Fffuture Fffocused Art Prize

Fffuture Fffocused Art Prize
Riff Raff

Exhibition Preview: Friday 16 June at 5.30pm
Exhibition Runs: Saturday 17 June – Sunday 16 July 2017

The Physics Room is pleased to announce the inaugural Fffuture Fffocused Art Prize (FFAP), aiming to inspire the nation’s artists to engage with the all-important concept of the future.

“The concept of the future is both exciting and difficult, at once packed with meaning and potential meaninglessness”, say artistic duo Riff Raff, who were commissioned by The Physics Room to organize the prize. “Any investigation into the future will contain elements of both research and speculation…we’re interested to see how artists respond to this particular set of challenges.”

Four finalists will be hand-picked by Riff Raff for the FFAP group exhibition opening Friday 16th June, with the winner being announced at an awards dinner on Saturday 1st July, 2017.

The Physics Room Director, Jamie Hanton, says the FFAP offers a superb opportunity for emerging artists to exhibit in a professional gallery space, with the Supreme Award including a 6-month unpaid internship at the gallery. Given the limited funding available to the project, the prize pool will be supplemented with various items from Riff Raff’s own personal effects, including a 1997 Nissan Bluebird and 1999 Mazda Capella.
The judges for this year’s prize are Serene Hu, a former GP, and Roeland Simons, currently the national construction manager at McDonalds. “Art is for everyone”, says Hanton. “We thought it was important to include the voices of those who don’t come from an art background. Serene and Roeland both have a wealth of life experience that will make their final decision no less relevant and all the more interesting.”

The FFAP finalists and public programmes will be announced on Friday 9th June.

Riff Raff originated as a semi-imaginary artist-run space started by Li-Ming Hu and Daphne Simons in mid-2016. Previous projects include: Trust Us, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, 2017 and Are We There Yet?, Glovebox, Auckland, 2016.

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