Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Art with a job to do, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
<ahem_koff>
averse
</koff>
:- )I AM VERY VERY TIRED AND HAVE A LOT TO THINK ABOUT OKAY.
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Hard News: Art with a job to do, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
Russell, the entire Red Peak campaign, and you post here, and the reaction and twitter and in the comments here, has been one long sneer against the 79% voters (including informal) who opted for a fern design because they believe that represents them and their country.
So I should have changed my opinion to fit in? Is that what you're saying?
I've written about what I like and don't and tried to explain how I see it in terms of a New Zealand tradition and contemporary culture I feel connected to. Go and contemplate your own communications on the matter, and the dickishness thereof.
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Hard News: Art with a job to do, in reply to Steve Todd,
Jason, as this blogpost is about art and design, rather than the workings of the PV voting system, I will make this response, then leave it at that.
We’re never averse to a bit of geekery here, but thanks for considering context and all that.
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Oliver Chan’s Red Peak Was Always a Middle-Class Gang Patch is an interesting and good-faith piece of reflection:
Likewise, Twitter merely served the debate equivalent of sniper showdowns between Twitter personalities that the public by and large weren’t following. Most people don’t generally use Facebook or Twitter to debate politics but to reinforce their online identity – something we ‘politically engaged’ do with left-wing Red Peakism. This is not new, as last year’s Green voter ‘ballot selfies’ was part of a long line of examples of reinforcement rather than outreach. If we seek to change hearts and minds, talking about ourselves isn’t the place to start.
Red Peak has come to represent a symbolic divide between an upper-middle class social bubble and the public at large. Though our passion for Red Peak is genuine, we misread the situation because we can be insular and sometimes condescending about towards those who don’t share our tastes. Red Peak is probably not going to become the NZ flag in the future if the next referendum fails. Any new designs that are truly agreeable must not only be shortlisted by a more open panel of qualified designers and historians, we must also confront the reality of where New Zealanders’ aesthetic sensibilities lie. If we are genuine about our social media promotion of Red Peak for the greater good, we cannot assume that our ideas are superior. If we merely engage with those inside our bubble, ideas like Red Peak are merely middle class gang patches for our own social media brands rather than visual symbols that represent everyone.
What he misses, maybe because he was watching from London, is that Red Peak did break out into the real world. I think it’s the only one of the finalists I actually saw in the wild. People have been using it.
But the main flaw in his argument is the assumption that people who liked it actually thought it would win the referendum. I certainly didn’t – I was just grateful that its addition to the ballot gave me something to vote for, rather than against.
And, to be fair, it’s not like it had no support. It was topped only by the Lockwood juggernaut – and the 148,000 invalid votes we can reasonably assume were cast in protest.
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Hard News: Art with a job to do, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
Just by the way, New Zealand has grassy-green or snowy-white mountains. Australia has red peaks. Red peak has no meaning for New Zealand.
It's just the name the design was given. The name is not the same as the flag.
This whole thing, including the reaction to the vote, is surely self-parody by inward-along out-of-touch Pt Chev and Aro Valley elitists. When it comes to a New Zealand flag, 1.2 million voters cannot be completely wrong. Many of you here, would benefit learning about your country and your fellow citizens. Many of you seem to hold them in contempt.
You know, I really hoped I'd made it clear in the post that it is possible to feel strongly about the actual designs without demeaning anyone else who sees them differently. You, on the other hand, have been on a sneering marathon and it's lame.
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Hard News: Art with a job to do, in reply to Joe Wylie,
I’m sure people will be flying laser kiwi, too.
Ah why not.
Joe, I took the liberty of sharing your work via social media (with due credit, of course). You have made many people happy. This remix happened too.
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Just added to the post: The Red Peak of New Zealand site collects many instances and invocations of the design. Nice.
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Btw, I didn't want to bang on too much about the process in the post itself, but I took part in Newstalk ZB's flag marathon and happened to be on air with Rhys Jones, a member of the flag consideration panel.
At one point I asked him what the point of publishing the "longlist" of 40 designs was, when the panel had already closed off on public feedback – and, indeed, basically chosen its four candidates. What was the list meant to be for?
He literally could not explain it. What an utter shambles.
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Hard News: Art with a job to do, in reply to Sacha,
I’d also note that Maori who really want a flag already have a well-used one of their own. That might affect their level of engagement with a Parnell chap’s hobbyhorse.
Someone suggested to me on Friday night that Red Peak might now become the white liberals' Tino Rangatiratanga flag. There are some fairly obvious caveats to that, but in the sense of it becoming a popular, unofficial symbol, maybe it's not too far off.
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Could Plunket perhaps stop wearing that shirt now? It really is the worst thing.
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