Last Ride in a Hot Air Balloon is a theme which encompasses risk and adventure through many pathways, such as political, economic and personal interationships. A view from a hot air balloon looks down from above, from a different angle to how we would usually view things - some of the pieces are from a political space where they cannot openly comment and are therefore open to interpretation. The fact that it is the 'last ride' gives a sense of redundancy and a new era.
A piece I particularly enjoyed was Making Useful Things Useless by Robert Hood. The final journey of his Toyota Corolla was the drive from his Christchurch home to Auckland for the Triennial. Hood then removed all the non metal components and shredded his car to create the installation. This echoes the theme of a last adventure and a sense of redundancy and a new era for the recycled car. The artist is highlighting the way we discard and upgrade and imposes the question upon the viewer - what happens to the old when we move on to the new? He is highlighting the leftovers created by our materialistic society and how much space they take up. This adventure of his car echoes environmental risks the viewer may not otherwise consider. I felt it was a strong piece with an important message and fitted well into the theme.
I struggled to find as strong a connection with the theme in work of ex gymnast Alicia Frankovich. She portrays the adventure of the human body, and the risks we put it through in use, through objects which take on aspects of the mechanism of the working body. The central piece portrayed a fountain with a cycle of red liquid being pumped through a Martini bottle. This represents a blood system, the risk we put our body through by drinking, the journey of the cycle, and forms a counterpoint to foutains usually found in public places. Another of her pieces encompassed a ball in a sling, representing a ball & socket joint, body movement and the potential of the body to use as we will. These pieces are clearly relative to the theme but in my opinion seemed a more loose interpretation than others in the exhibition and although related to the themes of risk and adventure, did not reflect these as strongly as other pieces.
Room With A Bird by Bundith Phunsombatlert shows an obvious connection to the theme as it takes the viewer through a physical adventure and plays with our perception of reality. Bird perches hang down to head height from the ceiling of a corridor and force the viewer's path to wind in a certain direction. The sound of birds and movement of the perches triggered by a motion sensor creates an eerie feeling of a phantom presence. A bird seemingly observes viewers passing through, but we are forced to examine the connection between seeing and knowing - the evidence of a bird is there, but we cannot see it. The bird flits between real and imaginary status, evading capture and description. This piece stimulates the viewer physically and psychologically, imposing itself and creating adventure in both senses, and the risk of encountering the unknown.
I would like to mention one more piece which I felt worked well within the theme. Singing Cloud by Shilpa Gupta examines the relationship between terrorist and activist, and risk and survival. Her work was created in the wake of the Mumbai bombings and reflects the risks we take in society every day without necessarily even realising, whilst also considering social fear. A collection of microphones create an threatening, dark, cloud, recording select sounds and playing them back again, as if this cloud were raining sounds. The implication is that big brother is always listening. A board of flights to terroist related hotspots also relays slogans such as "can you be dead and still have a religion?", have a sub religion?", "have a race?" etc. It is based on research of psychology of fear, prejudice and threat. The artist examines the common journeys and risks people take every day, from the recording of our every movement to the impending doom of being in the wrong place or boarding the wrong flight. I liked this piece as it is contemporary and relevant to society and also worked well in the theme.
I felt that all the pieces I viewed fitted the Triennial theme at least in some way, some more strongly than others, although overall there could have been more risk incorporated in the presentation - I did not find any of the pieces shocking, and feel that an art piece in itself would be risky if there were elements of shock and pushing boundaries. I also felt that whilst the pieces portrayed new eras, there were none which I found to be completely innovative in terms of their place in the art world in themselves.
In my opinion, in such an international event of the arts, there should have been at least some Maori representation. The lack of this demonstrates a lack of support for local Maori artists, and would obviously have been an excellent opportunity for up and coming Maori artists to showcase their work to an international audience.
One Maori artist who may have fitted the criteria for the Triennial is Rua Paul. He uses Maori artifacts, taking them overseas and developing them with exotic elements he encounters along the way. He is literally creating art by taking carvings on an adventure and risking transforming traditional Maori artifacts, which depict history and mythology, by combining these with exotic influences and questioning the dividing line between cultures, returning with fresh, new perspectives.
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Great entry, thanks Julia! You write wonderfully, and really engage with what you see. Two things though: did you look at other work in the show, besides the pieces we were guided through? Interesting to know if there was anything else that caught your eye, either in a positive or negative way. And also, did you try researching any of the artists you investigated further on the Internet?
ReplyDeleteThe standard of your writing is so high you may feel you don't need the help, but it's always interesting to contrast your own opinions with those of published critics.
TX