Pro_Phile

Sandy Connon

12 March 2018 - 8 April 2018

Cameo Appearance was a collaborative show I staged in Wellington, Auckland and Berlin; the images you can see are from those projects. Later this year I’m taking it to London as part of the Oceania Festival.

Two black and white silhouettes, or cameos, of gallery visitors were printed out on site on a Fijifilm printer. They placed one copy on the wall, and took one home, along with a small display stand. This came with an expectation that they would choose a way to ‘pay it forward’ with some act of kindness.

It’s a simple concept, but a revealing one; in particular, many people took considerable care in the placement of their cameo on the wall. Some wanted to be included in existing groups, others were determinedly solitary, and there were those who would not let the latter remain alone! In the end, the project became an illustration of one stranger connecting to others.

The cameos are, by their nature, devoid of signifiers. They are, however, resolutely unique, with only one thing in common - their humanity. In an often fractured and fractious 21st century society, I hope this provokes reflection about how we live with and accommodate one another.