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DEVON MCKNIGHT CLOSING SHOW

It was seriously world class.

Having Devon with us in Toowoomba all the way from the West Coast was a lesson in how to be humble. This young lady has it all in front of her. The show last night consisted of 2 projections., one of a series of movies she had taken in her time spent here, and the other an evolving slideshow of truly experimental works during her stay. The non-sync / travel / layering of painting and digital images gave the idea of Time, Devon Time. A truly gracious lady, we look forward to sharing her more in the future.

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Devon Mcknight RAYGUN from Tarn McLean on Vimeo.

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DONOVAN McKNIGHT’s PLAYLIST

Donovan McKnight compiled this incredible playlist in response to his sister’s work. The playlist was played loudly in the exhibition space at Devon’s closing with two projections, one of videos Devon had compiled from her experiences in Australia, and the other her paper work and images created/compiled in response to her environment. This was a perfect, awesome collaboration.

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RAYGUN AND DEVON MCKNIGHT IN SYDNEY

On Thursday we took Devon to Sydney to check out the sights before she returns home to the US. Our day in a nutshell was full of art, eating, drinking, sightseeing and more art. We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art followed by a seafood lunch at Doyles, a stroll around the Opera house then a bee line to Bondi Icebergs for cocktails with a short stop on Oxford Street along the way. The day was completed by catching up with friends at a the fabulous artist run space MOP www.mop.org.au   The images will take you briefly on our journey. Happy Days. xxx
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Devon’s Blog

Due to the nature of Devon’s work being transitory, her blog is an important element of the working process. It contains photographs that Devon is taking continuously that document the changing space she is working in. If one was to visit the space 5 times a day it would be different each time. The work is made, installed and changed/expanded extremely quickly.

Documentation of work of this nature can be problematic. The photographs found in the blog cannot be shown individually because this changes the materiality of the physical work, and premise of the work as a changing environment. One might think that to watch Devon working in the space could be helpful, however this can not be, because the work then becomes a performance. Similarly, showing the photographs separately or in addition to the installed work is not possible because this neglects the materiality and environment the work creates.

The opening of Devon’s residency included the images taken for documentation projected onto the wall in a loop, which allowed an understanding of the changing nature of the space/environment. The RAYGUN directors spoke with Devon about  the work, and she explained the nature of her process.

A publication will be made at the end of Devon’s residency which will include all of these working images, allowing them to exist not as an installation or in a publication that documents the residency, which is a similar system to the blog.

The following images are taken from the blog which can be found here
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DEVON MCKNIGHT OPENING NIGHT

Last night was the starting point for Devon’s month long visit/residency at RAYGUN. With ephemeral works on the walls and leaning on the floor the body of paintings suggests the idea of getting back to basics with paint as well as making. We discussed painting with the idea of formal, institutional training and using those skills in an uninhibited fashion, both within setting and as medium.  Devon discussed the playful and experimental importance of her practice and encouraged members of the audience to visit her throughout the coming weeks to either collaborate or share in conversation. Towards the end of her visit to Australia, Devon will host a final exhibition on June 27th of her progressive works and there will be plenty of pop up events in between.

We are excited to have Devon with us and are loving her warmth and gentleness in the space.

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CREATIVE TIME SUMMIT AT RAYGUN, AUSTRALIA

We are super excited to be involved with Creative Time this year and will keep you posted with our plans for the 2 day event.

Creative Time hosts the fifth annual Creative Time Summit on October 25 and 26, at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. The annual conference advances Creative Time’s critical efforts to provide meaningful opportunities for artists to explore new ideas, expand their practice, and play a role in shaping a more just world. It is the only regularly scheduled conference devoted to exploring the intersection of art-making and social justice.

Tapping into an international debate, this year’s Summit provides a platform for consideration of the artistic practices, campaigns, and theories, as well as the practicalities, that accompany the increasingly widespread belief that culture, for good or bad, is an ingredient in the making and re-making of cities. Indeed, from monumental sculpture, to arts districts, to battles over housing, art has for decades been a critical element of changes to the world’s urban fabric. The Summit will bring together artists, architects, planners, politicians, activists, and theorists from Colombia, Lebanon, Netherlands, the United States, Zimbabwe, and many other places to present their work on this topic, exploring the ways in which cultural production might address issues like gentrification, racialized urbanism, withstanding environmental catastrophe, and poverty, and addressing such topics as bottom-up urban planning.

Keynote speakers to date include writer, art critic, curator, and activist Lucy Lippard and Rebecca Solnit, who has written on such topics as the environment, politics, place, and art.

The annual Creative Time Summit also includes the presentation of the Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change, awarded each year to an artist who has committed his or her life’s work to promoting social justice in surprising and profound ways. 

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DEVON MCKNIGHT WORK IN PROGRESS #1

We are so lucky to have Devon with us here in Toowoomba visiting from the US. She is so excited to have the physical space of RAYGUN to ‘make’ in. Apparently she  doesn’t have a lot of room to experiment in at her University at home so she is using the space here as a canvas so to speak. Due to the exploratory nature of her painting, Devon will be creating a body of work throughout the month and having a closing party at the end of June with a progressive body of work. Stay tuned. Devon pre 4Devon pre 3Devon pre 2Devon pre