Kia ora!
It has been a long time in between blog posts at Enjoy as I gather my thoughts, pull myself together and endeavour to think of something to say to you all that won’t trifle with your time and energies.
It has been busy at Enjoy recently, in the space of one month we usually show one exhibition; over the last month we seem to have had eight. Ephemeral Traces set a cracking pace of 7 shows in less than 7 days and was quickly followed by Jude Robertson’s Illuminated, which closes this Saturday. And then it’s back to regular programming with a month long solo show from super star volunteer Lance Cash.
For James Hansen’s Grandchildren presents digital photographic works that deal with the ‘water cycle’ – the continuous movement of water on earth in the rain, sea, clouds, lakes and rivers. Cash sees these works as a continuation and a development of the landscape tradition, but with an approach that is at once distinctly scientific, yet anti-realist. The artist was influenced by climate scientist James Hansen’s book, Storms of my Grandchildren, yet the work also draws from the ideas and aesthetics of the 19th Century Romantic painters and the Abstract Sublime, a concept termed by Robert Rosenblum. Rosenblum’s Abstract Sublime describes the origins of Abstract Expressionism as a continuation of 19th century Romantic landscape painting, and discusses the sensations of solitude and vastness evoked by certain Abstract Expressionist painters such as Rothko, Newman, Pollock and Still. Paralleling the moral concerns of the 19th century Romantic painters, and deeply inspired by their ideas and aesthetics, Lance Cash see his works as a contemporary digital development of the landscape tradition that instead uses science to define the subject matter and disregards conventional notions of representation.
The exhibition will also be accompanied by live performances from local composers Jason Post, Flo Wilson and Max Trevor Thomas Edmond. We’ve had some interesting contributions lately from musicians, Alexa Wilson’s Weg: A – Way, (performed at Enjoy as part of Ephemeral Traces) featured original works by ten New Zealand composers. Jason will be performing at the opening and Flo and Max will be accompanying Lance at his artist talk on Saturday May 19.
To whet your tastebuds, here’s a little about them:
Flo Wilson is a composer, performer and sound artist based in Wellington, New Zealand. Her compositional interests lie in live electronics for instrumental and vocal music, live performance practice, soundscaping and psychoacoustics. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Music at the New Zealand School of Music in both Sonic Arts and Instrumental/Vocal Composition.
Jason Post (BMus(Hons)) is a composer and sound artist based in Wellington. His main interests and composition techniques stem from contemporary chamber music, sound installations and live electronics. He is currently undertaking postgraduate study at the New Zealand School of Music.
Max Trevor Thomas Edmond is a writer and artist residing in Wellington. Her practice centres on collecting and redistributing information through the prism of writing and other media, duly representing the most basic and unavoidable practice of ‘creation’, or communication.
For James Hansen’s Grandchildren opens this coming Wednesday, May 9 at 6pm at Enjoy.
Around the corner at Hamish McKay, Enjoy Trustee Andrew Beck has a solo show, Black Out Solid. On til this Saturday, go along if you haven’t already.
That’s it for now, but stay tuned. Over the next few weeks I will be introducing some new content, looking around the world and the country for the good stuff.
