In a time when things of the Creative Spirit, Intuition and Emotion are too often sacrificed for the apparently Rational - we wish to assist in the restoration of the Imagination to a prime place in our community.
In appropriate materials, with apt ideas,we make unexpected works that fit, are at home.
RAT PROFILE: Peter Widmer & Geoff Bonney
RAtARtAt has developed from our original Studio practice of Fine Art as painters and sculptors. It has evolved over time into a multi faceted approach to Art, in a very broad sense, within many communities. RAtARtAt collaborations are the product of and are, in the main, project based, and we encourage engagement with other artists in those projects.
It now encompasses:
- Work with children: our first paid commission was as Artists-in-Residence at a primary school. This has lead to a long history of work with children and the re-presentation of their Art.
- The use of our Fine Art proficiency in a response to the various environments in which we find ourselves working:
- Exhibitions in Galleries.
- Art in Education-from primary schools to disadvantaged youth.
- Art in Industry.
- Art in, and as a response to, public space.
- Advocacy for Art as an essential and integrated component of all our lives.
We have chosen to base or practice in regional Victoria, close to Melbourne. This gives us a fine post from which to observe and understand a broad range of communities, their activities and priorities.
DESIGN PROCESS:
Our work processes are deeply rooted in the notion of Fine Art and its attendant craft.
It is related to specific client needs- the places and people- by the use of readily recognised materials and objects that are then re-presented in an unusual and often provocative way.
Collaboration allows us a speedy response to client needs, but requires the ability to make reasonable compromise. It is imperative that each collaborator is genuinely critical of all facets of the process. It requires the ability to be able to relinquish any preciousness or predisposition, and be willing to be constructive challenged at the source of inspiration.
Humour is an essential tool...
