Trust us
archived
9 Feb
–
4 Mar
2017
Riff Raff
Summer Residency
Riff Raff originated as a semi-imaginary artist-run space started by Li-Ming Hu with special guest founding member Daphne Simons in mid-2016. While on residency at Enjoy Public Art Gallery from 30 January – 19 February, Riff Raff will co-opt the gallery space as their production house, organising a live-streamed 12-hour telethon-style event to solicit a diverse collection of donated work from artists and the general public throughout the nation.
The resulting project Trust Us is part-exhibition, part-studio residency and part-durational performance. Employing the variety format of live televised fundraising extravaganzas of the 1980s and 1990s, Trust Us draws upon art-world tropes and pop-culture references alike.
Artworks collected by Riff Raff will not be used for any form of monetary exchange or fundraising, but instead will be offered to the Chartwell Trust after being displayed at Enjoy from 22 February – 4 March, 2017. If they do not accept the offer, Riff Raff will take over long-term guardianship of the collection and establish their own informal trust called the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust (TUCAT). Donated works will be digitally and physically archived by TUCAT for future accumulation and display opportunities. Enjoy visitors are invited to take part by both donating artwork and/or participating in the telethon.
View photos from the TUCAT Telethon on Facebook
Read Megan Dunn's review of the TUCAT Telethon on EyeContact
EXHIBITION ESSAY
Something for Something
The TUCAT Telethon (via An Evening of Sociodrama) by Ruby Joy Eade
Read Online
Riff Raff, Dead White Ladies: Interview with Alice Neel for the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight.
Poet Jacob Brown reading for the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight.
Live zine reading of Incredibly Hot Sex with Hideous People with Bryce Galloway for the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight.
Acquisition of of Thomas Hancock, Bottle #8, oil on board, 2015 during theTrust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight.
Army of Poets #1 at the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight.
Interview with donating artist Priscilla Howe and video broadcast for the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight.
Who wants to be contemporary? NZ art-themed quiz gameshow with Sophie Davis for the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight. Image courtesy of Ellie Lee-Duncan.
Surprise Guest Sebastian Michel performing during theTrust Us Contemporary Art Trust Telethon, Friday 17 February, 2017, 12 noon – 12 midnight. Image courtesy of Ellie Lee-Duncan.
Donations to the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
![Cole Cochran, Untitled, [left], Claudia Dunes, Untitled (bullet), [centre], Kate Cox, Untitled, 2017, dough, oven rack [right]. Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.](/media/cache/9e/f7/9ef749e9de42182556b1e29037716a3d.jpg)
Cole Cochran, Untitled, [left], Claudia Dunes, Untitled (bullet), [centre], Kate Cox, Untitled, 2017, dough, oven rack [right].
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
![Miranda Parkes, Pocket Stars, 2015 [left], Janet Lilo, Random handcut bumper stickers fro TUCAT, 2017 [centre], Daegan Wells, 208 Tuam Street, 2017 [right], Ada Leung, Eyeball, 2016 [far right]. Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.](/media/cache/db/26/db268aa1b6c6f959b2631bb2046d9da9.jpg)
Miranda Parkes, Pocket Stars, 2015 [left], Janet Lilo, Random handcut bumper stickers fro TUCAT, 2017 [centre], Daegan Wells, 208 Tuam Street, 2017 [right], Ada Leung, Eyeball, 2016 [far right].
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Donations to the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Donations to the Trust Us Contemporary Art Trust.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
Riff Raff, Trust Us, 2017. Image courtesy of Shaun Matthews.
About the artists
Riff Raff originated as a semi-imaginary artist-run space started by Li-Ming Hu with special guest founding member Daphne Simons in mid-2016.
Li-Ming Hu is based in Auckland and has studied at AUT and Elam. Recent projects include; All Lines Converge (group artist publication), Govett Brewster Art Gallery, Taranaki, 2016-17; Seager's Walters Prize, Mirage Gallery, Auckland, 2016; Public Domain Art Fair, Demo Gallery, Auckland, 2016; and You'll Never Work In This Town Again, Canapé Canopy, Auckland, 2016.
Daphne Simons is based in Auckland, with a BFA from Whitecliffe College. Recent projects and collaborations include; Stone Cold Cuts, Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin, 2016; Fly-Suit (a live demonstration), NZ on TV Gallery, Auckland, 2016; Canapé Canopy (co-organised with Mark O'Donnell), Auckland, 2016; Roof Access/ Public Sculpture 101, Artspace Chartwell Stairwell Commission, Auckland, 2014 - 15; Menlo Park Cowboys (with Mark O'Donnell), Window, Auckland, 2014; Car Sick, The Film Archive, Auckland, 2014; Campaign (summer residency with Mark O'Donnell), Dog Park Art Project Space, Christchurch, 2013.