EXHIBITIONS DISPATCH 03: Jen Denzin
16.06.13 to 13.07.13
Gungho Din
Jen Denzin
Mixed media installation
The title, Gungho Din loosely references Rudyard Kipling’s poem, Gunga Din (1892), which reveals an uncertain conscience regarding notions of racial superiority. At the same time, it also pertains to the appropriation of the term ‘gung-ho’ by United States marines during the Second World War. This was originally the name of a Chinese Industrial Cooperative (Zhongguo Gongye Hezuo She) and served as a motto for regular problem-solving meetings. Red buckets, ginger tubers and oriental clouds are a peek into Australian history during the gold rush years.
Dispatch aims to promote interaction between artists, writers and curators from different states around Australia, and provide opportunities for artists to engage with new audiences by showing their work outside of their home towns. It comprises a series of exchanges in which one space selects an artist to dispatch artwork to be exhibited in another space, and in return hosts an artist from another participating space. For each exhibition the host space will select a local writer to respond to the work. All artworks will simultaneously be exhibited on a dedicated website, along with this written response, to encourage engagement with every Dispatch exhibition around the country.
Dispatch intends to embrace and explore its numerous inherent challenges and contingencies. Window spaces often come about as a response to practical challenges, such as lack of space or staffing, and can be attached to larger spaces, such as galleries, artist studios, retail shops or residences. Unlike conventional exhibition spaces, they may be subject to external light from the sun and street lighting, and are viewable 24 hours a day. Audiences include regular gallery patrons as well as a broader audience, many of whom may only glance at the window as they walk or drive past.
