Build a Bong explores the bong as a play thing, a sculpture and a home craft. This body of work investigates pockets of suburban bushland and the dis-used urban ‘wastelands’ of the Northern Gold Coast region. The installation assumes both an interactive and anthropological perspective. Viewers are invited to participate by constructing their own bong from new materials or simply survey the collection of found pipes.
Bordered by weeds and sodden mattresses I noticed these bizarre antisocial environments were often just meters away from manicured lawns and the scope of Neighbourhood watch. Behind shopping centres, schools and sporting fields these places enticed me with their overlooked ugliness. I entered a No-mans land where the repercussions of modern life dominate the landscape. Between the skeletons of Ikea furniture, chop bones and washing machine carcasses were the hollowed out remains of countless homemade bongs.
- Adrienne Kenafake 2017
