How are you spending your days during stay-at-home?
My studio building was closed for 3 months, so I focused more on research while at home. Much of it has been offline, recalibrating my thinking within the context of current world events. Going for long bike rides and finding moments of peace by the water or in the park where I can escape from the noise of sirens, media bombardment, civil unrest and economic devastation that have evolved since COVID 19 emerged.
How has this impacted work?
An increasing reliance on digital technology due to the shutdown has rendered the screen as the primary window to the world, so I am developing some new works around this. It is difficult to ascertain the impact this time will have on my work in the long term, as we are still very much immersed in this global crisis. As new details around the pandemic, civil rights movement and upcoming US election emerge daily, I am re-examining where my practice sits within a changed world.
Sho Shibuya, Sunrises from a small window June 29th—July 5th 2020 on the front page of The New York Times. @shoshibuya
Is there an artwork that currently resonates with you at this moment and why?
New York based Sho Shibuya did a series of paintings during quarantine titled ‘Sunrises from a Small Window’. Each day he painted the sky from his apartment window on the front page of the New York Times, leaving the masthead and date visible. The series aptly captures everything about this time - the isolation, an abruptly localized view of the world, the suddenly limited access to materials, the daily accounts of tragedy, the distortion and redaction of truth. The resulting color-fields obscure the tragic news over which they are painted, to offer beauty, hope, and a perspective of the world that is larger than ourselves.
Alone Together, ZAZ 10, Times Square, New York, NY.
Images of your work were recently displayed in Times Square in an exhibition titled Alone Together by Zaz10ts giving special thanks to essential workers on the frontlines of the pandemic, do you feel your work has taken on a new meaning during this crisis?
It’s been interesting to revisit existing artworks in light of their new global context. My text-based works were re-sited as images in Times Square during the pandemic, such as ARE YOU STILL THERE which sat above boarded-up shopfronts in an otherwise deserted Times Square. YOU AND ME AND YOU AND ME stood surrounded by crowds united in protest against racial injustice, clashing with throngs of riot police who perpetuated the actions under scrutiny. A simple call for unity and justice, instead sparked further divisiveness. And THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY, reminded viewers that while we live in difficult times where the future is uncertain – was it ever really? The ‘future’ has always been a constructed reality – the only real truth is in the present moment.
Still of video sculpture in McIver's upcoming exhibition, Impressions.
Your upcoming trilogy exhibition Impressions has been put on hold due to COVID-19, tell us more about this and what we can expect.
Impressions is a 3-part exhibition trilogy set in New York, Melbourne and Los Angeles, examining misinformation around the subject of climate change through digital and sculptural representation of the elements of water, fire and earth. Misrepresentation of the truth surrounding this issue is ubiquitous, and this post-truth state has only heightened during the pandemic as the digital window, driven by algorithms, becomes a primary reference-point on reality.
In the exhibition, components from one exhibition location will evolve into the second location, as physical or digital representation, disrupting the viewer’s ability to rely on their own perception to distinguish between the real and its digital representation; between natural objects and those livestreamed from another location.
What do you imagine for the future of the art community and world at large as we rebuild together?
Significant art movements often emerge out of times of upheaval, due to dramatic shifts in the collective consciousness. Covid19 has not only upended the world socially and economically, it has exposed inequalities and injustices that have existed for centuries. I imagine a movement of art and philosophy that proposes new ideologies as we enter a second age of enlightenment. Digital technology will undoubtedly play a large role as we rebuild, transforming traditional industry models towards online platforms and blockchain technologies to enable a democratization of the industry.