Curriculum Vitae
Biography
John Waller is an Australian artist working predominately in digital media. His current practice focuses on the production of video and sound for screen, projection, and installation projects.
John's art career began in the early 1980s, following studies at the Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, where he majored in painting. By the mid eighties his practice had moved to include photocopy and installation works. By the early nineties, his practice was primarily focussed on computer based multimedia works and installations. In 2008 he completed a PhD by project in the School of Art at RMIT, Melbourne, developing entity, an artificial life inspired interactive computer animation.
Over the last four decades John has exhibited in some one-hundred group and solo exhibitions, both in Australia and internationally. These include exhibitions at The Queensland Art Gallery, the Institute of Modern Art, the University of Queensland Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and QCA Gallery, Brisbane; The Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney; Experimenta Media Arts Festival, Melbourne; the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin; and Camera Work Gallery, London.
He has also shown extensively in Artist Run Initiatives and alternative spaces, including THAT Contemporary Art Space, Arch Lane, Gallerie Brutal, and John Mills National in Brisbane; Grey Area, Stop 22, Seventh, and The Library Artspace, J‑Studios, Melbourne; and the Darwin Visual Arts Association and Tactile Arts, Darwin. Animation works have also been included in the Second International Symposium on Electronic Art (SISEA) in Gröningen, The Netherlands, and in Media Wave '93, a video festival in Gyor, Hungary.
In support of his work he has received grants and funding from government agencies including the Digital Media Fund (Film Victoria), Arts Queensland, the Australian Film Commission, and the Australia Council.
In addition to his PhD, John’s other qualifications include an Advanced Diploma in Electronic Design and Interactive Media (RMIT), and certificates in Training and Instructional Skills. He also has extensive teaching experience in universities and other training institutions, including Charles Darwin University, Darwin; the University of Melbourne, RMIT, Swinburne University, Box Hill Institute, and Cambridge International College, Melbourne; and Mount Gravatt College of TAFE, Brisbane.
Chronology
Education
2000 - 08 PhD by Project, part-time, School of Art, RMIT, Melbourne
2007 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, MBG Education, Melbourne
2004 Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training, Australian Institute of Education and Training, Melbourne
1999 Bachelor of Computer Science (First Year), Latrobe University, Melbourne
1995 - 96 Advanced Diploma, Electronic Design and Interactive Media, RMIT, Melbourne
1993 Certificate in Instructional Skills, South Brisbane TAFE
1989 Experimental Music (Audit only), University of Queensland, Brisbane
1985 Semester workshop in Super 8 Film, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Experimental Music (Audit only), University of Queensland, Brisbane
1983 Video workshops, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1978 - 79 Queensland College of Art, Brisbane (Painting Major)
Individual Exhibitions
2012 The River, The Night Screen, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne
2011 Propeller, The Night Screen, Seventh, Melbourne
2007 entity, School of Art Gallery, RMIT, Melbourne
2006 For one night only, Gossard project space, RMIT,
Melbourne
1994 burning…, Bartleme Galleries, Brisbane
Untitled video installation, McWhirters shop front window, Valley Mall, Brisbane
1992 Recent Drawings, Savode Gallery, Brisbane.
1991 K/nights in Shining Amour - Part II (The Maiden's Revenge), Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, collaboration with David Crouch, Jacqueline Eyers, and Adam Wolter
1990 K/nights in Shining Amour, Galerie Brutal, Brisbane, collaboration with David Crouch, Jacqueline Eyers, and Tony Moore
1989 The Great Australian Landscape:
Part I, MINI MOCA, Museum of Contemporary
Art, Brisbane
Part II, arch lane Annex, arch lane PUBLIC
ART, Brisbane
Part III, arch lane PUBLIC ART, Brisbane
1985 Something Fishy (A Little Cat Nap), installation in La Boite Theatre Foyer, Brisbane, collaboration with Adam Wolter
Gallery of the Dyslexic Frog, gallery/installation/performance/community art project, Public Service workplace, Brisbane, collaboration with Tony Moore
1983 Sunday Afternoon at the Gallery, Friday Night in the Mall, Sunday Afternoon in the Gardens, series of public performances, Brisbane
1981 Brisbane Community Arts Centre Gallery, Brisbane
Group Exhibitions
2023 Das Kapital, 236 Chapel Street, Prahran, Melbourne
2022 Circadian Visions, Ngudooroo (Lamb Island), Queensland
2019 CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
Refugia, Nan Giese and Northern Editions galleries, Charles Darwin University, Darwin
Fluidity, Darwin Visual Arts, Darwin
2018 CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
Untitled, Northern Centre for
Contemporary Art, Darwin
ArtMart 2018, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
Changes: forty years of art practice, POP Gallery, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
2017 Cat with the Hat, Monitor, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
ArtMart, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
Hatched, Darwin Visual Arts Association, Darwin
CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
2016 ephemeral traces: Brisbane's artist-run scene in the 1980s, University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
An Awful Lot of Coffee, Darwin Visual Arts Association, Darwin
Junk to Funk, Darwin Visual Arts Association, Darwin
Peer Review, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin
Constellations, Tactile Arts, Darwin
CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
2015 Milestone, Northern Centre for
Contemporary Art, Darwin
CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary
Photography, Melbourne
Through the Keyhole, Darwin Visual Arts
Association, Darwin
12 x 12, Darwin Visual Arts
Association, Darwin
2014 Electricity, Darwin Visual Arts
Association, Darwin
Warp Festival, Darwin Fringe, Happy Yess, Darwin
2012 Visible
Horizon, AIRY and Fusetsu
Galleries, Yamanashi, Japan
The
Library Artspace, J-Studios, Melbourne
2011 Experimental
Sounds Sculptures and Installations, The Library Artspace, J‑Studios,
Melbourne
2010 Plus One 2010, The Library Artspace,
J-Studios, Melbourne, collaboration with Natalie Grant
2009 Gulag, Counihan Gallery in Brunswick, Melbourne
Gertrude
Street Projection Festival, Melbourne
2008 International Students'
Exhibition,
Shanghai Biennale 2008 (exhibition of Phd materials)
Plus One, The Library Artspace, J-Studios, Melbourne, collaboration with Mary Peacock
2006 Siemens–RMIT Fine Art Scholarship Awards, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
2003 Modelling Space, Project Space, RMIT, Melbourne
1998 White Elephant Sale, Grey Area, Melbourne
1997 Roof Roof: an evening of dance, movement, machine and images, the roof of KC Parksafe, Victoria St, Melbourne
QWERTY: approaches to a digital aesthetic, Linden Gallery, Melbourne
1996 short, sharp, and very current, Experimenta Media Arts Festival, Lonsdale Street Power Station, Melbourne
Graduate Exhibition, Electronic Design and Interactive Media, Project Space, Building 94, RMIT, Melbourne
CyberFringe/C.A.T. Digital Imaging Awards, Stop 22, Melbourne
1995 Beta Test, New Media Network, Melbourne
Digital Shifts, Noosa Regional Gallery, Queensland
C.A.T. Digital Imaging Awards, Waverley City Gallery, Melbourne
1993 Media Wave 93, Gyor, Hungary
Fearless, Artestudio, Bergamo, Italy; Forum "Kunst und Schule", Gutersloh, Germany
Southern Crossings/Empty Land, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, England; Zone Gallery, Newcastle, England; Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, England
Post, Coode View Gallery, Melbourne
Vitae, RMIT Faculty Gallery, Melbourne
1992 Southern Crossings/Empty Land, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh
Empty Land, Camerawork Gallery, London
Reference Points: A New Perspective, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Fact, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; Linden Gallery, Melbourne
Box Play, Savode Gallery, Brisbane, collaboration with other gallery artists
1991 Instant Imaging, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Against Pure War, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
1990 SISEA (Second International Symposium on Electronic Art), Gröningen, Holland
Scanning the Code, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney
Above the Apothecary, belowZERO, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Space 90, Queensland College of Art Gallery, Brisbane
International Visual Poetry Exhibition, Victorian Writers' Centre, Melbourne; Western Australian Writers' Centre, Perth
RSVWWZ, Ausgraph 90, Melbourne; belowZERO, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Video Art and New Technology Festival, Film and Television Institute, Fremantle
Queensland Images - A Film Festival - Library Program, Queensland State Library, Brisbane
The Bigger Than Ben Hur Art Prices Auction, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Condemned Commodity Circus, Galerie Brutal, Brisbane
Actions Speak Louder Than Words, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Strangers in Paradise - Premonition, Hole in the Wall, Galerie Brutal, Brisbane
Ze Bruck Zenze, Rondeau, Sydney
The Inaugural Arch Lane Drawing Prize, arch lane PUBLIC ART, Brisbane
Word Fest, Visual Poetics, Queensland Cultural Centre, Brisbane
1989 Visual Poetics, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane
Random Access, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane
Works on Paper, arch lane PUBLIC ART, Brisbane
Open studio exhibition, BAF Studio, Brisbane
The Truth, arch lane PUBLIC ART, Brisbane
1988 Axis File, Sites of Dis-Closure, 2B/The Garage, New York City, U.S.A.; arch lane PUBLIC ART, Brisbane.
Mass Exodus - The Eviction Art Show, 315 Given Tce, Paddington, Brisbane
1987 John Mills Annex, John Mills National, Brisbane
1986 State of the Art/Art of the State, photocopy exhibition, Old Darnell Gallery, University of Queensland, Brisbane
1985 Brisbane Hot, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
This Work Was, THAT Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane
This is THAT, Gladstone Art Gallery, Gladstone
Opening exhibition, THAT Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane
1984 Art-Space/Street-Space, Art Space annex, Mark Foys Dept Store window Sydney, collaboration with Ruth Propsting
1983 Brisbane Community Arts Centre, Brisbane
Grants and Awards
2016 ACMI Video Award, CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne
2010 ArtStart, Australia Council, funds to develop business, marketing, and networking tools for a new media art practice
2002 Digital Media Fund, Film Victoria, funds to develop entity, an artificial life inspired, interactive, computer animated character
1992 Individual Professional Development Program, Arts Division, Queensland State Government, funds to attend the Third International Symposium on Electronic Art, Sydney
1989 New Image Research program, the Australian Film Commission and the Queensland Film Development Office, funds to develop a computer generated animation
Public Collections
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
The University of Queensland Art Collection, Brisbane, Australia
Professional Positions and Responsibilities
2014 - 16 Management Committee member and Treasurer, Darwin Visual Arts Association, Darwin
2010 External
Consultant for a PhD by project, School of Media and Communication, RMIT
External
PhD examiner, School of
Visual & Performing Arts, University
of Tasmania
2009 - 12 J-Studios management committee, Melbourne
1989 Curator, Random Access exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane
1985 Co-founder, Treasurer, and Joint Co-ordinator, THAT Contemporary Art Space, Brisbane
1983 - 85 Founding member and (1984-5) Treasurer, Art Workers Union, Qld (which became the Queensland Artworkers Alliance in 1986)
Related Employment
2013 – 15 Charles Darwin University, Darwin, lecturer in Interactive Digital Media
2012 Swinburne University TAFE, Melbourne, sessional teacher, Graphic Design & Digital Media
1999 - 2011 Cambridge International College, Melbourne, sessional teacher in Multimedia
2003 - 05 The University of Melbourne, sessional lecturer, Interactive Multimedia, School of Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts
2003 Monash College, sessional teacher, Digital Imaging, Diploma of Art and Design Studies
1997 - 2002 RMIT, sessional lecturer Computer Graphics and Multimedia, School of Art and Culture, Faculty of Art Design and Communication
1998 Box Hill Institute, sessional teacher, Design for Interactive Media
1997 - 98 Freelance multimedia designer/programmer - Grey Interactive, WAM
1997 Tantamount Productions, Multimedia Assistant
Freelance animation for Pulse, dance-performance project, Melbourne
1996 Freelance animation for Pacific Magazines and Printing Annual Report
1995 Magian Multimedia, scanning, digital photo-retouching, and digital imaging
1993 - 94 Mount Gravatt College of TAFE, teacher and subject co-ordinator, Computer Graphics, Certificate in Arts, Brisbane
Bibliography
Howie, T., “Strange
take on art peer”, NT News, Thursday, November 24, 2016
Johnson, F., “Out of the gulag”, The Age, Friday, April 17, 2009
Zurbrugg, N., “John Waller Interviewed by Nicholas Zurbrugg”, Electronic Arts in Australia, Continuum, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1994
Lillington, D., "Southern Crossings/Empty Land", Time Out, London, August 5-12, 1992
Zurbrugg, N., "Instant Imaging", Eyeline, No.16, Spring 1991, p 32
Richards, M., "Photocopies more of the same", The Courier Mail, Tuesday, May 21, 1991
Zurbrugg, N., "Random Access", Eyeline, No.11, Autumn 1990, p 27
Woolcock, P., "Charlotte Street arrives as an art centre", The Courier Mail, June, 1985
Catalogue, Gulag Studios 1994 – 2009, Sheridan Palmer, Gulag Publishing, 2009
Catalogue, RMIT University School of Art Postgraduate Art Research by Project, catalogue for International Students' Exhibition, Shanghai Biennale 2008
Catalogue, Southern Crossings/Empty Land, Camerawork, London, 1992, pp. 11, 67-68
Catalogue, Instant Imaging, Queensland Art Gallery, 1991, pp. 6, 8-9
Catalogue, Pat Hoffie/Sue Baker, Anna Gibbs/R.S.V.W.W.Z., Institute of Modern Art, 1990
Catalogue, Visual Poetics, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1989, p. 55
Catalogue, Random Access, Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1989