Dingo

Dingo was inspired by a 19th century advertising card published by Liebig's Extract of Meat Company.

Liebig’s used brightly coloured cards to ‘sell’ their nutritious and affordable ‘meat substitute’ (the precursor of the OXO beef cube). Produced for European markets these trade cards with enticing images of other worlds peopled with exotic Italian workers and American and Australian Natives, quickly became very collectable.

In my version of Dingo, the young man throws a boomerang to ward off evil and to clear the path before crossing. The kangaroos, like circus animals, perform their bouncy attribute and the sly dingo peeks out from the grass for a roar.

The playful aspect of this animated neon is also inspired by stories created in circuses and on postcards for European explorers and mass circulation. The shining neon is like a happy ending to fabulous tales of good-will and adventure. Though, of cause, it is a tongue in cheek representation of a fantasy image.

Dingo is a snippet of a desert most would dare to enter, without fear of being eaten by a dingo or disappearing through means of murder, mystery or mirage.

Brook Andrew, 2010