Intersect

Intersect is a group show which brings together the varied practices of an artists collective I meet with once a month. The collective consists of eleven artists all working within a range of diverse practices. Engaged in professions that can at times be isolating, the group recognises the necessity of creating a community that encourages as well as challenges each other.

Intersect sees the Leftfield group extend out into the wider community of the gallery giving the opportunity to continue the dialogue with the public as well as each other.

Placemakers (found rebar steel cages, mirrors, 750mm x 750mm, x5 ) previous role was a perimeter border with a path between leading to the front door of a Ponsonby Road home. I was interested in the way these structures functioned, directing movement through the outdoor space and also forming a boundary. I recognised potential for these objects to disrupt the familiar path through a gallery, challenging routine patterns of behaviour and indicating boundaries are pliable rather than solid and fixed.

In studio I experimented with reflection as a method to warp the experiential quality of the sculptural installation. Using mirrors as a way of extending space and questioning reality. My initial rough tests used small square mirrors wired to the form and placed in selected areas that would create a play with line and alter visual perception. I was disappointed with the outcome, as it was difficult cutting the mirrored glass to fit seamlessly in each of the varied sized holes.

Placing one large square mirror cut under the base of each cage was a simpler, more effective intervention giving more impact. The reflection constantly changes perceptions as viewers move around the work. This creates complex and varied interactions between the viewer, the work, and the space. Giving some the impression a hole had been dug in the floor, reflecting the works on the wall and the surrounding space.

I see space as a form of materiality I can sculpturally manipulate. I seek to break up the space, forcing the viewer to navigate their way around the work as they attempt to gain meaning from the forms and multiple views.

I chose to install the works in a straight line running down the centre of the gallery, to reference back to the original house site. The cages restricted the usually clear access across the floor of the gallery. Instead viewers were lead through the opening, and in this way the installation operated as a mirror of its previous function. The installation referenced the history of sculpture as it carried associations to the work of Minimalist artists Sol Lewitt’s Incomplete Open Cubes and Robert Morris’ Untitled, 1965, mirrored cubes.

The title Placemakers was taken from a tag attached to the work in situ, as this was the company who initially made these structural forms, and in this case it also refers to creating boundaries using place holders.