WEEK 1 GALLERY FIELD TRIP

Name of gallery: Mangere arts centre-Nga Tohu o Uenuku

Name of work and artist: THE HEART DERELICT
                                          Fiona Pardington

   Shinning Cuckoo/Rororiro 2006
   Shinning cuckoo chalcites nestling in a Riroriro/grey Warbler      Gerygone igata nest
   AV4552
   Dunedin 13.12.68
   Otaga Museum 
   LED/chromogenic print      
  Approx size of work: They measure 1600 x 1200mm mural size;  but each is also available at 600 x 500mm unframed.

            






























What do you see in this photograph?

I was so confused and perplexed when I saw this image because this photograph shows a Shinning Cuckoo chick placed within a Grey Warbler's nest. I could also distinctly see the size of the Shinning Cuckoo chick and the small fragile nest. In black and white you can see the boldness of the nest nothing attached or supporting it.The Grey Warbler's work of art crafted in the nest to shelter and cradle the Shinning Cuckoo.

What do you think this work is about?

I think Fiona Pardington is trying to portray two very deep messages about the Shinning Cuckoo chick abandoned by its parents and being reared by a stranger that is the Grey Warbler. It is very strange and rare for me to know this natural process.I researched about the Shinning Cuckoo and they are the harbinger of spring.When you hear the shinning cuckoo it is a lovely reminder that warmer weather is on the way.Most cuckoos around the world are brood parasites meaning they don't raise their own chicks instead  laying eggs in the nests of other birds and fly off to the pacific for winter.In which Fiona Pardington described as natures brutality. The second deep message I feel is how the huge number of migrants have arrived into this land. New Zealand is the nest acting as a safe haven for the new settlers colonizing the land a vacant nest transformed into an active space where we have a diverse of cultural backgrounds and races in an enigmatic place where mauri is upheld. As fragile as the Grey Warbler's nest she protects she promises she conceals.

What interested you about this particular work?

This interests me from my perspective I see myself as the Shinning Cuckoo leaving my motherland Fiji to find a better future and being cradled by this new place I call home now. The awakening message that Fiona Pardington unassumingly use the nest as a sign for survival,strength,protection,promises,disappointments and aroha. Metaphorically speaking about the Grey Warbler being the surrogate parent to the Shinning Cuckoo. I  admirably see her message portrayed and it is also a friendly reminder to myself that Aotearoa is my safe haven my nest my promise.






Name of Gallery: Fresh Gallery Otara

Name of work and artist;G.G Talk That Talk
                                         Matua
                                         Pati Solomona Tyrell

Approx size of work:Matua name of the piece
                                   Dimensions 1189 x 841
                                   Medium: Digital Photographic Print (archival crystal matte)

What do you see in this photograph?

This photograph depicts a relationship with a Samoan cultural family wearing their traditional attire shot in a garage in which the son wears a modern attire a white shirt and black skirt with a hat accessorized with his traditional pieces the necklace and head piece. With a serious face they wear with pride.

What do you think his work is about?

Pati Tyrell is showing us his relationship with his parents and the men in his family and how this informs his understanding of his own fluid masculine identity.These portrait strip away the posturing of male identity as a performance and present masculinity as a natural state of order held within Samoan tradition and custom.He is also showing us the modern age and changes in the timeline with his parents and himself that even though his time is more modern he still values his cultural background.

What interested you about this particular work?

The both cultural and modern day influence. One must not recollect their cultural background.But embrace the heritage and cultural background.