A View From Nowhere - The Photocopy Self Portraits by Sir Sidney Nolan (Burren College of Art)

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A View from Nowhere presents a collective response to sets and sequences of recently discovered photocopies produced by Sir Sidney Nolan (1917 – 1992), that were made in 1987.

Copy Collective presents a symposium and exhibition in response to these recently unearthed photocopy artworks by Sir Sidney Nolan, one of the 20th century’s most influential modern artists. Following on from Celtic Image (2018), these works are part of the 2nd occasion where the artist is showcased in the Burren College of Art. The works presented here, discovered at his former home, represent an experimental and lesser-known aspect of his practice, using a standard office photocopier as a creative tool. A View from Nowhere marks the first public display of these photocopies.

The Event Day and Exhibition explores, through the spoken word, sound, digital image technologies and lectures, the re-imagining of this remarkable, but hitherto unknown aspect of his creative works. The Symposium will present a number of engagements in various forms, offering a fresh perspective on Nolan’s overall contribution to British and international art.

This exhibition marks the first public display of these forgotten photocopies. The ‘copies’ were originally made in Nolan’s office and study area and not in his painting or printmaking studio and they are very much a performative act. They have distinct correlations to his work in opera, his own poetry and his fascination for new technology of the time.

Copy Collective is an interdisciplinary research team. It includes artists, curators, and scholars from diverse backgrounds, working with or associated with institutions such as Oxford University, University College London, Royal College of Art, Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, and Tate Britain, with knowledge and skills in art history, archiving, digital mapping, music composition, and exhibition sound design.

The symposium and exhibition not only sheds light on Nolan’s unexplored processes but attempts also situate him within the broader context of international art, where his experimental approach to materials and technology reflects a deeper engagement with the possibilities of modern artistic practice.

This event series is an initiative of The Copy Collective in partnership with the Sidney Nolan Trust and The Burren College of Art with support from the Canterbury Sound Studio.