Artists comment on current issues
The upcoming exhibition Optiv101 Rally, opening on Friday at Whanganui Arts @ the Centre, is an opportunity for polemic and, as is known in broadcasting, the opinion piece. Hence the tagline: “Optiv101 Studio Artists Deploy and Destroy With Weapons of Mass Broadcasting, or Using Art as Political Tool and for Social Engineering”.
The power of the artist lies not in aesthetics or style, but in delivering a message via the simplicity of publishing. Hence content is activated by context, and Optiv101 studio artists have used that power since 2016 when they began curating an annual exhibition to act as a “publication” for their political and social views.
Featuring “op-eds” from Neil Buddle, Sean Hammond, Aaron Potaka, Bernie Steyn, Ewen Stratford and Esther Topfer, the exhibition has works examining issues that are current and relevant to the artists commenting on them. The group exhibition from Optiv101 Fine Arts and Multimedia Studios is considered an important element in their yearly line-up, and is a channel for the studio artists to project their freedom of speech with authority.
The ideology of authority is grounded through institutions such as that of government and education. It is also exerted through social and commercial agents such as capitalism and broadcasting. Using the power to comment, and critique as creators of “content” Optiv101 Rally 2018 is an opportunity for Optiv101 studio artists to be oped writers, using their authority as artists to critique the dominant hegemonies that weave the fabric of society. Optiv101 Rally 2018 — Optiv101 Studio Artists Deploy and Destroy With Weapons of Mass Broadcasting, or; Using Art as Political Tool and for Social Engineering, Whanganui Arts @ the Centre, 19 Taupo¯ Quay, August 25 to September 8.
■ Opening Function Friday August 24, 5.30pm.