2017
Collaboration with Lucy Meyle
The tension between what we see and what is there in the object, between phenomenon and thing, preoccupied Kant more than two centuries ago. Appearances have not become any less misleading in the meantime. But the consequences of mistaking the appearance for the object have amplified: when the properties of an object exceed human perception—too vast, too slow, too fast, too small, too complex—do we convince ourselves they are not there to begin with, or do we recognize what eludes our grasp?
— Caught in a Bad Romance: Schmid, Christina, mnartists.org, 2016.
This project began in 2014 as a way to practice collaboration and friendship. This iteration sees collaboration as a process of drawing attention to the possibility of a space ‘coiled within and between’ what we experience individually. A collaborator’s motivations and ideas, no matter how well communicated, are always slightly hazy, they always elude us. Instead of being able to look straight-on at thoughts (everything right ahead, everything in perspective), they are caught in peripheral visions — glimpses of meaning come forward every now and then.
Drawing from Memory explores the everyday moments when communication breaks down to humorous effect. How can we re-think this as a generative ground for possible exchange? (Mis)hearing, (mis)translating, (mis)understanding are often signs of a collaboration falling apart, however we have decided to embrace these moments and run with them. Building on the idea that things just-out-of-view can seem abstract or morph into something completely unexpected, the perception and interpretation of objects and sounds in this project are just as disconnected to reality. What’s real, remembered, and imagined are thrown into question.
Drawing From Memory was part of The City Loop Project, and was supported by funding from Creative Communities and in kind by RM, Gallery and project office. The City Loop Project was a series of one-day events occurring sporadically around Auckland in February and March 2017. Artists involved in the project were invited to propose a public artwork/event in an area of interest to them around Tāmaki Makaurau. The roaming exhibition/events visited a series of locations nominated by the participating artists, culminating in the sharing of food, fun, and a low key publication.
The project was on during February and March 2017, and most events involved the sharing of food. Events were free-roaming across the city, exploring mobility and experience in and around public spaces.
Participants were: Chris Berthelsen, Ngahuia Harrison, Joe Jowitt, Ziggy Lever, Lucy Meyle, Cole Meyers, Philippa Nielson, Jemma Nissen, Deborah Rundle, and Layne Waerea.
© Copyright Ziggy Lever
