THE DISQUIET

The Guildhouse Collections Project

Flinders University Museum of Art
22 July—13 September 2024
From left to right
Mandy Martin (1952—2021) Mandy Martin (1952—2021) Mandy Martin (1952—2021)
The drive of the U.S.,1975, screenprint, Gallery 1,1977, screenprint, ink on paper, Big Boss, 1977, screenprint, ink on
ink on paper, 64.8 cm x 44.7 (image), edition 5/35, 55.9 x 89.7 cm (image), paper, edition 6/12, 2nd printing, 73.3
76.2 x 55.9 cm (sheet), Donated through 73.3 x 102.7 cm (sheet), Donated x 47.7 cm (image), 102.2 x 88.0 cm
the Australian Government’s Cultural through the Australian Government’s (sheet), Donated through the Australian
Gifts Program by Amanda Martin, Cultural Gifts Program by Amanda Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by
Collection of Flinders University Museum Martin, Collection of Flinders University Amanda Martin, Collection of Flinders
of Art 5042, © the estate of the artist Museum of Art 5069, © the estate of University Museum of Art 5060, © the
the artist estate of the artist
Ann Newmarch (1945—2022)
Two versions,1975, screenprint, ink on Mandy Martin (1952—2021) Mandy Martin (1952—2021)
paper edition 17/22, 72.0 x 51.4 cm A lovely house in Springfield and a Stop Omega, 1974, screenprint, ink on
(image) 77.4 x 59.3 cm (sheet), Donated chauffeur-driven Jag,1975, screenprint, paper, 65.5 x 48.3 cm (image) 76.0 x
through the Australian Government’s ink on paper, edition 11/25, 63.4 x 45.7 56.3 cm (sheet), Donated through the
Cultural Gifts Program by Amanda (image), 76.0 x 55.8 cm (sheet), Donated Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts
Martin, Collection of Flinders University through the Australian Government’s Program by Amanda Martin, Collection
Museum of Art 5022, © the estate of Cultural Gifts Program by Amanda of Flinders University Museum of Art
the artist Martin, Collection of Flinders University 5058.002, © the estate of the artist
Museum of Art 5046, © the estate of
the artist

ART REVEALS THE DREAM WHICH THE

REGIME CANNOT ALLOW, AND DOES SO
IN A FORM IT CANNOT SEE.1

THE DISQUIET
SUZANNE CLOSE
Art holds a unique power to illuminate issues of pop culture figurines, the pixelated characters imply Reflecting on Cold War dynamics, Kneebone explores possibilities within Sankey’s text-based work create
injustice while offering glimpses of utopian possibility. that we are all commodities under capitalism. deception and the suppression of information in The openings for personal and social transformation.
Its political potency lies in its capacity to expand Omega Enigma. Through her research, she discovered By inviting us to scrutinise the internal and external
individual worldviews, bridging complex ideologies Bai’s final scene, We Choose Community, contrasts that a group of protesters planned to sabotage the influences of our constructed realities, her work
with personal insight and experience. At its most the potential futures of techno-solutionism and tower’s construction. Under the guise of a fishing points to other ways of perceiving the world beyond
compelling, art renders the complex and abstract collective action. Hidden within the pyramid is a trip, they hid fishing rods in their car to mislead the the algorithm.
intimately relevant. In The Disquiet, artists Bin Bai, tech founder, among the world’s most influential and authorities. Her installation references the fishing
Stephanie Doddridge, Sue Kneebone, Olga Sankey affluent. He has prioritised individualist pursuits such poles from this subterfuge and the architecture of the Truc Truong found resonance in Martin’s, The drive
and Truc Truong draw on their personal experiences as seeking refuge in simulated utopias, colonising now-demolished tower. The free-standing structures of the U.S., 1975. The poster critiques America’s
to reflect on today’s socio-political concerns, space and constructing a personal bunker. Beyond suggest speculative communication devices and involvement in the Vietnam War and features a
upheavals and crises. the bunker, there is a community of people investing evoke era-specific tech, including homemade radios ‘Coke-a-cola’ bottle, symbolising US colonisation
in endeavours aimed at fostering greater equality and and ESP (extrasensory perception) experiments. The and cultural domination. Coke has been a recurring
In developing their ideas for this exhibition, these harmonious coexistence on Earth. Bai suggests that submarines in the moving image reflect hidden and motif in Truong’s practice. As an Australian-born
artists engaged deeply with the FUMA collection the future survival of the planet lies not in escapism or submerged elements, paralleling the invisible and daughter of Vietnamese refugees, she recalls when
of political posters focusing on the works of the technology, but in solidarity and interdependence. often imperceptible nature of conspiracy theories and she first visited Vietnam as a child; it felt alien to her.
Progressive Art Movement (PAM). Emerging from governmental secrecy. Kneebone prompts reflection Coke was something familiar and felt like home. In the
Flinders University in the 1970s and influenced by Stephanie Doddridge’s advocacy for food gardening as on how technological surveillance affects our lives in television series Atlanta, two people of colour from
Professor Brian Medlin’s Politics and Art course, a form of quiet activism aligns with her environmental unseen ways and how activism lies not in providing opposite sides of the globe discuss the connection
PAM upheld Marxist-Leninist ideologies, opposing and feminist concerns. In response to Mandy Martin’s definitive answers but in continuous questioning. between capitalism and racial oppression, concluding
American imperialism and championing working- A house in Springfield and a chauffeur-driven Jag, that “Anywhere you buy a can of Coke, some type
class struggles.2 Rejecting art commodification, they 1975, Doddridge focuses on the socio-economic Olga Sankey was inspired by the advertising of racism goin’ down there.”5 Truong juxtaposes the
favoured posters as accessible mediums for political divide depicted in the print. While Martin portrays slogan “Four Colourful Versions of the Truth” in Ann consumption of global brands, like Coke, with cultural
communication. In The Disquiet, the contemporary working-class women with worn expressions, pushing Newmarch’s Two Versions, 1975. Where Newmarch traditions to reflect the complexities surrounding
artists were especially drawn to the prints of Ann supermarket trolleys down the aisle to highlight anti- interrogated the proliferation of gendered stereotypes multicultural identity and appropriated racial oppression.
Newmarch and Mandy Martin from this era, an capitalist sentiments, Doddridge hones in on the and the sexual exploitation of women in the media,
attraction likely stemming from the enduring political issue of food insecurity especially during the current Sankey examines contemporary concerns surrounding Reflecting on her grandfather’s passing and Vietnam’s
relevance of their works and compelling visual language. cost of living crisis. By centring the shopping trolley fake news, disinformation and confirmation colonial legacies, Truong combines funerary rituals
in Compost Colesworth, Doddridge draws attention bias. According to the World Economic Forum, with product branding in Have a Supreem Day. The
Half a century since their creation, PAM posters to the current duopoly of major supermarket chains misinformation and disinformation pose the greatest Louis Vuitton monogram reflects Vietnam’s penchant
prompt comparisons between the political climates in Australia that have been recently accused of price short-term global risk with the potential to influence for counterfeit luxury goods. Adopting these fakes
of the 1970s and today. In 2024, protests intensifying gouging, while underscoring the connection between elections, radicalise political views and erode individual subverts the French coloniser’s cultural identity and
against conflicts like the War in Gaza are paralleled capitalist systems and unsustainable food production rights as government agencies attempt to control and destabilises the dynamics of influence and power.
by urgent and growing calls for climate action. practices contributing to environmental degradation. regulate information.4 When advertising and branding have infiltrated every
Simultaneously, concerns grow over AI surveillance, aspect of our lives, dupes disrupt the system. Playfully
housing affordability, the pervasive impact of consumer For Doddridge, growing a garden is a small Sankey’s withIN/withOUT critiques society’s rebellious, Truong emphasises the importance of family
culture and online toxicity. Mark Fisher’s critique of revolutionary act of care that fosters well-being consumption of online information without and radical love in navigating the complexities of
neoliberal capitalism’s deep infiltration into societal and mental health in times of crisis. Against the interrogating the internal and external factors that global economic imperialism.
and cultural norms offers context for understanding insurmountable helplessness of inevitable climate cloud our judgements. The book, WHITEOUT,
contemporary political art.3 Today’s artists, like their catastrophe and global capitalism, she advocates symbolises information overload, akin to the visual The Disquiet encapsulates the pervasive unease of
predecessors, critique entrenched power structures practical solutions like food gardening to address blindness caused by excessive screen exposure. our times, marked by climate crises, socio-economic
with a personal urgency, revealing how the political these pressing environmental and social challenges. Just as heavy snow can obscure visibility, the eyes injustices and technological upheaval. By exposing
has become intimately entwined with the personal By sharing seeds and inviting the audience to plant emerging from the pages signify an awakening to our power structures that perpetuate injustice and
in navigating complex global challenges. them in a repurposed shopping trolley, Doddridge selective blindness and distorted perceptions. We are environmental degradation, the exhibition compels
empowers individuals to resist corporate influence often so distracted by screens that they prevent us us to confront the daunting challenges ahead. Art as
Bin Bai traverses time, geographies and cultural and build community resilience. from seeing the true nature of our reality. BLACKOUT a form of resistance complicates the ideological grip
contexts, often resulting in the collision of traditional employs text redaction to signify censorship and of late-stage capitalism, encouraging us to question
Tibetan iconography with current geopolitical Sue Kneebone’s research-based practice, which selective disclosure. This prompts reflection on the our worldview and recognise the power of collective
concerns. For The Disquiet, Bai has reinterpreted delves into hidden histories and their legacies, led power dynamics at play in information dissemination action. We are called to envision a better way of living,
Martin’s posters, Big Boss, 1977, Don’t be taken in, her to Martin’s 1974 poster, Stop Omega. This poster and the potential consequences of restricted access prompting us to ask: what future should we hope for,
1975 and Gallery I, 1977. These pixelated tableaus reflects a near-forgotten chapter of Australian history to knowledge. In WRITEOUT, the word “me” is and what actions must we now take?
expose enduring issues of socio-economic inequality, involving secret military operations during the Cold repeated, becoming “meme” until the cursive silver
despite the significant technological advances we War. The Omega Navigational System was operated handwriting converges to a solid silver page. The
have witnessed in the last fifty years. by the US in cooperation with six ally nations, using mirrored surface suggests the echo chambers created End notes
low-frequency radio signals to locate submarines, by social media. Initially titled Confirmation Bias, 1 Malcolm Miles, Art Rebellion: The Aesthetics of Social Transformation,
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023.
Martin’s prints critique the disparity of wealth and ships and aircraft. The campaign against Omega this book delves into our internal world shaped by
2 Catherine Speck and Jude Adams, If you don’t fight ... you lose: politics,
exploitation of the working class, whereas Bai raised concerns about foreign bases in Australia personal beliefs and prejudices. Sankey questions posters and PAM, exhibition catalogue, Flinders University Museum of Art,
suggests that economic greed is the root cause of and the threat of nuclear retaliation, represented by the metaphysical assumption that more information Wakefield press, 2024, p.11.
immediate threats such as environmental degradation, the atomic mushroom cloud in Martin’s work. The leads to greater understanding, deconstructing the 3 Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?,
harmful technological advancements and global protests took place during the height of the Cold War notion of objective truth. Zero Books, 2009.

instability. In Just a Shell ‘til You Rebel, Bai’s scenes in response to the Omega communication tower being 4 World Economic Forum, Global Risks Report 2024, 19th Edition, Published:
10 January 2024, [Link]
are reminiscent of video games, promising utopian built at Darriman, Victoria. The opaque nature of these In Safelight, Sankey emphasises the viewer’s Report_2024.pdf [accessed 14 May 2024].
virtual worlds while exposing deeply ingrained socio- government operations resulted in public fear and perspective and questions the way reality is filtered 5 ‘The Old Man and the Tree’, Atlanta, created by Donald Glover,
economic power structures. Resembling collectible speculation. by personal beliefs. The multi-layered semiotic season 3, episode 3, Gilga production company, 2022.
The Guildhouse Collections Project delivered in partnership with
Flinders University Museum of Art invites artists to research, study
and collaborate with one of the largest public collections in South
Australia to create new work.

The Disquiet, 22 July—13 September 2024

A Flinders University Museum of Art exhibition
in partnership with Guildhouse

Flinders University Museum of Art

Flinders University
Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA 5042
[Link]/museum-of-art

Published 2024 by Flinders University Museum of Art

GPO Box 2100, Adelaide South Australia, 5001
© Flinders University Museum of Art,
Guildhouse and Suzanne Close 2024

Artwork copyright © the artists or their estates

All rights reserved. This publication is copyright. Apart from any

fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism
or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be
reproduced without written permission.

Artists: Bin Bai, Stephanie Doddridge, Sue Kneebone,

Olga Sankey and Truc Truong with Ann Newmarch and
Mandy Martin from the FUMA collections
Curatorial premise: Nic Brown
Curator: Suzanne Close
Project Manager: Sam Faehrmann
Exhibition Assistant: Lachlan Murray
Catalogue design: Amy Milhinch
Photography: Lana Adams and the artists Stephanie Doddridge
(1984— ), Resistance is
fertile (detail), 2024, trolley,
This project has been undertaken on the traditional lands of the
hessian, wicking bed,
Kaurna people. We respect their cultural authority and ongoing vegetable plants, straw,
spiritual connections to the Adelaide Plains. vegetal print, grow lights,
112 x 60 x 101 cm, © the
artist, photo: Lana Adams
ISBN: 978-0-6487045-5-3

Arts South Australia