Planning For Tomorrow: Activist Art at CACSA

Focusing on the collapse of ideological and political systems such as neoliberalism and capitalism, the exhibition looks at a diverse range of local and international settings and situations and highlights the reaction against these ideals. “ The artists o ffer up an idea of Utopia but also a to-the-barricades mentality of approaching art,” Macdonald says. “ The artists are not just looking at it in the current context but looking at things through both a historical lens and also a kind of propositional lens.”

Gregory Ackland, Thin Air, 2016, archival inkjet print. Image courtesy of the artist and Hill-Smith Gallery, Adelaide.

The exhibition includes a banner by Deborah Kelly that was created for an exhibition about the Gough Whitlam era of government and is titled Night Falls in the Valley (2014). The velvet banner includes the words ‘ The Billionaires united will never be defeated’ and is a cynical look at the labour protest banners of the 1960s and 1970s. The slogan is also relevant to the power and in fluence of today’s billionaires like Gina Reinhart, Clive Palmer and Rupert Murdoch. While there is a lot of cynicism in the work, the fact that the banner is slumped over offers some optimism that perhaps the billionaires have been defeated. “Deborah Kelly’s whole body of work has been about activism and social engagement and looking for a much more nuanced understanding of histories,” he says.

Santiago Sierra, Destroyed Word, 2010, video still. Courtesy of the artist and GAGPROJECTS |Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide.

Spanish artist Santiago Sierra presents a video work from the series Destroyed Word (2010-12). The project involves the letters of the word ‘Kapitalism’ being constructed and destroyed in different parts of the world. As he travelled around the world he sourced local apprentices and trainees to create these giant letters out of materials that were relevant to the local economy. In 2012 the letter ‘K’ was destroyed by fire in the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art’s forecourt in Melbourne, highlighting the signi ficant role of fire in Australian life and history. Through his photography local artist Greg Ackland looks at landscape as an agent or document for change. He is particularly focusing on sites of significance for South Australian-centric stories and moments of societal change. “These locations represent significant moments that have happened or make reference to the concreteness of certain society forms or the collapse of them,” Macdonald says.

Keg de Souza, If There’s Something Strange in Your Neighbourhood… Bu dekom, 2014, video still. Courtesy of the artist.

Also included in the exhibition are works by Damiano Bertoli and Keg De Souza. All of the exhibition artists created work that makes the viewer reflect on the current state of society and consider possible alternative political and social structures. Planning for Tomorrow Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia Saturday, April 9 to Sunday, May 15 cacsa.org.au Title image credit: Deborah Kelly, Night Falls in The Valley, 2014, pigment ink on silk velvet, silk lining, vintage trims, wood, diamond, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.