at Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt 21 May – 27 June 2022
Our second exhibition of new work as members of Handshake_6, GLIMMER reveals a sample of our current work as we build towards our final exhibition at Northart in Auckland later in the year.
For the year July 2020 to June 2021 I documented each day with a diagrammatic drawing.
Mapping 24 hour time periods into 15 colour coded genres of activity, one centimetre represents
one hour, one 24 centimetre length per day. Each day is connected to the past and future
period. This work is intended to function both as object and adornment. When worn the body is
central to and completes the form. In this age of information might we reclaim our personal data
and celebrate how we choose to spend our time in a wearable status symbol?
Showing the work alongside a colour coded time chart of the relevant month helped to anchor and give context to the piece.
After such a fraught two years it was great to be in the same room as many of my Handshake6 colleagues and to see our work exhibited as a group. Various themes speak across multiple pieces, the recording of time, loss and grief, concern with issues both environmental and geopolitical – unsurprising given the context of 2020/21. I think we’ve all found the Handshake project a grounding force and taken comfort and support from our group dynamic. We managed to delineate an ambience in what could have been a challenging exhibition space – being a through space between two galleries. The use of yolky yellow walls within our exhibition area and strong individual installations standing together as a whole carved out a place within the larger gallery, allowing room for our work to breath and engage an audience.
From here I’m continuing to move towards making more wearable works with the inquiry of why and what data others might feel drawn to wear.
August 2020 features a new and improved removable necklace part, which can be worn on its own or together with the data element. This resulted from my last messages with Manon questioning the fibre cord and if it would be more cohesive with the neckpiece a continuation of the bamboo. It’s a good reminder for me to listen to my instincts and the nagging little voice that asks if it’s really really finished. Thank-you Manon.
We look forward to exhibiting the results of Handshake6 more extensively at NorthArt in Auckland from August 27th 2022.