JoFF Rae

JoFF Rae
Born Joffre Ray Kopu
(1966-10-14)14 October 1966
Hamilton, New Zealand
Nationality Maori / New Zealand
Known for Production
visuals
New Media
Music
Graffiti
Urban art
Sculpture
Movement ARTIVIST
Culture jamming
Patron(s) Steve 'Foot' Kanuta, Graeme Nesbitt
Website http://www.artivist.co.nz

JoFF Rae is the pseudonym of a New Zealand event producer, designer & artist.

Concept design & event management; Creative Director & Technical Director with Urban Arts entity ARTIVIST : creative by any means necessary!; produced various projects in New Zealand & Internationally.

Present roles in production & contracting; & contract Creative Director, Impresario & Producer.

Presently in a Producer role for media & events company Plan BETA limited [1]& new media production company Immersive Space Programme limited [2] developing 360° immersive media, AR & VR content & the iSPARX platform; developing art & programs with fine artists & design of event & media concepts for private, NGO & government clients; & developing a public festival concept.

Recent work has involved development of performance contract models based on the Nash Equilibrium & concept production values using 'Propaganda of the deed' ideology; production & contracting for Salmonella Dub,[3] a popular New Zealand band; Agent, Curator & Producer for renown artist Mike Weston & the Weston Frizzell collaboration with Otis Frizzell; developing practical production models based on a venue the James Cabaret; in a Creative & Producer role with arts and entertainment company th'ink+[4] working projects & management for the entity; facilitating an arts studio with Artists in Residence including Sheyne Tuffery, HAHA (Regan Tamanui, Melbourne) and Nelio (FR); & more recent works with Artists Suzanne Tamaki (NZ) & Reuben Friend (Pataka Gallery, NZ).[5]

Background

With a background in the 1980s and 1990s as a stagehand & sound engineer touring with bands in New Zealand, Australia & Europe, JoFF Rae worked with several artists & promoters on large scale productions while developing an interest & skill in New Media & design. During the 1990s his role was redefined to Production Manager & Line Producer; later still to Event Director & New Media developer; he commuted from Wellington, New Zealand to Melbourne & Sydney for various works in UK, Europe, US & Australia.

In 2001 JoFF Rae (under the nick RuBbErDuCk[6]) worked with teenage hackers from Australia & Canada on IRC network AustNet to demonstrate media streaming & broadband for Southern Cross Cable with an installation SXPress Cafe[7] at Internet World, NOW2001 & CeBIT as 2Xstreams PTY contracted to Jack Morton Worldwide. An award-winning project the exhibition was a practical & unique demonstration of streaming media on demand (several years prior to YouTube & Vimeo).

Later, in 2004 he established AgentC Guerrilla Media as an urban arts collective to develop artistic productions & urban arts projects; the entity was responsible for recordings with Emma Paki; youth & community event concepts; the formation of !@M3 Sk8 (Lame Skate & BMX Jam incorporated); & funded & produced a nationwide tours by New Zealand band Rhombus in 2008 & Salmonella Dub in 2009.[8]

ARTIVIST : creative by any means necessary! was established in 2009 to "work with artists on art…".[9]

Moving back to Wellington in 2013 he reopened the iconic venue The James Cabaret with a friend Jon 'Jammo' Jameson hosting several domestic & international bands & shows. The venue was the "home of music" for the New Zealand International Arts Festival.[10]

Art, production and concept development

JoFF Rae has developed unique templates & concept models for IP management, contracting & producing events. His work with shared profit & the Nash Equilibrium in contracting production & performance is unique & has been utilised in several successful event contracts.[11]

He has produced idiosyncratic staging & visual production & content systems for works with the contemporary bands Salmonella Dub, Rhombus & fine artist Michel Tuffery MNZM,[12] Mau Arts Forum, AWME (Australasian World Music Expo) & various commercial & private installations. Commercial broadcast concepts included design & management of TV3 celebrity boxing live broadcast 'Fight For Life' in 2001 - breaking records for live broadcast viewers in New Zealand.

Art and demonstration

As a youth JoFF Rae was involved in direct action motivated by artistic causes & social politics; he was employed in the late 1980s in the UK by OXFAM & by Greenpeace in New Zealand in the early 1990s. He has had direct involvement in high-profile clandestine actions involving cultural, environmental & social issues. High-profile actions against French Nuclear Testing at Moruroa involved an active direct role in Bastille Day demonstrations & clandestine direct actions against the French Embassy in Wellington when a test was conducted.

In December 1990 JoFF Rae organised & participated in a "dramatic" action by disturbing the New Zealand Parliament for over 20 minutes & eventually dropping to the floor of the debating chamber from the gallery covered in horse blood demonstrating against sending troops to the Persian Gulf.[13][14][15] JoFF Rae instigated several other peaceful protest actions with large scale demonstration marches in Wellington against the Gulf War with up to 10,000 marchers. Other actions involved graffiti in prominent places throughout New Zealand using the slogan "No Blood For Oil" in red & black.

In 2005 JoFF Rae was committed to a maximum security mental institution, a ward of the Henry Rongomau Bennett Centre, for 2 weeks over Christmas following a 6am raid & arrest by the Armed Offenders Squad after repeatedly challenging Police actions involving allegations of assault & misconduct. He faced several charges in the dispute which were eventually dropped. A diagnosis from the hospital stated "his delusions of grandeur have substance".

After the 2007 New Zealand anti-terror raids JoFF Rae provided resources for protests at the Rotorua Court House for initial charges against Tame Iti & other accused including video equipment to document the proceedings & actions. He edited video as a presentation for peoples in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki where the raids occurred. JoFF Rae continued to provide practical support including production for events in the Tuhoe nation with artistic performances by Mau Dance Company & other arts projects.

Mayday Demonstrations, 1 May 2011, JoFF Rae was involved in coordinating & disseminating information & media including a video message from the internet activist group Anonymous to the New Zealand Parliament.[16] The message was taken seriously & gained nationwide press.[17][18] Several reports claimed the Government website had suffered intermittent failure.[19]

The months leading up to March 2012 with the trials of Tame Iti and the Urewera 4 inspired a series of projects with Ha-Ha the prominent Melbourne based stencil artist[20] and a campaign of "watch this space - Guilty of ART!//" statements in street art, graffiti and installations.

Personal

Born Joffre Ray Kopu on 14 October 1966 at Hamilton, New Zealand.

His partner since 1992 Audrey Holyoake is a collaborator as a producer & graphic artist in their artistic & commercial ventures. The couple have 3 children - Cole (Jan '94), Oscar (Dec'94) & Bram (July 2000) & with 3 cats they reside in Wellington, New Zealand.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Plan BETA Limited - Company number: 4921159 Incorporation Date: 31 Jan 2014 - http://www.planbeta.co.nz
  2. ↑ Immersive Space Programme Limited NZBN: 9429046165220 Incorporation Date: 1 Jun 2017 - http://www.immersivespaceprogramme.com
  3. ↑ Salmonella Dub - http://www.salmonelladub.com
  4. ↑ JACOB Industries Limited - Company number: 3344572 Incorporation Date: 19 Apr 2011 - http://www.think.net.nz
  5. ↑ “InDigiNous Aotearoa : Virtual Histories, Augmented Futures” - http://www.planbeta.co.nz/indiginous-info
  6. ↑ RuBbErDuCk Austnet server - toy.rubberduck.co.nz - http://dravix.stormloader.com/home.html
  7. ↑ SXPress Cafe : http://www.southerncrosscables.com/public/News/newsdetail.cfm?StoryID=62
  8. ↑ Rhombus tour - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0810/S00245.htm
  9. ↑ About ARTIVIST : creative - http://artivistcreative.wordpress.com/about/
  10. ↑ http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/9506943/James-Cabaret-back-in-business-for-festival
  11. ↑ ARTIVIST : contracting based on the Nash Equilibrium "We modeled the contract at a couple of gigs earlier this year & it went well… since then a major festival has picked up the idea & it was essential in securing acts" says JoFF Rae of the contract…; http://artivistcreative.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/artivist-contracting-based-on-the-nash-equilibrium/
  12. ↑ Mau Arts Forum - Pinata: "Pinata is an innovative collaboration, bridging the gap between the mediums of live music performance from Rhombus and live projection imagery created by one of New Zealand's leading artists Michel Tuffery"; http://gigs.nzherald.co.nz/2009/mar/auckland-west/pinata-presented-by-rhombus-michel-tuffery
  13. ↑ http://www.vdig.net/hansard/content.jsp?id=20707 DEBATE---URGENT PUBLIC MATTER : Commitment of Military Personnel to the Persian Gulf, Wednesday, 5 December 1990
  14. ↑ published - front page The Evening Post, Thursday 6 December 1990
  15. ↑ http://www.vdig.net/hansard/content.jsp?id=23644 PARLIAMENTARY OFFICERS---LEAVE TO ATTEND DISTRICT COURT
  16. ↑ http://sub.artivist.co.nz/anonymous-message-to-nz-parliament - ARTIVIST : sub rosa blog entry
  17. ↑ Pullar-Strecker, Tom (27 April 2011). "Hackers threaten Parliament's website". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "Threat to bring down Parliament website taken seriously". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  19. ↑ http://www.amarjit.info/2011/04/new-zealand-parliament-website-down.html - Thursday, 28 April 2011 New Zealand Parliament Website Down: Anonymous Suspected of Taking Down Kiwi Gov Website
  20. ↑ http://make.artivist.co.nz/guilty-of-art-the-movement-starts
  21. ↑ http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/work/resumes/36358-joff-rae
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