work / TV WEEK (1980 - 1985) 2020
'TV WEEK 1980 -1985'
TV Week attempts to locate pure monochromatic colour within the specific era of the early to mid-1980s. The pastel blues and pinks along with the quintessentially 80s fluorescent greens and yellows remind us that colour can transport us into another time and emotional space. Adding to this, each work in the series has two titles which reference the layered headlines seen on the covers of the popular Australian TV gossip magazine - when television series such as Cop Shop, Dallas, Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice and The Love Boat were prime time viewing for most families in Australia. The sensational headline ‘Why Jack Thompson Posed Nude’ coupled with the evocative ’Inside Kamahl’s Sydney Mansion’ was the first work in the series which was appropriated from the cover of a magazine picked up in a flea market and led into the entire project as more and more magazines were sourced online. It appeared that each magazine had increasingly more ridiculous headlines, including ‘Rowena: Why I Killed Pat the Rat’, ‘Nose Job for George Negus’ and ‘Benny Hill – Why I Shun Women’. Other titles such as ‘Jamie Redfern - Liberace Was Like A Father to Me’ and ‘New Sexy Rolf Harris’ take on a different meaning, adding a somewhat sinister tone, especially when viewed through the lens of history. These titles are important descriptors as they help guide the viewer back to particular moments in time. The works are also made to the exact scale of the original magazine further enhancing the remembered experience. I have kept the large bold television shaped text of the TV Week logo intact as it’s a firm memory trigger and an important locator of experience for the viewer of the project. It’s almost impossible to look back at these magazines with their lurid headlines and storylines and not marvel at the apparent innocence of the 1980s, especially when viewed from the world’s current context.
TV WEEK 1980-1985
1. Why Jack Thompson Posed Nude / Inside Kamahl's Sydney Mansion
2. Go-Go’s Pin-Up / Tony Barbers New Toorak Home
3. All the Logie Winners / Superbitch Joan Goes on Strike 2019
4. E.T. The Alien Who Took Over the World / Tony Barber's Sexy Summer Fashions
5. Benny Hill - Why I Shun Women / The Woman Who Tamed Erik Estrada
6. Larry Hagman Feud Erupts / My Shocking Sister Joan - By Jackie Collins
7. Rowena: Why I Killed Pat the Rat / Nose Job for George Negus
8. Larry Hagman's Crash Diet / Cop Shop Shock
9. TV's Magnum Calls Off His Marriage / Wandin Valley Bomb Blast...Who Gets Killed?
10. JR's Wicked Women / The Secret Side of Mike Walsh
11. Women and Me - Tom Selleck Tells / Joan Collin's Nude Scenes
12. Secret Side of Dolly Parton / For Olivia The Terror Goes On…
13. Angry Network Dumps Rowena / Robert Wagner - The Love That Soothes His Silent Pain
14. Jamie Redfern - Liberace Was Like A Father to Me / Dune Photo Special
15. Pops Bitter Feud Marilyn Vs Boy George/Thrown in A Communist Jail - Neighbours Beauty Tells
16. New Sexy Rolf Harris / Penelope Keith's Husband What's The REAL Story?
17. Abigail: Sex Siren Turns Arch Bitch / Brian Mannix Security Scare!
18. Those Crazy Dukes of Hazzard / Neil Diamond’s Torrid Love Scene
19. Love, Romance and Andy Gibb / Love Boat Captain Heads Religious Sect
20. Paula Duncan Back in Uniform / Lee Major Woos Farrah Fawcett Look-Alike
