The Material World: Sculpture at Dunedin School of Art 2002-2013

The Material World: Sculpture at Dunedin School of Art 2002-2013

This week I’ve made a rather awkward mistake. Failing to think about the fact that exhibitions have a finishing point, I arrived at the Dunedin School of Art gallery on the morning of 17 May planning to write a phenomenal review of their contemporary sculpture exhibition. Then I realised it ends on 24 May, before this article will even be published. However, choosing to stubbornly stick with Plan A, there is a lot to be said about an exhibition that transcends its written critique to the point that people will be inspired to experience some art themselves.

The School of Art should have more prominence in the student community. After going to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, seeing the contemporary sculpture exhibition there, and making comparisons, the students coming out the other end of the Polytechnic have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, trying to actually find the Art School is a bit of an endeavour due to its weird location. But make the effort and get amongst Dunedin’s local creative scene.

The Material World: Sculpture at Dunedin School of Art 2002-2013 exhibited works crafted by alumni in honour of two sculpture teachers who have taught at the school for 10 years. Admittedly, there was the occasional photograph, graphite drawing and video, but sculpture was the dominant medium. With such limited space and so many contributors, the gallery was inevitably too cramped, making it impossible to focus on one work at a time. Gazing at Victoria Bell’s beautifully executed sculpture of elegant flamingos hanging butchered from the ceiling, one was distracted by a not nearly as impressive video of someone taping their head to the floor in one’s peripheral vision. By the time I worked my way around half the room, I’d almost had enough, and it wasn’t until I was walking out the door that I noticed works in the corners that probably had not been given the prominence they deserved. But all this aside, there were some exceptional works of art.

So often contemporary sculptures fail to be “new” by trying too hard to be so. While I wasn’t impressed with all of them (somehow, I feel we can move past some bricks on a concrete floor), for once, it didn’t feel like I’d seen all of the sculptures before. Take the bright yellow well on very green and very fake Astroturf in the middle of the room. Completely constructed out of bars of soap, it commanded attention. Then there was the spiked punching bag hanging behind it. As contemporary artworks, they moved beyond simply addressing the everyday – a norm that has pervaded art for long enough. It’s time to move on.

Showing more prominent artists, the Dunedin Public Gallery also had a contemporary sculpture exhibition: Shape-shifters. Leaning against a wall is a Michael Parekowhai, and there was obviously more attention, care and (from a practical point of view) scope for curatorial finesse. Unlike at the School of Art, each work is meticulously placed in its own defined space, making it dramatically less overwhelming and claustrophobic, which makes a difference. However, while some of these works were captivating (like Daniel von Sturmer’s “Screen Test: Sequence 1” where sponges and rolls of toilet paper shoot across perpendicular screens) the students’ works made me think more – I couldn’t just assume they were about the shape of the object and its relation to the space around it.

“I am for an art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself …” – a quote by Claes Oldenburg plastered on the wall of the DPAG, but it seems more appropriate for the works at the Polytechnic. Watch their space.
This article first appeared in Issue 13, 2013.
Posted 3:03pm Sunday 26th May 2013 by Charlotte Doyle.