Who is Julie Vulcan?
I am Sydney based artist that persistently and deliciously overflows out of any box.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
Learn languages other than English. As an artist and thinker it opens up new ways of seeing and understanding the world as well as making sense of lineages. I live in a country in which there was once over 250 first people languages! Imagine how much more we would understand this land if we could understand the language of the original custodians! When I travel I feel slightly ashamed that I am so monolingual. I don’t want to take for granted the privilege of being born into a first world, English speaking, dominant culture. I am trying to learn Italian right now.
Who inspires you and why?
The hardest question because there is never one. I just saw Anohni’s performance in Sydney in May. I am inspired by her stance to use her popular cultural capital as a platform to activate action in the most heart churning, gut-wrenching and vulnerable way. I am a big time David Attenborough fan for many reasons. He is someone that never stops advocating for what he loves and believes in. His awe and wonder is infectious and his belief in giving the natural world a voice in order to protect its legacy for the future is unstoppable. Imagine if he was your Grandad!
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Listen. Observe. Bear witness. Educate. Laugh. Hug. Share. Dance.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
I think I have missed this somewhere down the line. Holidays seem to get mixed up with artist residencies and touring. There is a special spot past Narooma on the NSW east coast that I wish I could get to more often.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
If female, I would take them to the women’s baths at Coogee Beach, Sydney – because the view and the energy is amazing! If we are there at the right time they might even spot a migrating humpback whale. Otherwise I would still take them to the ocean cliffs with a picnic – and the chance spotting of a migrating humpback whale.
What are you currently reading?
An original edition of Marina Warner’s No Go the Bogeyman, which I found in a second hand bookshop in Brisbane.
What are you currently listening to?
CocoRosie
Happiness is?
Friends, food, wine and play. The magic of the night.
What does the future hold for you?
Writing, traveling, creating, secret glowing things, new friends, old friends and a big party before I die!
Julie Vulcan is an independent Sydney-based artist. Her practice currently sits across multiple forms with a focus on performance & installation, text & digital media and durational & site-responsive work. She is interested in constructed histories and questions the motivations behind how we remember, record and rewrite our actions, bodies and traces – past, present and future.
Julie will be presenting RIMA – a 23-hour-long performance and digital media installation at Arts House from 1pm Saturday 30 July 2016. For more information, visit: www.artshouse.com.au for details.
Image: Julie Vulcan – photo by Michael Myers