A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes is an exhibition of new work, predominantly featuring a newly written essay of the same name in the form of a printed publication.
The body of work takes James C. Scott’s suggestion that gossip could be seen as ‘the linguistic equivalent and forerunner of witchcraft’ as a provocation to consider: gossip and rumour as forms of aggression and resistance; social structures and transparency within the (art/)world; information as a form of social currency; desiring and enacting change for a better (art/)world; and wishes, dreams, and the Law of Attraction.
The title of the work is borrowed from a song written and composed for the Walt Disney film Cinderella (1950), in which Cinderella encourages her animal friends never to stop dreaming (in a metaphorical sense) because ‘the dream that you wish will come true’.
The publication will be printed in an open edition and made available for free throughout the exhibition as well as in a digital format online.
Dan Bourke is an artist based in Boorloo/Perth, WA. Working between studio, curatorial, and publishing practices, he appropriates and subverts existing models to explore themes such as the nature, ethics, and business of creative labour; economies within the contemporary art world; forms of representation; and systems of taste and value.
He currently runs Benchpress, a small Risograph-based printing press, and Adult Contemporary, an artist-run initiative and bookshop. He was previously involved in the formation of other artist-run initiatives: Poetry Club (2010), Galleria (2011–12), and Pet Projects (2016–17).
In 2009, he graduated with a BA (Art) (Honours) from Curtin University. Locally and nationally, he has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions, curated and organised projects, and undertaken residencies. His most recent projects have appeared at Fremantle Arts Centre (WA), YIRI ARTS (Taiwan), Adult Contemporary (WA), Pet Projects (WA), and Campbelltown Arts Centre (NSW).