Past Decisions

Question 1

People who rarely or never go to galleries	64%
Lovers of Australian art	14%
Kids	16%
Artists and art professionals	6%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "I'm absolutely delighted with the decision; it's a goal that we all have, that is, to attract people who never or rarely go to galleries, it's a great first decision, it's an ambitious choice. So we need to be clever, enjoy the potential to be witty and we also have the capacity to be a little bit cheeky."

Question 2

Controversy: Artists who have created controversy	23%
Birth to death: The human body	10%
The eyes have it: Focus on eyes	10%
Nighttime: The nocturnal hour	18%
Objects of desire: Erotic, tactile and spiritual	39%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "I think that the choice that has been made for this week certainly enhances the choice of the week before. We are trying to attract people who have never been to the gallery and we know that something a bit salacious and titillating can always manage to attract people's attention. So hopefully this will fulfil the aims of the listeners, to attract people into the Gallery that wouldn't normally attend. But remember its all about the works of art and the power of art to move and inspire people's emotions. "The category of Objects of desire: Erotic, tactile and spiritual is so diverse, there are so many ways of looking at desire and the collection is very open to that. Social standards and attitudes change and art works that have been made at a particular period of time are wonderful barometers or mirrors of social standards of the period, so this week's decision of era is extremely important to how we interpret our theme."

Question 3

The entire span of the collection	45%
The Twentieth Century: 100 years of desire	32%
Only contemporary works (post-1980)	18%
The turn of the century (late 1800's to early 1900's)	5%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "I think the choice of the entire span of the collection will give us a great scope for selection. It means that the kinds of works that we can present to the listeners for selection are really eclectic and diverse. I think having the ability to do that will give us a great selection of works in our end exhibition."

Question 4

Charles Conder: Cupid's hour (c. 1902)	10%
Graeme Drendel: The haircut (1997)	46%
Auguste Rodin: Balzac 'athlete' (Study F) (c. 1896, recast 1981)	12%
Arthur Boyd: Entwinded figures over couch (not dated)	18%
Rupert Bunny: Femme couchee (c. 1921)	14%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "I have to say that I was quite surprised with the vote for the Graeme Drendel; I think it's a really engaging, compelling and somewhat mysterious work. I think it's heartening that a work which is so layered has got such an overwhelming support; it means that the ABC listeners enjoy gutsy works."

Question 5

Hirokuni Katsuno: On the table 2 (1978)	14%
Auguste Rodin: Desinvolture (casualness) (not dated)	38%
George Baldessin (1939-1978): Mary Magdalene (1978, cast 1983, recast in bronze 1986)	16%
Dale Frank: The Blind Artist (1994)	19%
Patricia Piccinini: Heart Breaker (2002)	13%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "This is a very interesting work, because I think there are so many crossovers with our theme. The Mary Magdalene sculpture obviously has so many spiritual connotations as well; it is very tactile and desirable. When you see the work you will appreciate how dynamic the surface of it is, how touchable this work is. "I am a little bit disappointed in the Piccinini vote, because it is such a seductive piece, and out of all the works there, it's the one you most want to interact with because it is so gleaming and as you walk around it, the surface actually changes colour. I find it one of the most alluring works that we have in the collection, so I am a little bit disappointed, but the works of art that have been chosen are pretty fantastic too."

Question 6

Craigie Aitchison: Crucifixion (1975)	8%
Roger Kemp: Ascension (1965)	11%
Paul Beadle: The Creation (1969)	16%
John Coburn: The Third Day: God created the Earth (1977)	13%
Jane Burton: Cul de Sac (2000)	52%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "It was really clear that many people connected with Jane Burton's work. I think there are a number of reasons that this happened, one being that the others were very much conventional works, which were based on traditional religious allegories. I think this week's results are great, as the selections make some wonderful links to the works previously selected."

Question 7

Akio Makigawa: Beacon 1 (1992)	14%
Bill Henson: Untitled (1992-93)	22%
Gwyn Hanssen Pigott: At the gates (2003)	24%
Tracey Moffatt: LOVE (2003)	23%
Peter Atkins: Brunswick Journal part 4 (2002)	17%

Question 8

An expert's comment	8%
Listeners' comments*	11%
None, except title, artist, size and materials	22%
A combination of the three	59%

In the mind of your curatorial advisor "It wasn't a split decision this week, it was very clear cut. So in accommodating this weeks decision we are going to have to be very selective in the words. We don't want the visual experience to be overpowered by text, but we certainly do want to see what the listeners' want, which is text in assisting the interpretation of these works. "I think it would be really insightful to receive thoughts from the listeners about how the works might make them feel, the intentions that they think the artist may have been exploring, or just the sensation in what one gets from looking at a work."

Question 9

Option 1: LINKAGE	52%
Option 2: SUBJECT MATTER	8%
Option 3: FREE FORM	9%
Option 4: AESTHETICS	31%

Question 10

Classic: Verdelho and chicken sandwiches	43%
Desirable: Champagne and oysters	40%
Aussie: Beer and party pies	13%
None the art is too important to be distracted with food and drink	4%