Waitemata 'Obsidian Waters' Public Project 2–21 July 2013
The Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki, part of the The 5th Auckland Triennial: If you were to live here…, AUT University Project 4: Transforming Topographies,
Level 2 exhibition spaces
Waitemata ‘Obsidian Waters’ is a photographic project that involves the residents of Tāmaki Makaurau. I'm interested in how we experience this stretch of water and the nature of our relationship to this water that surrounds our City. The project aims to bring a contemplative awareness to this body of water that stretches from Riverhead in the north-west, to Tāmaki River in the east. Members of the public participating in this project will have an opportunity to reflect upon their relationship with this water during the time spent in planning and photographing and thinking about our proximity to, and associations with, this water.
The photos can be taken on smart phones, cameras or whatever device participants wish to use, and uploaded to the project’s website: http://www.jotformpro.com/waitematapublicproject/uploadphoto
Submissions are open now and throughout the project until July 15. In keeping with the intentions of The Lab, Uploaded photos will be printed live at The Lab – thanks to support of Aarque Graphics – and installed within this context of other works in progress inside the Lab .The final install will offer an immersive experience of this elemental space through the scale and repetition of this representation of site and will reflect on our cities relationship with this body of water.
History of the naming of the Waitemata:
Wai-te-matā means ‘obsidian waters’ – the glassy surface resembled volcanic obsidian rock. In Te Arawa tradition, the harbour was named by the ancestor Tamatekapua, when he placed a volcanic stone as a mauri (talisman) in its waters near Birkenhead. The Ngāpuhi people called it Te Wai-o-te-mate (the waters of death) – a reference to battles to control the Tāmaki isthmus. (Margaret McClure. 'Auckland places - Waitematā Harbour', Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2012, p. 9).
Press Article:
Among the many innovative artistic projects in this year’s 5th Auckland Triennial, one makes a mid-winter splash.
Grey Lynn artist Cathy Carter is creating a photographic installation at The Lab on the top floor of the Auckland art gallery that explores Aucklanders’ relationship to the Waitemata harbour.
Carter is inviting Aucklanders to visit the stretch of water closest to where they live and work – or any part of the harbour to which they feel a connection – and to photograph it, just the water itself.
The photos can be taken on smart phones, cameras or whatever device participants wish to use, and uploaded to the project’s website: http://www.jotformpro.com/waitematapublicproject/uploadphoto
Submissions are open now and throughout the project until July 15. Uploaded photos will be printed live at The Lab – thanks to support of Aarque Graphics – and used to create an installation reflecting Aucklanders’ relationship with this body of water.
Carter says she was inspired by the Triennial theme “if you were to live here…” and The Lab exhibition concept ‘Transforming Topographies’ to create a work that calls on the collective consciousness of Aucklanders as it relates to one of their harbours which is such a significant feature of the region’s landscape and social reality.
“Waitemata ‘Obsidian Waters’ is about how people experience a body of water that stretches from Riverhead in the north-west to Tāmaki River in the east, including its diversity,” says Carter.
As much as the final work, she says her goal is to encourage members of the public participating in this project to reflect upon their relationship with this water during the time spent in planning and photographing and thinking about our proximity to, and associations with, this water.
Those interested in participating can find more information at the project’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/374904355943893/?fref=ts or can email: waitematapublicproject@gmail.com
The Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki, part of the The 5th Auckland Triennial: If you were to live here…, AUT University Project 4: Transforming Topographies,
Level 2 exhibition spaces
Waitemata ‘Obsidian Waters’ is a photographic project that involves the residents of Tāmaki Makaurau. I'm interested in how we experience this stretch of water and the nature of our relationship to this water that surrounds our City. The project aims to bring a contemplative awareness to this body of water that stretches from Riverhead in the north-west, to Tāmaki River in the east. Members of the public participating in this project will have an opportunity to reflect upon their relationship with this water during the time spent in planning and photographing and thinking about our proximity to, and associations with, this water.
The photos can be taken on smart phones, cameras or whatever device participants wish to use, and uploaded to the project’s website: http://www.jotformpro.com/waitematapublicproject/uploadphoto
Submissions are open now and throughout the project until July 15. In keeping with the intentions of The Lab, Uploaded photos will be printed live at The Lab – thanks to support of Aarque Graphics – and installed within this context of other works in progress inside the Lab .The final install will offer an immersive experience of this elemental space through the scale and repetition of this representation of site and will reflect on our cities relationship with this body of water.
History of the naming of the Waitemata:
Wai-te-matā means ‘obsidian waters’ – the glassy surface resembled volcanic obsidian rock. In Te Arawa tradition, the harbour was named by the ancestor Tamatekapua, when he placed a volcanic stone as a mauri (talisman) in its waters near Birkenhead. The Ngāpuhi people called it Te Wai-o-te-mate (the waters of death) – a reference to battles to control the Tāmaki isthmus. (Margaret McClure. 'Auckland places - Waitematā Harbour', Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 2012, p. 9).
Press Article:
Among the many innovative artistic projects in this year’s 5th Auckland Triennial, one makes a mid-winter splash.
Grey Lynn artist Cathy Carter is creating a photographic installation at The Lab on the top floor of the Auckland art gallery that explores Aucklanders’ relationship to the Waitemata harbour.
Carter is inviting Aucklanders to visit the stretch of water closest to where they live and work – or any part of the harbour to which they feel a connection – and to photograph it, just the water itself.
The photos can be taken on smart phones, cameras or whatever device participants wish to use, and uploaded to the project’s website: http://www.jotformpro.com/waitematapublicproject/uploadphoto
Submissions are open now and throughout the project until July 15. Uploaded photos will be printed live at The Lab – thanks to support of Aarque Graphics – and used to create an installation reflecting Aucklanders’ relationship with this body of water.
Carter says she was inspired by the Triennial theme “if you were to live here…” and The Lab exhibition concept ‘Transforming Topographies’ to create a work that calls on the collective consciousness of Aucklanders as it relates to one of their harbours which is such a significant feature of the region’s landscape and social reality.
“Waitemata ‘Obsidian Waters’ is about how people experience a body of water that stretches from Riverhead in the north-west to Tāmaki River in the east, including its diversity,” says Carter.
As much as the final work, she says her goal is to encourage members of the public participating in this project to reflect upon their relationship with this water during the time spent in planning and photographing and thinking about our proximity to, and associations with, this water.
Those interested in participating can find more information at the project’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/374904355943893/?fref=ts or can email: waitematapublicproject@gmail.com
