Within Horizon's Urban Gallery, Vernon Ah Kee presents his new work, building upon and extending his long-term project — Dark + Disturbing.

Dark + Disturbing is a curatorial and creative project that explores Aboriginal sensibilities around knowledge, identity, and protest. Dark + Disturbing interrogates power structures and provides a platform for Aboriginal voice.

Dark + Disturbing is a project that transcends a single act of art making. Best known for being presented on shirts, this project is a sum of the labour of creating designs, getting them printed, selling them, and having people wear them.

“Dark + Disturbing is a living, breathing artwork in which hundreds of people participate each year”.

The term ‘act-as-known’ refers to a commonly used clause in Vaudeville contracts wherein promoters engage performers on the proviso that they 'act-as-known' and perform only agreed-upon and familiar routines — limited improvisation, predictable behaviour, and no new or unvetted material.

act as known is a dynamic artwork about entitlement, centring, and power.

Dark + Disturbing is a long-term project that embodies protest and radical hope.

About the Urban Gallery

This work is part of the Festival Precinct, where we invite you to wander and wonder through our Urban Gallery every day of Horizon 2025.

Situated in Ocean St, Maroochydore (Kabi Kabi Country), you’ll find a diverse collection of works nestled into streets, laneways and Big Top Shopping Centre — blurring the lines between physical, artistic and digital realms.

Suitable for all ages, this free-to-enjoy 10-day art-trail will feature inspiring work from visionary Queensland and Australian contemporary artists, including First Nations artists.

Experimenta: curatorial statement

The festival's provocation of radical hope is the inspiration for Experimenta's public art presentation. Radical hope is a transformative framework that challenges us to move beyond passive optimism, instead embracing collective action, shared goals and resilience.

Radical hope is rooted in the belief that social change emerges from community-driven efforts. It calls on diverse groups to coalesce, transcend societal limitations, and actively imagine and walk towards a just and equitable future.

The works featured in this presentation by Experimenta, as part of Horizon 2025, reflect this ethos. These works go beyond a single act of art making; they are part of long-term projects embodying the artists' acts of radical hope.

Creative Team

• Artist – Vernon Ah Kee
• Artist production – Iscariot Media 
• Animation & Video Mapping - Brian Keyes 
• Experimenta Curator – Lubi Thomas 
• Experimenta Creative Producer – Anna Nalpantidis

Acknowledgements

Vernon Ah Kee's new work is curated by Experimenta and presented by Horizon 2025 as part of the Festival Precinct Urban Gallery supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and Big Top Shopping Centre.