Arts and Minds

A press release from an art gallery reached my desk this week, passed on by a colleague with a note: "I presume this is a spoof. Isn't it?" The document publicises an exhibition opening tomorrow at Enjoy Gallery in Wellington's Cuba St and it boldly goes where no press release has gone before ­ trumpeting Spat, a conceptual work.... using chewing gum. Spat is part of two series of shows at Enjoy which have received Creative New Zealand funding to the rather tinny tune of $14,062. No one is getting rich here, except possibly chewing gum manufacturers. But surely, spitting out chewing gum and calling it art must be taking the mickey? "Should the public take it seriously? We do, but that doesn't mean we can't have a sense of humour," says Tao Wells.

Originally published by The New Zealand Herald