Into the Uncomfortable Zone
Right from the get go, we were tasked to pick a side: On whether land should be returned to the iwi in question, or if the land should be used for emergency housing; red or blue.
Up on the 2nd floor, it was immediately uncomfortable. Most, including myself, have not even heard of the issue, let alone have had the chance to think about it, but were forced into two opposing debate camps, coming up with statements on the spot to respond against what the previous person has said. The two moderators were dressed like (erratic) judges, frequently speaking in loud tones and driving the debate forward in a hurried pace. This setting had the effect of almost being absurd, where people were making statements on an issue they donât even feel strongly about. In our run, a non-student closed the debate with firstly, an authoritative (as MÄori) yet calm tone, and secondly, with having the accolade of being perhaps the only person in the room who has had followed the issue. He asks: why not have rich people give up their large Golf courses for homelessness? While homelessness is a serious issue, the key issue here is that iwis are and have not been consulted about their rightful land, and that it should be up to the iwi to give up that land, not the government. Homelessness vs iwi rights is a false dichotomy, and a straw man argument enabled by our mainstream media. Talking points in the media are frequently presented between two extremes, which is great for viewership but causes division between people, and miss the real problems.Â
We were then led into a dark room with skewers of fruits presented nicely on tables that people proceeded to eat. Later, a video shows that the fruits were stolen, and asks the audience: were you invited to take them? Implied: Did  you question how it was made? Much of what we consume daily are potentially full of bad ethical choices, perhaps polluting a natural source halfway around the world, or being the cause of misery for an exploited worker. And we are clueless partakers, often because of greed.
A tent awaits us in the other room, with participants crawling through to reach the other side. The meaningless of it, especially with the large spaces beside allowing people to go around it first seemed like a flaw or lack of planning, but on second thought, perhaps speaks to the arbitrary nature of rules and conventions in modern society, as the exhibition seeks to further show.Â
Sweets that I stole knowingly. No, I was not invited to take them. Yes, they were delish.Â
We were then seated at a wedding ceremony between two random participants. Titled Married at First Sight, it was a clear dig at the phrase Love at First Sight, which is what our society, and in particular, Hollywood, frequently sells to the masses. The connotation of such a notion, this seems to say, is that it is divorced from reality.Â
At a certain point, we willingly queued to go into a room where we were very hurriedly told to write solutions for problems in the world such as âSave world hungerâ, and then almost immediately fired. It speaks to the trivialisation of using mere ideas and innovations to solve the worldâs problems, without addressing the underlying issues that led to it in the first place.
At one of the exhibitions, a lone elderly man sits in a corner using his computer. He does not move nor flinch. Is he a product of our capitalist society? Is he aware of the vast emptiness that surrounds him, or the table just behind him to rest his laptop? Mass media consumption makes us oblivious to the present moment, life happening all around us, if only we just opened our eyes. Or as Bob Dylan puts it, he whoâs not busy beinâ born is busy dyinâ.Â
At another station, a box with headphones are put over our heads, obscuring sight and focusing our attention on the auditory sounds being played. We were asked to draw a representation of what we heard. It was quite a respite amidst the surrounding chaos, and implied how perhaps cutting down on the overload of attention in todayâs world can be a solution to increasing stress and burnout.Â
At the next station, we had to communicate which sweets we wanted on the menu with only our actions. A game of charades that, through how absurd the participants must have looked while performing, perhaps also hinted at the charade that is the transactions we partake in to obtain junk that is temporarily amusing, but in actuality bad for you.Â
Do we (I) know which buckets resemble the type of waste simply based on the colour of it? Nope.Â
Finally, a station requires participants to serve as common appliances such as a clock or paperclip, while the boss walks around flinging insults at them for doing a poor job.Â
Overall, apart from some way-finding issues, such as after the wedding station, where participants were sometimes called to leave their group to go to the next one, or the divergence of paths (which may be in itself a message, but such message has to be communicated clearer), the Uncomfortable Zone left an indelible impression.Â
The stations frequently bordered on the ridiculous, and with it, underscored the sometimes incredulous nature of our society, calling into question practices and beliefs that we have, from a young age, subscribed to. It was uncomfortable, but such discomfort is mainly with confronting the truth of our present conditions, being a reflection upon our reality.Â
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