Head image: ‘Placid Blobs 1’ by Simon Falk
It’s an age old debate that’s divided online communities and ended lifelong friendships: Is it pronounced GIF, or GIF?
An upcoming art exhibition might just answer the longstanding question. It’s Prounced GIF, Not GIF collects the work of local and international artists who have thrived online, colliding their works with more traditional methods to explore the creative process and consumption in the smartphone era.
It’s all going down in just a few hours, kicking off at 6:00pm at Goodspace Gallery, so we spoke to curator Con Gerakaris about the stars of the show, online spaces and beef noodle soup. See it below:
What do you think is the more commonly mispronounced word: ‘GIF’ or ‘pho’?
Phở without a doubt. People who ‘know how’ to say phở are liars unless they are Vietnamese.
How do you think the digital space has impacted on the experience of viewing art? Do you find it less authentic in an Internet-reliant space?
The Internet has literally been a godsend to those in the art industry in regards to accessibility and research, but your question is dependent on the artwork. Internet art is best viewed on the Internet; for the Mona Lisa you should probably go to The Louvre. But I’m trying to challenge that.
The exhibition will also have a focus on consumerism and advertising. How transparent do you think creatives have to be when creating work/content that is sponsored?
I feel that sponsored content can always be identified. Transparency is an interesting topic in regards to art production. I’m sure myself and countless other interns can tell you some eye opening stories.
Tell us about the international line-up you have curated. What was the selection process?
The artists represented are not truly as international as I would have hoped – it is to my dismay there are no Asian, African or South American artists exhibiting in the show. That being said, this isn’t the damn MCA. I feel it is in the spirit of the show to share that most of the artists were selected from scrolling through Instagram.
I’m not ashamed to admit I slid into the DMs of Saulonzo (Antioch, USA), Simon Falk (Toronto, CAN), Nicholas Keays (Melbourne, AUS) and Alessio Nardi (London, UK). Michelle Cho (Los Angeles, USA) is a close friend and really respect her work, I knew she needed to be in any show I curated ever since first visiting her website. John Karel (Philadelphia, USA) created this skeleton which I guess could be considered a meme, but I’m honestly really fond of the goofy little character and knew I needed him.
James Jirat Patradoon is an incredible mad genius artist and thought he would produce a really exciting artwork after seeing his pieces at Art Basel Miami. Danielle Karlikoff has been killing it recently on all fronts and is the next big thing for Australia.
How hot does it have to get for James Jirat Patradoon to not wear a leather jacket?
The dude is cold blooded, heat is no issue.
Imagine that tomorrow all smartphones in the world self-destruct. Will creativity thrive or diminish in a world where we’re forced to look up from the screen?
I feel like if I say thrive it will make me seem like I find smartphones as a blight on humanity. Clearly that’s not true. Creativity will thrive but creativity is thriving – think about how insane Vine was for a second. Things don’t need to exist for us to thrive, we’ve been doing it for a long time now.
What is your all time favourite GIF?
Impossible to answer but I’ll settle on this for now.
Any last words for people on the fence about heading to the exhibition tonight?
There’s free beer if you get in early enough.
