The Medium is the Message: Television Now and Then

Overview

Featuring artists by way of South Korea, Guyana, Japan, USA and New Zealand is this exhibition celebrating 60 years of television in Aotearoa.

As the site of the country's first official public television broadcast, Gus Fisher Gallery will reveal the heritage of the building through archival footage and ephemera paired with contemporary artistic responses. Navigating the choppy waters of news bulletins, television talent shows and soap operas, The Medium is the Message: Television Now and Then proposes a line of continuity from the 1960s to the present day that both celebrates and problematises our relationship with broadcasting.

A starting point for the exhibition is the work of Nam June Paik, who is often referred to as the father of video art. Global Groove (1973) is a seminal work in the history of video art. It cuts sequences of music, commercials appropriated from Japanese television and performances by avant-garde artists in a kaleidoscopic and ever-changing environment.

Image: Gus Fisher Gallery.