The term ‘Battle Royale’ is drawn from the world of video gaming. It describes an every-man-for-himself, last-one-standing competition, in which players compete for survival by any means necessary.
Ming Ranginui’s Battle Royale explores societal inequities and power imbalances in Aotearoa. The working class fights to survive, while the ruling class plays games with the livelihoods of its subjects, completely disconnected from the consequences of its decisions.
Game of Thrones reimagines an old gaming chair as a throne. The work reflects the ambivalence with which the ruling few perceive the needs and wellbeing of the many. The Victorian style of the throne recalls New Zealand’s ties to the Crown, consolidated during the reign of Queen Victoria. This history enables the British Monarch to sit as ‘Head of State’, invisibly influencing our reality from far away—not unlike an online gamer manipulating a remote fantasy land. Within video games, the heart indicates the life force or ‘health’ of players. The pleated, pierced heart of Queen of Hearts acknowledges the battle for hauora Māori that has spanned generations, and acknowledges Te Kooti’s bleeding heart, a symbol of Māori suffrage. Coat of Charms refers to those who are ‘up against the ropes’ desperately trying to protect their rights, mauri, and mana against the onslaught of the Battle Royale. Head of State represents the ultimate goal: tino rangatiratanga. The muka form in the work evokes te ao Māori, while the tiara evokes te ao hurihuri and serves as a symbol of power. The muka rests lightly in the tiara, amplifying the sense of the precarity of the relationship between the two entities, and emphasising the fact that the struggle for Māori to inhabit positions of power equal to those of tangata tiriti is never-ending.
