This lecture will trace some of the thematic and conceptual threads in John Di Stefano's studio practice, which revolves around reconciling the personal with the social, the everyday with history. By synthesizing traditions of conceptual art, documentary film, and critical theory with his interests in place, history and (auto)biographical inscription, much of his work examines how concepts and perceptions of memory, space/place, and time shape the articulation of subjectivities, especially in relation to transnational displacement. His current research interests and creative projects focus on temporality and concepts of disappearance, and their mediation through time-based media; an inquiry into the essayistic form in current film and video; and the evolving and hybrid forms of documentary practices.
 
John Di Stefano is an artist/videomaker and writer, and currently an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. His creative research and studio practice is focused primarily in video/film, installation and photo-based media, but also includes public art, performance and bookwork. His creative work has been exhibited internationally in major venues for over two decades, and has been broadcast on American public television (PBS) winning several awards, including the New Vision Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. John has been involved in several international curatorial projects in Australasia and North America, and has an active publishing career with his critical writings appearing in various international journals and publications. He is an editor for Art AsiaPacific.