REAL LIFE FICTION
Airspace Projects, Marrickville, 2024
Real Life Fiction is a series of works exploring the presence of fictional representations within our material world. Inspired by real life experiences, Jack Hodges investigates these fictional entities to question our perceptions. Does fiction inform reality, or does reality inform fiction? Are these fictional entities the unconscious made conscious, and what if the truth is just as unbelievable?
From a young age, fictional stories introduce concepts, making complex ideas easier to digest and encouraging their acceptance. These ideas shape our belief systems, sometimes masking the actual truth. How do we determine what we believe to be true? What frameworks do we use to measure truth? Are we stuck in an echo chamber of like-minded people, or do we expand our minds by considering diverse viewpoints?
We usually accept the reality of the world presented to us. Jack’s reinterpretations of fictional ideas reveals that what appears true is not necessarily so. These paintings, though material, are merely ideas from someone's mind. Jack uses this metaphor to question our beliefs and their origins.
“Dropping Bombs” Acrylic and airbrush on canvas, 83 X 76cm, 2024. From a young age, fictional stories introduce concepts, making complex ideas easier to digest and encouraging their acceptance. Dropping Bombs comments on fiction being used to shape worldviews to justify reality.
“Dead Inside”, Acrylic and aerosol on canvas, 76 X 76cm, 2024. The inside and outside don’t always match. I originally painted teddy bears on the streets as a juxtaposition to graff having a tough edge, whereas this painting has mixed with the original Real Life Fiction concept in Jakarta in 2018. People busking in happy costumes when underneath they are sweaty af and desperate for money. A clear example of keeping face during difficult times.
“This is a tree”, Acrylic on Canvas, 76 X 83 cm, 2024. A reference to Magritte, the painting is not actually a tree, whereas the representation is of a tree. The tree itself made my mind go somewhere else, questioning the authenticity of the experience. What’s more important, representations or reality itself?
“Gnome with a dome”, Acrylic on mortar, wire and expanding foam, 120 x 60 cm, 2024. The Phrygian cap traditionally worn by the gnome is a symbol of freedom and the spirit of independence. This gnome prefers Devo’s Energy Dome, a symbol of De-evolution and iconoclasm. What framework is on your head?
"Settler", Acrylic and airbrush on canvas, 30 x 40 cm, 2024. A reference to Fintan Magee's mural "Settler" in Marrickville, this work comments on the romanticised story of Australian colonisation and how a national psyche chooses to include specific realities over others. For example, Australia's refusal to acknowledge the Frontier Wars at the National War Memorial.
"Real Life Fiction" pentaptych, featuring Bird, Troll, Lobster, Doreamon and Voodoo, 2018. It's common to see people dressed in bootleg costumes of cartton characters at Jakarta traffic lights. They look happy but underneath the costumes they are hot af and desperate for money. It is such a clear example of people acting like everything is ok when they are actually breaking down on the inside. Keeping face to avoid judgement while feeling a deep sense of status anxiety. It can also be seen as a metaphor for ficticious beliefs/superstition - these characters actually exist in the material world although they were originally created in someone's mind and projected on the masses.
Fake brick details from Marrickville $ dollar shop.
"Fish & Chips" collaboration with Alejandra Ramirez, Cardboard, paper, masking tape, PVC glue, acrylic and airbrush paint, 98 x 57 x 18 cm, 2024. Fish & Chips is a cardboard sculpture of a 1993 VHS, gifted from Bellingen Video Connection. Oblivious of who Peter Doyle was, we looked into it and ended up at his restaurant in Sydney, 30 years later. Starting with an ironic appreciation for bas taste Australiana aesthetic, this work has revealed a history of food in art, particularly as a still life subject, exploring the relationship between food and culture.