16 April–11 May 2012
School of Art and Design
AUT University City Campus
Level 1 WM Building
40 St Paul Street
Auckland
Aotearoa/New Zealand
In April and May 2012 ST PAUL St Gallery, AUT University is presenting two projects that focus on speaking, listening, discussion and hospitality.
Assembly, in Gallery One, is an exploration of ways and positions to speak from in response to the questions posed by Michel Foucault in his discussion of fearless speech: “who is able to speak freely and fearlessly? About what topics is it important to speak? From what moral, ethical or spiritual position does one speak? What are the consequences of speaking frankly? How does this relate to the exercise of power?”
As a two-part project instigated by ST PAUL St, Assembly begins with the design and creation of an environment to support the activity of fearless speech within the physical space of ST PAUL St Gallery. This has been developed by a mixed discipline group of artists, designers and architects: Sue Gallagher, Tana Mitchell, Kim Paton, onne terre and Elvon Young. The second stage of Assembly is the activation of the kaupapa (principles) of fearless speech through activities held within and supported by the space. ST PAUL St has extended invitations to groups, collectives and individuals to use the space of Assembly to explore fearless speech and address specific issues of interest to them.
Acknowledging that there are different communication methods and styles and holding in our minds that institutions and structures designed to enable the free speech of some, exclude the participation of others, Assembly considers how we might enable discussion and foster a sense of empowerment by creating a place from which to speak and act. Assembly expresses its kaupapa through movable architectural structures, intimate and public events, happenings, performances, discussions, screenings, pamphlets, and the Internet. Above all, Assembly aims to facilitate the interrogation of these ideas freely, fearlessly, respectfully and responsibly.
Running parallel to Assembly is a project by Auckland based collective Local Time.
Local Time (Danny Butt, Jon Bywater, Alex Monteith, Natalie Robertson) is a collective of artists, writers and teachers who have facilitated site-specific art projects and events with a specific emphasis on local and indigenous knowledge. Investigation of naming and framing across multiple histories has underpinned much of their work.
For this project, titled Local Time – Horotiu, the collective will be “camping” in ST PAUL St Gallery Two, sitting above Ngā Wai o Horotiu (the waters of Horotiu), a name used by local iwi (tribe) for the Queen Street area and the gullies that are occupied by AUT University and the University of Auckland.
Local Time will occupy the gallery in a multi-disciplinary, practice-based research investigation, in collaboration with a range of artists, designers, writers, photographers and videomakers from professional and student communities. Activating the gallery as a site for display, research, making, theoretical and historical discussion, and hospitality, the project aims to increase understanding of and engagement with the site among the public and whanau/hapu/iwi (extended family/sub tribe/tribe). The research also opens a range of questions about the role of the gallery in the colonial university and Local Time’s own positions as practitioners in these domains.
In presenting Assembly and Local Time, ST PAUL St is embracing one of the primary instructions for universities in the New Zealand Education Act (1989), that they “accept a role as critic and conscience of society.”
Please see the ST PAUL St website for information about specific events. www.stpaulst.aut.ac.nz
ST PAUL St Gallery
ST PAUL St is a suite of purpose built galleries and project spaces run by the School of Art and Design, AUT University, Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Since it was established in 2004 ST PAUL St Gallery has developed a strong programme, which has seen the Gallery develop into one of the leading university galleries in Aotearoa/New Zealand that is recognized as a place for generating critical discussion around contemporary art and design.
