19/02/2025
An exhibition after my own heart: Excess All Areas, by the New Quotidion Collective.
The exhibition uses saturated imagery and absurd clashes of content to critique capitalism’s control over most aspects of modern life.
These crazy art students have been exploring litter- covered urban environments by walking or catching public transport — no mean feat in Brisbane, where it’s not unusual to wait at least 45mins for a bus, even if you’re standing in a bus stop at a major university campus (sorry, I’m feeling rather triggered and ragey now) — and looking for ways to counter the constant onslaught of manipulative imagery and advertising and pressure we feel from the commodification of…everything.
There are immediate nods to Jeff Gibson’s Pictopoesis series, Elizabeth Gower, the trashion movement, and pop art, with the vibe of artists like Takashi Murakami, Alex Da Corte and Ed Ruscha, though the message here is far more explicit and charmingly grassroots.
Also a million other influences my brain is currently ignoring, but that’s kind of the point - the onslaught of imagery that ultimately discombobulates us and leaves us frozen into apathy, unable to articulate a coherent individual thought or focus on more important issues. Like the environment, or how capitalism is destroying society, or how while we’ve been distracted by shiny advertising, global corporations have been pushing us towards a new brand of fascism just to keep their profits high. You know, nothing big and important!
Anyway….the first image here could totally be made from all the water bottles I’ve left at libraries, the gym, on buses, in bars, on picnic benches… the list goes on and I’m sorry!
Also - sushi restaurants are really going to have to pull their finger out and do something about the soy sauce fish containers, cos artists EVERYWHERE are highlighting those squirty little suckers, and rightfully so. I’ve seen those little red lids in the weirdest places.
PS - if you want to read a depressing but relatable piece on the end result of our being frozen into inaction - read Zoe Williams’ column, published on The Guardian website yesterday.
