Descending, ascending, regular, irregular (two-out-of-three) (2026)

"Joe Jowitt’s video work, Descending, ascending, regular, irregular (two-out-of-three), is a studied parody of the governmental public service announcement. Jowitt’s friendly character tells us about the introduction of the Regular Nothing to See Here Standards Bill, which will, among other things, reduce the number of stairs you’re legally required to have by one third.

What starts with an appeal to kiwis “grafting away”, inconvenienced by “nasty red tape and regulation” evolves into absurdity as Joe explains that one out of every three steps will be removed from public walkways, which can be put to use in new staircases elsewhere." - Morgan Ashworth from the essay An escalation: Joe Jowitt's Descending, ascending, regular, irregular (two-out-of-three) (2025)