ANU School of Art and Design Student Showcase

LIST OF WORKS

Jemima Campey, Anti-Ritual (2020)

Jemima has transformed the conference stage into an eclectic parlour of commercialised magical objects, including an Ikea-branded Tarot Deck which embodies the commodification of mythology itself. Conference participants are invited to consult the Magic 8 Ball which, instead of providing answers and promises of good fortune – offers difficult questions and provocations.

Samantha Thomas, Residential Distancing: Canberra’s Zoning Board (2020)

Samantha Thomas has staged an intervention into the conference space, demarcating a series of zones on the floor, inspired by social distancing guidelines and the commodification of public space. Drawing on the visual language of Monopoly and maps of residential and commercial zoning in Canberra, it represents the outcome of her research into board games, play and economic development.

Rick Yao, Cameron Palmer, Madeleine Hepner, Emily Davidson, Animalis Transitum (2020)

The result of an extensive investigation into the art economy of Animal Crossing, Animalis Transitum explores the commodification of virtual space, creativity and gamification of the art market. Part installation, part machinima, the project documents a collector’s dinner the group hosted on the island of Big Kahuna in Animal Crossing, where works acquired at auction on Nookazon were subsequently re-sold to the community’s most discriminating art speculators.

Monique Norton, MacKenzie Gniel, Lama Rafehi, Rebecca Rawnsley, May You Find: Knowledge, Time, Fortune (2020)

A piece of speculative design in which three fictitious future planets – Opus, Yelgon and Elktra – market themselves as new utopias promising new ways of living, economic models and social organisation. Come and read more about these worlds, pick a pamphlet, and apply to become a citizen. Terms and conditions apply.

Madelaine McCusker, The Church of Utility-Maximising Truths (2020)

Drawing on her economic studies, Madelaine has constructed an altar to the spectre of capitalism. She employs religious iconography to undermine the assumptions economic theory rests on, denouncing them as faith-based class control.

Tahlia Duncan-King, How much is a life worth? (2020)

Posing the question, “how much is a life worth?”, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently argued that Governments were approaching the pandemic like ‘trauma doctors’ – who spare almost no effort to keep a person alive – rather than health economists “trained to pose uncomfortable questions about a level of deaths we might have to live with”.

Rachel Agnew, Think Space (2020)

In Think Space, Rachel Agnew draws on the themes of MoneyLab, developing a set of questions for visitors to contemplate: Are we human beings or human resources? Do we stop caring if it costs too much? These short, sharp provocations are projected in the foyer, invoking the spirit of Jenny Holzer and the language of contemporary advertising.