Video interview: Michael Cook – 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT7)

 

Michael Cook – 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT7) from Peril Magazine on Vimeo.

Peril interview with artist Michael Cook (7 December 2012)

Michael Cook is exhibiting as part of The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT7), 8 December 2012 — 14 April 2013, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and Queensland Art Gallery (QAG).

“Michael Cook’s works operate in an ethereal dream world, a timeless place that traverses both the colonial and contemporary worlds and is sustained on ‘what ifs’ and hypotheticals. It is a place of Cook’s own modern Dreaming. His central question is quite simple: what if the British, instead of dismissing Aboriginal society, had taken a more open approach to their culture and knowledge systems? In all of Cook’s works to date, Aboriginal people have been placed in all possible social roles. This all-Aboriginal world is a sort of utopia where questions can be posed and answered without the complication of race: there is no black and white, no right or wrong. These figures are both the conquerors and the colonised. Through the use of images of Aboriginal people, often in roles diametrically opposed to those with which we are accustomed, Cook ensures that an Aboriginal voice is ever-present. For APT7, Michael Cook will present a suite of new photographic works.”

For more information visit:

QAG | GOMA
qagoma.qld.gov.au/

Artist: Michael Cook
Interview: Owen Leong
Camera: Shoufay Derz

Peril Magazine would like to thank Kendall Battley, Amelia Gundelach, and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

PERIL
peril.com.au

Owen Leong

Author: Owen Leong

Owen Leong, Peril Visual Arts Editor, is a contemporary artist and curator. He is currently undertaking his PhD at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. Owen uses the human body as a medium to interrogate social, cultural and political forces. He has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally including Chicago, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai and Singapore. Owen has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants from the Australia Council for the Arts, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, Art Gallery of NSW and Asialink. He has held residencies at Artspace, Sydney; Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester; Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; and Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan. Leong’s work is held in the Bendigo Art Gallery collection and private collections across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Visit him at www.owenleong.com