Work by six artists exploring subjects as diverse as UFO sightings, Morse-code and co-operative supermarkets is on public display at an east Auckland gallery.
Te Tuhi in Pakuranga is showcasing new commissions by five New Zealand artists alongside a major video presentation by Wu Tsang.
One emerging from a point of view is a large-scale, two-channel overlapping video projection intertwining two disparate narratives through synchronised camera choreography, the gallery says.
It’s the first large-scale presentation of Wu’s work to be shown in New Zealand.
“As images cut and bleed into each other, two disparate narratives intertwine through synchronised camera choreography.
“Rather than attempt to document a ‘truth’, award-winning filmmaker and performance artist Wu Tsang takes a magical realist approach as she works in collaboration with her subjects to create a hybrid fantasy.”
Artist Louisa Afoa is presenting Essential Household Items, a still-life photographic series questioning intergenerational differences in how memories are valued through material objects.
Te Tuhi says it juxtaposes antiques the artist’s mother purchased intending to pass down to her daughters, alongside everyday objects from the family home that hold countless memories.
“Photographing these different objects next to each other, the artist opens up questions around intergenerational differences in the objects through which family memories are recalled and valued.”
Caryline Boreham’s Disco Volante examines archival material from official records of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFO) across New Zealand.
The exhibition features a series of photographs, a zine publication, and a moving-image work.
“Boreham draws on text descriptions from eyewitness accounts, ephemeral material from correspondence between the Ministry of Defence and Mr HE Wright, and analysed video frames from TV1’s investigative coverage of the Kaikoura lights on January 3, 1979,” Te Tuhi says.
“In recontextualising this archival material Boreham plays with a space between the event and its recounting, where the actual UFO sighting becomes secondary to the conviction of its truth.”
Artist and writer Ardit Hoxha, who’s interested in utopian urban projects and social design, presents lost dream[s], a large-scale, text-based work across Te Tuhi’s billboard sites in Pakuranga and Parnell.
It quotes the ‘Final Statement’ of William Lewis Robertson, a campaigner for consumer co-ops in 1940’s New Zealand.
The co-ops were supermarkets that would redirect profits back to the community.
The gallery says his proposals included a health centre and cultural and recreational facilities.
“To Robertson’s dismay, these plans were short-lived.
“The first Labour Government withdrew its initial support for the scheme, for fear of alienating business allies.
“Penning his ‘Final Statement’ in response, Robertson took his [own] life shortly after, having become increasingly disillusioned by the failure of his advocacy.”
Artist Yukari Kaihori’s installation, two sides of the moon, draws on practices in Japanese folk animism to consider the life-force in materials and things, while audio artist and musician Luke Shaw presents (Re)Calling Home, a new audio work referencing sunlight-reflected Morse-code messages.
The exhibitions are on at Te Tuhi, 13 Reeves Road, Pakuranga, until January 28 next year.
