Artistic operation plays a game of life with a darker twist
Much-loved board games and contemporary art grounded in Kiwi politics may not appear to have much in common, but one of New Zealand’s most successful artists has combined them in an exhibition which is far from child’s play.
Berlin-based Simon Denny, NZ’s representative at the 2015 Venice Art Biennale and a two-times Walters Prize finalist, is using popular games such as Twister, Jenga, Operation, Settlers of Catan, The Game of Life and Jack Straws to question the high-stakes direction we want to head in.
His first exhibition in Auckland for six years, The Founder’s Paradox includes a life-size sculpture of Denny as the hapless victim of the game Operation: lying What Michael Lett Gallery, 312 K Rd (cnr K Rd and East St), until December 22. in a tomb (or, he says, possibly a toy box) tech-enabled, lifeless and ready to be picked apart; seemingly bright and breezy art for worldmaking games like Settlers of Catan which, on closer inspection, have darker undercurrents and a Twister mat sporting quotes about homelessness and colonisation.
The Founder’s Paradox also features a bronze Jack Straws set by sculptor Michael Parekowhai, his former teacher at the University of Auckland, comprising guns, saws, swords, ladders, crutches and a walking stick. Denny sees it as a reference to colonialism and how, as we move forward, we continue to deal with our past.
“Some of the ideas that I like to dip into often have a complexity to them,” says Denny, whose Venice project Secret Power looked at the links between technology, power and privacy. “I think games are familiar to people . . . so it’s a way to make things a bit cute and easier to understand, easier to picture as a system.”
He sees two competing visions for NZ’s future, both equally highstakes. One is a resurgent collectivism, promoted by young Kiwi Max Harris who, in his book The New Zealand Project, urges the country to embrace care, creativity and community rather than individualism; the other is a techno-libertarian vision personified by controversial American entrepreneur and
Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel, who was granted NZ citizenship in 2011 despite having spent only 12 days in the country.
Despite living in Germany for a decade, Denny still considers himself a New Zealander.
“I am still very invested in our country and where it goes. My nearest and dearest still live here and my life is quite precarious; I hop between lots of countries and, even though I live in Germany, I’m sort of based all around the world.”
Denny was this year one of five international artists shortlisted for the Absolut Art Award; his most recent NZ exhibition The Personal Effects of Kim Dotcom