The Australian dream of home ownership is under the microscope in Footscray this week as part of the 2016 Next Wave Festival.
Shadows on the Hill, by Perth artist Dan McCabe, features a tent shaped like an early 1990s station wagon that has been designed to blend into the urban landscape.
The mobile artwork pitches an alternative to Australia’s expensive housing market and touches on topics including climate change, economic crises and the reality of the ‘renting generation’.
McCabe spent Monday and Tuesday pitched in a suburban Footscray street and will be setting up home at Footscray Community Arts Centre from Thursday until Saturday.
Next Wave artistic director Georgie Meagher said passers-by were encouraged to chat to the 25-year-old about the work and the challenges confronting young Australians today.
“Dan McCabe’s tactical photography is transformed into a disconcerting suburban camouflage, that, somewhat ironically, aims to make visible the paradoxes and contradictions of the dreams we’re taught to dream,” she said.
Festival details: nextwave.org.au
