I hope I'm not barking up the wrong tree , but...well now I started small and
it got big...
It would not surprise me that anyone used to offshore environments ,
particularly those in Europe with such a powerful network of support and
available finance , or for that matter free stuff, would find little NZ a
little unfamiliar.
Anyone working in that field (I have looked after a few personally) and
exhibiting here will only be doing so by way of the Big Elephants (like the one
I move tents and caravans for) who can actually afford to bring them here ,
feed and house , freight (this alone can be a down payment on a house at times)
insure (This alone will get you into something nice on the north island east
coast) , knock down and build for , supply/import for , rent/buy equipment for
, hire in teams of techies and specialist's for if needed , install with teams
, sign everything , promote , mediate , publish and distribute for , care for
the duration and of course finally pay a fee too.
These costs do come down for an artist who can send files or a DVD of course ,
but it is much grander to talk in hundreds of thousands rather than a fedX. I
also see the cheaper option after 9 years at The Physicsroom , now that is
where the good stuff goes on , by the skin of its teeth and yet thanks to our
fine staff and our money poor but time generous efforts , at work and at home
the artists always leave happy with their merger fees and their time spent in
our one room office/drop in centre/media centre/email café/relationship
fixerupper/tearoom.
I say this partly from what I have seen go on and partly from looking at the
work being produced off shore , there is an obsession with high end teched up
super work , which is impressive in a way but offensive in others , I mean in
terms of great finance required for an artwork to exist seems morally
questionable to me, and does a great video artwork really need an specially
designed couch...but well most of my friends are musicians so what do I know.
We are few , as Stella pointed out , not all of us want to share our studio
space with others , it's not constructive to everyone's working habits ,
however if it's what you want and it works for you then more power to you ,
remember we are few so perhaps you need to do it yourself and , with respect ,
tell others , locally , nationally and internationally about what you have
established and get it going on all cylinders. Hell you might even be able to
get funding to pay any overheads , I would not count on wages though. It takes
a bit of commitment. ADA is most likely enough of a workload for those who do
run it as well as their day jobs and own practices and families.
As Stella and Zeta kind of suggest , Making do and getting by is a valid
cultural signifier , yes things are pretty lean , but that does not mean
lacking , but actually helps propagate a form of art relevant to where we are
in the world , relative and relevant to the world but not emulating the world.
Kia ora Tatou.
Nathan
Nathan Pohio
Exhibitions Designer
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu
Corner Worcester Boulevard and Montreal Street
PO Box 2626
CHRISTCHURCH 8140
www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz
DDI: +64 3 9417366 | MOBILE: +64 0211446872
| EMAIL: [email protected]
PICK VAN HOUT ET AL.
CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY WINTER 09
-----Original Message-----
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Sent: Monday, 5 October 2009 12:05 pm
To: [email protected]
Subject: Ada_list Digest, Vol 80, Issue 10
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ADA list Digest Version
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Another submission we could make: CNZ strategic plan
(Zita Joyce)
2. On behalf of Mark Williams (Anna Dean)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:34:13 +1300
From: Zita Joyce <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Ada_list] Another submission we could make: CNZ
strategic plan
To: Aotearoa Digital Arts <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed;
delsp=yes
hee, stella and i posted nearly simultaneously... thanks for a far
more productive + less obviously grumpy post stella : )
On 5/10/2009, at 10:20 AM, Stella wrote:
> hi,
> as one of those fat-cat, non-hacker artists who's just deinstalled a
> cnz-supported
>
>> for-sale, month-long solo-show somewhere in Ponsonby
>
> (actually, Starkwhite in Karangahape Road, but close enough!
> (http://eyecontactartforum.blogspot.com/2009/09/between-culture-and-nature.html
>
> )
> ) I thought I might have something to contribute. I have to say, too,
> that just because it is possible to buy something, doesn't mean it's a
> likely prospect, or that the commercial artworld is entirely evil.
>
> This conversation seems to have a strand of hostility to stuff like
> going to art school (one possible way of meeting other artists and
> making better artwork). What we do have a healthy culture of in NZ is
> artist-run spaces (None, Rm, A Centre For Art, Enjoy, Newcall, Gambia
> Castle...), which often serve the studio and salon functions that
> hackerspaces seem to be useful for. I guess the differences are
> falling within the mainstream of contemporary art, and a lower level
> of electricity use. Are there other distinctions? How different are
> digital artists from other artists?
>
> Perhaps this preponderance of artist vs. hacker spaces has something
> to do with the historical fact of CNZ not funding digital art
> separately, whereas Australia used to have a pot labelled 'new
> media'. This is one reason, perhaps, that digital practices in NZ
> often exist within, say, a sound art/music or screen innovation realm,
> and perhaps is also why this particular area seems more developed in
> Australia (correct me, please, if I'm wrong).
>
> I agree that the area of public culture is something we don't
> necessarily do very well at in NZ, and is something it would be great
> to think of ways around improving. On the other hand, as Douglas
> pointed out, collaborative environments are not productive for every
> artist (I find them often really pleasant socially, but impossible to
> get work done in). The idea of trying to work in a room full of
> computers and other people fills me with dread, which is why Adam's
> mention of Sarai was useful, because, although I've never been there,
> it seems distant from that model.
>
>> I meet heaps of people in my travels that tell me they'd love to go
>> to New Zealand, that ask about medialabs or residencies there.
>
>
> Well of course! New Zealand has just been ranked in the world?s top
> five best destinations by readers of prestigious Cond? Nast Traveller
> magazine for the sixth year running!
>
> The tenor of this conversation seems to be that 'this is something
> that someone should provide for us because we'd like to use it',
> rather than 'this is something I've found valuable, and would like to
> help build... here's some thoughts on how. I'll do this bit...'.
>
> I think it would be useful to turn the conversation in this direction,
> but also to recognise what already exists, like Makerspace in
> Wellington (http://makerspace.org.nz), or the Audio Foundation
> (www.audiofoundation.org.nz
> ), working in a related realm.
>
> In terms of the actual lab stuff, in Auckland, there is Colab
> (http://www.colab.org.nz
> ), which, you can see by the extensive lineup of logos on the bottom
> of the page is a project by AUT University and MIC (which receives by
> far the largest wodges of public money for digital arts and "promotes
> a dynamic and growing culture of interdisciplinary media-arts practice
> in Auckland and New Zealand, supporting an environment of innovation,
> in which fusion of art and technology is developed and
> nurtured." (according to MIC's own website).
>
> Perhaps this might be a good place to point prospective visitors?
>
> best,
> Stella
>
>
> On 5/10/2009, at 4:45 AM, Julian Oliver wrote:
>
>> ..on Mon, Oct 05, 2009 at 12:40:43AM +1300, Douglas Bagnall wrote:
>>>
>>>> that's what it means to me, and that's why i care, because i know
>>>> there
>>>> are other people back home dealing with the same shit i was
>>>> dealing with
>>>> in my head, and that since such a place would have helped me, it
>>>> could
>>>> help them too.
>>>
>>>
>>> You know Damian, probably not. Young men, early twenties, feeling
>>> isolated and confused, think they might be artists? There is
>>> nothing
>>> that can help them.
>>
>> Hehe.
>>
>> Well, people aren't annointed 'Artist' by some Divine Paintbrush at
>> birth,
>> bearing that mark with unbridled self-determination until death.
>> Much of the
>> time people find that they have made something that someone else
>> considers 'Art'
>> and as such are then called 'the artist'. The term only has value in
>> the context
>> of what's made, where and how it is read.
>>
>> I've taught "young men, early twenties, feeling isolated and
>> confused" in
>> workshops or university contexts in Europe, The Americas, Asia and
>> Australia.
>> I've found that all it often takes is just a little guidance and
>> encouragement,
>> some basic resources, documentation in their language, time and
>> space and
>> they're coming out with great work, 'Art' or not, in no time. Some
>> of that work
>> has gone on to do very well in the electronic art circuit.
>>
>> Good ideas are everywhere. Implementations are not. An advantage to
>> a 'hacklab'
>> (read: central working space, talks, tools, library, coffee machine
>> and
>> bandwidth) is that it provides direction and facilities to those
>> still learning
>> and/or making their minds up about where to take their ideas.
>>
>> Anyway, as I say, you know the weather in NZ better than I. The
>> picture you
>> paint is of a country of careerists too self-interested to publicly
>> dissemenate
>> skills and knowledge. If so, that's both boring and sad.
>>
>> No wonder media artists I know that've visited NZ return entirely
>> lost as to why
>> they couldn't find or connect with any local scene of makers.
>> Perhaps that's
>> because there just isn't one!
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> --
>> Julian Oliver
>> home: New Zealand
>> based: Berlin, Germany
>> currently: Berlin, Germany
>> about: http://julianoliver.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ada_list mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
>
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------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 12:05:11 +1300
From: Anna Dean <[email protected]>
Subject: [Ada_list] On behalf of Mark Williams
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
Greetings friends
In Mark's absence I would like to invite you at 5:30pm, Friday 16
October to witness the unveiling of The Blue Room.
Curated by Pippa Sanderson, the show features the work of Elle Loui
August, Bekah Carran, Louise Clifton, Andrea du Chatenier, Violet
Faigan, Lonnie Hutchinson, Saskia Leek, Louise Menzies, Dane Mitchell,
Rebecca Pilcher, Johanna Sanders, Pippa Sanderson and Stuart Shepherd.
We are delighted this exhibition, which has travelled from The Blue
Oyster and Te Manawa, will now be on show in Wellington.
I do hope you can join us.
Best wishes
Anna
Anna Dean
Marketing and Communications
The New Zealand Film Archive
mobile +64 21 152 7232
ph +64 4 384 7647 ext 823
www.filmarchive.org.nz
In the Pelorus Trust mediagallery until Saturday 10 October
La fine del Mondo - An installation by Edith Amituanai
Don't miss award-winning photographer Edith Amituanai?s latest
photography exhibition - a collection of portraits of a Burmese family
resettling in Auckland, complimented by Film Archive footage of the
immigrant experience in New Zealand.
Free entry
------------------------------
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