Neither

So in case you were unaware, I have a show up at the moment.

You have one more week to catch it.

It's a good show, so you should catch it.

I was there last weekend and it occurred to me that there's a distinct lack of information about it. Sure that was part of the idea, and sure, the press release kind of gives some idea of the concept, but I do wonder if people walking in actually read the lack of information as part of the work/concept or if they just ignore that part of it and look at the pretty pictures.

However, I can't be bothered asking.

But try these on for size if you want more:

• it's a celebration of modernist photography utilising postmodern tropes
• a representation of the kiwi vernacular
• we're being ironic okay?!
• it's a fuckload of photos
• it's the Seinfeld of photographic exhibitions (for some reason the gallery people had huge issues with that statement)
• if you don't get it, that means you've probably got it. If you do get it, then you probably haven't. But good on you for trying.

Hey, how abouts you just get the draft press release?

Neither One Thing Nor The Other 

The Press Release – DRAFT

Neither One Thing Nor The Other is the Seinfeld of photographic exhibitions. Curated and co-ordinated by Andy Palmer and John Williams the show purports to be about nothing at all while, paradoxically, being about many things – not least of which is paradox itself.

Taking a philosophical approach from the likes of William Eggleston and Paul Graham, Neither One Thing Nor The Other is reclaiming ‘straight’ photography, making a stand for the Art of photography without dressing it up with unnecessary baggage and pretence to give it an Art World facade.

Neither One Thing Nor The Other consists of over 500 recent photographs by a number of unattributed local photographers, recording sites from Cape Reinga to Campbell Island. The images isolate and emphasise the ordinary. Everything is real. There are no tricks. There is no hidden meaning.

Or maybe everything is a lie.

The Posters

Self-explanatory?

Oh, okay, here you go.

The Prizewinner

As regular readers of this blog would be aware I currently have work in the Bold Horizons National Contemporary Art Awards.

Not quite the snappy name one would like, and it still seems to be referred to by many as "The Waikato", though this is the first year with the new sponsor.

A month ago now was the opening. I was very excited to be able to catch Richard Lewer's I Must Learn To Like Myself, though somewhat disappointed with the show itself. Some works were great, and some left me unmoved.

But anyway, the 'real' purpose of the trip was to collect my $15,000. For some unexplained reason they gave it to some other dude.

I think this review got it pretty much right - except for the lack of comment about how awesome my work was.

Second year running the winner left me underwhelmed. Last year, while the concept was great the work itself had no presence. This year I just think it was rubbish, poor concept, poor realisation. I'm not sure what the point of making art that merely reminds us of the things we all know about (e.g. global warming) is. (Bad) Art as reportage. I'm sure there's room for actually taking a stance, and saying something, rallying the troops, tackling something less than global issues, I don't know ... being controversial!

Speaking of controversial. My work, which I thought may arouse discussion, doesn't appear to have. Judge Rachel Kent clearly ignored the title of the work, and didn't pay terribly close attention to the detail of the work. She thought it was some kind of very personal visual diary of a roadtrip, and that some of the works contained Maori motif.

While that's a reading I had never thought about, and it is a visual diary of numerous roadtrips in the way that any collation of photos is a visual diary, I'm sure that all the images contained Maori motif. And the title Belonging and Becoming - The Complete Original Works may have offered a clue to where I was coming from. But maybe it's just an Australian reading, not helped by the lack of guiding artist statement on my part.

Speaking of which, my favouriste artist statement was this one:

Clinton Cardozo, Untitled, [colour photograph], $2000 [Entrant # 968]
My photographic practice questions post-modern socio-cultural systems that have given birth to hybrid modes of thinking. The photograph brings to life these hybrid individuals.

Your photographic practice doesn't. And the photo is a boring contemporary cliche.

The Extravagant

It's kind of odd working five days a week (something I haven't done for a long time).

And then spending your weekend on the road going to some exhibition opening or another.

Last weekend it was that one. This weekend it's this one.

I'm so popular.

Popular ... but a loser.

The Find

It's not every day that you find your name lovingly trampled into the footpath, but today was one of those days.

If one felt like it one could suggest it's a metaphor.

If one felt like it.

The Community

I'm currently in a group show at the Hirschfeld Gallery, City Gallery Wellington.

Here's the press release.

Documenting communities – both human and otherwise
City Gallery Wellington announces group show
Community Garden in the Hirschfeld Gallery

The art gets a little wild at City Gallery in May when a community of native stick insects move in as part of the next Hirschfeld Gallery exhibition Community Garden.

Jenny Gillam will bring two different species of native stick insects into the gallery, visiting each day to care for her subjects, nurturing the insects she has housed and watched closely over the last few months. Working with Massey University scientist Dr Steve Trewick, Gillam will monitor and record the behaviours of each species inside their specially designed vivarium.

A series of graphs on the wall will chart the stick insects’ positioning in relation to different types of foliage (which serves as both their food and camouflage), and the interaction between green and brown species. This process will allow artist and scientist to present and observe the movement patterns of the insects and will offer the audience another reading of ‘community.’

Gillam is one of four artists exhibiting in the new exhibition Community Garden in the Hirschfeld Gallery, which runs 7 May to 20 June, and focuses on documenting and broadening the definitions of community, the local environment, and communal behaviour.

Rob Cherry’s work A Beautiful Day for Walking Away traces a line around the perimeter of the gallery. The work is made from found plastic objects, which the artist has gathered from a local beach, Evans Bay. Detritus from the local rubbish dump blows and collects along this shore, and Cherry has completed a series of projects where he amasses objects of a particular colour for a set period of time. This work is the result of 16 half hour periods, total 8 hours of collecting – the equivalent of one working day.

Andy Palmer’s photographs are from a series focused on the Community Gardens at Tanera Park in Brooklyn. He visited the gardens monthly for a period of 15 months, photographing the same two views each time. These site portraits form a chart of the changes over time, showing Palmer’s interest in tracing the evolution of a cultivated site, the relation between urban and ‘natural’ environments, and the landscape as a site of production.

Wayne Barrar’s six works come from a series addressing biohazards in New Zealand. Here the focus is Koi carp, an introduced species that causes severe problems in New Zealand waterways, particularly in shallow lakes where they create their own landscapes, affect water quality and compete with native species. His work documents the efforts being taken to remedy the impacts of these fish through reducing numbers of Koi carp.

The four artists explore ideas of community, of behavioural change, and of the impacts made on the environment by both humans and non-humans.

Community Garden Wayne Barrar, Rob Cherry, Jenny Gillam and Andy Palmer Friday 7 May – Sunday 20 June 2010 Hirschfeld Gallery, City Gallery Wellington

The Hung

These are installation shots of my first solo show way back in the day.

Nicely unexpectedly arty.

These pics.

Not the show.

That was nicely expectedly unarty.

The Valid

I've already Facebooked this (come on be my [Facebook] friend) but it's so exciting that I have to leak it all over the net (get it?!).

I have been publicly validated. I will even forgive them the copyright infringement.

I was privately validated on the weekend. When complete strangers (okay I knew who they are) clearly engage with and then compliment you on your work it is validating.

For a while this year I had the feeling that no one was engaging with my work. I know there were times when I was struggling with the engagement myself. Clearly though, the message is there; it just requires some thought to extract it.

For the record my installation includes seven works and is on show at Massey School of Fine Art until Sunday (I think).

The Release

Media Statement
For immediate release
14 October 2009

Andy Palmer at Suite

Photographer Andy Palmer’s upcoming show Belonging & Becoming is tackling the topic of appropriation.

Palmer is taking a bold step – as a photographer – of posing the age old question of the right of the photographer to ‘claim’ something as their own.

His works are photographs of distinctly Maori objects, primarily carvings, in public spaces, which Palmer collected on his travels around the North Island. While his work is a celebration of Maori culture, Palmer is also asking his audience to consider them as part of a wider New Zealand culture too. Asking at what point does public art become the property of the public?

Much of Palmer’s earlier work can be read as an examination of history – his own, and New Zealand’s – occasionally overt, but usually as a subtext within a broader theme. Belonging & Becoming can be seen as an extension of this exploration.

Belonging & Becoming will show at Suite from 21 October until 7 November along with …a poorly remembered childhood by David Boyce.




Media Statement
For immediate release
14 October 2009

2009 Waikato Art Award finalist to show at Suite

New work by China-based New Zealand artist David Boyce will open on Wednesday 21 October at Suite.

... a poorly remembered childhood has grown from David’s interest in issues of identity and memory and from revisited places that were significant in his childhood, or that may have significance.

Boyce, whose work has been exhibited in New Zealand, China and the US and who was a finalist in this year’s Waikato Art Award, has created a series of small, intimate and dream-like images that explore childhood memories and also ask questions of the meaning and fallibility of memory.

All the images are from Christchurch, where he was born, and where he left in 1985. The photographs, which have been taken from the eye level of a small child are cultural memories – Christchurch’s war memorials and statues; others are personal - sports fields, picnic spots and Christchurch’s botanical gardens, all places he spent time with friends and family. Some images are important to him, but he doesn’t remember why. That part of the memory has gone. Only an essence remains.

Hong Kong curator and writer on photography Davina Lee, writes, “Boyce’s blurred images evoke the imperfect recollections of childhood, trapping remnants of memory, real or imagined within landscapes that were once familiar”.

Other critics, commenting on earlier works have noted his “particular ability to perceive and manipulate beauty from the most unexpected and mundane of sources”.

Preparations are underway to show ... a poorly remembered childhood in China and Europe within the next year.

…a poorly remembered childhood will show at Suite from 21 October until 7 November along with Belonging & Becoming by Andy Palmer.

And, in case you missed it, the invitation.

The Bluest

It was a small opening on Saturday. But I made a sale.

At least somebody bought one of my works and I had no part in the transaction whatsoever.

I had a thought a wee while ago, that (for me) group shows are analogous to soundtrack albums. I'm happy to be included and show work, as it's an outlet for work which probably won't make a full album (solo show), but it's not necessarily an indication of where I'm at or what I'm working on.

Blue is a case in point, though slightly different. My work is a discreet series, small in scale and number - any bigger would be too much. The works really grew on me once they were framed. So I'm hoping for more sales so I can afford to make my own set.

I know many of you won't get there, even though you really should but you're slackers so you won't, so here's a link to my pieces.

Titles (continuing a theme):
Look for the good in others and they’ll see the good in you
The continual theory of disappointment
The strange and conflicting emotions of separation and betrayal

And for Jodi cos I know after all our discussions she'd want to know what my frames looked like (not that this crop is a terribly good representation).

It's an interesting show, certainly one of the best group shows I've been in. From such a simple basis - "the show is called Blue" - a huge variety of works have arisen, and maybe because of the blue basis, it holds together surprisingly well.

Most works have blue elements, mine went for the blue tones in both colour and mood, for a multi-layered reading. Looking at the works I've produced in the past year there is a definite gothic undertone, something I was wanting for one piece, but it seems to have continued. Cool.

But the best work in the show is this one - And Noah sent a dove. It's awesome. In this writer's opinion it may well be the best individual piece that photographer has made. I want a copy. Okay David?!

The Blue

Suitably refreshed and pleased to be underway in 2009 Thermostat Gallery will begin the year with...

BLUE
A photography group exhibition based on the colour blue

Artists include
Leigh Mitchell Anyon, Christian Hogue, Mandy Algie, Andy Palmer, David Boyce, J.K. Russ, Rachael Rakena, Lauren McIntyre, David Lupton, Andrea Gardner, Janet Bayly

Opening on Saturday 14 February, 5.30 - 7pm

Exhibition runs until 5 March 2009


I'll most probably be there on Saturday. You can too if you like.

The Lost

There's a cool opening happening tomorrow. Come along. Bring your friends. It's at Suite.

I'll be there. I'll also be there on Saturday if you can't make the opening and think you may want to discuss the work with the artist.

And I suspect many people will want to discuss the work with the artist for one reason or another. Which they will discover upon seeing the work. Or maybe reading about it.

The Kids

There's a cool opening happening on Friday. Come along. Bring your friends. It's at Suite.

The Boring

Yeah well tell me something I don't know!!

When I heard these were going to be up for six months I was annoyed. And frustrated. Because it's the Council. And there was nothing I could do about it. I wanted three months. Council didn't want to fund that.

Ooh, there's something I didn't know. There's only eight pictures on display. And there we were spending 18 months sorting out 16 images to display. Crikey, we could've saved ourselves 9 months. If only we'd known.

Thanks to Shaz and Gab for pointing me towards the article.

The Unconnected

The DomPost finally published my letter. A week ago. But I missed it then.

It's a shame they cut bits - some really good bits. If you want to read the unabridged version go here.

It was one of those things where I could have written an essay. Criticised the Council for their lack of publicity (thanks Kerry!), criticised the paper for showing no interest in the works, criticised Viv for clearing knowing nothing about Getty images. And, as Steve Rowe pointed out, "Ha ha - brilliant. No mention of the day to day visual pollution - it's easier to block out when it's not 'art'...". Maybe, you know, his lightbox money machines are in some way commenting on this idea.

So now I'm sitting back waiting for Viv to contact me with her $100.

And here's a vaguely random, completely unrelated shot of my torso, displaying coconut paste art.

Oh the joys of parties full of young strangers (some very strange!).

And for something utterly stupid try this. I am variously Tangle Jig Palin, Recoil Mush Palin, Crunk Petrol Palin, and Churn Scorpion Palin. Awesome. Thanks America.

The Critics

It's taken a long while but finally we have a critic. From today's DomPost.

Naturally I had to defend myself. So, just in case they don't run it, here is my Letter to the Editor.

In response to Viv Turner’s letter of 4 September regarding Courtenay Place Park, I would like to point out that regardless of the worth of the park (though personally I feel it is a more pleasant place without that narrow through road), the purpose of the lightboxes is to present contemporary New Zealand Art in a very public way, and to invite debate about the works, and about art in general.

The first exhibition in the lightboxes consists of photographs by eight new and emerging Wellington artists. The main idea of the exhibition was to represent the breadth and depth of contemporary photography, from portraiture to documentary to landscape to conceptual. While it was never likely to be to everyone’s tastes, I feel it is a strong collection. While we didn’t set out to be contentious we were aware that some images may cause more of a stir than others. The whole process was overseen by the Public Art Panel.

I am the first to admit that there has been a general lack of explanation about the work and why it is there. I suggested that the Curators’ Statement be placed in the park somewhere, but these issues are outside of my control, so it hasn’t happened. It is on the council website however - http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/arts/publicart/temporary.html.

Just to appease you, you will probably be happy to know that these images will only be up for another few weeks, though whether you’ll like the replacement images I can’t say.

Oh, and I’ll willing take your $100 for pointing out that it is a cow’s tongue photographed by Shaun Lawson.

Andy Palmer
Co-Curator Courtenay Place Park Lightbox Project
Mount Cook, Wellington

The Do

My brief roadtrip is over. But I have souvenirs. No cheque for $15,000, but souvenirs. Like this.

And a newspaper clipping from Saturday's Waikato Times. If you have to lose, it's better to lose to work you like.

And some photos. For added proof that I was there.

And one by David of the artist nonchalantly leaning next to his work, exposing his beergut (which is odd considering how little beer he has drunk of late).

I truly appreciate the fact that only one of you commented on my previous post offering congratulations, and that none of you have told me how brilliant I am. Thanks.

There are a couple of TWNCAA related things online at Photoforum (thanks for stealing my image Abby!!), John Hurrell, NZLive, and its own blog (which doesn't seem to be going anywhere).

The Straitjacket

I'm off to Hamilton tomorrow.

For the opening of the Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award 2008.

I am one of 30 finalists. In with a chance of winning stuff. Or at least having one or two new people see my work.

It's very exciting. I'd like to invite you to the opening but I can't. It's very exclusive. The show is on until 30 November so you all have a chance of seeing it if you start planning your trip now.

Here's my piece. It's called some came on time, some took a while.

Natasha Conland, the judge, says about it (and the other work she selected):

It shouldn’t be a surprise that this year’s finalists have thrown up some strong contenders in the areas of painting and photography. As diverse as they are to one another, these works articulate an ongoing interest in wall-based image making. Even when the primary motivation is a performative action, a relationship with location or an object, the idea has been resolved on the wall, in the now-neutral format of picture making.

Here's a close up of the little specks of white bottom right.

That's what makes it Art.

That and the complete lack of focus and sharpness.

And that it's printed really big.

I had to create my own font in order to make this image. That's dedication! For a limited time you can download the fonts for free. Cos I know you all want to be able to pretend you write like me.

The Zenith

When I posted this, one of my regular readers commented "good luck with the hockey, look forward to seeing the "damage photos" ".

Well I'm kinda over photographing my injuries. For one thing it's actually quite difficult to get good photos of your own leg and associated scrapes/bruises/swellings etc. Also it's quite egotistical, and frankly writing a blog is egotistical enough. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, my earlier injury posts didn't solicit any way near enough sympathy from you guys.

It's not as if I haven't had the injuries already this year. A few weeks ago I counted no less than 12 individual bruises on my person, about 4 of which covered a large portion of my left thigh. And I've had a nicely swollen ankle for two weeks now.

Today however I feel justified with posting the following images.

They document some very serious damage. Very serious indeed. I would suggest fatal were it not for the fact that I'm writing this.

Here is a nice demonstration of how photography can be used to deceive; to obscure the truth; to tell the story the photographer wants to tell.

Turn the stick 90 degrees and you see the head is only hanging on thanks to the fibreglass shell.

Mmmmmmm broken wood. Naturally this happened prior to the game, when I made a miracle save by sticking my stick out hoping it'd connect with the fast moving ball. Ummm ... I think it did connect somewhat.

Guess what I'm doing this week?

Oh, and some other rubbish which may be of interest.

Firstly a couple more reviews - The National Grid (by me) and Rita Angus (by a regular).

And, it's quite surprising what you discover about yourself when you do a Google search trying to find online comments about your latest project.

Somehow this came up. What was surprising was this comment on page 32.

           Religious Studies
           1–20 September 2007
           Thermostat Gallery, Palmerston North
           Three Christian photographers explored biblical
           themes through nature and a critique of consumerism
           in Hong Kong. Andy Palmer: Some of the silences in
           my life, David Boyce: Elective affinities, Jodi Ruth
           Keet: When the thousand years are over.

I'm not sure how long I've been a Christian photographer. It's not a label I would ever have given myself, and I feel it'd be safe to say David and Jodi wouldn't chose that particular epithet either. For myself it's largely cos I'm not a Christian, but why split hairs.

The Chrysalis Seed Trust "aims to help resource artists from a Christian perspective" so it's no surprise they chose to see certain things in a show called "Religious Studies". Our own fault I guess.

Interestingly, a few days after the opening when I was taking David up north, we stopped in on Jodi at Raglan and the CST guys were there holding a meeting. David and Jodi went, I stayed home. The next day David and I bumped into them at the Waikato Museum. It was obvious to me that 1) my work didn't leave much of an impression on them, 2) they really had no idea what each of us were/are about.

That's what happens when you put things into the public sphere. People attach their own meaning regardless of what meaning the artist hopes it may have for others.

That's one of the reasons why I do this dumb thing.

The Candlelight

Well a call to my ISP sorted out that little problem, so now we're up and running again, close to full speed. Yay.

Tomorrow is the 25th Anniversary Candlelight Memorial.

Here are some shots I took during the Candlelight Memorial Parade in 2001.

It was the first proper shots I took for this project. Because what I wanted to do was rather sensitive, at the time of the parade I was still uncertain as to whether I'd get the go ahead for the project or not. It seemed silly to let this opportunity pass by, regardless of what happened with my project.

I've previously blogged this last year on World AIDS Day, but it's worth a revisit.

I may be there tomorrow night, depending on how I feel after hockey - sore, drunk, pathetic, etc. I feel kinda conflicted these days because my project didn't end in the best of circumstances, and while I'm still interested in the cause, and every now and then I bump into and chat to people I photographed, I didn't feel terribly welcome when I last went to an event. Admittedly that was some years back. So you never know, I may just pop along.