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Op Shop Series
This series of works by the Melbourne collaborative group, Bozo Ink, in undermines the art gallery’s system of exchange and representation. They make the observation that as a site that supposedly reflects and critiques contemporary cultures, histories and practices, the gallery is merely a space of exhibition. Like many contemporary artists, and the critics and academics who assess their work, they are aware of the inherent paradox of exhibiting a work critical of commodity culture since we enter into a process of consumption that actually magnifies commodity culture when we place work in a gallery context. Bozo Ink’s project, The Op-Shop Series, offers a critique of consumptive practices in the art gallery and looks to entwine art, everyday practices and resistance strategies. They do this to test the potential of the gallery as a site for resistance, and to reconsider its function in the age of “consumption and spectacular exhibition” (Agamben 2007, 82). In linking the counter-practices of profanation (Agamben 2007) with the Situationist strategy of détournement (Debord 1994; Wark 2013) they hope to recast the art object as one without currency in the gallery. They propose that it is possible for the art object to unsettle both the image and the system of exchange within which it operates.
History
Series
Op Shop SeriesPublisher
Counihan Gallery, in Australian Potlatch Gallery - Group Exhibition titled: "Uneducated"Place of publication
MelbourneCreation date
2014-01-01Material type
art originalPublication classification
J2.1 Minor original creative workCopyright notice
2014, Counihan Gallery, in Australian Potlatch Gallery - Group Exhibition titled: ""Uneducated""Extent
The works appropriate old Australian Impressionist prints found in opportunity shops around Melbourne. They explore new narratives and critical occupancies in the iconic images. Bozo Ink have for a number of years been buying Australian Impressionist works at op-shops, modifying them, and then re-gifting them to other op-shops. This is the first time the concept has landed in a gallery.Usage metrics
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