MARK GONZALes - Izrock

CULTURe IN BRIeF
Surfing and skateboarding was created in California but both activities/lifestyles are thriving in Australia as the coastline and climate mimic where these
sub-cultures were born. Australian athletes in these areas make up many of the worlds best and the culture is no stronger in any other part of the world.
Each now have separated into their own very different visual cultures.
Skateboarding has always been very rebellious - outside the establishment and often the law, it’s visual representation confirms this. It is truly an energetic
and creative activity, many people cannot understand why youths well into their teens and beyond would persist at this game that is seen akin to a fad like
the yo-yo. This makes skateboarders immediate outsiders, but in turn that creates a tribe.
A skateboarder looks at the landscape in an entirely different way to your regular city dweller. Stairs, handrails and benches are all obstacles for challenge
and enjoyment and not simply ways to navigate up, down and rest, but sidewards, over, under, around, grind, slide, flip, twist and often, fall. This culture
of re-evaluating the everyday has given life to many of the most important visual artists today.
Surfing has gone from counter-culture drop-out lifestyle to multi-million dollar industry, but there is another revolt happening now against the super clean
corporatisation of this infinitely pure and ambitious culture. Like the 60’s hippy surfer, many of todays surfers and surfboard makers are looking again to
reinventing the way surfboards function and in turn the new possibilities. Timothy Leary understood surfing and called it the only sport that’s “an aesthetic
life based on the dance.”
Punk music started in New York City during the late 60’s as a revolt to what the hippie movement was all about. It was then pushed and progressed by the
very receptive British who were at the time were dealing with Thatcherism. This culture is still flourishing world-wide and Emo music (derived from punk) is
at the top of the pop charts word wide. Punk was built on a very fertile bed of DIY motivation, this raw and immediate creativity proved anyone can make
something and was the birth of the fanzine - photocopied cut-and-paste easily and cheaply distributed press. This technique and immediacy built a long
lasting and very recognisable aesthetic, but importantly - attitude.
Hip-Hop was also created in New York City, this time in the slums of the Bronx and Harlem. Graffiti is the visual arts component of Hip-Hop (“DJing”
the music, “Breaking” the dance form and “Rap” the lyrical voice). The idea of writing your name on a train without permission and watching it pass by
again and again. It’s like any billboard or advertisement, but personal, with heart and with culture jamming resistance to force fed media. It offers a very
important question for todays society; what is ownership and what is property?
Tattooing has been around for centuries, it is a type of folk art that is still thriving today. It is steeped in tradition with images and type being handed
down from generation to generation, but like any progressive art form tweaked, personalised and made relevant to it’s day. Most importantly it is another
art form for the people made by the people. Its iconography is often base, immediate and repetitive; guns, skulls, banners, sail boats and traditional
typefaces.
Pop art is another very immediate art form, get your message across quickly with no room for confusion. Repeat and make multiples, make it accessible in
concept and availability. It is mass-consumption art for the public.
Disorder Disorder will also include to a lesser degree other sub-cultures such as modern folk, heavy metal, computer gaming, comics and gang-life.
I consider alot of this art to be folk art, modern day tribal art that resembles its authors. Much of it borrows from the past and reinterprets to keep the
message alive. What is the message that all these cultures exude? Be independent and go your own way.
AUDIeNCe
To show our local talents next to core international artists would put these artists in context and prove that Australia is providing relevant works in this area
of the arts. It will also be introducing this area of the arts to many Australians. Although quite prominent on the coasts of the US and in Western Europe,
rapidly growing with artists taking home large figures for sales, many Australians are still unaware of this genre.
With the bulk of this art being created by more recent generations it’s main audience relation is a younger person. This art is also accessible to a wider
audience as it is not always high concept, there are no in jokes and art world posturing. This show will be a mix between high and low art that people can
appreciate immediately. This exhibition will also open art-appreciation to many who would not usually visit an art gallery.
PReseNTATION
I would like to see the artworks in and around the gallery space, outside sculpture and installation in the garden and foyers. This would create a very
whole experience and exemplify that the works can also exist in the public space.
I would like to have as much installation as possible, also. Any artist that was available to get to the space (this also depends on how may could make it
for a balance to be made) would be encouraged to add to the presentation of the work. This is a process very popular with many of the artists in this field.
I would like to be consistent with this