The pairing of Warhol and Weiwei might strike some as slightly incongruous. What’s a 1960s pop art guru, dandy and socialite got to do with an activistic contemporary heavy-hitter from China? Well, a lot actually. Their respective artworks are set up at either side of the gallery rooms. Early on, there are corresponding assemblages of black and white photographs taken in New York; Warhol’s of his socialite and celebrity cohorts, Weiwei’s of a similar nature but taken by a curious, aspiring artist rather than the figurehead of a movement and subculture. Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans face Weiwei’s Table and Pillar – a massive pillar shoved through a dining table. Implementing banal objects to subvert our responses to art is something Weiwei certainly gleaned from Warhol. But while Warhol’s work puts us in a familiar space, it’s Weiwei’s that communicates the loudest.
The exhibition’s star attraction is Weiwei’s Letgo Room, for which he used plastic blocks (not officially Lego) to build an interactive room depicting faces and quotes from Australian social, political and civil rights campaigners including Julian Assange, Archie Roach and Peter Greste. It’s an especially affective piece. The very word ‘activism’ evokes a sense of solemnity, but activism isn’t necessarily fierce. Rather, it stems from a childlike anticipation of a fair world, where everyone can just be nice and tell the truth.
The next room contains a cruder form of expression – Weiwei’s Study of Perspective series. The photographs of him giving the finger to such iconic landmarks as the Sydney Opera House, the Louvre, the White House, Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum are at once amusing and indicative of Weiwei’s disinterest in that which has already been deemed classic or beautiful. He wants to uncover charm and wonder that regularly goes unnoticed.
After taking in some of Warhol’s The Velvet Underground and Nico: A Symphony of Sound film, it was time for Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders. They’ve been touring like crazy since releasing Playmates in 2014, and it’d be possible to focus solely on any one of the five members for ten minutes at a time, completely ignoring the rest, and still be utterly bewildered. Drummer Laurence Pike was certainly earning his salt, giving it everything. While he didn’t interfere with the songs, he took the spotlight based off of sheer skill. Ladder has developed a rockstar command of the stage. Messy, aloof and not afraid to make us feel a little awkward, himself staying totally unfettered.
The setlist consisted mostly of Playmates tracks. The chugging, ice cold Neon Blue a highlight, as well as a spot on version of Lou Reed and John Cale’s Nobody But You. The best came last, however, going back to 2008 for The Barber’s Son, everyone in the room now mesmerised by the performance. It was sharp, yet made up of simple materials; homing in on the familiar while expressing something essential, of its time and glimmering with new life.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
