SYLVIA SCHWENK - STAN AND MAUREEN DUKE ART PRIZE

Sylvia Schwenk_five Prison stories_2011

Congratulations to Sylvia Schwenk, who is a finalist in the 2011 Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize for her video work five Prison stories. The prize is an acquisitive art award and exhibition, open to all forms of art media except photography. In 2011 the prize will be judged by artist Davida Allen, with the winner announced on Saturday 10th December.

Five Prison stories relays 5 stories about life in prison in a relaxed, private and almost humorous way. The work gives an insight into a way of living and area of society that most people have no exposure to or experience with. The stories are told in the third person and are set against images and footage of the inside of a prison. The film makes the inaccessible accessible in a simple and highly engaging way, as well as looking at the notion of what performance in the everyday means for those who live in a space where private and public co-exist – sometimes simultaneously.

A preview of this video work can be seen below...

The Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize runs from 10 Dec 2011 – 5 Feb 2012 at the Gold Coast Art Gallery.