Archive for category: 2013 Exhibition

Image above: Galactic super wind: Matter blasts out of the starburst galaxy M82 in this composite image (X-ray: NASA / CXC / JHU / D.Strickland; optical: NASA / ESA / STScI / AURA / the Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of AZ / C. Engelbracht).

Introduction

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. Nina Czegledy is a trained artist-scientist, Ramon Guardans is a United Nations Environmental Monitor, John Fass is an interaction design specialist, László Kiss works out of The Kitchen Budapest and Jose David Cuartas Correa works in multimedia design and is a proponent of free software: clearly this team is interdisciplinary, utilising the skills of the collective to create a connection from Puke Ariki to galaxies in space, via the records of interstellar energy bursts. Achieving this work involves people from three continents and five countries. An interest in cosmology is shared among many groups of humanity.

Image from a walk event in 2011, held at 457 metres along a farm fenceline.

Introduction

Trudy Lane has developed the concept of ‘Wonderlogue’ which are dinner-dialogue events that involve people from diverse disciplines talking about their viewpoints on the same subject. This has evolved into walking events, where the art work takes place in the landscape. For example, 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.

For the SCANZ 2013 exhibition, Trudy has collaborated with the US-based sound artist and musician Halsey Burgund to develop a location-sensitive audioscape for the walk. Using a map and an iPhone application, visitors can stroll through 4.5 billion years of the Earth’s history, hear the thoughts from past participants, and add their own. In this way an invisible pathway is formed across the museum, which references the museum collections, and provides a physical linkage from the works in the galleries to those outside in Pukekura Park and the environs of Taranaki.

“3-orange waharua a” is an earlier work by Kura Puke, who will present “Ka Wa Ka Wa” at 3rd nature. “Ka Wa Ka Wa” will be made for the exhibition.

The words on each of the exhibitor pages, will change as further discussion takes place and a greater awareness of the works results. We began by examining the works from the point of view of how some of them interconnect with each other in terms of content. This was so we could form a rationale of where in the collection might be a good position for the work.

Interconnections

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.

Another interconnective point is that the LED’s point to stars, and these are referenced in the works by Te Huirangi Waikerepuru and Nina Czegledy. Consequently this work by Kura Puke occupies a central interconnective point to the whole exhibition.

Left: “Medusae”, 2010 Crocheted silver wire. Right: “Lior,” 2010 Crocheted fishing line.

Introduction

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.

One other reason for the inclusion of the Medusae was to reinforce a sense of multiple scales in the exhibition. In scaling terms, smallest are the bacteria by Hideo Iwasaki and the electronics of Pierre Proske and Damian Stewart, then there are these jellyfish by Pincus, the objects selected by Janet Laurence, up to the human scale of the Josh Wodak works and Mike Paulin’s shark. The landscape is referenced in the works by Tracey Benson, Darko Fritz, Nigel Helyer and Trudy Lane. Kura Puke’s LED works point to the stars, as does the galactic wind work by Nina Czegledy and collaborators, and finally “Te Taiao Maori (the Maori universe)” by Te Huirangi Waikerepuru has vast scales of space and time.