New Zealand
Enviroment No. 5
(Govett-Brewster Art Gallery) a cube shaped
structure 2m x 2m x 2m of aluminium tube construction
covered with hessian (flax). There is an ante
chamber attached which gives access to the
central portion of the structure. The interior
is divided into three bays. One end bay has
a pile of wool fleece, the other, a heap of
coarse cut sawdust (pinus radiata). Both end
bays have liberal sprinkling of cut lengths
of barbed wire interspersed with these materials.
At the innermost edge of the two bays is suspended
two large rectangular shaped green neon tubes
fluorescing a positive green glow throughout
the space. The central bay floor (the viewing
area) and the floor of the ante chamber are
covered with hessian and threaded flax (Foxton
Flax Mills - long since defunct). Suspended
all over from the ceiling of the central bay
and the ante chamber are long threads of nylon
to further mark the difference between the
outside and the inside.
When viewing from the inside there is a strong
aromatic smell of greasy sheep's wool and
of pine wood. Viewers are assaulted by the
sensory experience and bathed in the proverbial
green of the New Zealand rural landscape.
This work is reference to the non-indigenous
European environment, evocation of departure
and colonisation of the terrain.
