The Trinity Session
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Introduction
Directed by Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter, The Trinity Session is a contemporary art production team that investigates the relationships between art and business, collaborative practice and network development.
Hobbs’ personal artistic interest lies in the urban environment and public art interventions, and Neustetter’s in the electronic arts and expanding virtual communities. The Trinity Session is strongly defined by its exchanges with Johannesburg, in relation to Africa and similar developed / developing world contexts. This position determines their attitude to local and global debates, networks and partnerships with a view to the survival and sustainability of the visual arts industries.
By acting as correspondents and consultants, and approaching the work process from a network and accommodation / exchange of information angle, the purpose of their working dynamic is to produce in a cross-platform multidisciplinary way with artists, institutions, brands and service providers.
Current key processes are focused on urban regeneration through public art, creativity as commodity through consultation processes, local industry strategies and development through relationships with cultural neighbours, international art networks and strategic global partnerships. Other recent processes include retail and art experiments and digital art development through digital network building.
Republic / re-publication
Exhibitions, projects and events at The Gallery Premises at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre were managed and curated by The Trinity Session from 2004 until 2008. The shift away from the gallery space to focus more exclusively on public space hails an important new phase in their collaborative artistic explorations. Although by no means newcomers to the environment of public space, The Trinity Session sees the move away from the traditional gallery environment as a move towards refining prior practice insofar as it would allow them to more effectively engage with the “re-publication� of the multi-layered fabric of life that exists in the public sphere of Johannesburg. Apartheid encouraged the privatisation of public space, with the result that works from that era presupposed a non-existing consensus among the users of public space – rendering the work culturally exclusive. The Trinity Session’s work methodology, however, seeks to explore the public as a multi- and inter-cultural collection of representatives of various social groups and mentalities. In terms of their multi-tiered collaborative approach to the relationship between art and the community, they seek to build a platform of interaction between artists and society that can give rise to democratic expression in public space. Their aim is not merely to create art in relation to urban development in the City of Johannesburg, but to challenge preconceived relationships between the artist and the public and to explore the networks that arise between art and the public space. The move also reflects a more focused integration of their personal artistic interests, as the public space now becomes aligned with the idea of the public domain in the virtual-community sense of the word. Taking its cue from the definition of the public domain (a space of exchange between different cultures and interests), public space – through the implementation of art – could now become a domain of exchange in its own right.
The Trinity Session has contributed to teaching programmes at institutions, including the University of the Witwatersrand, University of Cape Town, CityVarsity Newttown, Vega School of Brand Communications and the International School of New Media (DE), and has published and consulted widely. Publications include the Third Text, Taxi and Fresh series’ (artists’ monographs), Fine Art Forum, Tester and Leonardo (among others), as well as various exhibition catalogues and journals. Consultation, research, presentation and workshops have included various technology companies, the advertising industry, developmental organisations and international networks. These include Spier, Moyo, Red Bull, MTN, Cell C, International Labour Organisation, UNESCO and TBWA, among many others.
Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter’s artistic collaborations fall under the name of Hobbs/Neustetter (H/N).
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Project Résumé
2010 / in production_____________________
Vilakazi Street Precint Public Artworks Programme commissioning agents and workshop facilitators for the Johannesburg Development Agency.
Pageview Vrededorp Fordsburg Public Art Project commissioning agents for the Johannesburg Development Agency.
Public Art Maintenance Consultants for the Johannesburg Development Agency
Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) Donkin Reserve Public Artworks Programme commissioning and implementation agents for the Nelson Mandela Bay Development Agency
Collegra Art Trust development, management and commissioning. Paris and Johannesburg
Art Sourcing and Commissioning for private clients and Legacy Hotels and Resorts.
Public Artwork commission by the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Development Agency for the Oppenheimer Park in collaboration with Sipho Gwala, Johannesburg (H/N)
Public Artwork commission by the eThekwini Municipality for an artwork at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Kwa Mashu, Durban (H/N)
URBANET: Alex/ Zimbabwe/Mozambique – supported by SDC programme of Pro Helvetia Cape Town. Interventions in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Alexandra Township (H/N)
URBANET: DAKAR II – In partnership with Ker Thiossane and Afropixels 2010, Dakar (H/N)
Bergen residency and exhibition with Stiftelsen 3,14 Gallery, Bek Center, USF and Maia Urstad (H/N)
URBANET Hillbrow/Dakar/Hillbrow presented at Arco 2010 on the African Pavilion hosted by Ker Thiossane (H/N)
2009_____________________
Stadium-Scape / Ocean-Scape. commissioned public artwork in perspex and adhesive vinyl for the Durban Soccer Stadium, Durban (H/N)
Hillbrow, Berea, Yeoville Public Artworks Programme Phase 2 Commissioning Agents for the Johannesburg Development Agency.
Vilakazi Street Precinct Public Artworks Programme commissioning agents and workshop facilitators for the Johannesburg Development Agency.
Pageview Vrededorp Fordsburg Public Art Project commissioning agents for the Johannesburg Development Agency.
The Fire Walker by William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx public artwork commissioning agents, Johannesburg
Rea Vaya, Bus Rapid Transit Public Art Programme commissioning and implementation agents in partnership with Urbanworks and Turkis Design for the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Development Agency.
Rapid Thought Transport Architect re-imagining Johannesburg Master class sseries devised by Sarah Calburn and the Gauteng Institute for Architects.
Conference presentation on New territories and cultures of the digital for Positions in flux: On the changing role of the artist and the institution at the Netherland Media Art Institute, Amsterdam
Participation on the International seminar for Creative industries 2009, Klaipeda, Lithuania
Titus Matiyane: Cities of the World, University of Johannesburg
80+1 JHB Session live broadcast session to Linz as part of the Ars Electronica’s 80+1 – a journey around the world, Linz, Austria
URBANET 80+1 LINZ/JHB artist commission for Ars Electronica’s 80+1 – a journey around the world, Linz, Austria (H/N)
Documentation of Parade – a Project for Linz 2009 Kulturhauptstadt Europa by Peter Kuthan, Austria (H/N)
2008_____________________
Directors of The Gallery Premises at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. (Management and curating of exhibitions and events)
Publishing ONAIR book, Johannesburg
Black Out. Public intervention project for Travesia at the CAAM, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, Canary Islands (H/N)
A Rough-Cut through Alex. Experimental documentary and screening event commissioned by the Austrian Embassy in South Africa, Alexandra (H/N)
Hillbrow, Berea, Yeoville Public Artworks Programme Phase 1 Commissioning Agents for the Johannesburg Development Agency.
Baragwanath Taxi Rank Public Art Commissioning Agents for the JDA Soweto.
The Art Fair Party at the former Johannesburg Stock Exchange for the Joburg ArtFair.
Rea Vaya, Bus Rapid Transit Public Art Programme commissioning and implementation agents in partnership with Urbanworks and Turkis Design for the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Development Agency.
The Business Day and Jaguar Art Tour, tour curators, producers and guides.
Evaton Urban Upgrade Public Art Strategy research, development, report and proposal.
VISA Olympics of the Imagination, school workshops, competition and exhibition. Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town
Art Sourcing and Commissioning for private clients, Southern Sun, Sun International and Legacy Hotels and Resorts.
Metro Centre Public Artwork. Site specific installation for the new Metro Centre Visitors Building, Braamfontein (H/N)
2007_____________________
Directors of The Gallery Premises at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. (Management and curating of exhibitions and events)
Public Artwork Commissioning Agents for the JDA commission of ELAND by Clive van den Berg, Braamfontein Gateway Johannesburg.
Juta Street, Braamfontein Phase 2 urban artworks programme in collaboration with Albonico Sack Architects
Africa Remix CD-ROM, website and Digital Africa panel discussion development and production
UrbaNET Hillbrow-Dakar-Hillborw – art exhibition at the University of Johannesburg Art Gallery (H/N)
UrbaNET Hillbrow-Dakar-Hillborw – featured on THE COLOUR LINE curated by Odili Donald Odita, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. (H/N)
Tshwane research and report on strategy for art in public spaces
Hillbrow Berea Yeoville public art commissioning agents for the JDA
June 16 heritage park and trail public art strategy development, Soweto
Solomon Mhlangu memorial square public art strategy, Mamelodi, Tshwane
Fashion district public art strategy, Johannesburg
Titus Matiyane: Cities of the World, Delft, University of Technology, Netherlands
Titus Matiyane: Cities of the World, Aedes Gallery, Berlin, Germany
City Varsity Newtown, educational programme support and development, Johannesburg
Joeys, artistic collaboration with Machfeld at the Kunstmedianlabor, Graz, Austria (H/N)
Art Sourcing and Commissioning for private clients, Southern Sun, Sun International and Legacy Hotels and Resorts.
2006_____________________
Directors of The Gallery Premises at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. (Management and curating of exhibitions and events)
Facilitation of Fotobot at the Sky Kliptown Youth Center in Soweto, by Andreas Kohli and Martin Roth of Belleville Zurich in Switzerland
Facilitation and installation design for Launch of new City Varsity Campus, Newtown, Johannesburg
Launch of Africa Studio 01 and www.africastudio.net at Africom Conference, Cape Town International Convention Centre. Cape Town
Plausible Artworlds: Exhibition and Conference planning weekend with Basekamp Artists Group, Philladelphia
Project Evaluation: MDG Projects 2004/5 – Austrian Development Agency, workshops and reports, managed by team members Beni Güntert and Christian Graf, Vienna
EMODM (Enjin Museum of Dead Media) – ongoing project page in Enjin Magazine (H/N)
UrbaNET Hillbrow-Dakar-Hillborw – art project at Kër Thiossane, Dakar and in Hillbrow (H/N)
Necessity / Redundancy – artwork at the Dak’Art06 LAB, Dakar
Red Bull creative project development and consultation
Presentations and lectures
Arco06 – International art Experts Forum: Directions on Digital Art: Expert, Madrid
Dakart Conference The Trinity Session presentation Network Meeting, Dakar
2005_____________________
Large-scale artworks in the reception of the Raphael Penthouse Suites. Sandton (H/N)
Lighting, Hammer, Figleaf, Darkness – sculpture for the David Exhibition. Sandton(H/N)
Directors of The Gallery Premises at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. (Management and curating of exhibitions and events)
Sandton Central Public Art Programme research, management and conceptual direction for public artworks; Sandhurst park design framework, Street Traders design framework
Juta Street, Braamfontein urban artworks programme in collaboration with Albonico Sack Architects
TangoCity – Locative media artwork. Johannesburg (H/N)
Cultural Arc Public Art management and conceptual direction for public art along the Johannesburg Cultural Arc in conjunction with the Wits School of the Arts. (3rd year fine art design and drawing, first semester professional practice programme)
Wits University New Palaeontology Museum consultation on interactive exhibit
Legacy Property Developers consultation and sourcing of original works of art for two new hotels: Raphael Suites and Michelangelo Towers. Sandton Central
UNESCO Digi-Arts Africa programme and network development
Awaken The Dead - Dead Media installation and launch of the Enjin Museum of Dead Media ‘EMODM’ – Design Indaba, Cape Town. In partnership with Enjin Technology magazine SA (H/N)
IBM Johannesburg consulting on and building new corporate art collection.
Woolworths Art in Stores management and curation of contemporary art exhibits in Woolworths stores (National)
Presentations and lectures
Sessions eKapa – International Art Meeting, Cape Africa Platform. Cape Town
ARS Electronica 2005 – UNESCO Digiarts AFRICA convener and participant, Linz
University of Cape Town Summer School programme, Public Art and Space
National Architecture Students Congress, Johannesburg
International Conference – UNESCO between two phases of the World Summit on the information Society. St. Petersburg, Russia
World Summit Contributory Conference on ICT and Creativity. Vienna, Austria.
Cultural Management and the Question of Values in a shifting Landscape. Potsdam, Germany
2004_____________________
Directors of The Gallery Premises at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. (Management and curating of exhibitions and events)
UNESCO Digi-Arts Africa programme and network development
Africa Network Meeting ISEA 2004 (Inter-Society of Electronic Arts) coordinators and facilitators of digital network meeting by participants from different regions in Africa and Helsinki
Woolworths Art in Stores management and curation of contemporary art exhibits in Woolworths stores (National)
Spier Creative Consultation to overall creative direction of the Spier Estate, Stellenbosch
IBM Johannesburg consulting on and building new corporate art collection.
Moyo Creative Consultation to creative development of new projects, Johannesburg and Cape Town
Sandton Central Public Art Programme research, management and conceptual direction for public artworks
Cultural Arc Public Art management and conceptual direction for public art along the Johannesburg Cultural Arc in conjunction with the Wits School of the Arts. (Conceptualisation and implementation of Masters course in Spatial Practice)
Consultation to TBWA/Fusion for Woolworths catalogue featuring South African artists, Cape Town
Tester: participants on ‘international artists-actions forum’ and resulting publications: Book and DVD, San Sebastian, Spain
Station Mir residency: Second stage of artist exchange hosting Station Mir at The Premises, with collaborative project for Playtime video festival, Johannesburg (H/N)
Min(e)dfields: South African/Swiss exhibition at Stadtgallerie, Bern, Kunsthaus, Baselland (exhibition returns to The Premises 2005)
Regeneration: inner city artists magazine (developmental project in journalism, design and reportage training). A project of the Creative Inner City Initiative.
Knap! Magazine-format catalogue for Klein Karoo National Arts Festival
Unfold: DVD Magazine TBWA/GavinReddy – content development for Art Activism and Convergence (issue 03)
Under 40 Degrees: Exchange Platform Latin America / Southern Africa in partnership with ATA, Peru
2003_____________________
Transnet War Room: Research and Design consultation to Transnet South Africa
‘Detours R Us’: installation artwork for Learning From* Neue Geselshaft der Bildenden Kunst, Berlin and Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna (H/N)
MTN evaluation corporate collection, Johannesburg
Main-stream and alternative culture in Johannesburg: Case Study Bates 141 advertising
Unfold: DVD Magazine TBWA/GavinReddy – content development for Art Activism and Convergence (issue 02)
Red Bull Music Academy: full spatial design and placement of artworks. Production of catalogue titled ‘Space Repurposed’.
‘Convergence’ and ‘Co-operative work’ workshops and with MA (Science of New Media) students, International School of New Media, Lübeck, Germany
Residency at Station Mir, Hérouville St-Clair, Normandy, France
M.O.: Trinity Session Artministration, Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg (solo exhibition)
In No Particular Order (selected works). Playtime (video and multimedia festival), Newtown Cultural Precinct, Johannesburg.
Festival Internacional de Video/Arte/Electronica, Lima, Peru. Mini festival of South African Video Art, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudtshoorn.
+27 Sessions, Translocal Channel/How Latitudes Become Forms, digital media art content compilation and curation.Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, USA.
Presentation to MA (Social Sculpture) students, Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
Transmediale.03 ‘Play Global!’, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany. Curated by Andreas Broekmann
Knap! Magazine-format catalogue for Klein Karoo National Arts Festival
Min(e)d Fields, curatorial tour, hosting Katrien Reist, Beate Engel, Sabine Schachl-Cooper (CH). Johannesburg and Cape Town,
Creative Inner City Initiative consultancy, training and management, Berea, Hillbrow, Joubert Park
Faraday Precinct public art consultation, in conjunction with Joubert Park Project and Albonico / Sack Architects
2002_____________________
SME Development and Employment in the Cultural Sector in the SADC Region: The Visual Art and Craft Industries. Research report prepared for the International Labour Office (ILO), Geneva
Big Brother II curatorial and visual arts consultation.
SafeFood II: Mr Delivery installation for “New Strategies�, World Summit on Sustainable Development exhibition programme, Johannesburg Art Gallery (catalogue)
SafeFood at BIG Torino, Biennale for Young Art, Turin, Italy (catalogue)
Tricrotic (video installation) for the 16th Rencontres Video et Art Plastique, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie, Normandy, France (catalogue).
Cell C for The City, Artists Billboard Project consultation, Johannesburg (catalogue)
Ars Electronica Festival 2002, Linz, Austria. Radiotopia participants and E-Lobby “Search� co-ordinators and participants (catalogue)
Radiotopia: the South Africa Sessions, The Horror Café, Johannesburg
The Pseudo-Bureaucracy of the Network Neighbourhood, residency and exhibition, Kunstraum, Linz, Austria
To Have and To Hold, Station Propeller experimental art space curated by Paula Paul, Linz, Austria
Creative Inner City Initiative consultancy, training and management, Berea, Hillbrow, Joubert Park
Diamond 2002 Conference: Innovation and Creating, Aarhus Denmark.
The Body Shop and Greenpeace “Choose Positive Energy� Mural campaign for the World Summit on Sustainable development. Consultancy and management. Newtown, Johannesburg.
body II: sublimation group exhibition for Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (catalogue)
2001_____________________
The | Premises project room/gallery established, The Johannesburg Civic Theatre
Apartheid Museum, Gold Reef City, Johannesburg, research and installation solutions
Reuters 125th birthday (South Africa) exhibition solutions, Johannesburg
Red Bull Creativity Contest in conjunction with JMC Melnicks for Spark Gallery, Johannesburg.
Digerati (digital creative team of Hunt Lascaris/TBWA) presentation new media art applications in the commercial arena, Johannesburg. (www.onair.co.za/extracts)
Arts & Culture Trust Awards of the President-Event facilitating live art and installation environment.
Blindspot curated video exhibition-facilitation. Gundane Studios, Vrededorp, Johannesburg
Bite You on the Ass(thetics) in conjunction with Bite Restaurant, Greenside
My Name on Your Lips public video projection for Dias & Riedweg, Tandoor, Rockey Street. Johannesburg.
CMMSSNR solo project by Stephen Hobbs in collaboration with Signal and The Original Levi’s Store, Sandton City. One-night event
rest & motion group exhibition for Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. (catalogue)
switch on/off group exhibition for Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. (catalogue)
Daniel Johnston Live at the Bassline in association with the Institute of Contemporary Art, Cape Town
online|offline – exhibition at 3rd annual Web conference, RAU
www.onair.co.za creative online project space for developing a ‘network neighbourhood’
Network development and processing for _sanman (Southern African New Media Art Network)
Select Publications_____________________
Analogue and Digital Anecdotes and Artworks from South Africa – Third Text: Volume 23 Issue 3 (2009)
ONAIR – The trinity Session (2008)
Space Repurposed. Catalogue for the Red Bull Music Academy, Cape Town (2003)
Knap! Catalogue for the Sasol visual arts main festival, Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (2003)
Broadcast Quality: The Art of Big Brother II. Co-published with Bell-Roberts Print & Publishing (2002)
In No Particular Order: South African Video Art. Video show reel commissioned by the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie for the 16th Recontres Video et Art Plastique, Normandy, France (2002)
SME Development and Employment in the Cultural Sector in the SADC Region: The Visual Art and Craft Industries. Research report prepared for the International Labour Office (ILO), Geneva (2002)
From the Ground, Up short documentary film for the Joubert Park Public Art Project (2001)
14� of reality short documentary film for R.A.I.N./trama workshops, Argentina (2001)