Marnie Edminston: A Plant is a Plant

Overview

Sometimes, timing is everything. For the past few weeks, the whole country has been buzzing about the potential privacy concerns associated with inputting personal information into the nation's biggest data collection exercise, aka the census. Now, in an exhibition that has been planned for some time, Marnie Edminston's latest show ponders the same topic.

A FAKE Estate presentation that's taking over Metro Arts, A Plant is a Plant contemplates the ever-growing world of everyday spying, because the days of simply placing bugs in lamps and greenery are well and truly over. Espionage has now moved away from targeted individual activities, and become a continuous enterprise used by governments and corporations to monitor as much of the population as possible. And, via social media, it's something that every one of us plays a part in.

Just what that means is something the Melbourne-based Edminston, who is the 2016 Metro Arts ARI in Residence, considers in a collection of pieces about some of the irrational effects of increased surveillance. The exhibition celebrates its opening with a shindig on August 17, and then closes not with a bang but with a critical brunch on September 3. Yes, there'll be plenty of food for thought.