SHASTA STEVIC
MAJOR ART PROJECTS
Captive
Contemporary Art Tasmmania
May 2022
Are we captivated by screens or captives of them?
Screens emit energy. However, in addition to that, they also generate energy, in us, when we use them...when we click, scroll, view, like, share, produce. And we then emit that energy into the world.
Is this energy good or bad? Does it have a positive impact on the other people, animals and plants around us or a negative one?
There are many ways in which we are aware of the negative impact of humans on other species, on the natural environment, on the planet. But what about where that impact is more subtle, or even invisible to us?
Suður ljós (Southern Lights)
Skammdegi Festival
Ólafsfjörður, Iceland
January - February 2018
Developed during the Listhus Artist Residency program, this curatorial project featured the work of a number of young Australian artists.
Their work was exhibited on the exterior of a small house in Ólafsfjörður, Iceland during the Skammdegi Winter Festival, making it accessible not only to people with a specific interest in viewing art, but also to people who just happened to be driving past the house.
Many cars stopped, and people came out to view the work, people who may not have traditionally ventured into a gallery or exhibition space.
Intra//Liminal
Australia and Iceland
2017 - 2019
IntraLiminal was co-founded by Shasta Stevic and Caigan Meade in 2017 to provide opportunities for young artists from regional Australia to share their work with their community (and broader public) and to gain valuable exhibiting and curatorial experience. All exhibiting artists were under the age of 25.
Six exhibitions were held in 2017, which drew in excess of 2000 visitors, four exhibitions in 2018 (including two exhibitions in Iceland), and one exhibition in 2019.
The project showcased the work of over 40 talented young artists and musicians.
Archaeological Dig
Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
2016
Three-day performance and exhibition exploring themes of (un)civilisation, progress, human-centrality, environmental degradation and destruction, waste, greed, and fear.
The goal was to utilise performance and installation as a form of storytelling to weave a narrative through the small town in which the performance took place - this started with a deliberately-planted rumour within the town of the discovery of artefacts, then a 3-day archaelogical dig, followed by an installation of a museam-style cabinet of the 'found' objects, leading to robust conversations about the past, the present, the future, and our place within them.
Auditions
Hallormsstaðaskógur, Iceland
2016
This performative project involved auditioning trees in Hallormsstaðaskógur National Forest for a reality television show.
The Dark Mountain Manifesto speaks about the myth of Human Centrality - the myth that humans are the centre of everything, the most important beings on the planet. I believe that reality television shows like The Kardashians, The Real Housewives etc, perpetuate this awful myth.
If humans can star in reality television, why can't other species, like trees? Would they want to? What would they say?
