Perth photographer and Edith Cowan University (ECU) PhD candidate, DeeDee Noon new exhibition Toying with Photography: F-Stop Troop has just opened.
Noon’s PhD research investigates the sociocultural roles and functions of toys in relation to gender and forms the foundation of the exhibition.
The humorous faux-toy F-Stop Troop brand name playfully references the 1960s TV satire “F Troop” and the online photography community hub, Fstoppers.
Her artwork queries the ways in which contemporary society defines ‘the toy’ and how our view of toys has changed over time. It plays with toy forms, language and contexts, blurring the lines between toys, miniatures, dolls, figurines, collectibles, art sculptures, and statues.
Her previous solo exhibition, “Pinkification: Rethinking pink,” explored the complexities of the colour pink and its connection to femininity and identity.
In Toying with Photography: F-Stop Troop, Noon ‘toys’ with the narrative of pink again.
“This exhibition is not one for fixed ideas about gender and pink,” she said.
Noon said she hoped viewers would engage with the artworks and contemplate what constitutes a toy, and how photography, gender identity narratives, and consumer culture collide.
“Determining what is, and what isn’t, a toy has increasingly become a grey area, with marketers disguising all sorts of adult products as toys,” Noon said.
“For example, vaping marketing has been widely criticised for using toy-like appeal, and driverless car designers have made their vehicles look like cute, overgrown toys to reduce fears around the new technology.”
“I hope the exhibition sparks conversations about the evolving boundaries and interpretations of toys in contemporary society, urging us to question and challenge existing norms.”
The exhibition Toying with Photography: F-Stop Troop at North Metropolitan TAFE’s Shopfront Gallery, 149 Beaufort Street, Northbridge, opens 18 July and runs until 5 August, from Tuesday to Saturday, between 11 am and 6:30 pm.
DeeDee Noon will deliver three 20-minute Artist’s talks each day at 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 6pm. On some occasions she will be joined by guest speakers to discuss 3D printing processes, photographic history and toy cameras.
Register to attend one of the talks.
OIP Staff, OUTinPerth editor Graeme Watson is also an employee at Edith Cowan University.
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