Darko Fritz has become known for his horticultural units, which involve writing internet error messages with living plants. “Reload” is a reference to the reload button on browsers; to the refresh of information from servers and perhaps by extension, the need to refresh our relationship with the Earth.
Introduction This page should be treated as speculative, as it contains some thoughts on positions of the works exhibited, but this needs now to be negotiated. Much is likely to change. The general shot above shows the level 2 main entrance. In the centre is the moa and kiwi. Some aims for the install are: […]
Janet Laurence’s subtle and carefully modulated installations speak volumes of the sensitivity of the artist to content, subject and placement. In the context of SCANZ 2103: 3rd nature, there are connection points to the vessels and containers of science in the work of Hideo Iwasaki; to animals – fish in the medusae of Anne Pincus, and Mike Paulin’s model of a shark; and birds in the project by Pierre Proske and Damian Stewart.
Nina Czegledy, Ramon Guardans, John Fass, László Kiss, and Jose David Cuartas Correa are collaborators on Galactic wind data visualisation project (working title), 2012. This involves using live NASA data of galactic wind, which is visualised as drops of water falling into a tank.
These units record environmental data, once the traditional place of the scientist and here explored by artists. The output of the units cannot be known, and how the birds will respond is similarly unknown. While being fundamentally an electronic art work, there are ethical questions here, and also this work shows how well electronic art works can be released from the museum/gallery venue, inviting a different relationship to the audience and one less encumbered by concepts such as ‘art’.
Trudy Lane has developed the concept of ‘Wonderlogue’ which are dinner events that involve people from diverse disciplines talking about their viewpoints on the same subject. This has evolved in walking events, where the art work takes place in the landscape. 457 metres of a walk are broken at points corresponding to the Earth’s 4.57 billion year history. At a particular marker, a kaumatua (Elder) and geologist might each comment from their perspective, driving respect for each other’s understanding and sometimes illuminating interconnections.
Land forms and topography are referenced here, in images that straddle the division between geography and art. Into the fractal landscape, human activities and sensibilities are layered. Benson also works with indigenous groups in Australia, and is involved in several projects that empower through the digital.
The work of Kura Puke interconnects electronics through programming LED’s, and traditional Maori approaches to Toi (art), referencing tukutuku panels and other forms. “Ka Wa Ka Wa” is a reference to the native Kawakawa tree, and this is one connecting point to several works engaging with plants: the “Brickets” of Damian Stewart and Pierre Proske are located in trees, while Nigel Helyer’s work is located in Pukekura Park, as is Darko Fritz’s.
One of the underlying themes for the SCANZ 2013: 3rd nature project is that there is some urgency to bringing together the wisdom of diverse peoples, and bringing together diverse ways of doing things: global climate change is growing more significant every day. We must do something about this, and these works by Josh Wodak point directly at climate change.
The subtle forms of jellyfish are delicately caught in these works, as if they were floating in air. These works relate to the computational model of sharks by Mike Paulin, the floating cyanobacteria of Hideo Iwasaki and the reference to animals in Janet Laurence’s work. Lighting is also a key factor.