Marc de Jong : Art no credit to bank
April 21, 1999
FIRST Lolita, now Centre Place. Yes, that's right, the censorship debate has moved from the lofty heights of the silver screen to a humble little arcade off Flinders Lane in the heart of Melboume's buzzing CBD.
Yes indeed, the new censorship cause is a series of four works by Melboume artist Marc de Jong, which replicate credit card brands such as American Express, Bankcard, Visa and Diner's Club International but with a twist—the cards appear as American Excess, Bankrupt, Vice and Debt Club Intemational.
The work has been sitting quite happily for the past six weeks on the wall of the City Place arcade as the latest instalment in the Citylights arts project, which puts different artwork into the space every month or two, charging the artist $350 for the privilege.
The project has been running; for the past three years and is funded to the tune of $10,000 by the Melboume City Council. The problem is, the wall is actually the side of the National Australia Bank, which donates the space to Citylights out of the goodness of its heart. And NAB is not happy about De Jong's work. So unhappy is NAB, in fact that on Monday it organised for the artwork to be covered up with big sheets of black plastic. Suffice to say De Jong is now also unhappy. Very unhappy. "It's out‑and‑out censorship. It's non‑profit artwork and they came in without notification and just covered it up," he said.
Needless to say the NAB does not see it in quite the same way. Building manager Bill Burgess told Backstage it was a simple matter of the property owner exercising its rights.
"The bank felt there was a conflict of interest between the bank supplying the space and them putting up artwork which is derogatory to the banking industry as a whole," Burgess said.
Writer: Katrina Strickland