Barbara Campbell facts for kids

Barbara Campbell (born 1961) is an Australian artist. She creates art through performances and large art installations. An installation is a type of art that fills a space or room.

Early Life and Education

Campbell was born in Beaudesert, Queensland in 1961. She went to the University of Sydney to study film in 1987. Later, she earned a Master of Visual Arts degree from Sydney College of the Arts in 1998.

In 2015, she completed her PhD at Sydney College of the Arts. Her research looked at how shorebirds (birds that live near the sea) can guide human performances.

Artistic Influences and Practice

Campbell was inspired by other artists who worked with Super 8 film in Sydney. She also admired minimalist filmmakers from the 1960s, like Stan Brakhage. She learned from French thinkers who studied film semiotics, which is about how signs and symbols work in movies.

In 1987, Campbell took a course in Super 8 at the University of Sydney. She also led many workshops with other artists. Later, she began using video in her art. She created "live video feedback," where a camera and a monitor (screen) would interact. This helped create a conversation between the artist and the audience.

Career Highlights

Campbell has created many interesting art projects.

Conradania: A Literary Installation

One of her large art installations is called Conradania. It was inspired by the famous 1899 novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This book is set on the Congo River in Africa. The movie Apocalypse Now was also based on Conrad's novel.

For Conradania, Campbell spent eight weeks typing out the entire book, word for word. She typed it onto twenty long pieces of Chinese rice paper. Then, she filmed the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland. This film was shown on a small screen in front of the hanging rice paper.

1001 Nights Cast: Collaborative Storytelling

Another project, 1001 nights cast (from 2005 to 2008), involved hundreds of people. They used video to stream live performances online through the project's website. This artwork was inspired by The Arabian Nights, a famous collection of stories. In these tales, a young woman named Scheherazade avoids being executed by telling endless, exciting stories to the King Shahriyar. Her storytelling was a way to survive.

From 1982 to 1983, Campbell worked as the Gallery Co-ordinator at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane. In 1984, she ran an important art collective called A Room in George Street, Brisbane.

Collections

As of March 2022, four of Barbara Campbell's artworks are kept in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.