my blog and argumentation to come here
Old Media House – Te Whare Ao Pāpāho
3Sep
Detail of one of the ‘prepared’ books. Here Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth is given a Christo like wrap.
#oldmediahouse oldmediahouse more to come before 1 December 2024.
Old Media House oldmediahouse
Breathing space space breathing
10MarLucy Boermans, Michelle Mayn, Yana Dombrowsky-M’Baye, Shelley Simpson
28 Jan – 11 March 2023
St Paul Street Gallery, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
The exhibition was initiated by phD practice-based AUT (Auckland University of Technology) candidate, Lucy Boermans as an adjunct to the 2-day symposium, Metamodern Creatives (See metamoderncreatives.com).
The Auckland-based artist collective mothermother (mothermother.co.nz) invites two artists at a time to work collaboratively in their Eden Terrace exhibition space. Lucy Boermans and Michelle Mayn met when they were invited in 2021 to create a responsive installation for a 3 week period.
The curated space for mothermother is process-based, transitional and collaborative. Each exhibition, called an iteration, is a reminder that art lives in interaction, and as New Zealand curator, Christine Barton wrote, “history is not seamless, it must be consciously reconstructed.” (artnow.nz/essays/mother-lode?). In line with this nonlinear approach to contemporary art presence, during the 2023 Aotearoa Art Fair, the mothermother collective conducted ‘table chats,’ instead of artist talks. Their tea and cake encouraged visitors and artists to interact around the table.
The St Paul Street Gallery exhibition bore references to
Michelle Mayn and Lucy Boermans’ 2021 collaborative installation in the mothermother space, iteration number 12, (https://www.mothermother.co.nz/iterations/12)
Michelle Mayn has transferred the same materials of intense black flax seeds, with splashes of materials in red, and dried fronds in grid-like arrangments, into new positionings on the floor of the St Paul Street Gallery.
Lucy’s work has transitioned from delicate arrangements between the cracks of the mothermother gallery space to large interactive rotating rods in the more expansive St Paul Street Gallery.
The three piece installation is called “Turning.” The rods turn very slowly, akin to the meditative, however the balls at the ends of the fine rod reminded me that even the spiritual or conceptual rests on physics, when motion is at play. The slowly turning brass spheres almost touch the ground and each other. The work is a response to German/Austrian philosopher Peter Sloterdijk’s theories of Atmospheric Philosophy – thinking on the stuff we just don’t notice – the air we breath. (See: “Something in the air” frieze.com/article/something-air)
Stays restrain the rods, keeping each dead straight – under tension – but the only movement of air here is that created by the slow motion of these rods which stop and start in response to the viewers presence. In that sense, human presence stops or starts ‘the breathing space’ of these elegant beasts which ‘breathe’ the air of this gallery space.
There is a soft repeated sound reminescent of life in a harbour of boats – of the soft brush of metal against metal. The continuous movement, like the tidal waters, complement Shelley Simpson’s distilled vine-like horizontals along the walls. These remind me of the undulations of our natural landscape.
Her petri dish, the size of a satelite dish and holding dried organic matter, hangs from bright blue elastic cord.
Yana’s contribution of finger-pressed clay mouldings along the verticals of the walls at various intervals between the other works make evident that this exhibition is the result of their 10-day collaborative installation process.
E Tiaki | Take Care, artHAUS Auckland, March -11 Apr 2021
27MarArtists in Aotearoa | New Zealand are kaitiaki (stewards) for artists
in countries more stricken by COVID-19
Aodhán Floyd | April Shin | Ashleigh Taupaki | Bev Goodwin | Brenda Liddiard
Cathy Carter | Chiara Rubino | Emma Papadopoulos | Jessy Rahman | Jumaadi
Lipika Sen | Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole | Lloyd Lawrence | Michelle Mayn
Naomi Roche | Narjis Mirza | Martin Wohlwend | Masud Olufani
Nawruz Paguidopon | Prabhjyot Majithia | Phil Dadson
Pietertje van Splunter Robert Hamilton | Sen McGlinn | Shaeron Caton Rose
Sonja van Kerkhoff | Ursula Christel | Xiaojie Zheng | Yllwbro
Detail – Metamorfosi, 2021, Chiara Rubino (Matera, Italy) and Cathy Carter (Auckland, NZ)
Archival pigment ink photographic print on Hahnemuhle photo rag 306gsm. 140 x 90 cm.
Two more works in the main gallery. More photos on artsdiary.co.nz
Left of doorway: Planetscape by Lloyd Lawrence (NYC, USA) and Sonja van Kerkhoff,
The Shaman and the Healing Tree (with mirror) by Jessy Rahman (NL) and Sonja van Kerkhoff.
Metro Manila, photo-print by Nawruz Paguidopon
Above: A Paradox of Place by Sonja van Kerkhoff. Acrylic on wood, 61 x 84 cm. Wood from the Netherlands with a view of Matariki (The Seven Sisters constellation) as above Aotearoa.
Earthscape I, II, III, by Lloyd Lawrence (NYC, USA) with Sonja van Kerkhoff, 3 laser prints on transparency. Limited Edition of 5. Approx 29 x 20 cm. Lloyd emailed photos of his colleges made out of Art Catalogues, giving Sonja freedom to print them in any manner.
Diary of Dust, 2016, Animated, Produced, and Directed by Dave Brown. 2 min 53 sec animation featuring Jumaadi’s, 2014, 7 metre drawing made during a residency at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston School of the Arts, South Carolina, U.S.A. The Halsey Institute commissioned San Francisco-based filmmaker Dave Brown to make this video animation with original gamelan music, composed and performed by Nathan Koc.
Philoxenia 4, 2021, by Emma Papadopoulos. Acrylic on paper, 24 x 30 cm
Josephine’s Mother by Sonja van Kerkhoff, photo-print, 10 x 10 cm, crushed paper – Naomi Roche.
Sen printed out a drawing onto multiple layers, and assembled these under a wooden construction. Drawing by Aodhán Floyd of his father standing in the UN buffer zone in Cyprus.
“‘Deposition’ is an indirect portrait of my father, Anton Floyd, a poet and translator. He is standing in his home city, at a barricaded border crossing on the southern side of the ‘Green Line’ that divides the island and runs through the capital.” – Aodhán Floyd, Cork, Ireland
Texts incorporate Emma’s thoughts (her father is a Cypriot), Aodhan’s reflections, Sonja’s 2009 performance across the Nicosia Green Line, and Sen’s reflections.
The Green Line, 2021 by Bev Goodwin. Recycled telephone wire.
Philoxenia, 2021. Arrangements by Emma Papadopoulos (Greece), Naomi Roche and Sonja van Kerkhoff
“Philoxenia of Greek origin literally means ‘friend to a stranger’. Philoxenia pertains to taking care of, looking after, being hospitable. My tavern chairs, my cultural reference to Greek hospitality, are currently empty due to lockdown.”
– Emma Papadopoulos, Athens, Greece.
Detail of the main gallery – works by Aodhán Floyd (Cork, Ireland), April Shin, Brenda Liddiard, Jumaadi (Australia/Indonesia), Emma Papadopoulos (greece), Masud Olufani (USA) and Ursula Christel, Nawruz Paguidopon (The Philippines), Phil Dadson, Pietertje van Splunter (The Netherlands), Shaeron Caton Rose (UK), and Xiaojie Zheng (SF, USA/Wenzhou, China)
selfies from the other side – Aodhán Floyd, Chiara Rubino, Emma Papadopoulos, Jessy Rahman, Jumaadi, Lloyd Lawrence, Martin Wohlwend, Masud Olufani, Nawruz Paguidopon, Pietertje van Splunter, Robert Hamilton, Shaeron Caton Rose and Xiaojie Zheng
Details about each selfie is here: sonjavank.com/takecare/
The Wealth of the Nation, 2021, by Masud Olufani (Atalant, USA)
and Ursula Christel (Warkworth, NZ).
4-minute video, with accompanying text and a wall installation in the main gallery. Repurposed metal birdcage and brass bell, 2 framed digital prints, NZ native timber, cut and burnt copy of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (first published in 1776), twine, shellac. POA. The installation is a reinterpretation of The Wealth of the Nation (2019) by Masud Olufani; re-framed in New Zealand by Ursula Christel, in consultation with Masud.
Global Pandemic, 2021, by Robert Hamilton and Bev Goodwin 1 minute, 35 second video. Lightbox by Cathy Carter. Aus dem Gleichgewicht (Out of Balance), 2021, by Martin R. Wohlwend (Triesen, Liechtenstein) and Naomi Roche (Hamilton, NZ). Mats and carpets from artists’ homes. Windowsill sculptures: Kete I + Kete II by Ashleigh Taupaki (Auckland, NZ) and Shaeron Caton Rose (North Yorkshire, U.K). Mind That Māori suspended crochet vest by Lissy & Rudi Robinson. They are Minding their own Business, silkscreen on cloth by Sonja van Kerkhoff. Toro Mai Tō Ringa / Reach Out Your Hand, animation + wall sculpture by Nawruz Bernado Paguidopon (Manila, The Philippines) and Lissy & Rudi Robinson-Cole (Auckland, NZ).
The Wealth of the Nation, 2021, by Masud Olufani and Ursula Christel.
Detail: Rigenerazione by Chiara Rubino (Matera, Italy) and Cathy Carter (Auckland). Global Pandemic, 2021, by Robert Hamilton and Bev Goodwin 1 minute, 35 second video. Lightbox by Cathy Carter. Aus dem Gleichgewicht (Out of Balance) by Martin R. Wohlwend and Naomi Roche. Mats and carpets. Windowsill sculptures: Kete I + Kete II by Ashleigh Taupaki and Shaeron Caton Rose.
Transformazione, 2021, by Chiara Rubino (Italy) and Cathy Carter (Auckland). Archival pigment ink photographic print on Hahnemuhle photo rag 306gsm. 140cm x 90cm. Rigenerazione by Chiara Rubino and Cathy Carter. Global Pandemic by Robert Hamilton and Bev Goodwin. Lightbox by Cathy Carter. Aus dem Gleichgewicht (Out of Balance) by Martin R. Wohlwend and Naomi Roche. Windowsill: Kete I + Kete II by Ashleigh Taupaki and Shaeron Caton Rose.
Colour wheel, 2021, by Pietertje van Splunter. Acrylic paint on wood. Te Ara ki Rangihoua: The Way to Rangihoua (2018), by Yllwbro (NZ) and participating artists, five scallop shells. Care of the artists and Mokopopaki. Transformazione by Chiara Rubino and Cathy Carter.
Te Ara ki Rangihoua: The Way to Rangihoua by Yllwbro (NZ) and participating artists.
Lissy writes Nawruz’s name. Te Ara ki Rangihoua: The Way to Rangihoua (2018) by Yllwbro (NZ) and participating artists.
– a scallop shell for each person, hung at their heart-height. With accompanying text elsewhere in the gallery. Lloyd Lawrence, NYC, U.S.A (153 cm), Shaeron Caton Rose, North Yorkshire, U.K (120 cm), Nawruz Paguidopon, Manila, The Philippines (127 cm), Xiaojie Zheng, San Francisco U.S.A. / Wenzhou, China (120 cm),
Robert Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, (150 cm).
Scallop shells, brown string, moko adhesive. Care of the artists and Mokopōpaki.
E-Motion (Kinetic series #1), 2021 by Phil Dadson, a response to Colour wheel, 2021, by Pietertje van Splunter (The Hague, The Netherlands, acrylic on wood -tree ring).
Acrylic on wood, motor/Arduino module, steel stand. The E-motion series is a spin-off from the June Music concept (2019), where ratios of frequency, rhythm and colour are conjured up from imagined lines of sonic shape and form in the material world. Like a breathing mandala, this first of the E–Motion series animates this idea from the 3rd to the 4th dimension.
(With thanks to James Charlton for motor/Arduino assistance).
Hendris Lot