Raymond Zada: At Face Value
Title:
- At Face Value
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Medium:
- HD video
Duration:
- 2′ 33″
Artist Statement:
To take something at face value is to believe the way the thing appears is the way it really is. At Face Value challenges some people’s narrow views of what an Aboriginal person looks like. As the faces morph, viewers are asked to shift their paradigms and accept, at face value, that the person they’re looking at is Aboriginal. In an international context, the dominant culture in most countries attempts to define aspects of who their first nations peoples are; and it’s often reinforced through stereotyped images. In Australia, this is primarily done through tourism advertising.
In reality, First nations peoples and cultures are far more diverse and sophisticated than is convenient for the dominant culture to acknowledge.
At Face Value is a series of 25 portraits of family and friends.
