1.13 Fighting Fear - 16 Albermarle Newtown

Transcript

Cool, cool.

Hello Sydney, my name’s Matt. I’m Aiden. And this is Hung Up. And this is a vacuum cleaner. This week we’re in 16 Albermarle, which is a little gallery, viewings by appointment,

in Newtown. I’ve been up since the fours this morning doing video stuff, but I’m feeling alert and ready to do this. For sure. This show is called Fighting Fear, What’s Happening in Myanmar. And we’re speaking with John who runs this gallery and he was just telling us that all of the work in the

show, because nothing was kind of coming out of Myanmar, nothing physical, everything was just sent to him digitally and then printed and he kind of had like curatorial control over how it was displayed. I think you had a cool comment. It’s like as if it was smuggled out. Literally it was emailed, you know, to someone here. So, yeah, it was really smuggled out.

It’s got this really kind of like live wire intensity because of political situation and the fact that all of this work is coming out of a gallery in Yangon called Myanmar, which is now closed. But we’re kind of in a way like in that gallery. But in Newtown, right? True. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a cool way of putting it. It’s like kind of being transported here like, like,

yeah, digitally. The first thing that we sort of wound up in front of, we just had a quick look around, it was these like, I would say like elaborate pictures of protests by Kun Lat, including like massive crowd shots and then a funeral for someone that has died. A civil disobedience with like the

hand gesture, this like three finger hand gesture that we saw on the front of the poster at the front. Yeah. Like flags and a candlelight vigil. I want to speak about this one. Yeah. Like I love the way this one is composed. Yeah. And like from a distance, this one has this very like, like a kind of gawpy sportswear chic thing, like the tennis racket,

the supreme hoodie, fucking gas mask. True. That’s kind of fashion, but it’s actually very functional. Totally. I mean, this, this is all like utilitarian, like riot gear for like civilians that I first saw in the Hong Kong riot.

Yes, for sure. Um, so like people like got into actually wearing like decent, like, um, seal your whole eyeballs off like goggles and like a hard hat, you know, and a respirator instead of just like, you know, the classic one in the 20th century was just like a rag, a bandana tied around your face. Like this guy actually has the bandana, but then also some serious PPE, like wrap around glasses. True. What do you think?

So in the middle of this photo, there’s these kind of plastic tied up bags of just like water. Yeah. They could have to do with, um, a method of containing tear gas, um, canisters that I saw where like you basically like chuck it in water and like put it, put it in a bucket. There’s, there’s like all these kinds of like, um, interesting things that happen like with these sort of

developing and like escalating civilian versus like armed riot police scenarios, like in Hong Kong where, um, there was these kind of like developed, like already developed networks of like talking, you know, communicating with the people to meet up, but then they became, um, the place where you could workshop and like share like effective means of, um, you know, participating and like doing it

safely and also like reducing your own harm and like making it more frustrating for the people who are trying to like hurt you essentially. Um, they’re definitely serving some important function. So I got a couple of, um, like streams that I want to talk to you about in relation to this work. So we’ve got like a six by three kind of board, all the same size of these images that are kind of

cataloging different aspects of this, um, I guess, conflict and protests, like from kind of vigils to, uh, I guess like, uh, direct violence. Like there’s some closeups of like, you know, the cops with like riot shields. There’s a few, you know, guys kind of getting tear gas or something washed out of their eyes. Um, and I guess the two things I’ll give you one at a time.

The first one was like, I don’t know if, if you have, uh, like engaged with imagery, you know, of what’s happening in Myanmar, like, I guess it would have been through Instagram or online, like if at all, uh, how this kind of representation of it maybe feels different, uh, in comparison to

the feed. Yeah. For starters, like, I mean, I have, I’ve seen a little bit online. This is probably, the most imagery today that I’ve seen like all year about it. Although I’ve been hearing about it. Sure. Um, this like actually to me feels like the person was there and like, it is part of the, the rioting, like, or the, the disobedience. Yeah. Um, it’s like a first person perspective

in that sense. Like everything else was like reportage, like from two blocks away, you know? Yeah. That’s interesting. I really run without a vacuum. Um, and then your, and your second one. Okay. Yeah. And then, uh, like my second question was the relationship between, uh, these photos or these images that are so like now and so politically

kind of overt, we’ve got this like political urgency, how as a viewer, we kind of distinguish between, you know, uh, political imagery versus art imagery. I think what I was, what I was mainly thinking about is that like the, the reason for example, like, you know, um, they send like very good photographers to like war zones and stuff like

that is to really put the, the image of what’s happening in the mind of their, you know, country men or whatever, like back home. Um, I think like there’s something, you know, there’s one thing to like have a documentation on like a crappy phone cut camera, but to have like, you know, the, the national geographic guy with the book and big Nikon go in and like really

like make some arresting images out of it. Um, I think like it’s a powerful way to convey what’s going on. Like it makes it, it makes it clear, I think to people. Yeah. As you’re speaking, I can imagine almost like if you had like different roles in this kind of protest, like you need, you want like the best photographer to like be in charge

of the Instagram and like, he is a really useful tool or they are a really useful tool. Image making has become like one of the most like, you know, important aspects of our like modern culture. Like, yeah, it’s so important to people like making good images. Like I guess that’s what everyone does these days. You know, Instagram. There’s also a tension for me about, um, I don’t know, like our relationship to these

countries, like as Australia or like, especially in the end, like as a country, like, but, uh, I think like, you know, we were talking about like, you know, this year having seen so much imagery like this, like, is there a place where seeing things that look like this, like in this aesthetic repertoire, like you have seen this, like of Hong Kong, like BLM stuff,

like at what point does it become like, you know, just, uh, just in like an image, like, oh, that’s another, you know, I think there’s definitely some like weird negative alienation we can, yeah. I think like that would, that would feel very like, um, like true if we weren’t in, like surrounded by like all the rest of the show that we’re about to talk about, you know,

like, so like, um, in, in this instance, we’re lucky that we’re like surrounded by like an actual spectrum of like expression around that. But you’re right that like, you know, um, I mean, we’ve been seeing it, like, I don’t know if you ever like watched the news or whatever as a kid, but like, I was thinking about this recently, like, you know, there’s this like awful stuff

going on in like Palestine, Israel right now. And like, as a kid, I remember seeing that story basically, like, and it’s been going on for years and years, but like, you know, I wonder if we get numb to that kind of stuff. I’ll tell you the title of that one when we get to it. Yeah. Yeah. Make it,

make it a surprise. Yeah. Okay. So first we’re talking about, um, what’s this? Number 33. Yeah. So these first three are all the same like person or collective called Baka. Yeah. Um, there’s like a human centipede one, um, a whack-a-mole one with, um, like military and dictators

as the moles. And then the third one is like, yeah, it’s like a really cool composition of like this kind of city skyline with this, like a rising sun in the background and a tank like rolling over this like rubble and bodies and like, it’s a conflict image. Yeah. Fuck the police. It says on the wall. Okay. So, okay. We’re standing on in front of the first of this, these, uh, three images

and it’s like, uh, uh, kind of just a black and white. What do you reckon? Well, I mean, they’re all prints. Um, this kind of cartoon style rendering of like a human centipede. And, uh, there’s like four figures, you know, attached ass to mouth, ass to mouth, ass to mouth, ass to mouth. And then, uh, like in the, in the front character is like a ball sack and then it

flows through all of the bodies, like a big long intestine. And then like, what looks like the other end of a cock is, is coming out. You know, you, you, everyone’s getting fucked or some kind of metaphor like that. Yeah. And there’s just some, um, um, um, is it Burmese writing? These are the bad guys. Totally. Yeah. These are the bad guys. They’ve all got like, uh,

headwear on, you know, official headwear. And like the military and stuff like that. But then this one is, uh, yeah, there is some like cultural significance to the hat or lack of hat that we haven’t like decoded yet. But yeah, like I’m pretty sure. This doesn’t look like an official hat to me though, but yeah. Maybe it is. Maybe it’s like the religious state or something. Yeah. Don’t know. True. Yeah. Um, and there’s like a phrase in, um, yeah, I think

it’s like, I don’t know what the language is called these days, but yeah, maybe it’s called Burmese. We should have asked. Did you see the title of that one? I wanted to, uh, I didn’t see the title. Okay, cool. It’s just, it’s just cool. Matt’s doing a, uh, what’s it called? Like a- The delayed gratification. He’s doing a secret treasure hunt for me. Yeah. A treasure hunt for Aiden. Um, and yeah, those are a few things that I was just saying before that I really like about this artist

style and this work in particular, which is, you know, it’s got almost this like Keith Herring simplicity with the figures. They’re kind of like very beautiful. They’re kind of, um, I don’t know, almost like a dancing. It’s like a single line drawing. Yeah. Outline is just one big outline, like all unified in those two ways, the cock and balls and then the

outline and single sort of form that they make. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s, and it’s also kind of just like one sort of thin band in the middle of a big square, like printed very nicely. And yeah. And then I also just love like the potency of such a fucking like in your face, like gory, brutal, you know, reference and kind of meme. Totally. Yeah. In a kind of posh

gallery like this. True. Poshish. Yeah. Poshish. Okay. We’re standing in front of this work, which, which was the one that really grabbed our eyes by Richie Tett. Um, and this one’s called bitch better have my democracy 2021.

Um, and this one we can, we can say it’s like definitely like the, the leading image I would say of the like show. Yes. Um, and it shows this like beautiful, like goddess, like figure, um, in traditional, um, like, like she’s got like traditional wear on and like this beautiful ornate shield and spear and like golden spear and helmet. And she’s like standing over and

overcoming this like military dictator, like lizard person guy. He’s got those like alligator eyes, which are like, you know, the pupils are like elongated and like big sort of boar’s teeth and stuff like that. And it’s just this like totally triumphant. Like we were saying like, like girl boss in like the best possible way. Like this is a girl boss. I love to see

winning. Um, she’s got this big mane of flowing hair behind her. I mean, it’s, it’s a really cool, like arresting and like sick image. I think cool is the word because it is very much like, I don’t know. There’s like the sudden like anachronism with it. Cause it’s very much got like modern, something like super modern, maybe in the palette or like the style, but it’s

also playing with like, yeah, these traditional kind of forms. She’s got this big, like fucking, I don’t know what you would call it. Almost like a bouquet of black hair, like peacock feathers, like stretching out behind her. She’s got this kind of like really, yeah. As you said, like goddess, like this kind of ultimate expression on her face being like bloody red

background. Yeah. No, I mean, there’s something very like special about this image. And that’s the one that was on Instagram that was like, we were both like, damn, we’re going to go see this show. Just like the line work and the colors. Absolutely. Yeah. And then it’s really, like, I guess there’s also almost an element of like, not quite humor, but do you get what I’m saying? It’s not just like the super stern protocol. It’s true. It’s like the, it gives

me the feeling that like I get when the, like the good guys are about to fucking win in an action film, like in a beautiful way. Like I’m, I’m so like impressionable like that, that I get really like, I get all worked up when the, when the end of the film is coming up the last act and it’s like, Oh, they’re not going to do it. Oh, they’re actually going to do it. You know, it really gets to me. And, and this artist has like really captured

that feeling for this. Yeah. As you were saying, then I just wanted to refer back to that point you were making about like war photographers about how it’s like, you know, we’ve got to get artists in these kinds of political scenes to do their artwork, to make the images more powerful. Sure. You know, and this kind of feels like it’s like definitely doing that.

It’s like inspirational. Absolutely. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Totally inspirational. Yeah. For sure. It fucking rocks. It fucking rocks. I’m going to get one. Yeah. You should get one. Yeah. Yeah. Cool.

So we’ve moved one to the side and we’re in a kind of different, different energy now. We’ve got some, some birds and some foliage. Yeah. This artist is so you know. And it’s like these sort of golden, like, I don’t know if it’s gold leaf or just like gold foil sort of cutouts and like, like multicolored peacocks and like a hand, the hand gesture,

like that we’ve seen around three fingers raised and like foliage and leaves and like sort of beauty and like natural beauty and like, um, like, uh, like a kind of a very like peaceful resonance to it, like, as opposed to, um, the other stuff that’s going on here, which has these

like very strong, like monumental kind of themes or like, um, kind of wry, like, um, postmodern kind of nods. Yes. Um, but this one’s like got this kind of interesting, like coded, um, uh, like significance to it. I’m feeling like the gesture on its own is like, it was enough,

you know, like to tip it off like that off. But also I feel like this bird has some like significance too, but it’s like, it’s, um, it’s working so well in this room for me, like right next to this, like kind of glorious triumph. It’s also this, like the beautiful humanity of like, you know, the, of like uniting and like that kind of thing is like coming through

this to me. Yeah. Okay. So now we’ve moved into gallery one and we’re looking at these, uh, photos by Emily Fio. Uh, I wonder if that’s theirs at the top as well. Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. It doesn’t have a number, but, uh, yeah, we’re standing in front of 10, like 40 by 40 centimeter images. So there’s like this kind of, um, recurring symbol of the triangle, um, like

in all of these, um, in one way or another. And, um, I think our favorite one over here is like, she’s like pointing this gun directly. Like the barrel is just right up with the camera and she’s like got this staunch, like middle finger raised. You can see a wedding ring on her, on her hand as well. And she’s wearing this like mask, like a face mask with like,

um, one of those puppies and some other like silver thing on them. And, um, yeah, we’re kind of talking about like the, the sort of, um, like confluence or the combination of like these things, like sort of actual like protest and like action and then like performance art kind of stuff. And like what we would see in video art, but also like, um, you know, just

sort of art world imagery, like these kind of like motifs and like gesture and like stuff like that. Yeah. You were saying like actual protests. And again, we still have like, this one feels a little more arty to me, like however you mean to take that, like against real protests, but then there’s, I think more overt kind of like art aesthetic tools, or at least they’re

more, um, you know, we keep coming back to this idea of like the, um, amplification or like the power that aesthetics have to amplify a political kind of message. Yeah. And if we talk about this one, we’re kind of like, you know, we’re in amongst the protests, like super tight. We have that, you know, this, uh, person has a like triangular mirror and

in the reflection, you can just see like all the rest of the protests. It’s very much like, you know, this is not a Nat Geo war photography. This is very much like kind of like a Pond Guard. This is someone’s iPhone. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. And like, yeah, some, some, do you know what I mean? There’s more kind of like creative license being taken to, you know,

maybe get at more, um, thorny parts of, you know, the thing rather than just like, let’s give you a big, bold emotion, like feel sad about this. Yeah. Which is, um, you know, it’s really cool. Yeah. So true. This is an artist or a collective again. It’s called Bart was not here. Okay,

cool. Um, which is like, uh, I’m pretty sure that’s one of the, um, like an inversion of one of the lines of the chalkboard that Bart does like an intro to a Simpsons episode. Yeah, totally. Um, on the first one, there’s like the, like, yeah, the military dictator with the like Elmer Fudd, um, like a filter on or whatever. It’s like, it’s like a line. Yeah, exactly. He’s

got his like double barrel shotgun, like twisted up towards him. And he’s like sort of concerned looking down the barrel. And then, yeah, there’s like, um, Burmese like writing behind it. Yeah. And then below that, there’s like, this looks like, um, yeah, still from like, or like a page from one of the like, um, handbooks or like comics you might get in the like case of a video game that you buy. It’s like a fucking like cool, trendy graphic novel

aesthetic. Yeah. There’s like, um, there’s like in the very foreground, there’s like a bowman like drawing, like notching an arrow. Literally an arrow. Yeah. And like, um, then like people in riot gear and like the sort of middle ground. And then in the background, there’s big evil, like smoke red smoke plume with like evil eyes and like big grinning teeth. Um, and

it says answer the call dot, dot, dot, dot. Like, yeah. Yeah. Really cool. Like, um, like sort of use of like pop and like, um, like this kind of snappy like colors.

This is a surprising show and like, yes, really interesting show. For sure. Yeah. We were saying like, even if we didn’t have a mic, we would want to come and see it. Yeah. I was like, I’m too tired. We’re too tired to record the podcast. Let’s just, let’s just hang out. Go see the show. See what we do for you. Loyal fan base. See you Sydney.

We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which this episode was recorded and pay our respects to their elders past and present. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today.

Hey, this was a really great show and you can still check it out until the 5th of June. It’s at 16 Albemarle Street in Newtown. This is the last episode of the season and we want to thank you for listening along all this way. We’re going to take a short break and we will be back soon.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Show notes

This week we visited @16albermarle in Newtown to see Fighting Fear. The team at @16albermarle worked closely with @myanmart in Yangon to produce the work in this show. We talked about “the feed”, provenance and how art amplifies political imagery. The artists we talked about in this show were @hkun_lat, @bakakaza, @richiehtet, @soeyunwe and @emily_phyo and @bart_was_not_here. Audio included from music videos by @88twenty21 - watch the full videos on their Instagram. This is the last episode of the season! And this was one of our favourite exhibitions. The show runs until the 5th of June, big recommend. Thanks for listening!