The Making of ‘Good’ Mirrors: Art and Activism in Public Space

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Cover image: Orizzontale, 8 ½ - Yap MAXXI 2014. Picture by Alessandro Imbriaco
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Published: Nov 30, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32891/jps.v4i3.1228
Keywords:
women representation photography collaborative photography collaborative portraiture feminism Indigenous methods public space art and activism

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Jody Haines
RMIT University

Abstract

This article, The Making of ‘Good’ Mirrors: Art and Activism in Public Space, discusses the Feminist and Indigenous methods I apply to co-created collaborative and relational portraiture projects expressly created for public space and semi-public space and how they act as art and activism.  The discussed projects, created using still and moving image, work in resistance to the problem of the gendered aesthetic within the Australian context through the applied making methods within a social studio, the politics of representation and the public placement of the project’s products. Discussed projects include #IAMWOMAN  (2017-current), Women Dreaming  (2018) and Flipping the Script  (2018).

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How to Cite
Haines, J. (2019) “The Making of ‘Good’ Mirrors: Art and Activism in Public Space”, The Journal of Public Space, 4(3), pp. 171–184. doi: 10.32891/jps.v4i3.1228.
Issue
Vol. 4 No. 3 (2019): Art and Activism in Public Space
Section
RMIT University: Master of Arts (Art in Public Space)

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Author Biography

Jody Haines, RMIT University

Jody Haines is a photo media artist - photography, video and projection - based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. By applying an Indigenous and feminist filter to her work, Haines focuses on identity, representation and the Female Gaze within the Australian context. Haines presents her work across the gallery cube and public spaces. Haines has exhibited widely including Sydney Festival 2018 and Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2017 as part of Tell: Contemporary Indigenous Photography, and Gertrude Street Projection Festival 2017. In 2017, Haines was awarded the Emerging artist award for Immerse 2017, for her work #IAMWOMAN, an ongoing social portrait project. She has been commissioned to create work for festivals such as Women of the World and Festival 2018 Commonwealth Games with the Women Dreaming Project, and Through sKIN we Breathe, held in Dance Massive 2019, and Our people Our place a new public art commission for Horizons Festival 2019, Sunshine Coast Queensland, collaborating with the local community in a visual and audio projection work. Engaged as a lead artist/video artist across projects including Flipping the script 2018 and Place Patterns 2018 both supported by Creative Victoria and Wyndham City Council. Haines completed a Master of Arts, Art in Public Space, at RMIT (2018) with Distinction, and was included on the Vice Chancellors Academic List RMIT 2018. Currently a PhD candidate at RMIT School of Art, she is looking at Relational and Collaborative Photography as a tool for social change. She lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung peoples and is a descendant of the Tommeginner peoples of Tasmania.

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