From Rebecca Gallo…
3 in the morning part 2 is the first Australian survey of work by New Zealand artist Dan Arps, spanning 2008-2015. The show is heavily weighted towards the current end of that bracket, although for Arps, new works are often re-workings of old pieces. He remixes his own work in the same way that he selects and shuffles found objects and videos. In a press release that accompanies the show, S.T. Lore draws parallels between Arps’ practice and that of DJ Screw, after whose famous remixed 90s hip-hop tape this exhibition was named. Arps and Screw share a mixture of respect and irreverence for their source material and its authors, as if to say: I see what you did there; here’s how I’d do it my way. For DJ Screw, this meant re-composing the work of other artists, whilst Arps’ readjusts the work of now-anonymous 1980s poster designers and videos by internet users who have relinquished their content to the online world.
Compared to the chaotic installations for which Arps is known, 3 in the morning part 2 is a deliberate and restrained presentation. Found physical objects, images and videos are altered, re-framed or completely obliterated, and the generic and mass-produced are re-personalised with obvious handmade touches. Arps’ art suggests that we may not get to choose what traces we leave behind, but we can respond to – and change – what is being made now.
Until November 7
Minerva, Potts Point
Pic: Dan Arps, 3 in the morning part 2. Installation view, Minerva, Sydney, 26 September – 7 November 2015
