2009 GERTRUDE STREET PROJECTION FESTIVAL

Gertrude Street can be a scary place. Right up there with South Central LA and The Mall in Surfers. Trust us, we know. One time our jeans were so tight we couldn't run to Fatto a Mano fast enough. Some bum got the last scone.

Kym Ortenburg and Monique McNamara of The Gertrude Association are well aware of the "gertrudification" of the street, as they like to call it. All their projects are built around bringing disparate parts of the community together through art.

Enter the Gertrude Street Projection Festival - a name so eponymous we could end this missive right here... but we won't.

"We wanted a project that would help all of our community help express their own particular view and for all those different views to be inseparable from the area itself," says Kym. "Our aim was to have an art project on the street so people don't have to enter the gallery space."

This year the Festival will have twenty sites on Gertrude Street. Some are inside venues and others will screen externally using rear projection. Each has a curated reel of ten minutes which will run on a loop between 6-11pm.

"It's a program that celebrates new media and projection artists. The rest of the world may think it's emerging but computers essentially created a whole new medium for artists," says Monique. "It's very accessible. We select a feature artist - this year it is Yandell Walton - to inspire everyone to what's possible. We encourage people who don't think they're artists to enter and give the forum over to practitioners to get their work out there. It's really modelled to promote the artists."

"As a design studio we are part of the gentrification of the street. We want to turn that into a positive thing and celebrate all the gems so that they don't get lost, rather than having one culture dominating the whole thing," says Kym. To that end they're working with several community groups who are either providing projections themselves or offering their building up as a screening site for the Festival. The message is: 'You Don't Have To Walk Really Fast Past the Rehab Clinic No More. Stop and Look at the Pretty Lights!' "We live and work here," says Kym. "We know the area can be full on. There are such contrasts, but that's the community."

Oh and the artwork? It's good. "We had people coming up to us last year saying they were really impressed - they thought it was going to be crap," laughs Monique. "You think it's 'community' art but we attract amazing artists because we're a profiling event."

The 2009 Gertrude Street Projection Festival happens from 3-10 July between 6-11pm. For more info go here

Plastic Stories by Lise Couchet (VJ Inxile) and Christy Bryar is part of the opening night party on Friday 3 July at Gertrude's Brown Couch from 7pm.

PROFILE:

TREWLEA PETERS, VIDEO ARTIST

It began a decade ago with a Fine Arts degree at the University of Newcastle and a short film about a drug trip. Then video artist Trewlea Peters left the steel city for a stint in Multimedia at RMIT where she became "addicted to abstraction". So far so Gonzo. Soon Trewlea was tripping the light-fantastic as a professional VJ (that's video-jockey you punks) working with local and international DJs - and she's just returned from six months at the nexus of bohemia in Berlin. Trewlea's experimental film Chrysalis screened as part of the Gertrude Street Projection Festival last year. This year she's curating the "adults only" Sensory Overload party at the Workers Club.

What motivates your own work?
I enjoy messing with people's minds. If I can come up with an idea that shocks people or allows them to explore concepts and environments that they normally wouldn't, then I'm happy. I have a rather dark sense of humour and this comes through in my work. This is why Kontinuum and I work so well as a VJ team. We share the same love of macabre and twisted imagery.

Because we have the power to transform the atmosphere of the gigs we play, VJs sometimes get a God complex. If the music is hard and fast we create chaos through our visuals. If the music is ambient we can completely calm the audience with the flick of a switch.

Who are some of your screen projection idols?
Johan Soderberg who is most famous for his montages which use lip-syncing to put words in to politician's mouths. He samples quotes from environmental experts for example, and mixes this with powerful image loops. Then he cuts this to his own music to create rhythmic and energetic montages.

Christian Marclay whose four-screen 'Crossfire' installation was part of the "Replay Marclay" exhibition at ACMI in 2008. The audience was right in the centre of the crossfire of the four screens.

Sensory Overload - paint a picture.
I like to think of it as the 'adults only' night of the Gertrude Street Projection Festival. This will not be night for anyone with a heart condition or epilepsy. Think of it as exploring the corners of your own mind. Corners you might have forgotten about.

We have some of Melbourne's best artists in the mix. I've challenged each VJ/DJ team to create a performance that they believe will trigger a 'sensory overload' and the night has been structured as a build up with the most intense performances at the end. I will also be creating sensory deprivation intervals involving hypnosis tracks and minimalist visuals, during which you can unwind at the bar.

Who are the exhibiting artists?
Jason Bon, Simon Leo Brown, Lindsay Cox, Bec Cole, Sean Kelly, Sado, Dotahn Caspi & Boris Otterdam.

Sensory Overload is on at The Workers Club on Wednesday 8 July from 7pm.