Snap, Crackle, Pop-up – The ShutterRoom, Whangarei

12 Oct – 5 Nov 2019
The self-deprecating title, also a witty allusion to pop art (Roy Lichtenstein’s paintings of cartoons with speech bubbles were often onomatopoeiatic and pop art itself re-presented the ordinary and contemporary). The exhibition was a photographic project that translated the snap-shotted individual instant into the multi-medial.

It was also a participatory project: anyone with a smart phone and $2 was invited to add one of their snaps to the walls. A horizon line served as a visual guide but also added a level of complexity to the experience of Snap, Crackle Pop-up. Images above, below or across the line invited the viewer to read meanings into the placement and juxtapositionings – akin to how (despite our belief in our individualisms) each of us, is affected by our society.

The ShutterRoom is hardly a pop-up gallery having a stable following for over five years in its central Whangarei space directly across from the city public library. This proximity was part of the aesthetic experience created by The Shutter Room Collective curators, Heath, Leigh & Ken.

The first instruction I was given was to take 30-odd steps towards the library to use the wifi access there to download the app required to print out my snapshot. Back in the gallery, the snapshot was printed and I was given pins to place it anywhere on the walls. Feeling rebellious, I pinned my image across the line then I counted only one cat and several baby photos in the 50 or more images. The open curation approach had an element of risk, especially where a broad public could easily walk in, but the eye height line appears to have encouraged a self displine in regards to the content and thoughtfulness in the total composition.

The Shutter Room Facebook page