Telstra turns three 'not into art' Aussies into hyperreal sculptures at the NGV

Telstra has backed Australian arts for decades and is principal partner of the National Gallery of Victoria, but the sponsorship was not reaching the people it was meant for. A survey the telco commissioned found two in five Australians want to engage with more art yet do not know how, and many feel galleries are not for them.

So instead of another round of logos on posters, Telstra and agencies +61 and Bear Meets Eagle On Fire turned the objection itself into the campaign. They found Bradley, a firefighter; Midori, a student; and Wally, a retiree, who each declared they were not into art, and commissioned sculptor Sam Jinks to cast hyperreal silicone portraits of them, down to real human hair.

The three were invited to meet their own sculptures at the Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia, where the works went on free public display from 4 April to 30 June 2025. An audio tour voiced by Bradley, Midori and Wally let visitors hear the sceptics' conversion first-hand, and NGV senior curator Ewan McEoin made campaign merchandise, from totes to t-shirts, to carry the idea beyond the gallery.

The encounter changed the participants — Wally says he disliked art for 40 years and now likes it — and the project outlived the exhibition. D&AD's archive records that the sculptures became permanent NGV exhibits seen by about 3 million visitors and that the campaign generated over $3 million in new revenue for Telstra, alongside an ADC 105th Gold Cube for Experiential Design and D&AD Pencils.