Michael Goldberg

Research

Goldberg's research has included themes informed by Australia's early colonial period with a focus on sites of significance in the Sydney region. He explored the conventions of museum display and how historical information is presented for public consumption. In these earlier works Goldberg incorporated an alternative view of historical issues, those usually avoided or sanitised by cultural institutions that operate within a limited and prescribed framework.

These primarily site-specific installations between 1995 and 1999 were produced for Elizabeth Bay House, the 1830s residence of Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay; Tusculum, the 1830s residence of colonial entrepreneur, Alexander Brodie Spark; and the Palm House, Sydney's first public hothouse circa 1837 at the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Art Gallery of New South Wales where the installation The Well Built Australian addressed the development and gentrification of neighbouring, working-class Woolloomooloo.

In 2001 at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, as part of the sesqui-centennial commemoration of the discovery gold in Australia, NCM open/high/low/close initiated Goldberg's ongoing examination of global financial markets and their representation on the Internet. He tracked the fluctuating price of gold over four weeks using the walls of the gallery as a floor-to-ceiling graph pad. In the quieter moments he posted up a list of all the references to gold in the Bible. Thus sacred and profane activities became as one.

The subject of world markets was explored again in the installation catchingafallingknife.com (2002) at Artspace, Sydney. Here, Goldberg attempted to profit from trading actual shares in the international media icon, News Corporation over a two-week period.

Curatorial projects are also of prime interest to Goldberg. He produced Artists in the House! (1997) and Swelter (1999/2000), featuring a number of prominent Australian artists, for the Historic Houses Trust of NSW and the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust respectively. In 2005 he curated The Butterfly Effect with 13 artists, including Goldberg, interpreting and interacting with the displays of the Australian Museum, the country’s oldest museum of natural history.

His recent installation projects have highlighted the proliferation of disaster images emerging from reportage on global terrorism. To this end Avatar (2005) explored an off-the-shelf flight simulation computer program to imply a ‘9/11’ scenario for downtown Sydney. Global mobility and nationalism in the era of the ‘War on Terror’ was addressed in the installation at Sydney’s Artspace Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes (2008).

Community and public art projects also feature in Goldberg's work. In 2006 he was consultant to the City of Sydney on the Glebe Point Road Public Art Project and in the same year he curated Many Voices/Merging Visions for the Glebe community component of the City of Sydney’s ‘Art and About’ event.

Michael is a member of the Holroyd City Council Arts Advisory Committee.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes, Installation, Artspace, Sydney, 2008

Catchingafallingknife.com, Virtual site-specific installation, Artspace, Sydney, 2002

The Well Built Australian, Site-specific installation, Art Gallery of New South Wales Project Space, Sydney, 1999

Ground Zero, Site-specific installation, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, 1997

Real Estate, Site-specific installation at the historic house Tusculum, The Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Sydney, 1996

A Humble Life, Site-specific installation, Elizabeth Bay House, The Historic Houses Trust of NSW, Sydney, 1995


Selected Group Exhibitions

Disobedience, curated by David McNeill and Zanny Begg, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney, 2005

The Butterfly Effect, a curatorial project: 13 artists interpret the displays at the Australian Museum, Sydney, 2005

Auriferous - The Gold Project, Sesqui-centenary of the discovery of gold exhibition curated by Amanda Lawson and Craig Judd , Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, 2001

Swelter, a program of site-specific installations by eight artists in Palm House, Sydney, May 1998 – January 1999

Artists In The House!, a program of site-specific installations by 14 artists at Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney, 1997

Publications

‘Strong Language, Some Violence, Adult Themes’, Artspace Visual Arts Centre, Sydney 2008

McNeill, D., ‘Heritage and Hauntology – the Installation Art of Michael Goldberg’, in What is Installation Art? An anthology of installation art in Australia ed. Genocchio, B. and Geczy, A., Power Publications, Sydney, 2001

Awards & Grants

2009 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Board New Work Grant
2006 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Board New Work Grant
2001 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Board New Work Grant
1998 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Fund Presentation and Promotion Grant for Swelter, The Palm House, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney
1997 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Board New Work Grant
1996 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Board Presentation and Promotion Grant for Artists in the House!, Elizabeth Bay House, Historic Houses Trust of NSW, Sydney
1993 Australia Council for the Arts: Visual Arts/Craft Board Creative Development Grant

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