Let’s Talk…The politics of the platform with Megan Cope
This week on Let’s Talk…The Arts, Rachael catches up with Quandamooka artist Megan Cope to talk about the politics of the platform.
Megan’s site-specific sculptural installations, public art works and paintings investigate issues relating to colonial histories, the environment, and mapping practices; challenging prescribed notions of Aboriginality and focusing on psychogeographies that challenge the grand narrative of ‘Australia.’
In this wide-ranging conversation, Rachael and Megan focus on the complex geographies of online culture. From the radical joy and transformative possibility of social media in creating spaces for community, to the very real dangers of digital surveillance, exploitation, and policing, they consider the complex politics of online culture in the context of continuing colonialism. From digital platforms that encourage individuation, documentation, and categorisation in the name of brand-making and “influence” to older sites of colonial surveillance, mapping, and possession…they draw out a long history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists refusing, subverting, or returning the colonial gaze in all its many forms.
If you’ve ever found yourself scrolling social media for hours…or searching for the perfect image to post on your online profile this conversation is for you.
