The Motorcycle: Design ~ Art ~ Desire

Magnetoman

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As background, just over twenty years ago Ultan Guilfoyle and I (Charles Falco) were co-curators of the record-breaking 'The Art of the Motorcycle' exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. During its time at the Guggenheim in New York, Bilbao (Spain), and Las Vegas over 2 million visitors saw the motorcycles we selected, a quarter-million bought the 432-page catalog, and countless others watched programs about them on television and read about them in upwards of a thousand magazine and newspaper stories.

Officially announced today by the Hon. Leeanne Enoch, Queensland Minister for Arts and Minister for Science, is that Ultan and I are now creating a completely re-imagined look at the past, present, and future of motorcycles with the working title 'The Motorcycle: Design ~ Art ~ Desire'. The exhibition will open at the Queensland Art Gallery|Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane on 28 November 2020 as their summer blockbuster and run through April 25, 2021. QAGOMA is one of Australia's most important visual arts institutions with more than one million visitors annually, 30 percent from interstate and overseas, making it equivalent in mission and attendance to the Guggenheim. We also are in initial discussions for the exhibition to travel outside Australia following its run in Brisbane.

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and I (Charles
 

Magnetoman

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The Guardian newspaper in Australia published the graph below of Covid cases in their country. Thanks to their national science-based approach to dealing with it, their cumulative per-capita number of cases is only 8.5% of ours in the U.S., and has been dropping toward 0 for over a month while ours continues to rise. As a result of Australia's and New Zealand's success thus far with Covid, everyone involved in the exhibition 'The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire' is optimistic about it opening as originally scheduled on November 28 as their summer blockbuster.

After months of being locked down we expect this exhibition for a post-Covid world about motorcycle design, and the freedom these machines represent, should be received quite well. Yes, it's still optimistic that the exhibition will take place, but a lot more realistic than it was a month ago.

Given issues with international air transport that are likely to remain for months to come, Ultan Guilfoyle and I beat the AU and NZ bushes for over a month to tie down as many loans as possible within the country, and yesterday we were able to finalize our checklist. We are now turning our attention to details of the catalog.

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Magnetoman

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Against bets that would have been placed just a little over a month ago, the Queensland Art Gallery (the QAG of the two-building QAGOMA complex) is now making tentative plans to open in late June, with the Gallery of Modern Art (the GOMA) in early August. Having the slower winter season to ease them into the new normal will allow time to make adjustments at a time when attendance is lower and the impact on operations less, before the summer season begins with the schedule opening of 'The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire' on 28 November.
 

Magnetoman

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opening of 'The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire' on 28 November.
Although the State of Victoria is doing its best to upset things, QAGOMA is now open to the socially-distanced public and the exhibition is still scheduled to open on 28 November. We're well into the layout and design phase, allowing QAGOMA's incredible shop ample time to construct the plinths and other features needed for an exhibition of this scope. Also, irrespective of whatever travel restrictions might be in place at that time, Ultan Guilfoyle and I recently completed work on the accompanying 320-page book for Phaidon Press, available from your favorite bookseller at the end of November.
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Whiteshadow15

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Saw that Britten around the track at Barber last October. One of the most amazing sounding machines I’ve ever heard, like nothing else.
 

Martyn Goodwin

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Although the State of Victoria is doing its best to upset things, QAGOMA is now open to the socially-distanced public and the exhibition is still scheduled to open on 28 November. We're well into the layout and design phase, allowing QAGOMA's incredible shop ample time to construct the plinths and other features needed for an exhibition of this scope. Also, irrespective of whatever travel restrictions might be in place at that time, Ultan Guilfoyle and I recently completed work on the accompanying 320-page book for Phaidon Press, available from your favorite bookseller at the end of November.View attachment 36464
Your information is way way out of date. Australia is experiencing a massive second COVID wave. All states have closed their borders - and that includes Queensland. Our national border is closed to ALL non residents - inbound residents are placed in mandatory quarantine with total isolation for at least 14 days. The basis of the concern is that most infections are now the result of community transmission.

Below is the data from the local paper today. Believe Donald Fake News if you want - but Australia is gripped by the pandemic with our leaders in broadcasts to the nation telling us that restrictions will be in place for AT LEAST the rest of the year and possibly well into 2021 or beyond.

Here are the restriction in force in Victoria.
  • We are not permitted to travel any further than 5 km from home.
  • When we go out face masks are a must with fines of up to $20,000 (not a typo) if you are caught not wearing one.
  • We are allowed out from home ONLY for 1. Shopping (but only one person at a time), 2. Attending a medical appointment, 3. If you are an essential worker (health pro or cop) attending work and 4. Exercise - but must be on foot and then only 1 hour per day..
  • We now have a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am. Breach it and again $20,000 fines
  • Borders are effectively closed with anyone entering any state (NSW, Vic etc) from any other state or entering the country from overseas being put into quarantine sole confinement for at least 2 weeks - and the governments are billing those folk $1,000 per week while they are there
  • All schools, childing care and kinders are closed
  • With the exception of food stores and chemists almost all retail has been shut down.
  • If You commit multiple breaches of the rules then its imprisonment
Radio news is right now reporting over 750 NEW COVID-19 cases overnight in Victoria alone. The slope of the chart below says it all.
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Magnetoman

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Your information is way way out of date.
Sadly, it's not. I'm probably following developments in Australia closer than 90% of Australians are. Yes, Australia's State (and National) borders are closed, but nation-wide the new cases were in the low double digits through the middle of June, at which point Victoria lost the plot. As a result, yesterday there were 452 new cases reported in all of Australia, of which 439 (97%) were in Victoria.

I'm not pointing fingers because my own State in the U.S. is doing worse than the entire continent of Australia. But, QAGOMA is open now, cases in Queensland remain close to nil, and the exhibition is on track to open as originally schedule.
 

Martyn Goodwin

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Breaking news from Queensland


If you have a problem with the link, here is just some of the text.

"Queensland will close its border to NSW and the ACT this week after people continued to flout the state's mandatory quarantine.

From 1am on Saturday, returning Queenslanders will have to pay for 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine while all visitors will be denied entry.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the hard border lockdown is due to people deliberately flouting the law.

"There are people dying. This is a life-and-death situation here," she said on Wednesday."

Charles, I do admire your optimism and would love to think that you are correct and all of the advise being delivered by our leaders in Australia is wrong.
 
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