2013.07.02 - 2013.07.22
Auckland Art Gallery 5th AUCKLAND TRIENNIAL "The Lab" -Project 4
Tuesday 2 July - Sunday 21 July. A series of events; 21 days/ 80 participants/ 32 projects
Transforming Topographies is envisaged as a space of mergence, debate and negotiation. A space continuously dismantled, repositioned and energised by groups and individuals in conversation within a fluid and open state of oscillation. As a group of thinkers, collaborators, makers and designers we intend to rethink the role of 'the social' and 'the public' as real spaces of continuous exchange and encounter that engenders our imagination and community values.
In assembling the schedule of events for Transforming Topographies, the Project Leaders have developed a curatorial strategy, a diagrammatic system for grouping the projects; rocks, mist, firecrackers — designed to create a shifting platform of events and activity within The Lab. Rocks are the large-scale installation/ time-based projects that run for significant lengths of time, Mist are projects that occupy The Lab for short time frames or merge in and out of the space, and Firecrackers are one-off, one-day or pop-up events, often performative in nature. The aim is that the rocks, mist and firecrackers will merge and relate in interesting and unexpected forms.
Projects:Best Before Dairy Co-operative
The Best Before Dairy Co-operative purchased a collective cow, Kowhai, in order to subvert the rules around the sale of raw milk. For five days, raw milk was collected from the farm gate by members of the co-op and delivered to the gallery. The collective aimed to engage in a modest exploration of the politics of milk production and supply, combined with a daily exchange with the seldom visited territory of the neighbouring rural environment. Within the gallery we sold shares in Kowhai, entitling members to full benefits of ownership, including the consumption of raw milk.
Best Before operated as an antagonism within the dominant culture. We produced an art provocation that defamiliarised/refamiliarised that which is so very familiar in New Zealand: cow’s milk.
Phantom Documents
Phantom Documents aimed to document the initial move(s) of other workers and their projects within the site. As a collective, these documents were then negotiated back into the space to create a shifting and continuously transforming installation.
We made a few structures that hosted readings and images from Transforming Topographies, and set up a computer in the space from which artists and members of the public could upload documentation and interact with the Transforming Topographies facebook page.
T2
"Through the use of carpooling T2 project seeks use the problems of traffic congestion and unreliable public travel within the city to foster positive outcomes for both parties involved in the traveling. A new experience will be offered up to both driver and recipients of the ride to Auckland City Art Gallery. Resulting photographic or sound documentation collected on the ride will be displayed in The Lab." - Project Lead: Harriet Stockman
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