Gang

Overview

Gang, pronounced 'gung', is a creative network of artists from Sydney and Java. Taking their name from a variety of references — mostly the vernacular of both countries, such as the word for 'laneway' in Indonesian and closer to home 'gung-ho' (as in, gung-ho about Java!) — Gang are a fluid, free-loving group of artists doing their thing. They get together, they manage festivals, they talk and they rig. What was that? Yes, they rig. The newest incarnation of Gang includes their commercial enterprise: rigging for the arts industry. It is an interesting aside — an arts collaborative attempting to seek financial sustainability through the provision of services — perhaps not so gung-ho hippy after all. Unfortunately, this element of their team sits rather uncomfortably as it inhabits such a large presence throughout the exhibition at Gaffa.

With a screen dedicated to stills of their rigging work, as well as business cards strewn throughout the galleries, we end up feeling like the whole exercise is just that — a marketing exercise. I don't wish to be totally dismissive of this decision as I was thoroughly impressed to find artists stretching the limits of that age-old struggle of how-to-make-a-living, but I don't necessarily want to have it stare me down amongst the glare of the white walls of a gallery. And yes, I am well aware of the stupidity of the above tirade because what is an exhibition but a marketing exercise for the artist? And secondly, of course the artist and art in general is totally dependent on the capitalist market. Oh, money. Us artists generally don’t like to talk about it, just count it in our bedrooms at night. In the dark.

Anyway, if you haven't been down to the towering four-storey 19^th century police station that is the product of the hard work of the ambitious crew at Gaffa, then make time during your lunch break today. With a wonderful street-side cafe, a fresh location for the in-house jewellery store and The Arcade Project shops opening to new vendors, it is just the right time to catch a glimpse of the vision that can be achieved when artists sit down to dream.