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Would very like to talk about my artwork: Tear it Down (Cook Falling) and about controlling the narrative.
For a little context, I made this work in 2019 after walking through Hyde Park to go to a meeting at the Australian Museum. I felt dwarfed by the looming figure of cook, I get like I was being watched and I felt like I wasn’t in control.
I started thinking about why that statue, why that place and why is it still there. I came up with some answers.
The statue is a testament to the brutal power of the colony. Depicting the ‘founder’ as their chosen mythology attempting to create some sense of greatness.
The statue is a testament to the brutal power of the colony. Depicting the ‘founder’ as their chosen mythology attempting to create some sense of greatness.
In that place where mob would have once lived, directly on top of a water way leading down to the harbour where life would have flourished. Its in that place as a way to strike what was their before and claim dominance over the land.
It’s still there because the colonial project is still continuing. They still need to control, to degrade, to other. As long as we dissent they will continue to put the boot in.
I want to change that, i want our society to have no need for these monuments. I truly want to to tear that statue down.
Here is a sped up 30 sec clip of me making the work. I use the imagery from Iwo Jima as a mirror to violence and colonial conquest. Instead of raising a flag these activists a tearing down a symbol of continued systemic oppression.
So controlling the narrative: This work is a frame for a graphic novel I’m working on where a group of Aboriginal activists begin to fight back against the colony. This is a story I want to tell, not because it’s a good story because I truly believe this needs to happen.
I believe that Aboriginal people should be in control of this country and should reap the benefits of it. For me that is the only way a treaty would be possible. This is what I mean when I say control the narrative.
We should be free to tell our own stories in the way that we want, we should not be silenced or asked to speak in more palatable tones. I’ve worked in the arts in this country for 15 years. Aboriginal stories are told and championed and white people make money from them.
That’s the system we have to try to work in currently. That is why First Nations owned and operated organisations are so important. Places like @IndigenousXLtd @AwesomeBlackOrg are out there doing the work telling are stories in the way they should be told. It’s just the start.
Even whilst rallying against the system I’m in, I still need to live in it and survive in it. Prints of my artwork are available to purchase, each signed and numbered. The proceeds go back into making sure I can eat, and pay rent while I work on my comic and novel.
Purchase here: https://travisdevries.com/product/cook-falling-tear-it-down/
If you’d like to hear/watch a more in depth conversation about the work I did a talk about it for the State Library of NSW last year: https://travisdevries.com/tear-it-down-cook-falling/
