MOBY DICK and SNAKES & LADDERS, both collages, explore our relationship to nature and technology. The first piece, the story of whale hunting and life aboard a working ship amongst a culturally diverse crew, reflects issues of social status, class, and belief systems. The second piece, the game of Snakes and Ladders, is a metaphorical exploration of the labyrinth myth, which was a technology designed to keep nature (represented by the minotaur beast) in a state of human control. This myth reflects our relationship to evolving technologies, which seek to separate us from nature and to solve the problems created by us in a labyrinthian pursuit of technological innovation. The collage also depicts the Buddhist Vietnamese monk, Thích Quảng Đức, who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon intersection in 1963 as protest to state persecution of Buddhism, by the Christian leadership. Combined, these two collages represent two important aspects of meaning his work: namely, class struggle (labour as a commodity) and technological confinement (power/control).

Artist: Greg Angus