One night at the end of May, 2016, my name got called out as the winner of a sculpture commission. Yes. I was very surprised, particularly because I was up against two very established artists (compared to me) and really didn't think they would give me a second look. But, it would appear that the work I pitched was just what the lovely people at Wonderment Walk were looking for. Something that could bring science and art together in an engaging way for the general public. Below is a picture of me standing with Eddie Kutner (Founder and Chair of Wonderment Walk org) in front of my concept design. The work, which will be called 'Celestial Ground' will be in front of the Victoria Point apartments in Docklands and is intended to draw attention to the sky above by evoking astronomical observation, reflection (both literal and metaphorical), telescopes, cosmic geometry, and the darkness of the unknown, just to name a few. It will be constructed out of steel, which is not something I've worked with before so I am enlisting the help of the talented crew at Lump Studios to get the job the done. We're currently part way into construction and just waiting on the engineer's 'go ahead' to lay the concrete plinths. So exciting! Launch is scheduled for early October so there's not much wriggle room. Better get back to it. For more info on Wonderment Walk: ​http://wondermentwalk.org.au/

On Tuesday the 7th of July two unknown persons spent a considerable amount of their day examining my PhD exhibition. I expect to get my reports in the coming months. In the meantime I'd like to thank my friends who helped to shift things over from Blindside to RMIT and to get everything set up: Nicholas Chilvers, Robyn Phelan, Sarah Edwards, Claire Humphries, and Anitra Nottingham. Big shout out to Mr Peter Cripps for organising the wonderful Duncan to help with the installation and also a special thank you to Andrew Tetzlaff for doing such a great job on the lighting. There will be some professional photos of the exhibition to be put under 'Artwork' soon but in the meantime here's some I snapped with my phone: 

On Thursday the 18th of June a good number of black-clad Melburnians (and one black-clad Sydneysider) made it up the rickety lift of the Nicholas Building and into Blindside to catch a glimpse of the Portion of the Surface Never Seen. Thanks to you all for braving the cold weather and taking a walk around the Moon with me. Big thanks to RMIT Link for helping me out, and a very special thank you to Mr Fred Kroh who took these lovely photographs on the night. You can see more of his beautiful work on his website: fredkroh.net

Nothing for so long and then everything at once! Well, that's how it feels. My exhibition, Portion of the Surface Never Seen, opens at Blindside gallery in the Melbourne CBD on Thursday the 18th of June. Come along between 6 and 8pm to take an imaginary journey to the Moon with a glass of wine in your hand. Details here: http://www.blindside.org.au/portfolio-item/17-jun-4-jul-2015-portion-of-the-surface-never-seen-colleen-boyle

Then finally, after many years of work, I will be holding my PhD examination exhibition. Unfortunately, I only get to open it up to the public for a brief celebration by way of closing drinks. So if you're curious as to what I've been doing all these years, come along to the RMIT  School of Art Gallery on Thursday the 9th of July between 5pm and 7pm and have a glass of bubbles with me. The gallery can be tricky to find, I'll attempt to put up some signs.

Address: RMIT, Building 2, Level 2, Bowen Street (off Latrobe Street, opposite the State Library)

I'm pleased to be part of an interesting line-up of talks at Melbourne's Centre for Contemporary Photography. CCP's Echo Chamber represents a series of occasional, ongoing public programs showcasing current emerging research in all areas of photography, including historical research, technology, communications and contemporary discussion. 

Would be great to see new and familiar faces on the evening of the 26th of March. I'll be speaking about the role photographic images have played in how we imagine and perceive the Moon. A highlight will be the extraordinary images made by engineer and amateur astronomer, James Nasmyth, in the late 19th century. Other speakers on the night are Kelvin Lau and Tim Alves. 


For more details see: http://www.ccp.org.au/news.php?id=262

I'm very happy to announce that I will be having a solo show at Blindside 
gallery, Melbourne, in June of 2015. On view will be some of my PhD work. So, if you don't catch my PhD show in May, you'll have a second chance to see elements of it in June. 

When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty.
But when I’ve finished, if the solution is not beautiful I know it’s wrong.
Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller (1895 -1983)

I've been struggling with issues surrounding formalism in my research of late. There's a strong trend toward the use of geometry in art and design at the moment and it can sometimes be difficult to determine the 'status' of the object. Don't get me wrong, I think that the formal aspects of an artwork are an important gateway to the viewer's understanding and appreciation of any deeper and, ultimately, more important conceptual aspects of the work. Formalism is also of interest to me personally because it spans the divide between the arts and sciences, and indeed, is considered problematic by some in both domains. It's an interesting issue, and one that I suspect has no real solution. But what a beautiful problem, even if merely a formal one?

I'm very pleased to announce that the new book On the Verge of Photography: Imaging Beyond Representation is now out. If you flip to page 211 you'll find my chapter "Eyes of the Machine: the Role of Imaginative Processes in the Construction of Unseen Realities". I'm not biased or anything, but I think it has the best pictures of the whole book. How can you go past the first TV image of the Earth from space, or the look on Astronaut John Glenn's face as he hurtles around the Earth like 'spam in a can'?

Aside from that, you'll find fascinating chapters by other Melbourne folk such as The University of Melbourne's Barbara Bolt and Monash University's Daniel Palmer.

It's published by Birmingham City University and ARTicle Press and is edited by Daniel Rubenstien, Johnny Golding, and Andy Fisher.