CONCEPTUAL/TEXT-BASED WORKS
An installation of absurdist vernacular. 'The Man’s Choice' posters are the two-dimensional component of a series of works in response to the flurry of excitement around the hosting of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand; and the attendant mythology of manhood and mayhem that surrounds it.In the same way the play 'Foreskin’s Lament' allowed for a painfully pointed re-assessment of Kiwi rugby culture in the 1980s, so these works have a softly-satiric edge beyond their easy familiarity. They also look at the inversion of ‘the iconic’ in New Zealand popular culture. And of the myths we so fondly perpetuate. Of course the point here is that all self-made myths could/should be subjected to similar incisive viewing. It’s what art is there to do.The Man’s Choice posters installation is the two-dimensional component of other sculptural works, which take the form of oversize (twice life-size) scrum machines. These works point to our national heritage of imposing giant status on our sports heroes, and of elevating them to superhuman expectations. We all know where this can lead to, so the works are also about human frailty. And of the value of keeping a sense of humour (or humility) intact.
