MELBOURNE NEWS

Culture and heritage

Signal artists shine through screen and sound 

15 October 2021

Reconnect with the sounds, sights and diverse voices of Melbourne through Signal’s latest trove of new online artworks. 

Each year, the City of Melbourne commissions a group of young artists to create a series of screen and sound works through Signal, our creative studio for young people aged 14 to 25. 

The chosen artists take part in one-on-one mentoring and weekly workshops with professional artists and industry insiders, working collaboratively across multiple artforms. 

This year’s screen and sound works include a car-wash soundscape that echoes obsessive compulsive disorder, a queer retelling of Romeo and Juliet through classical and electronic music, and a journey beneath local waterways. 

Anne Wagner, another of the young artists, created a screen commission that explores dreaming and eco-anxiety. 

‘My art practice orientates around being a oneironaut – a person who investigates their own dreams,’ Anne said.  

Am I Awake Now? is a mush of my fascination with the strangeness of dreamscapes and how my anxieties of our climate crisis creep into them.  

‘Attempting to visually represent feelings and dream sensations was the most challenging but also enjoyable part as I discovered more ways to create art from memory, thought and the conscious and subconscious mind.’ 

Am I Awake Now? is Anne’s first commissioned artwork and she particularly enjoyed the mentorship and inspiring talks from professional artists that Signal provided, even amid evolving COVID-19 restrictions.

‘Being in between lockdowns can be draining and at times uninspiring but we were such a lovely and supportive group of artists, and we also had a really caring facilitator,’ Anne said. 

‘Signal has been an amazing place for my friends and I to join in on workshops, connect with people and share the love for expressing ourselves. If you’re 14 to 25 years old, check out all the great things they have to offer.’ 

Experience Am I Awake Now? and eight other evocative new works at Signal Screen x Sound Commissions 

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