Artist Statement // Gone reflects on the two minutes immediately following my father’s death in January 2024. For all of us, no matter what form it takes, death will be instant. It’s like flicking a switch, one moment we’re alive; then we’re not. No amount of preparation, or denial, will prevent it. As a society, we shy away from that reality. We say someone has “passed away” or has “gone to a better place” to soften the transition between life and death, or to ease any thoughts we have about our own mortality.

Gone is my diary of how our language and our lives change the moment another life ends. Some people will walk away rather than flick the switch to the final screen. Regardless, the video will progress after two minutes – there is no avoiding it.

Raymond Zada is an Adelaide-based visual artist of Aboriginal, Afghan and Scottish heritage, working primarily with photography, video, and digital design. In 2013, Raymond won the New Media category of the 30th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for his piece, Sorry. Sorry examines the complexities of Australian history and the disconnect between language and reality. In 2012, Raymond won the Works on Paper category of the 29th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for his piece, racebook. racebook has been acquired by several public galleries in Australia and overseas.

Melanie Cooper writes about Raymond Zada in Neoterica 2024.

Raymond Zada, Gone, 2024, single-channel video, painted MDF, plastic switch, dimensions variable, Duration 18:00, image: courtesy artist