Artists Uncover Asian Vices

May 9, 2005
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Artists Uncover Asian Vices

During the month of May, nine New Zealand artists will trawl the underbelly of society to uncover vices of Asian influence…

To celebrate the New Zealand launch of controversial Vice magazine, Tiger Beer has invited nine local artists to bring to life “Asian vices” using Polaroid photos.

The resulting works will be exhibited at the Vice magazine launch party in Auckland on May 27 and in the photo issue of Vice to be released in June.

Vice has been called “a global street culture phenomenon” and has gained international notoriety for its political incorrectness by mixing shock tactics with conservative commentary. The magazine is published in the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and Scandinavia and plans to double its monthly circulation this year (to a worldwide total of one million copies).

Documenting their interpretations of vices of Asian origin or influence are personalities from photography, fashion and music backgrounds:

Dan Buckley (Huffer)
Christine Crabb (Ms Crabb)
Otis Frizzell (graphic artist)
Rene Vaille (photographer)
Anne Shelton (photographer)
Dave Gibson (musician)
Marc Moore & Luke Harwood (designers/artists collaborating on one work)
Camilla Martin (music personality)

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Graphic artist Otis Frizzell says the brief has left him spoilt for choice.

"The hardest thing about fulfilling the brief for the exhibition is not what to do, but what not to do. I've got so many Asian vices I don't know which one to choose. The food, the art, the robots, the cartoons, the girls...".

Camilla Martin, bFM Breakfast show host and C4 Intellectual Property presenter, says her approach to the project will be one of unravelling the mystique of the East.

“Having never travelled there myself, Asia holds a lot of mystery for me, so I’m interested in exploring its various facets using ‘vice’ as a window into the culture,” she says. “I’ll use my experience of Auckland’s seedy underground sake bars as a starting point.”

Winston Seow, brand manager for Tiger Beer, says the brand has always been a strong supporter of visual arts.

“Tiger Beer supports contemporary visual arts because, by its very nature, art is about discovery and personal interpretation. We believe that our consumers in particular have their own point of view about the world they live in and enjoy discovering new experiences for themselves. Being an Asian-brewed beer, inviting our audience to discover Asia through the Tiger Beer brand via visual arts is a natural fit,” says Winston.

“Vice is a ground-breaking, controversial magazine that is sure to have a huge impact on New Zealand’s cultural sensibilities so we are firmly behind it. We saw our involvement as a fantastic opportunity to challenge the chosen artists to interpret the very interesting and eclectic notion of “Asian vices”.

ENDS

Issued by Publicis Drum on behalf of Tiger Beer

About Tiger

Brewed exclusively in Asia since 1932 with the finest quality hops and malted barley, Tiger is an authentic premium Asian lager beer with an alcohol content of 5%. It has a malt aroma, clean flavour with a high level of sweetness and a trace of hop bitterness. Since its inception Tiger has won over 30 international gold medals for taste and quality, its most recent being a gold medal at The Association of Brewers 2004 World Beer Cup.

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