Floating Land Archive Site 2021

Black Swan Theory

Fabrizio Biviano

The black swan theory is a metaphor for an event that both comes as a surprise and has a substantial effect, yet is wrongly and inappropriately rationalised after the fact. It might be argued that our inaction on climate change and the human impact on the environments we rely on to survive could be captured by this idea.

Earlier in the year, Melbourne-based artist, Fabrizio Biviano, was an artist in residence at the Butter Factory Arts Centre in Cooroy, using his time there to carve 24 of swans from discarded car tyres. The ballet of tyre swans grace Lake Cootharaba, escaping the suburban Australian yard where these kitsch garden ornaments are more commonly found. Embracing a dark sense of irony, car tyres also account for the second largest source of micro-plastics polluting the world’s oceans.

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The artist is looking to find new homes for each of the swans at the conclusion of Floating Land, auctioning them individually with 100% of the money raised through this auction being donated to Sea Shepherd Australia. To find out more click here.

Fabrizio Biviano has a preoccupation with the past and notions of spent time, both his own and others. Drawing inspiration from the traditions of Dutch still life painting, graphic design and personal experiences, he uses the objects of daily life to produce self-referential work that seeks to examine his personal investments of time, loss and consumption.

Fabrizio Biviano completed a Master of Fine Art from Monash University in 2014. An art instructor by day, he maintains a tireless dedication to his practice. Biviano was a finalist in the inaugural Evelyn Chapman Art Award at S.H. Ervin Gallery (2018) and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award (2018). He was also a finalist in the renowned Arthur Guy Memorial Prize for Painting (2015), the Paul Guest Prize for Drawing (2014) and the Belle Arti, Chapman and Bailey Art Award (2010). His work features in the collections of Artbank and the Latrobe University Museum of Art and many private collections in Australia, the USA and the UK.

@fabriziobiviano