NotFair 2021
May 20-27 & June 11-13
Biography
Ben Taranto & Yin Paradies
Ben Taranto describes himself as a “settler ally/accomplice, activist, and artist resisting on unceded Wurundjeri Woiwurrung land.” Yin Paradies is a Wakaya man who describes himself as “radical anarchist scholar-activist spreading decolonial love and kinship on unceded Wurundjeri land and beyond.” Taranto uses fabricated raw materials, un-ceremonially extracted from Country to critique the structures of colonial-capitalist-patriarchy in “so-called” Australia. Reinforced steel and wire are propped up on plastic feet to mimic formwork used in concrete construction. The formwork is manipulated to demarcate the traditional homelands of First Peoples based on the eighteen regions found in the David R. Horton AIATSIS map (1996). This piece is an elaboration of work Taranto has used to share knowledge with settlers on Indigenous survivance and colonial injustices that continue to this day due to land theft, extractivism and exploitation. Through the reinforced medium of the English language, Paradies offers unsettling truths which crack the constructed grown togetherness of mined capitalist-colonial-patriarchal formwork. “We acknowledge the lands and the ancestors of the Woiwurrung and Boonwurring Wurundjeri people,” Taranto and Paradies state vehemently. “Lands on which we live, work and love. We acknowledge the covered Country of Naarm (Melbourne) – the land, animals and water that keep us healthy. We acknowledge that the land and waterways were stolen, and never ceded. Still to this day, First Nation peoples stand and resist on Country across so-called Australia, to protect and care for people, Country and culture for the benefit of future generations.”
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Works
Ben Taranto & Yin Paradies Constructed Country 2021, reinforced Steel, wire, formwork chairs, steel filings, organic matter, 500 sheets printed text on A4 paper, 4 x 3 m. Photography by Simon Strong.
Ben Taranto & Yin Paradies Constructed Country 2021, reinforced Steel, wire, formwork chairs, steel filings, organic matter, 500 sheets printed text on A4 paper, 4 x 3 m. Photography by Simon Strong.
Ben Taranto & Yin Paradies Constructed Country 2021, reinforced Steel, wire, formwork chairs, steel filings, organic matter, 500 sheets printed text on A4 paper, 4 x 3 m. Photography by Simon Strong.
Proudly Supported by:
NotFair Art Foundation
info@notfair.com.au