The Buildings Notice Me
Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University, Kelburn Parade, Gate 3, Wellington
Wednesday 18 September 2024 – Sunday 22 September 2024 11:00am – 5:00pm
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'The buildings notice me' is a selection of meditative works that invite us to slow down and reflect on the reciprocal relationship between our built environment and lived experience. Soft, sonic, and ceramic these works help us to pause, and study the way we take up space. These ideas are explored through an eclectic grouping including relocated former site-specific ceramic pieces, large-scale fabric works, carving and sonic installations. Several of the works draw specifically on the pūrākau, me ngā kete o te wānanga, the obtaining of the three baskets of knowledge, others meditate on what it is a space might ask of us, or in the case of the ceramics extracted from the Karori Teachers College, some hold the memory of a building within them.
Set within the university context and considering both the physical and conceptual framework of a learning institution, one that is currently undertaking its own Living Building Challenge, we might consider the whakataukī, used in relation to another living building Te Kura Whare as built by Tūhoe in 2013 - ‘Ka hanga whare te tangata, ka hanga tangata te whare’ - the people shape the whare, the whare shapes the people. What are the embedded histories and potential futures of the structures we share? How can we both preserve our history while moving forward; can we unpick threads to relearn knowledge? What is kept and when do we start anew?
With artists:
Megan Brady
Doreen Blumhardt
Brook Konia
John Harris & Steven Junil Park
Roy Cowan
Mataaho Collective
Jim Murphy
Image: Jim Murphy, 'Machine Song: Gesture 3', 2024, metal and electromechanical components, 2000 x 2000 x 100 mm. Image courtesy of the artist.