THE VALUE OF NOTHING is an exhibition of the committee members who volunteer at Sydney based ARI MOP Projects which will be held at RAYGUN Projects in the leafy garden city of Toowoomba, Queensland in August 2014. For the artists to attend the exhibition, and for the exhibition catalogue to go ahead, we first need your support! The artists involved in this project are: Ron Adams, Kate Beckinham, Lucas Davidson, Hayley Megan-French, Carla Liesch, Luke Strevens.

RAYGUN Projects is a non-profit artist run initiative run by Alexandra Lawson and Tarn McLean. RAYGUN is located in the CBD of Toowoomba, Australia. The aim of the project is to create a culture surrounded by people, work and ideas. RAYGUN exhibits local, national and international artists who mainly work within conceptual, social, or collaborative practices. RAYGUN aims to use the gallery space as a platform for artists with fascinating practices, facilitating a dialogue.

MOP is an artist-run initiative (ARI) that annually programs up to 20 exhibitions at its Chippendale gallery premises. A MOP committee curates programming based on an ever-growing pool of proposals and initiatives developed in-house. Since its inception in 2003, MOP's key programming rationale has been to act as a career springboard for young and emerging artists. In recent years MOP has been addressing the changing and growing nature of ARIs by also supporting mid-career artists who resist or do not have the benefit of commercial representation. 

The members of the MOP crew curated by George Adams and invited curator Anna McMahon (a former resident of Toowoomba) will be adding to the RAYGUN program a mix talented artists who volunteer their time and energy to MOP Projects. Further to this, the Orbit crew will also be participating in RAYGUNlab - an extension of the exhibition functioning as an online visual laboratory.

Thanks to Creative Partnerships Australia, every dollar you give will be matched up to $3,000 through their Match: Crowdfunding for the Independent Arts Sector initiative.

If we exceed our target we will split the funds equally between the artists to go towards material and further costs associated with the development of this exhibition.







https://www.creativepartnershipsaustralia.org.au
http://raygunlab.com
http://www.mop.org.au

The funds raised will be used to make the exhibition a success! For a successful exhibition, we really want the community at RAYGUN and in Toowoomba more generally, as well as the community at MOP in to share, learn and amaze each other with their knowledge, talent and expertise. For this to happen 6 artists and 2 curators will need to travel to Toowoomba and stay there for a length of time that will ensure the experience is worthwhile for both parties. The money will also go towards transportation of the artwork, as well as funding the production of a catalogue for the exhibition.  The catalogue won't be in a traditional format but will come in the form of a hand screened washable textile catalogue with an essay wrapped inside.  If possible, it will also ensure that the artists themselves receive an artist fee for the production of the new work associated with this exhibition.

Specifically we will be spending the money on the following:
- Travel for 6 artists and 2 curators from Sydney to Toowoomba
- Catalogue for the exhibition
- Artist fee for 6 artists and 2 curators

Getting 6 artists interstate and 2 curators up a giant mountain the the peaks of Toowoomba City will most definately be a challenge without this funding. For anyone who has been there, Toowoomba is amazingly beautiful, but expensive to fly to! As well as this, to produce a catalogue for the exhibition without the funding would be impossible. Furthermore, to transport the artwork from Sydney to Toowoomba will also be quite an expensive endeavour. All of these costs added up mean that we need support from you to make this a success!