Author: Mereem

Icicles added, (hopefully they don’t melt too fast)

Semester 1

Owairaka – Mt Albert Heritage Walks, Auckland Council, 22 May 2011, 18 March 2022
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/arts-culture-heritage/heritage-walks-places/Documents/owairaka-
mt-albert-heritage-walks.pdf

Owairaka/Mt Albert’s History, Honour the Maunga, 2019, 18 March 2022
https://honourthemaunga.org.nz/owairaka-mt-albert-history

Lana Lopesi, False Divides

Paul Gauguin, Two Tahitian Women on the Beach, Oil on Canvas, 1891

Meredith Mendelsohn, Why is the Art World Divided over Gauguin’s Legacy?, Aug 3
2017, {https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-art-divided-gauguins-legacy}

Selina Tusitala Marsh, Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach, 1894, Auckland University
Press, 2009

Manulani Aluli Meyer, ‘Indigenous and Authentic: Hawaiian Epistemology and the Triangulation of
Meaning,’ in ‘Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies,’ (SAGE Publications, Inc, 2008), 221

Margaret Wertheim, ‘Lost in Space: The Spiritual Crisis of Newtonian Cosmology,’ in Bill
Bryson (Ed.), Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society (London: Harper,
2011), 72.

Auntie Denise Champion and Rosemary Dewerse, “Big Boss or Dark Emu? Indigenous wisdom for the academy” Religion Matters (awaiting publication).

Manulani Aluli Meyer, ‘Indigenous and Authentic: Hawaiian Epistemology and the Triangulation of Meaning,’ in ‘Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies,’ (SAGE Publications, Inc, 2008)

Semester 2

Rua

Ministry of Culture and Heritage, “Taonga Tūturu Protocols,” https://mch.govt.nz/nz-identity-heritage/taonga-tuturu-protocols

DigitalNZ, “Lisa Reihana: in Pursuit of Venus,” https://digitalnz.org/records/36294010/lisa-reihana-in-pursuit-of-venus-infected

DigitalNZ, “Les Sauvages de la mer Pacifique (1804-1805),”
https://digitalnz.org/records/31925721/les-sauvages-de-la-mer-pacifique-18041805

Taylor&Francis online, “The Art of Contested Histories: In Pursuit of Venus [Infected] and the Pacific Legacy,” https://www-tandfonline com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/doi/full/10.1080/00223344.2019.1702516

Taylor&Francis Online, Noaman G. Ali, Reading Gramsci through Fanon: Hegemony before Dominance in Revolutionary Theory, https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/doi/full/10.1080/08935696.2015.1007793

The Met, Shigeyuki Kihara, Fa’a Fafine: In the Manner of a Woman, Triptych 1, 2004-5, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/538528#:~:text=built%20with%20ACNLPatternTool-,Fa’afafine%3A%20In%20the%20Manner%20of%20a,Woman%2C%20Triptych%201%202004%E2%80%935&text=Shigeyuki%20Kihara%20is%20a%20multimedia,identity%2C%20indigenous%20spirituality%20and%20colonialism.

Digital NZ, Unidentified Woman, Samoa, https://digitalnz.org/records/22794481/unidentified-woman-samoa

Digital NZ, Andrew Thomas, 1855-1939, Majuro Islanders https://digitalnz.org/records/22793427/andrew-thomas-1855-1939-majuro-islanders

CBS News, “Andy Warhol portrait Marilyn Monroe sells for $195 million, smashing record for most expensive work by a U.S. artist ever sold at auction,” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andy-warhol-marilyn-monroe-portrait-195-million-auction/#:~:text=New%20York%20%E2%80%94%20Andy%20Warhol’s%20%22Shot,artist%20ever%20sold%20at%20auction. 

MoMA, “Andy Warhol: Marilyn Monroe, 1967” https://www.moma.org/collection/works/61240.

Jonathan E. Schroeder, “Andy Warhol: Consumer Researcher”, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 24 (1997): 476-482.

Toru

Monash University MUMA, ‘Fiona Connor: Wallworks’ https://www.monash.edu/muma/exhibitions/previous/2014/fiona-connor-wallworks

Monash University MUMA, ‘Fiona Connor: Wallworks’ https://www.monash.edu/muma/exhibitions/previous/2014/fiona-connor-wallworks

TATE, ‘White Cube’ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/w/white-cube

Brian O’Doherty, Inside the White Cube: Ideology of the Gallery Space, University of California Press 1986 (14-16)

For my final work I combined elements of my experimentations to create a cohesive exhibition. Feeling the most drawn to it of all my works thus far, the centre piece became a projection of the ghostly, figure-like drapery situation work. I then positioned the same fabric used for the figure so that it might ’emerge’ from the wall as if the river were continuing, drawing the subject of the work (the fabric figure) out with it to exist in the same space as us, river and person as one. Suspended from the ceiling are 5 icicles, 3 made from plaster, 2 from ice (I had to suspend the icicles at the very last minute so they aren’t included in the pictures). The permanence of the plaster icicles is juxtaposed by the natural impermanence of the real icicles.

This work is a fluid conversation between the impermanence of natural life and the human desire to create permanence. In the video, the fabric represents a median between the human and natural world. It is designed and set up by human hands, yet its interaction is natural. The wind blows it gently, it almost looks as though it belongs. Physically it is permanent, but what it represents is fluidity, a natural rhythm.

Then the work is extended into the studio space. The fabric ‘river’ and human made ‘icicles,’ continue this somewhat awkward, somewhat harmonious conversation between natural processes and human processes. The fabric is an attempt to bring the situation into the space, as continuation of the river. The icicles join in the conversation, testing just how processed a natural thing can become before it is completely detached from its original form. The plaster icicles are almost too fake to be recognised, but positioned in relationship with similar ones made from ice, they are just recognisable enough. As the ice melts, it is absorbed into the ‘river,’ an abstract and almost mechanical recreation of natural cycles.

Experimenting with setup

I have really enjoyed the sculpture briefs as they have pushed me to venture beyond my typical art practice. The most important thing that I have learnt this year is that art has no limits, something that I love and enjoy pushing to the max. In sculpture particularly, I feel encouraged to try out anything and everything that comes to mind. Until this brief I felt unsure about experimenting because I wanted to make art and often my original ideas don’t meet my high standards. So, instead of simply making, I felt pressured to brainstorm until I came up with something that met these standards. Of course, my perspective on this has grown throughout the year, but especially during sculpture I have come to understand that trialing my first ideas, however bad they might turn out, are necessary first steps. Once I put my ideas into reality, developing them into something I am proud to exhibit becomes a much easier (and fun) process. 

As a result of this, what I like most about my art these past few months has been the process of trialing everything – types of movement, situations, materials, tools, themes etc. and then sewing together my individual successes into one cohesive work.

To Melt

Another verb I looked at, ‘to melt’, began as a very literal experiment. I froze water into different shapes: blocks, bowls and pretty much anything else that was waterproof and fit in my freezer. Some sculptures I dotted with ink, others I left clear. Then, in a variety of contexts, I videoed them melting. At first I didn’t have a specific idea for what this might lead to, but it captured my imagination and I was sure that the more things I tried, the more ideas I would come up with.

My assortment of efforts in response to this verb is a good example of my approach to artmaking. I’ll try out anything and everything that comes to mind and as I make and research, deeper meanings emerge.

Mould making

In the wetlab workshops we were taught a variety of mould-making methods. Pinkysil, a fast-setting silicone, was a material that I learnt could contain water whilst being flexible enough to remove it once frozen with minimal difficulty. I wanted to emphasise the delicacy and beauty of ice, my mind went to glass vessels such as vases or lanterns. I think making a vase out of ice is a fascinating idea; it is an object made to contain water, yet now the water becomes the object. The sculpture represents the negative space just as it represents the positive space. Though I didn’t think to do this at the time, it would have been interesting to play with this concept by positioning it over the original vase so that as it melts, it becomes the contents for the object it embodies in its solid state.

Despite discovering many routes that my experiments with ice could take, the theme that I found the most intriguing was regeneration through destruction. A video I took a block of ice melting into a river embodied this regenerative cycle. It struck me that though at face value it seemed like the block was gradually being destroyed, it was actually shifting into a different state and feeding back into the environment. In this context, destruction is not brutal nor finite. It is a metamorphosis from one state of living into another; a catalyst for the continuation of life.

Artist Research – Néle Azvedo

Sculptor Néle Azvedo’s most well known works are her ‘Melting Men’ installations. These inspired my approach to melting sculptures in their simplicity of design yet richness in meaning. Their impermanence is what makes them so mesmerising. There is a sadness in watching the figurines melt, we feel a loss. Azvedo created this work in response to the climate crisis. It is a reminder that nothing is permanent. This is natural, but in not in the extremes of climate change. If we are to prevent the beauty of life from slipping away right before us, we must respect the delicate balance of life and acknowledge that we are just as much a part of its cycle as anything else.

Looking at Richard Serra’s verblist, I was intrigued by ‘of waves.’ This verb has many different meanings:

to gesture,

to move from side to side,

the movement of water,

soundwaves, etc.

In considering these meanings, I found myself drawn to the gracefulness of the movement of water, or thin material wafting in a breeze. The motion has the effect of bringing something inanimate to life. This train of thought led me to my first experimentation. Taking large, thin sheets of plastic and fabric, I arranged them throughout the park near my house. Sculpted roughly so they might look human-like in shape, I videoed their interaction with the environment.

There wasn’t quite as much wind as I thought there would be which resulted in minimal movement, but I don’t think it turned out to be a bad thing. The slight movement is ghostly and sort of hypnotising. It moves just enough to suggest life, as a result existing somewhere between being inanimate and living.

Artist Research

Regarding movement of air reimagined as a sculpture, I was inspired by Daniel Wurtzel’s practice.

Daniel Wurtzel is best known for his sculptures in which he experiments with lightweight materials and airflow. Scrolling through pinterest for inspiration, this first image (a still from Ballet de Plastique) caught my eye. It is a simple work, creating art from a context no one would think twice about – a piece of plastic blowing in the wind. Yet when we pause to observe it, the event is ethereal, otherworldly even. The second work is a simulation of a tornado, created from fog, and has much the same effect. I find Wurtzel’s practice captivating as it bridges the gap between conceptual and material. Existing in constant flux and flow, his displays are trance-inducing and semi-permanent in a way I wanted to recreate through my own work.

Another work that influenced my approach was Alexander McQueen’s 2006 Fall fashion show, which displayed a hologram of Kate Moss for its finale. Semi-transparent in nature, ethereal in costuming and movement, the display had a spectral presence that left the audience in awe. It is almost human yet not quite.

Approaching the photograms in relevance to my theme of caring relationships between human and nature was more difficult than with the pinholes and cyanotypes. The process is very mechanical and dominating. However, I was keen for juxtaposition in photography styles, so I accepted the challenge. Choosing semi-transparent plants proved most effective. This gave the plants a ghostly quality that made them seems more present, as though they were coming out of the photo rather than trapped by it.

I also photographed a reel of film, an image which came out in a similar way to the plants due to its transparent nature. I displayed these photograms in relationship with each other, a remark on how nature and technology might not be so different after all.

This last idea also comes through in my placement of photograms in relationship with pinhole photos. Nature painting itself is juxtaposed with nature making a voice for itself amongst an urban environment. This represents how, no matter the situation, nature will always persist for voice and connection.

I loved the cyanotype process, it gives a certain delicacy to the pinhole photos that the black and white originals couldn’t quite capture. I had particular success in using cyanotype on fabric. Combining the paint-like effect with a delicate material made the final works centre pieces in my exhibition. I feel these works embody my main theme of caring interaction with nature. With the faded contrast, worn-in crinkles and gentle floating of those I have not fully pinned down, they remind me of washing hung up outside to dry. This material, human-made from natural ingredients and interwoven with its softly coloured images captures the friendship my art for this brief has been aiming to show.

These are the cyanotypes I chose not to use. While I did quite like these, the images felt too separate from the materials. I wanted every part of my artwork, from the images themselves to the layout of my entire wall, to exist in harmonious relationship. These works didn’t achieve that to the extent I wanted.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Jeunet’s film Amelie has always been a favourite of mine. His delicate visuals compliment a soft storyline about a girl who befriends the world by finding joy and mystery in things other people often overlook or don’t make time for.

This film was a semi-subconscious inspiration for my photography as it has been with a lot of my art. The theme of finding joy and uniqueness in the ordinary, seeing the world with fresh eyes, is one that holds a center focus in my response to this brief.

Similarly to how Amelie fosters unique and caring relationships with strangers and friends alike, I have photographed and composed ‘nature painting itself’ so that we might have a unique and caring relationship with nature.

Beatrix Potter

Another nostalgic inspiration. Brought together with beautiful, soft visuals, Potter creates a wholesome relationship between viewer (or reader) and nature. The union of familiar everyday life with woodland animals and scenery through storytelling allows the viewer to be an active participant in the artwork, a relationship similar to what I too have explored in my photography. This sensation she creates of fantasy and excitement grounded in comfort is one of the main reasons I believe she has been such a huge success and continues to inspire artists today.

When selecting my works to exhibit, an idea that persisted was caring and repairing love for the delicacy of nature.

Experimenting with line, form and material in how I arranged my art was a way of further exploring the friendship we have with the world around us, and vice-versa.

The placement of each artwork aims to notice its individuality, yet also encourages conversation with the other works around it.

I used a variety of materials – fabric, plastic overlays, photographic and normal paper – to make the photographs more tangible and interactive. I wanted the images to be not only in conversation with each other, but with the viewer also. When we discussed each other’s work in class on Wednesday, someone compared mine to a tapestry; image, material and story all woven into one.