Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski

Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski AM, FRSA (also known as J. S. Ostoja-Kotkowski, Ostoja and Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski; 28 December 1922 – 2 April 1994) was best known for his ground-breaking work in chromasonics, laser kinetics and 'sound and image' productions. He earned recognition in Australia and overseas for his pioneering work in laser sound and image technology. His work included painting (instrumental in developing geometric art in Australia), photography, film-making, theatre design, fabric design, murals, kinetic and static sculpture, stained glass, vitreous enamel murals, op-collages, computer graphics, and laser art. Ostoja flourished between 1940 and 1994. Ostoja's films are still being exhibited.

Biography Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski was born in Golub, Poland, on 28 December 1922, descending from an old noble family that was part of the Clan of Ostoja. He studied drawing under Olgierd Vetesco in Przasnysz from 1940-1945. After winning a scholarship, he completed his studies at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts in Germany in 1949. In 1950 Ostoja migrated to Australia, arriving in Melbourne where he supported himself with work as a labourer. He enrolled at the Victorian School of Fine Arts National Gallery School under Alan Sumner and William Dargie 1950-1955 and there introduced the new abstract expression of Europe both to lecturers and students. He settled in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, on the Booth estate at Stirling, living under the patronage of the Booth family for over 40 years (Freya Booth, the wife of Edward Stirling Booth, was a daughter of the artist Sir Hans Heysen). His first one-man exhibition was also in South Australia at the Royal Society of Arts, Adelaide. In 1956 Ostoja met and collaborated with Ian Davidson in the production of the short film Five South Australian Artists, and became involved in stage and theatre set design. He co-produced several experimental films…Citește mai mult

1960 This year he designed sets for a new opera group which would eventually grow into the South Australian Opera Company. Among other theatrical events, he designed and executed the scenery for Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Errol John, and The Teahouse of the August Moon by John Patrick, (a production by the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild). He received artistic satisfaction but little financial reward for these efforts. In this year also, he staged a visual production on the theme of Orpheus, using dance, music and voice with several projectors. This was the first attempt at quadraphonic sound in Australia, working in collaboration with Derek Jolly, who provided the sound and projection equipment. It was also the first demonstration of "Chromasonics" - the science of translating sound into visual images. Ostoja then designed innovative "abstracted" scenery for a production of The Marriage of Figaro and Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw.

1961 Ostoja designed the sets for the controversial South Australian production of Patrick White's The Ham Funeral - also Alan Seymour's Swamp Creatures, both performed by the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. He designed and constructed six stained glass windows for the Refectory at the University of Adelaide. In this period Ostoja designed special lights and gauzes for difficult effects required in an ambitious production of the opera Don Carlos by the Opera Workshop, for the Elder Conservatorium.

1962 Ostoja designed and built sets for the production of J.B, by Archibald MacLeish, for the second Adelaide Festival of Arts. He exhibited vitreous enamel works in Melbourne's Argus Gallery. Max Harris, in The Bulletin of 20 October 1962, praised Ostoja's sets for My Cousin from Fiji in Union Theatre, Adelaide, and his technique of rear screen projections as later adopted throughout Australia.

1963 Ostoja continued to develop Multi-Image projections, demonstrating for the first time in Australia the concept later to be known as 'audio-visuals!'. Ostoja gave Sir Herbert Read, the art critic, a personal viewing of one of his visual presentations. At Christmas, in the Elder Conservatorium, collaborating again with Derek Jolly, Ostoja gave what was probably the world's first "visual concert", using special projectors and incorporating music, colours and shapes.

1964 With fellow Adelaide artist John Dallwitz, Ostoja co-designed the first of several experimental dance and stage productions in the Adelaide Festival of Arts Sound and Image. The production featured Adelaide dancer Elizabeth_Cameron_Dalman. Also for the Adelaide Festival of Arts of that year, he designed the largest light mosaic ever staged up to that time, upon the facade of an 11-storey building. Ostoja was invited to New Zealand, and exhibited the first electronically generated images in Australia in Melbourne, at the Argus Gallery. His design for the 50-foot (15 m) bas-relief mural for the new B.P. building in Melbourne was the subject of a film which won the "Blue Ribbon" Award in the American Film Festival in New York.

1965 Ostoja designed and made the first light kinetic mural in Australia, and continued to evolve theatrical works using multi-screen and Multi-projector techniques. The Production of Jean Genet's The Balcony was very controversial. With Elizabeth Dalman, Ostoja produced new dance forms for Melbourne Television. He introduced Op Art to Australia, both at South Yarra Gallery in Melbourne, and Gallery A in Sydney.

1966 With John Dallwitz, Ostoja was invited by the Adelaide Festival of Arts to present more experimental theatre, Sound and image 1966. This highly acclaimed production incorporated Australian poetry into the sound, electronic music, and visual images and featured the dancer Antonio Rodrigues. The architect Robin Boyd commissioned Ostoja to design two large Op murals for the Australian Pavilion entrance at the Expo 67. Ostoja was awarded a Churchill Fellowship, which enabled him to have extensive world travel, comparing art and technology in many countries. He began to work with language, contemporary poetry and prose, and computers.

1967 John Dallwitz and Ostoja presented Sound and Image at the Festival of Perth. In Berne, Switzerland, Ostoja received the "Excellence F.I.A.P." Award for innovative photography.

1968 At the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Ostoja and John Dallwitz collaborated again to stage Sound and Image. This was the first theatre production in the world to use a laser beam. It also included the first science fiction play (The Veldt by Ray Bradbury) performed in Australia. Ostoja's theatre methods were increasingly attracting the attention of critics to how plays were staged. "Chromasonics", developed and introduced by Ostoja, was now being used extensively in the entertainment industry.

1969 Ostoja staged Krzysztof Penderecki's St. Luke Passion, a controversial, contemporary religious work. The South Australian The Advertiser wrote an extensive critique of Ostoja's work. Robin Boyd commissioned Ostoja to build a "Chromasonic" exhibit located in the Space Tube at the Australian Pavilion for Expo '70 in Osaka.

1970 Ostoja presented an Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime theme in his "Sound and Image" theatre, working with leading contemporary figures in poetry, music and dance. This was the first production of its kind in Australia, and appeared after the Festival in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Perth. Ostoja's Space Scape mural, sixty feet long by ten feet high, won the Australia-wide competition for a mural for Adelaide Airport. His 120 feet (37 m) high 'light and sound' structure for the Adelaide Festival was the first of its kind in the world.

1971 Ostoja awarded a Creative Arts Fellowship at the Australian National University, Canberra. His 18-month stay resulted in the design and building of a "Chromasonics unit-laser", a 100 feet (30 m) Chromasonic tower, and a world premiere of a Synchronos concert.

1972 With Don Burrows and Don Banks, Ostoja presented Synchronos 72, where one could "hear the colours and see the sounds". Ostoja added Cymatics, developed during the Fellowship, to his workshop repertoire. He was invited to exhibit his photography in the National Gallery, Melbourne.

1973 Ostoja received a Fellowship from the Australian American Education Association to study art and technology in the U.S.A. He studied laser art and technology, using a newly developed material in his optical collages.