are manipulated live to produce a trancelike rhythm and altered listening while the audience watch the durational repetitive movement.

exist@QCA Nicola Morton 'ecstatic breathing workshop' from nicola morton on Vimeo.