Window is pleased to present Be seen, be effective! a collaborative exhibition by Ben Clement and Bob van der Wal. An installation which flows across two sites - the General Library Foyer and the Albert Barracks wall - Be seen, be effective! employs visual languages, both highly visible and pedestrian, that code the social spaces of a student body in constant movement.

The students en masse are a difficult group to engage, and the institution dominates the physical and psychological architecture of the rules of engagement. Be seen, be effective! rearranges this logic. Current modes of advertising and promotional display in operation at the university and beyond are employed - such as ambush marketing and swapping content with a nearby shopping arcade on High Street. This approach displaces the language of ‘concentrated’ sites such as the quad, as well as controlled, ad-free ‘learning’ spaces such as the library – where soft forms of institutionalized branding promote the university’s marketed identity. Be seen, be effective! uses familiar visual forms and cues to impact upon the utilitarian zone of the Foyer, challenging the passerby or the bystander to be suspicious of their role in such a space. 

Be seen, be effective! extends across the student commons to interact with the Albert Barracks wall. Preserved as a heritage site, the cultural value of the object depends on its classification as a monument and its identification with a public who can access a knowledge of its place in early colonial history. In the present day it intersects, impedes, and shapes student flow. The survival of the wall is actively upheld by controls and regulations implemented by the authoritative bodies of The University of Auckland, Auckland City Council and NZ Historic Places Trust. Be seen, be effective! cloaks the wall as an indeterminate state of construction, extending the potentiality of the wall as an object. The structure stanchions off a margin of ‘opportunity’ vis-à-vis the scheduled terms and conditions to collaborate with the object and the possible moment of student interaction.

Be seen, be effective! would like to thank their sponsors, the University of Auckland, Auckland City Council, Ranchhod and Sipka Group at Canterbury Arcade, Nuview and Adfence.

Ben Clement recently graduated with a BFA(Hons) from Elam School of Fine Arts. Recent exhibitions include group shows Cirrus, Ilam Campus Gallery, Christchurch (2012), Queens Chain, Snake Pit, Auckland (2012), BYO USB, Personal Best Gallery, Auckland (2011). 

Bob van der Wal completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at AUT in 2008 and a PGDip at Elam School of Fine Arts last year. Recent shows include solo exhibition Glee Works, Snake Pit, Auckland (2012), exposed pink painting 08/12/11 – 16/02/12, Sue Crockford Gallery Projects KRD (2012), and Occasionalist with Pauline and Rice & Beans, Artspace (2012).