being read to

"knowing you, knowing me: new artists show 2010"

trenton garratt's performance at artspace,

10 July - 21 August

I was feeling a bit woozy from too much cream and jam

Upon entering the gallery we were invited to perch on

small wooden seats

I felt almost uncomfortable with the intimacy of being read to

The artists reading was accompanied by the noise of airport

arrivals

As the story unfolded I passed a piece of paper through my

hands in a circular motion I thought about the silver wine cask

and the urine puddle outside and the sticky crimson wine

spillage inside

The story slowly unwound punctuated by a mimetic/fatal drowning,

followed by an amiable exchange between my friend and the artist

I followed the thread of their conversation silently

I was drawn to his comments about lying to some gallery visitors,

I thought about the weaving between story telling and retelling,

fakery, non truths and those reoccurring conversations

after that we left

"fairy bright eyes"

I spied this installation recently, a little magical light fitting suspended from a brutalist building on the university of auckland campus. it was lovely being oblivious for a while as to what exactly was going on...

it turns out this work is called "fairy bright eyes" is by ryan munro and is part of microsites (a public art show)... these works are medium-term projects... not quite ephemeral, but not everlasting either...

spring-ing

"model conversations: the last days of the famous mime"

this is a performance by trenton garratt. it will be performed on the following dates from 11am - 4pm:

Sunday 1 August
Sunday 8 August
Sunday 15 August

as part of "knowing you, knowing me: new artists show 2010"
at artspace, 300 karangahape rd, 10 July - 21 August.

when we went to see this performance the sandwich board sign wasn't on the street, so I wasn't sure the gallery was open as it isn't usually on sundays. but the door was open. as we walked in there was a deflated pillow of a cask-wine bag on the ground that made me chuckle.

upon entering trenton greeted us, almost as if the gallery was his home and he played a kind of host-like role throughout. he asked us if we had come to hear the reading and apologised for the smell of the urine that liberally laced the ramp that lead up to the exterior of the gallery (and later mentioned it was a vestige, just like a drawing).

then we sat down on some custom-built wooden stools and listened to trenton read us a story. it was a peter carey story from an anthology called "exotic pleasures." trenton's (or peter carey's) story was about a mime artist, the nature of performance and re-enactment.

conversation followed. this distressed my companion who said that the performance should have ended when the story did, that performance artists should remain mysterious... the discussion ranged across all kinds of topics, another reviewer has mentioned the repetitive nature of this performance, trenton himself corroborated, telling me that he had had the same exact conversation about three times.

topics of conversation included: art in general, trenton's practice, the auckland city council's microsites public-sculpture project, books, talismans and tea. afterwards we wandered around the gallery discussing the other works in the new artist's show.

I saw trenton again the other night at a gallery and waved at him. he waved back.

pixel rain

The digital camera may never know dust like the film camera, it will never be intimate with dust, it will not let it speckle its innards, marking film like some kind of drawing, like constellations. The digital camera can only speak of dust in an un-knowing sense of awe, replicate its delicacy with pixels, trample it and spit it out in slick misunderstanding.

ponies

"here you will find an apple
grove to welcome you and upon the altars
frankincese fuming
here ice water bubbles among the apple
branches, the musk roses have overshadowed
all this ground and out of the flickering leafage
settles entrancement.

there are meadows too, where the horses graze kneee
deep in flowers, yes, and the breezes blow here
honey sweet and softer...

- sappho

concertina effect

this evening
when taking the bus home
I sat inbetween.
it was one of those very
very long buses, like two buses
sandwiched together...
in the middle is the concertina-like rubber
that connects them.
I was sitting in the middle, in the circular
elbow joint of the two parts.
the rain on the grey concertina-part
sounded like it was falling on
the roof of a tent.
the windows were all fogged up.
I could have been anywhere...

"golden, you came then..."

"golden
you came then,
hitching up your chariot: lovely sparrows
drew you quickly over the dark earth, whirling
on fine beating wings from the heights of heaven
down through the sky and
instantly arrived..."
- sappho

fah lah la-la-la

gracious... this is going to be t.j. mcnamara style, as nothing really grabbed me on my recent gallery visits... (by this I mean REALLY grabbed me to the point where it may enter the hallows of lisa-benson-ballet-shoes or tino-seghal land)

the young artists show at artspace "knowing you, knowing me" is young and energetic and pretty great... highlights were scott satherley's "red curls" delightful doodle-esque curls of red felt and ball point pen elevated by a lovely frame... mei cooper's "everyday underwater" a charming stencilled transcript of a netball coach's ranting that must make any former-schoolgirl's blood curl... and "never change, this i why we fell in love. I can change if it helps us fall in love" watercolours that seem to document naked performances in a room are compelling too, set off by a wonderful pool of red wine on the ground (it had some quite cool dog-paw-footprints leading out of it on friday night)... jeremy leatinu'u's video works in which he welcomes newcomers to new zealand with a sign at the airport and large rocks (desert island style) were also refreshing and... mischievious.... looking forward to perching on stool and listening to trenton garratt's performance/reading of "the last days of the famous mime" one sunday soon...

the group show at ivan anthony (ending saturday) includes a kushana bush work... she is truly perfectly wonderful)... the rebecca ann hobbs show at st pauls has its moments (particularly "complex social groups"... fiona partington's heady (hardy-har-har) show at two rooms is worth a visit... AND finally amelia jones, body-art extraordinaire is giving a public lecture tuesday 27 july at 17-18hrs, it is called “the artist is present”: artistic re-enactments and the impossibility of presence" and will be at aut, room WE230... x o x o

(p.s. this image is by the most celestial and beautified kushana bush, hopefully she doesn't mind...)

- "knowing you, knowing me: new artists show, 2010"
curated by emma bugden
artspace, k'rd, until 21 august

- "group show"
ivan anthony, k'rd until 17 july

- "failing, falling, flying" rebecca ann hobbs
st paul st gallery, st paul st until 31 july

- "ahua: a beautiful hesitation" fiona partington
two rooms, putiki st (oops! it's over)

- “the artist is present”: artistic re-enactments and the impossibility of presence"
amelia jones public lecture
tuesday 27 july, 17-18hrs, aut we230