Australia Days

The installation follows a similar template to the Queensland Pavilion from Expo ‘88 in Brisbane and looks at present day male culture through a series of video montages representing generalisations and observations of archetypal Australian attitudes.

The original display introduced visitors to a collection of stereotypical Aussie blokes, whereby mannequin, bush narrators – with talking television heads – humorously shared anecdotes about Australian life. The figures were both disturbing and satirical representations of Australian identity and were intended to contrast how the nation saw itself in the contemporary context of 1988.

The new installation, takes a stab at Australia’s sense of nostalgia for bogan culture only to have it replaced by the moral panic regarding the hoon. Australia Days highlights the slippery premise of categorisation and shifts in cultural attitudes over the decades.