Notes on Works in the Public Realm
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Reading Room: Kim Paton Everything thought and remembered
This sculpture is Kim Paton’s response to an invitation to make a work for the Gallery’s Reading Room, which is used for the presentation of resource material (books, journals, bibliographies, audio visual presentations) relating to the current exhibition. It also functions as a space to stop, to think, to rest before heading back into an exhibition to continue looking.
While Paton’s structure is made for the space, central to the artist’s idea is that it has a life beyond this exhibition. It is built to last and its positioning on skids reinforces its mobility and potential for future use. Paton’s structure sits empty as a proposition or challenge as to what its future use will be. Its life beyond this context will be determined by the needs of the next user and the site they have to hand—possibilities are numerous; a roof-top bar, a mobile library, a shelter etc.
Nothing is wasted, ‘economy of means’ is at play throughout the entire structure. The wall structures use single sheets of plywood, with areas cut out to form the floor of the main structure. While donated new materials form the core structure, it is clad and roofed entirely from recycled materials all of which have been sourced through in-kind transactions including donations, special deals, under-the-table favours, from an incredibly broad range of sources: industry, cultural organisations, and formal recycling programmes. Paton explores different economies of trade and barter and the ever growing phenomenon of ‘new material waste’ through her use of materials that are considered no longer ‘useful’.
Stairwell, Cinema corridor and Wellington City Streets: Daniel du Bern Amnesty
Daniel du Bern has developed ten posters each featuring a different object reproduced in murky greyscale. Some of the objects are puzzling; a lump wrapped in pantyhose, a small rectangular metal object and a length of wire with toggles at each end. Others declare their function much more directly—a club wrapped in barbed-wire, a stick embedded with nails. These objects are based on homemade weapons confiscated by the police. Their brutality is underscored by their ad-hoc making, mostly from materials widely available to anyone who has the inclination; these are basic, quick constructions.
du Bern has a strong interest in counter-cultures and they way they are visually represented. A marker of such movements—from the political to the more ‘recreational’—is their self-determination and a DIY development of aesthetics in tune with their attitude or aspiration (seen clearly within punk and anarchist movements, anti-globalisation networks etc.). Amnesty develops this interest by making visible the trappings of covert and hidden networks. These types of weapons are most often confiscated from criminal outfits: gangs, drug manufacturers and dealers. The strength of a violent undercurrent in our society is only becoming stronger—the urge to be armed against attack sits fiercely at odds with the image of Aotearoa New Zealand being a peaceful, tranquil, caring place. This work is not easy or comfortable, nor does it seek to glamorise or condone the creation or use of these weapons. The presence of these posters both within the public realm and the gallery should be jarring. Perhaps the most revealing outcome is if people pass these by without feeling anything.
Civic Square: Gregor Kregar Matthew 12:12
a live installation 30, 31 March and 1 April 2007
A curious transformation of the two grassy areas in front of City Gallery Wellington will take place on three days over the cusp of March and April: twelve sheep in brightly coloured woolly jumpers grazing within white picket-fence enclosures. This work grew out of the artist’s consideration of the way industrial rearing of livestock has shaped the landscape, and to a certain extent the culture, of Aotearoa New Zealand . When the work was developed the ratio of people to sheep in this country was 1:12. The title quotes from the verse Matthew 12:12 in the Holy Bible ‘How much better is a man than a sheep? which provokes our questioning of the assumed hierarchy of humans over animals.
This work has an absurdist sensibility and probes our attitudes towards the woolly creatures that have formed a mainstay of our economy and play such a prominent role in this country’s ‘public’ cultural identity. This is the third presentation of this work, its second in an urban context. The siting of the work within a Civic Square highlights the evolution of the public square (within a European tradition) from the market place, where stock was brought for sale, to its present role as a site for public gatherings and thoroughfare.
Please note:
The well-being of the sheep during the installation has been considered in great detail, with adequate shelter, water, feed and supervision provided. They are taken off-site each night and transferred to a rural pasture. Expert advice has been sought from agencies specialising in animal welfare. City Gallery Wellington and the artist thank those people and organisations who have advised on this project.
For more information on each of these artists, go to the individual artist pages on this site.