- Assignment Title: I want a dyke Kardashian
- Assignment Description:
Rewrite of Zoe Leonard's infamous "I want a dyke for president" as "I want a dyke Kardashian" - make it as long as you want, ascribe them some of your humanity
- Created by: Medb
- Responded by: Yulin Huang, Medb, Roberta Borroni, Francesco Felletti
Medb - Untitled
RB: It was fun to rewrite a political poem, even though the Kardashians' culture is not something I really grew up with or know much about. Because I don't know any facts about their lives I took them as a symbol of influence in relation to our beauty standards, and it was fun to start from there.
YH: A section for each artist to reflect on their work—what they found challenging, exciting, or surprising.The substantial weight of Zoe Leonard’s infamous “I want a dyke for president” was a feast to encounter in the year 2025. It was fruitful watching other prominent writers and artists respond to the piece at High Line Art’s afternoon of readings/performances (2016). So many magnetic words and phrases sounded the platform and moved the people out of immediate sight. I was inspired to collage some of these fragments with some cliché, textured headlines I came across to form this little piece. I envision a Kardashian lost to the mountains and stars and eventual galaxies because this planet simply holds too much incomprehensible lesser-of-two-evils noise.
M: This is a concept I came up with a few years ago on the night bus home from work and would occasionally come up with lines for in my head but never did anything with. The hard part of writing this was knowing when to stop; in theory, its a piece that could go on indefinitely - which was kind of why I decided to take the idea out of retirement for this project and see what other people could contribute to it.
FF: It was hard to work on this topic. The Kardashians were never really part of my culture, so I guess I don’t totally get their appeal and story. But I really enjoyed discovering Zoe Leonard's work.
- Assignment Title: Create a mascot for a place that you visit often
- Assignment Description:
Design and create a mascot for a place that you visit often (it could be a restaurant, a library, a supermarket etc). The mascot can be made in any medium. When you have finished the mascot, drop it off at the location anonymously (through a letterbox, stapled to the door at night, get a friend to leave it there). Document both the mascot and how you have delivered it.
- Created by: Natasha Brown
- Responded by: Yulin Huang, Natasha Brown, Francesco Felletti
Natasha Brown and Francesco Felletti - Fart in the lift!
Marine One - The NT
YH: The Archive Lounge at Christchurch Art Gallery is a space I’ve been visiting and thinking about a lot this month. I’ve just finished writing my first exhibition review on their newest reveal of archival materials behind some of NZ’s most well-known artists. ‘Bread and Butter’. That’s the name of the display. It consists of their illustration work from the NZ School Journal in the 1940s-50s that they Had To Do To Survive Whilst Growing Their Practice. It made me feel a strange kinship with the great artists who were trying their best to sustain themselves before me, to also live their dream. It was a pivotal time in NZ history where more Māori subjects were replacing the British material that dominated those journals (like biographies of the royal family) that were read by all the children in the country. The curator included some delicious diagrams, whimsical prints, and technical drawings of NZ fauna. I was particularly pulled to the illustration of the NZ weta by Des Helmore. The details were agonisingly intricate. It lingered tirelessly in my mind and I thought it made a grand mascot for this curious space. The Lounge only opened last November and connects to the staff rooms and bathrooms outside. You will see the grey couch-chairs neatly line the back corner. It feels like a hole or crevice in a big forest tree where wetas typically reside. They are also nocturnal so they would take good care of the space at night when nobody is around. Anyway, I attempted to mold some leftover polymer clay into something resembling it, only looking at Des’ diagram of the weta. I wrote a little label printed on school paper, holding anticipation for it to have a second life. I anticipate the very first person other than myself to encounter them and imagine their life ahead. I attempted to be anonymous by stating I am anonymous, though I did have a lengthy conversation about reviewing and going to the space that day, with a gallery staff member, who is also my next door neighbour.
FF and NB: We thought the best mascot for a lift would be a fart
MO: Nivash Traders is a small convenience store near my flat where I usually go to pick up parcels from Vinted to save like 60p. Even though I’ve been going there often for over three years, I’ve always just walked straight to the cashier and never really taken the time to explore the rest of the shop. It’s funny how a place can become such a regular part of your routine without really knowing the main part of the store. Also recently, I found out there's actually a shortcut from my flat that gets me there in just three minutes instead of ten—a discovery made not by me, but by my partner only three days after she moved in. From this project I learned that "Nivash" means “home” or “a place to live” in Tamil, and is often used as a boy’s name. Even though it's just a local shop, it’s quietly become a small, steady part of my life.
- Assignment Title: Make an assemblage in 2 minutes.
- Assignment Description:
Create an assemblage using items you have at home within just 2 minutes. Record a video of the entire process and give your piece a title.
- Created by: Francesco Felletti
- Responded by: Roberta Borroni, Yulin Huang, Hanya Elghamry, Natasha Brown, Francesco Felletti, Marine One
Natasha Brown - Banana goes to sleep
Francesco Felletti - Presepe
Marine One - Sugar Higher
Yulin Huang - The Best Souvenir from New Zealand
Roberta Borroni - North facing - it's never sunny in here but all I can think about is to sunbathe in front of my window
Hanya Elghamry - An assemblage of everything on my shelf
YH: After playing around with a couple of Items in my room, I had very limited time leftover to construct the so-called Assemblage. I quickly tried to make a very unstable ‘shrine’ for one of the ‘55 wonderful views’ promised in ‘the best souvenir from New Zealand’ playing card pack I had in my collection. I panicked, and she unabashedly toppled over after filming.
RB: Two minutes go incredibly fast (I may or may not have cheated by a few seconds)!
HE: I've been reflecting a lot on the idea of home, and thinking of how to take my practice further especially after seeing that alot of work is being done on the concept of belonging and home right now by alot of artists and curators. This shelf specifically describes that, from a broken framed picture of my parents and I, to the quraan, to lots of exhibition brochures and artists cards. I dont mean to make it sound more conceptual and deep than it is, but, this shelf describes what I am today. A Daughter, a curator, a believer, a girlfriend, a friend, a teacher and hopefully again an artist.
NB: This was my THIRD attempt at an assemblage. The first two I found I was trying a bit too hard to make something that looked good. I thought it would be nice to use a part of my home that was "permanent" like an appliance, rather than an object. I also wanted to make use of the function of an appliance and it seems so wonderful to be put to sleep with the gentle rock of a washing machine. Going to sleep and waking up again does seem like giving your brain a wash <3
FF: It was quite exciting to try assemblage as it is a practice I never completly understood. I spent most of the 2 minute figuring out how to place my magnet inside a vase...I felt stupid. Then the rest of the time was done quite in a rush, and I felt excited to make a messy job without thinking too much. Overall 7/10.
MO: There is a box of sweets in my kitchen that I usually don't eat from, since most of them were bought by Claire, my partner, and our tastes are a bit different when it comes to sweets. I made a tower out of biscuits, gummies, chocolate, and a candy within this two minutes. While I was making tower I discovered some sweets that I didn't even know we had in this box. Also in my mind, I was trying to be as fast as I could, but I look quite slow in the video...