The Substation/​ Mo H. Zareei/​ Public Relations/

PRESENTED BY THE SUBSTATION & ROOM40

During the first half of the 20th century, Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, began formulating an approach to information management and influence we would come to know as public relations. The potential of this emergent practice was instantly clear, and its legacy echoed across the 20th century. Now, as we fall into the 21st century, its material impacts have only continued to gather amplitude.

It's here, in this growing swell of complex noise, that the work of Mo H. Zareei is signalling. Over the past decade, New Zealand-based Iranian artist has extended his audiovisual language into more sharply political terrain. Working from within the institutions he critiques, he has scrutinised the recursive logics that run through official language, information hierarchies, and the self-image of Western liberalism. His work recognises these methodologies and thematics as expressions of contemporary imperialism and seeks to address these expansive opacities.

Zareei's investigations push beyond the tangential zones of disinformation. They ask us to consider not just the structural nature of these environments, but our position within the very discourses cycled non-stop through almost every channel of our daily engagement.

Public Relations acts both as a provocation and as a reminder that the modes of information shaping, and delivery, we call upon for sense making in our daily lives are never theoretical or purely symbolic, but rather carry the weight of material implications.

Public Relations is curated by Lawrence English.

This exhibition is presented by The Substation and Room40 in association with Artspace Aotearoa, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.