Everyone Talks to Everyone

16 February – 9 June 2013
Dowse Art Museum
Niki Hastings-McFall / Sean Kerr / Alvie McKree / Fiona Pardington / Michael Parekowhai / Suji Park / Sofia Tekela-Smith / Vaimaila Urale & Johann Nortje/ Selina Woulfe
 

Are we living in the age of digital reproduction? Do we need to physically see objects or will a photograph suffice?

Everyone Talks to Everyone explores the value of objects in the digital age, investigating how physical and personal connections allow us to invest meaning into everyday objects. This exhibition brings together photography, sculpture and digital art to examine connections between craft, design and contemporary art; questioning how objects may continue to have meaning for us in a digital age.

The show creates unexpected links between objects and representations of them. Typeface, a collaboration by Vaimaila Urale and Johann Nortje, immerses us into the artwork with a live digital projection. The placement of artworks by Michael Parekowhai, Niki Hastings-McFall and Sean Kerr creates a space to rethink the commemorative and decorative nature of synthetic flowers. Alvie McKree toys with conventional museum display by building her own gallery to exhibit a unique collection of objects.

Some of the artworks in this show reflect on the continuing relevance of objects in an increasingly digital world. Others suggest the role objects play in our lives when invested with values such as memory and loss. Our personal attachment to objects is questioned and now reflected in new ways through new mediums.

Reviews
Mark Amery, Everyone Talks to Everyone at Dowse, Dominion Post, 2013.