Author Description

What if our plans divert us from better futures we cannot envision? What logic, methods and circumstances may warrant more reliance on spontaneity, improvisation and serendipity? Can purposeful work towards nothing in particular be effective? This publication continues the critical discussion of contemporary goal-orientation among artists and scholars launched by the Conjuring Serendipity panel convened at the AAANZ (The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand) Conference at the Australian National University in Canberra in December 2024. Justas Pipinis draws on scientific research and his own PhD project in creative practice to discuss the possibility of attaining success without preset goals. Alexandra Harrison shares her experience as a first-time academic conference presenter, highlighting the everyday background that shapes and feeds artistic and scholarly endeavours. Dr Athene Currie and Dr Sonia York-Pryce present a selection of spontaneous performances in nature using call and response as a vehicle for the random embodiment of posthuman and ecofeminist concerns. Prof Philip Samartzis, having recently relocated from Melbourne to Sydney, contemplates the artistic potential in aimlessly exploring a new city. Martin George positions artmaking on the continuum between aimless play and purposeful utility, using collaborative transmutations of a sculpture as an example. Gabriel Nilsen presents a photo series accompanied by a handful of words, but do they circumscribe or open up its meaning? Jason Lehane shares what it's like to make art with aphantasia, a condition that prevents him from envisioning possible outcomes. Dr Ian Haig employs AI to generate unpredictable errors. Josh Wilson attempts to articulate the uncodified practices of GalleryGallery Inc, searching for elusive and yet "extremely particular marvellous and unrealised potentials of now".