Janet Lilo visual artist

Political Broadcast 2017

Dear Janet

On behalf of CIRCUIT and The Physics Room, Christchurch I am writing to invite you to be part of a curatorial project timed to co-incide with the upcoming New Zealand election on 17 September.

Party Political Broadcast invites 8 artists to each make a 30 second single channel video work inspired by the format of the televised party political broadcast.

Each video will be streamed on the CIRCUIT website in the month of September leading up to the election, and a public presentation of all the works is scheduled for Christchurch in Wellington in mid-September, probably at a public venue to be confirmed.

Originally developed in the 1960s for television, a Party Political Broadcast typically featured one politician speaking direct to camera, or a montage of images suggesting New Zealand as a country engulfed in economic and social peril, or on the cusp of prosperity for all. Usually the clip would end with a tag line ‘This Election… ‘Vote Social Credit’ etc.  Some of these ads featured no politicians at all, instead letting ‘ordinary New Zealanders’ talk about their hopes and dreams. The Party Political Broadcast would screen in the regular television ad breaks, between commercials for butter, deodorant and other consumer products.

Ahead of the upcoming New Zealand general election, this project invites artists to offer their vision for the future. Artists are invited to address the conventions of the medium however they choose, but strictly within the time limit of 30 seconds.

 

 

Hi Mark,
Yes, I was expecting the artist statement question. I will craft something properly before you need it.
The animated figure is based on a character in a music video called no rest for the Wicked by Lykke Li.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh-0y8Qe0Sw

He is a coloured, working class man who is run out of town by hate. There is a particular line in the chorus: if you let them win without a fight… that has been reappropriated for the video in propaganda font. I wanted to make an ‘ad’ that had the appearance of being experimental, slightly anime, highly dramatic but at the same time quite conventional in many ways that an advert is meant to work. I’m appealing to an audience that doesn’t vote – one that I have spent a lot of time talking to in the past. It’s a very simple message. The people I’m generally surrounded by in my neighbourhood don’t. I’d rather encourage – or highlight that fact, first. I could have used real people but I’m sure someone else will.
 
I hope that helps.
And if for some reason this does not fit your brief and you prefer to leave it out – that’s okay.
 
Cheers,
janet.
p.s – A nice 3-hour relaxation video for you to wind down the night…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9pQYOGIWM8
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Watch 30 second videos by Murray Hewitt, Li-Ming Hu, Mark Harvey, Terri Te Tau, Miranda Bellamy, Fantasing & Callum Devlin here:
https://www.circuit.org.nz/blog/curators-essay-party-political-broadcast

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