A Master

Do you have a burning question that just isn't ever really fully answered?

The first half of mine has been with me since I can remember. It is why am I so uncomfortable with the type of man that I feel that others/society expect me to be? The second half didn't come until I was 26, which is why am I so comfortable with how Chinese culture sees being a man?

For the last 5 years I have been paying to research this question, at RMIT. Five years is a long journey. I changed jobs, lost one, have been overseas many times. Lost friends because I didn't stay in contact. Gained one close friend. Lost 15kgs and got fit. Learnt to be a teacher. Made almost no art to show. All combining in one paper of 17 500 words about the art I've been making and the new work for this project. So next week my new project (with all five years of thinking) will go up at federation square in the atrium.

As I reflect on it. A couple of things come to mind. I answered the two other questions I set out too. One; the work I made in the 90s and 00s, how does that fit in with theory. Two; where should my work go from here? Digital is a big challenge to photography. It has changed the whole industry and the way we consume photography. We now see so much and make so much, that photography become a little meaningless and mediocrity rules. How do we move from that point? The solution, that I came to is; strong concept, and/or edit brutally. This show is about concept and questioning.

The exhibition shows Anglo-Celtic Australian masculinity (ACAM) and Chinese masculinity and contrasts them. Each person who comes to the project will bring their own Masculinity with them, and they will interprets the show on that basis. An Arab Australian man will see the show quite differently to a Greek tourist. I've used the ACAM because it is the one that is represented time and again in Australian cinema which was the basis for my research. This masculinity and its variants are in our face all the time. Most of the Chinese men in this project are Australians too. As such their masculinity may or may not be formed with reference to the ACAM.


Here is the press release and the promo photo of me..

For Immediate Release Media contact: Garrie Maguire 
Phone: 0412416903
email: g@garriemagurie.com

Hanging between heaven and earth inside Federation Squares’ Atrium will be an installation by Melbourne artist Garrie Maguire. The subject is men - specifically, what sort of “man” we want the males around us to be.

On view from Jan 24th to Feb 17th, encompassing Australia Day and Chinese New Year, the exhibition celebrates the many varied forms of Anglo Celtic Australian and Chinese masculinity. Each of these types is inspired by an archetype of masculinity reflected in Australian and Chinese film.

Five years in the making, Maguire’s research opens new horizons on how we see the Men in our lives, and offers new visions for how we Men might re-imagine ourselves.

The installation is part of a Master of Arts at RMIT, and tests the boundaries of digital photography to reconstruct each portrait from segmented exposures. Printed, on the very excitingly named, PETG (transparent glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate), and suspended in formation from the ceiling, the images glow with an enigmatic brilliance. The life-sized banners take on the feel of an ethereal constellation.

“We could grow much richer as a nation if we adopt the best from all the cultures that come to make Australia...and not just in cooking.” garrie maguire

“I’ve illustrated two understandings of masculinity, each viewer will bring their own culture and understanding, this is good.“ garrie maguire

Federation Square Atrium Jan 25 to Feb 17

a road trip

There is adventure and then there is doing epic shit (as Jeremy's t-shirt said)... Over the years i've done some serious drives but the journey from Melbourne to Noosa was perhaps the most epic. 3660km were covered in 12 days. The three of us got close, became friends forged in adventure...

the trip was made to photograph for the masters project that required some Australian masculine types and for this i wanted to include photographs of men that had some influence on my life. So portraits were made of my father, cousin and best friend from school as well as to Gary one of our Canberra friends and Rohan, whom i've known since near birth. Along the way we encountered the western plains in all their vastness, a big prawn near fading away and a WW2 bomber for sale on the side of the road...

I'm hoping later in the year to make a blurb book up of this trip.

Left: Martin Lum 

below: Jeremy Sy

A new start.

 The whole website is under review. As the last site was high maintenance as it was all hand coded (something i'm not good at nor like) I've decided to take a different approach to this one, I will be using various web based technologies in order to make full site with a few parts built from the ground up. The last site was put up 6 years ago, so it's due for replacement! It would have been done earlier except a Masters of Arts has got in the way. That is now coming to an end and it's time to set myself up for the next five year plan.

This blog will work with my Facebook for friends and by itself for a larger audience. It will concern itself with the art and photography made in our practice, as well as the observations and the odd review. Beware i am not a writer, it doesn't come naturally to me, so some blogs will be images. This will in part complement my flickr account as well which has served as my 'visual blog' for the last 3 years.

the old blog may be viewed at

http://www.garriemaguire.com/page_blog.htm