No More Public Space, Only Public Order (Water Cannon) is an absurd, mobile sculpture of a water cannon made out of materials used to control the movement of people in urban spaces, such as temporary fencing, safety cones, crowd barriers, warning signs and barrier tape. The work will exist as a sculpture, then culminate with a parade around Salamanca Place in which the monstrous ‘cannon’ squirts innocuous streams of water at bystanders, attempting to make them disperse. At a time when harsh new anti-protest laws have been proposed for Tasmania, the artists hope to prompt reflection about the regulation and control of the public sphere.
Amy Spiers and Catherine Ryan
Amy Spiers and Catherine Ryan are Australian artists and writers whose collaborative artistic practice has employed site-specific installation, augmented reality, experimental writing, collage, the production of publications, and live and participatory performance art. They aim to provoke questions about the present social order — particularly about the gaps and silences in public discourse, the things that are not or cannot be acknowledged. In 2013 they were finalists in the Substation Contemporary Art Prize. They have presented work at the Melbourne Art Fair, Festival of Live Art, The Substation, the Underbelly Arts Festival and Footscray Community Art Centre. From October 2012 to January 2013 they undertook an artistic residency together at the Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik in Berlin, Germany.
Ron Spiers
Ron Spiers is a Hobart-based artist and gallery technician with more than 20 years experience preparing exhibitions and constructing and installing large-scale artworks. He has provided museum and gallery services to institutions such as the Museum Of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), CAST and Plimsoll Gallery. He can provide access to an expansive workshop, power tools and construction materials.