Daif King - GOLD-CARD

About

Daif King (AKA Dave Kent, NZ, 1978) is inspired by the 'aspirational language' of commodity fetishism associated with personal freedom and growth from the 80's, 90's and 00's.

He utilises the plethora of documented leftovers turned digital ephemera which have found new life, inhabiting populist territories such as Tumblr and fashion blogs, as material to inform his sculpture and painting.

King is interested in the manifestation of material that caters to our unconscious impulses, relating new products to a history of biological development. The extent to which this development is natural or is naturalised, is polarised through the interplay of the objects King uses sculpturally, often to comical effect.

The effect is disconcerting as it makes explicit the way we use familiar objects to express ourselves, shape who we are as individuals and also give them agency to claim our individuality. Attractive elements are used to their end game of complete uselessness: perfect objects embodying an overblown allure, intrinsically critiquing the nature of products and our religious relationship to them.

Exhibitions include; Brand New Value - Personal Best, Queering Dreams - Audio Foundation [both Auckland], Channel 8 - Carter Presents, London [all 2011], Corridor to Success - The Composing Rooms, London [2010] and Depth Metal - High Seas Gallery, Auckland [solo, 2009]. Daif studied Fine Arts at the University of Auckland and lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand.