This week I have created 1 out of 3 of the videos that will be projected on the tent.
I have also composed a draft of my artist statement:
IN_TENTS_IFY is an installation piece that aims to satirically comment on the laws and legislations around the use of particular substances, specifically when attending music festivals. The idea for this project spawned in response to the Keeping People Safe at Music Festivals, 2019, Expert Panel Report; specifically referring to the statement “In tasking the Panel, the Premier made clear that the NSW Government has no tolerance for illegal drugs and pill testing is not within the terms of reference” (pg. 1).
Many people use mind-altering substances at festivals to heighten their experience, in terms of the music as well as the overall environment. Through the videos projected onto the tent, I aim to bring light to the reality of ingesting these particular illicit substances in a festival environment. Many drug-related injuries/fatalities are caused as a result of ingesting an unintended substance. The significance of the tent is to pay homage to the setting of a pill-testing tent. As the legal regulation of many illicit substances does not appear upon the horizon of New South Wales’s near future, pill-testing at music festivals is a promising first step towards safer substance consumption. IN_TENTS_IFY aims to diminish the ‘abstinence only’ approach to substance use that the NSW government adopts.
~ Ruby Philpott ~
rubyblogsapott.wordpress.com 