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Sam Schoenbaum writes in tribute to Ian Burn and also reviews his recent exhibition, Collaborations. The review was in process prior to Ian's death.
The untimely death of Ian Burn came as a shock to the art community in Australia. He was known internationally as an art activist and collaborator. To bring about social change was a major driving force in his work and to those who had contact with him, the energy which lurked behind his noticeable ordinariness was inspirational. He trained as a tradesman, had an art education in Melbourne, moved to England where he became involved with the art and language group from London, then moved to New York to further that involvement. In 1977 he returned to Australia, to live in Sydney, and it was there that he accidentally drowned at Pretty Beach, Bawley Point, on the south coast on 29 September, 1993.
Burn remained language-based in his work, moving from conceptual art to minimalism, into social practice, all of which resulted in a self-invented formalism. He collaborated with other art workers throughout. Artists who moved through these decades often have the problem of their craft not being defined by a particular medium. Perhaps his craft was his ability to work with such a vast range of colleagues. He was able to inspire an integrity and seriousness in attitude and appreciation of art and to bring to light the significance of local action on a global scale. How is it that artists of this caliber don't get to represent the country in official shows whilst silly art misrepresents a maturity that does exist among Australia's serious artists who steer away from career speculators? The degree... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline