Drawings you can walk on – Mike Parr and the 20th Biennale of Sydney 2016

Abstract

It would be great if people could walk on the work – that would be interesting. (Parr 2015, pers. comm., 27 October) This paper investigates the multifaceted conservation issues surrounding Mike Parr’s work the side I least like, a set of 164 drawings on cardboard belonging to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), and its installation in the 20th Biennale of Sydney in 2016. This paper considers the AGNSW’s role in working with the artist to ensure the appropriate display and preservation of these drawings, which for Parr are intentionally unstable (both physically and conceptually) and form part of an ongoing creative project entitled the Self Portrait Project.