Tuesday, February 19, 2008

PLUS BRITNEY - Life Goes On


Here is a wonderful pink rubber glove I recently discovered in Auckland's Grey Lynn shopping area. What gets to me
most is the almost unnoticeable line of text on one of the magazine covers - PLUS BRITNEY. The owner of hand and
glove seems unperturbed, evidence that life does go on, with or without Britney.

Harvey Benge at Zendai MoMA Shanghai


Here is an installation picture of my work Sixty Portraits that is currently showing with MoMA Shanghai's Art and Life 366 programme. The work has been installed in a public location and is part of the museums year long strategy to bring art out of the museum into the public arena. The sixty photographs in this series were made between 2001 and 2007 in France (Paris), New Zealand (Northcote), and China (Pingyao). The images were shot in an intentionally deadpan, uncontrived and democratic fashion. Randomly sequenced, the viewer is left to look for clues as to location and identity. The works purpose is to raise issues of race, multiculturalism and globalisation. The series will also be one of several projection works shown at the opening of the Auckland Photography Festival on May 30.