DEPOT ARTSPACE 18TH BIRTHDAY 1
The Depot Artspace quarterly magazine Loud showcases exhibitions, events, artists, music and musicians and a host of other creative initiatives. It is a condensed representation of our values; a clear and informative voice as well as a practical guide to what’s happening at Depot Artspace. Loud is the voice of Depot Artspace. Loud is about respect, support, advocacy and promotion of the arts. Loud is about liberation of the arts from current narrow definitions. Loud is a forum for discussion and opinion. Loud is loud because it needs to be – art is an incredibly undervalued aspect of our culture, significant to our history and our society. ISSN 2382-0187 (Print) ISSN 2382-0195 (Online) LOUD ISSUE 61 • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
About the Depot Artspace Editorial: LOUD The Depot Turns 18 – Linda Blincko 18 Years of the Depot Artspace – Robyn Gibson Looking Back to Look Forward: Women’s Suffrage and the First Vote – Linda Blincko The Vernacularist: An Exhibition Depot Artspace Exhibitions and Openings Depot Sound News – Dave Rhodes Devonstock New Space for Exhibitors – Helen Winskill, Gallery Manager Featured Artist: Shelby Farmer Approaching my own Art Practice and my Teaching of Art in Simpatico Article #4 The Creative Journey as a Leap of Faith – Linda Gair Coming of Age: From Incorporated Society to Trust + ArtsLab – Lynn Lawton Social photos of Depot Exhibition Openings Join Depot Artspace
All content © Depot Artspace and the respective artists, 2014 For magazine contribution, comment or criticism contact Linda (09) 963 2331 or linda.blincko@depotartspace.co.nz LOUD Magazine design and layout by Lia Kent Mackillop
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A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CREATIVE COMMUNITY Depot Artspace is an open and inclusive multidisciplinary community that encourages engagement in all art forms. To this end it offers a variety of facilities, services and events that support the creative community and provide opportunities for participation and appreciation. www.depotartspace.co.nz Depot Galleries are three galleries in the Depot that provide diverse exhibiting opportunities for artists – the Main Gallery exhibits large bodies of work and group shows; Small Dog is a light-filled, street facing gallery hosting solo or small group shows; Project Space is a small, intimate exhibition space at the back of the Main Gallery. Depot Press is an ongoing series of publications created by the Depot Artspace with an emphasis on exploring Aotearoa/New Zealand’s unique cultural identity. Depot Sound is the Depot Artspace recording studio. Depot Sound is dedicated to providing a friendly and productive outlet for artists along with support and advice for musicians. Rehearsal rooms are also available to hire. www.depotsound.co.nz Ph. (09) 963 2328 The Vernacular Lounge is located within the Depot Artspace and operates as a space to develop projects and ideas in relation to New Zealand’s cultural heritage and its perpetual development in relation to a distinctive national identity. nzculturalgenealogymapping.wordpress.com Kerr Street Artspace is a large space, located at the foot of Takarunga/Mount Victoria, for workshops, performance and theatre as well and an intimate space for self-managed exhibitions and meetings with very reasonable hireage rates. ArtsLab offers professional development workshops, seminars, and mentoring to creative people seeking career guidance and employment in the creative sector. Ph. (09) 963 2328 Cultural Icons is a series of interviews with iconic New Zealanders who have shaped the arts and culture landscape of New Zealand. www.culturalicons.co.nz Morph Magazine is an online arts and culture magazine featuring articles, overseas columnists, reviews and artist profiles. www.morphmagazine.co.nz Urban Arts Village Devonport celebrates everything that makes Devonport the rich and distinct community it is; its history, heritage, landscape, landmarks, arts and people. www.urbanartsvillage.co.nz
DEPOT ARTSPACE 28 CLARENCE ST, DEVONPORT, AUCKLAND PH: 09 963 2331 WWW.DEPOTARTSPACE.CO.NZ OPENING HOURS: MON: 12-5PM TUE-SAT: 10AM-5PM SUN & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS: 11AM-3PM 3
THE DEPOT TURNS 18
Snowplough and the Angel by Sandra M. Waine 2010
‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single foot step.’ Chapter 64, Tao Te Ching When Depot Artspace took over the old borough council works depot eighteen years ago, after two years of making a case to the North Shore City Council about the value of an arts centre to Devonport, we began what continues to be a work in progress. Such is the nature of the creative; it is limitless in its permutations and infinite in its possibilities. At the same time the creative has become conditioned by its environment, one which over time is increasingly stifled by the imperatives of politics, and by economic determinism and successive egos attempting to exert control. Never more so than at a community level. As the twin juggernauts of national and local government and their bureaucratic counterparts feed upon their constituents to sustain their own existence, communities become less and less self-determined. Their actions are circumscribed at every turn by policies and plans, contracts and accountabilities based on outcomes. This environment belies the nature of the creative, which does not involve definitive and identifiable outcomes; in fact these are contradistinctive to creating. And while we passionately and unequivocally stand by this ethos, whereby community nurtures the creative, the need to defend or advocate for it consumes the resources that could be otherwise expended on creative and innovative projects. In as many months the Depot has written six submissions on the arts and community development, on the need for arts facilities in communities to assist fostering a sense of place and identity and on the responsibility of local government to serve its communities by supporting their creative and social infrastructure. While these characteristics may seem largely intangible and therefore without a value justified to commit funding to, they are the essence of community. In Thoughts in Solitude, Thomas Merton, monk, writer and contemporary of the poets and artists of the beat generation, discusses how wisdom, an essential component of our lives, has been lost as increasingly human beings are treated as “mere cogs in a totalitarian machine.”
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He continues, “Society depends for its existence….not on mechanical units, but on persons (and this) implies a sense of personal integrity…..When people are pushed around by automatic forces they lose their true humanity, their integrity, their capacity for self-determination. When society is made up of those who know no interior being, it is held together by violent and abusive authority”. For eighteen years and in the face of significant change which continues to diminish meaningful community, including its diversity and inclusiveness, the Depot has attempted to provide a continuing sense of place and purpose to the creative endeavour. More than 20 substantial projects have been established since its inception, each a result of observed need or opportunity and most of which strengthen capacity or a sense of cultural identity. They include ArtsLab, a professional development programme for artists, Depot Press where publications explore NZ/Aotearoa identity and culture, cultural mapping and creative internships, and exhibitions which touch on issues that relate to our sense of place, such as W’akaputanga, Flag It and Turangawaewae. In eighteen years the Depot has organised and hosted nearly 2000 exhibitions featuring more than 4000 artists, has supported and mentored 2000 creatives on its ArtsLab (formerly PACE) programme, welcomed hundreds of musicians into its rehearsal space and undertaken hundreds more recording projects. It has produced 60 LOUD magazines and a variety of other publications, including MORPH, Turangawaewae/Sense of Place, and most recently The Vernacularist series, all of which celebrate the significance of the arts in our society. Each of these initiatives has been predicated upon the Depot’s circular mantra, “creating an environment that encourages creating…..” which we believe embodies the form and nature of the creative. – Linda Blincko 5
ROBYN GIBSON
GALLERY CURATOR 18 YEARS OF THE DEPOT ARTSPACE
It’s hard to believe it has been 18 years since the beginning of the Depot. We were full of promise and a zillion ideas; volunteers worked hard to help in the restoration and redesign of what was then a very crumbling and dirty building. I often remember the many meetings we had, where all sorts of wild suggestions were made, lots of laughter and a lot of tears.
can look back on these now and acknowledge how much had gone on and was achieved. Poetry readings, fashion parades, music events, installations and exhibitions have played a big part in our history and I hope will be abundant in our future.
Although I was away for 10 years of the Depot’s progress I am happy to still be part of this positive creative The folks who were involved in those organisation, there will always be room days helped us with exhibition openings, to grow and change with the times, odd items that were needed, internal to think outside the square and be a building, accounting, keeping the place supporting structure for artists and our clean, and future planning. community. Long live the Arts. Big thanks to Alan, he was our Depot photographer and must have taken a thousand photos, fortunately we 6
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LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD: WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE AND THE FIRST VOTE
Eighteen is often an age of envisioning a future, of making plans that take place in a world shaped, for better or worse, by its past. Here is one event that has changed the world for the better, laying the foundations for greater equality in our society. It began at the Borough Council building on Windsor Reserve in Devonport, the place where, in November 1893, women cast their first vote.
gain the franchise for all women, an extraordinary achievement that is worth celebrating with a substantial public artwork . Placed in the heart of Devonport it would create a suitable focus for keeping this important event firmly in our consciousness.” The Depot is actively supporting this initiative as it represents the many components of community development that we also stand for; the belief in equality and equal access to opportunity, in inclusiveness, in community celebrating its unique identity and in the strength of collective action to bring about positive change.
To celebrate this momentous event long-time Devonport resident and peace activist Ruth Coombes approached the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board about commissioning a women’s suffrage sculpture as “a fitting tribute to those women who worked tirelessly against vociferous opposition, to
– Linda Blincko 8
Depot Artspace cordially invites you to
THE VERNACULARIST An Exhibition with thanks to the Central City Library and Auckland Council
To celebrate the launch of The Vernacularist, Issue Three: The Environmental Issue, Depot Artspace presents a selection of works from contributors past and present.
Thursday, October 30 — November 15 Central City Library, Ground Floor, 44 — 46 Lorne St, Auckland Central City Library opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9am — 8pm Saturday: 10am — 4pm Sunday: 10am — 4pm Featuring the work of: Cleo Barnett, Nigel Brown, Guy Collier, Anna Forsyth, Elisapeta Heta, Skip James, Marcus Joyce, Lia Kent Mackillop, Margaret Lawlor-Bartlett, Chris Ryan, Simon Shine Darlington, Tom Simpson, Ruby Watson, Yonel Watene and more The Environmental Issue is limited to 100 printed copies and will be on sale from Depot Artspace for $15 from Saturday, November 1. You will also be able to read this issue online from November 1, visit: www.issuu.com/depotartspace Image: Far North III, Skip James, 2014.
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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS Group Show: Small Object Exhibition 8 – 20 November
Opening in the Small Dog Gallery Saturday 8 November 2 – 3.30pm The Depot Artspace supports and celebrates the innovative and socially conscious Sculpture on Shore event with its own small scale object exhibition. This show offers lovers of the ‘small and perfectly formed’ a wide range of works in a variety of media, from sculpture to quirky assemblages and everything in between. This is a great opportunity to exhibit your work as the exhibition takes place during two significant events that attract large audiences; Sculpture on Shore and the Devonport Arts Festival. If you’re interested in participating in the small object exhibition please contact Gallery Manager Helen Winskill for entry details helen.winskill@depotartspace.co.nz.
Shelley Te Haara: La Maison Derrière 8 – 20 November
Opening in Project Space Saturday 8 November 2 – 3.30pm In the exhibition La Maison Derrière, Shelley Te Haara has painted a series of housewives in a “cute and classy” way. The paintings depict women cleaning the bathroom, baking, pouring a drink, doing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen and hanging the washing. “It is an outdated belief that a woman’s only place is in the kitchen. Both men and women are now doing house duties as well as having a full-time job and other things going on in their lives. So I thought this series would be a bit of a play on the past and the present.” Shelley delivers this to us in a series of 7 very small oil paintings. She had just started using oil paints when she got the idea for this series. She then decided to challenge herself and paint on a very small scale and this is the result. “It is definitely a series I am very proud of. I am excited to finally be able to share the original paintings with the public.”
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We encourage you to come and be a part of the community. All are welcome at Depot Artspace exhibition openings and events. Opening in the Main Gallery Saturday 8 November 2 – 3.30pm
Group Show: Outside the Square 8 – 20 November
Mathematical or metaphorical! Divine or diabolical! Emotional or abstract! As part of the Devonport Arts Festival, 19 artists will each exhibit 3 works that encourage the audience to think ‘outside the square’. This opportunity brings together artists who are established conceptual thinkers and have diverse cultural involvement with their communities. Artists will explore mediums including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and installation. Featuring: Jo Barrett, Katherine Batchelor, Barbara Cope, Beatrice Carlson, Carole Driver, Erin Forsyth, Linda Gair, Robyn Gibson, Bev Goodwin, Diane Halstead, Jude Hoani, Sally Lush, Prue MacDougall, Dugald Page, Peter Raos, Mandy ThomsettTaylor, Jeff Thomson, Graeme Thompson, Jim Wheeler
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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS Antonio Guerrero: Cuban 5 22 November – 4 December
Opening in the Vernacular Lounge Saturday 22 November 2 – 3.30pm These 15 watercolours capture the days in 1998 when the Cuban Five – five political prisoners unjustly imprisoned in U.S. jails – were locked up in the “hole.” Antonio Guerrero, serving a sentence of 21 years and 10 months, is currently in a medium security prison in Florida. He taught himself to draw and paint in prison.
Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, and René González were arrested in 1998, convicted on frame-up charges, and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 15 years to double life. René González and Fernando González have served their time and returned to Cuba to a hero’s welcome. The Five were guilty of no crime at all. What they were doing was collecting information on the murderous counter-revolutionary Cuban American paramilitary organisations which operate with impunity from bases in the U.S. These groups have a history of organising bombings, assassinations, and other assaults on Cubans and their supporters within the U.S., in Cuba itself, and in other countries.
Cari Hill: Fragments 22 November – 4 December
Opening in the Small Dog Gallery Saturday 22 November 2 – 3.30pm Humans everywhere share a profound connection that very few of us take the time to contemplate. The way we birth, grow, laugh, love, age, feel, and die are all essentially the same. Our struggles and triumphs are universal. We are all equal.
Through individual portraits taken around the world, Fragments addresses how this concept affects us both on an individual level, and as part of a greater collective. Fragments documents and displays the naïve separation and similitude of people with regard to our passage through time. The lines on their faces tell their individual story, and the story of humanity as a whole. Fragments is designed to provoke thought in the viewer about one’s consciousness, individuality vs. collectivism, how one perceives others and is perceived by others, and to become aware of one’s own separation and fragmentation of individuality from the whole that we call humanity. 12
We encourage you to come and be a part of the community. All are welcome at Depot Artspace exhibition openings and events.
Auckland Studio Potters: Claybenders 22 November – 4 December
Ann O’Sullivan Annie McIver Brendan Adams Carol Stewart Debbie Neill-Anselmi Elena Renker Helen Perrett Kim Rochester
Opening in the Main Gallery Saturday 22 November 2 – 3.30pm
Margaret Bray Marilyn Wheeler Mariska De Jager Merilyn Shuker Mervyn Aitchison Michelle Bow Sue Collins Suzy Dünser
Claybenders is a showcase of contemporary ceramics produced by the students from Otago Polytechnic Diploma of Ceramic Arts programme. The diploma programme is administered from Dunedin with studio modules taught at the Auckland Studio Potters Centre in Onehunga. The ASP has promoted and trained artists for over 50 years. This exhibition reunites both the current and past students. Although it’s a group exhibition, these 16 artists celebrate the role of the individual, representing their own unique style. Whether it’s sculptural, wheel thrown, or hand built all of these artworks are unique. The emphasis is on revealing the multitude of possibilities that can emerge from using clay. Who better to illustrate this wonderful medium than the current and future generation of ceramic artists? 13
EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS Nandhini Mohan: Karunai Illam (Mercy Home) Charity Exhibition 22 November – 18 December
Opening in Project Space Saturday 22 November 2 – 3.30pm
Nandhini Mohan is a freestyle artist who started painting intricate traditional Indian art by connecting dots. Gradually, Nandhini started painting abstract works, she is fascinated by the colours and their noticeable effect on people’s lives. She digitally altered her own paintings and transformed them into floral designs to print on T-shirts. Colourful, unique jewellery making is her new found talent. Nandhini has regularly visited family and friends in India and found that a lot of children need help and support to lead their day to day lives. Proceedings from all her art projects will be donated to Karunai Illam (Mercy Home) registered in Wellington to help provide underprivileged children with food, basic education and self-sufficient, sustainable living conditions in India.
Lindsay Antrobus Evans & Liz McAuliffe: Pitched Form 6 – 18 December
Vernacular Lounge
Formed Function Studio pieces blur the boundary between art and function. They are manipulated and altered to manifest an aesthetic that combines the design elements and botanical interests of sculptor Lindsay Antrobus Evans with the skill and drive of carver/painter Liz McAuliffe. The ‘Pitcher Perfect’ porcelain mugs are inspired by nature, specifically carnivorous pitcher plants. These and the ‘Specific Rim’ stoneware bowls come from Evans and McAuliffe’s desire to give a tactile as well as a visual experience. All imperfections are intentional. 14
We encourage you to come and be a part of the community. All are welcome at Depot Artspace exhibition openings and events.
Robyn Gibson: Things (like a walk in the park) 6 – 18 December
Opening in the Small Dog Gallery Saturday 6 December 2 – 3.30pm
Painter and sculptor, Robyn Gibson is presently gallery curator for Depot Artspace in Devonport, Auckland. Gibson’s recent works for her 2014 exhibition titled Things (like a walk in the park) are a play on the 1970s song by Bobby Darin in which he re-lives memories of a past relationship. Gibson’s works are an eclectic mix of painting, assemblage and sculpture that reference happy memories and nostalgic feelings and offer a snapshot of life speckled with her disarming sense of humour. Gibson’s painting and sculpture are strongly influenced by the later period of Canadian painter Phillip Guston and the psychological language found in works by French sculptor Louise Bourgeois. The subject matter comprises impressions of our contemporary culture such as music and the feminine. Opening in the Main Gallery Saturday 6 December 2 – 3.30pm
Sean McDonnell: Flower People 6 – 18 December
Sean McDonnell has been looking at the similarities between flowers and people as a vehicle to paint spontaneously. “Life is so short yet full of wonder and mystery. Like flowers, our lives are extremely fragile and we are all very individual yet part of a collective whole.” Sean paints in an intuitive way letting each painting take on a life of its own. He builds up layers of paint then uses a grinder to reveal the past underneath. “These are optimistic paintings about the future and where we are going as a single race of people.”
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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS Janette Cervin: Blended Families 6 – 18 December
Opening in the Main Gallery Saturday 6 December 2 – 3.30pm
In 2013 Janette Cervin completed a postgraduate degree, which investigated how flower painting can sustain its poignancy in a contemporary painting practice. Since completing her masters she has continued to blend traditional painting conventions with current painterly explorations. Introduced and indigenous flora and fauna have been central subject matter in her paintings, and more recently idealised concepts of New Zealand as a South Pacific Garden of Eden in a semi-tropical paradise are explored. Janette enjoyed a childhood surrounded by a medley of plants and flowers produced on a commercial scale by her parents. Her family was creative, occupied always with projects that flowed seamlessly from the home into the garden. Janette naturally was drawn towards the colours and patterns that enveloped her childhood and began to develop a unique painting technique, which had its origins in decorative folk art. This set the foundation for her painting practice. The paintings celebrate the repetitive and the decorative, qualities that have historically been associated with women’s craft, while also referencing the vanitas themes of life’s fragility and transitory nature. 16
We encourage you to come and be a part of the community. All are welcome at Depot Artspace exhibition openings and events.
Pre-Loved, Re-Loved 17 January – 4 February
Opening in the Main Gallery Saturday 17 January 2 – 3.30pm
Pre-Loved, Re-Loved is not only a celebration of the year to come and all its possibilities, but a timely opportunity to submit and purchase precious works which no longer find a place in the home, heart or history of their previous owners. What better way to honour a past treasure than to pass it over to another who will also appreciate it. A new year and a new beginning for both seller and purchaser! We will accept pre-loved paintings, prints and objects. Items must be ready to hang or install, be in a good condition and of a realistic price. After all, post-Christmas purchasers are likely to be searching for affordable treasures. We are looking forward to a diverse exhibition and to catching up with you all after the summer holidays! The exhibition will run from Saturday the 17th of January – the 4th of February. Those wishing to contribute to the exhibition should bring in their artworks on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th of January between 9am – 5pm. Limit of three artworks per person, $10 per artwork, 30% commission on sold works.
One of the many pre-loved items for sale: Raymond Ching North Island Brown Kiwi (1984) print
We thank you in advance for supporting the Depot Artspace, whether it be offering works for sale, or purchasing, or both. We hope you enjoy your holidays and the chance to relax and to creatively spring clean, in preparation for Pre-Loved, Re-Loved! We are looking forward to it!
DEPOT ARTSPACE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS WE WILL BE CLOSED FROM THE 22ND OF DECEMBER TO THE 12TH OF JANUARY HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM EVERYONE AT THE DEPOT! 17
DEPOT SOUND NEWS Depot Sound has taken on a lot of recording projects this year and now many of them are seeing the light of day. EPs from Damn the Trend and Thin White Lines are finished and being released mid October. The Moots EP is finished and due for release at the end of the month. Thin White Lines, Poison Skies, Delic Exodus and Static Era all have singles out now or due before the end of the month. The long awaited John Rowles album has also just been released. We have finished the huge task of mixing the sound for a documentary movie about a mannequin factory. It’s great to see all the bands and artists’ hard work starting to pay off and there are plenty more recording projects still in progress from Play it Strange, Lavina Williams, The Raagtime Trio, The Imports, Arnse Cassrels, Michael Clifton and others. You can find more photos and news on Facebook at www.facebook.com/depotsound and at our website www.depotsound.co.nz – Dave Rhodes
Clockwise from top left: The Moots, Thin White Lines, Mike Chunn (Play it Strange) with Sophie Mashlan and Dave Rhodes, Michael Murphy with Nick Wilkinson from Poison Skies.
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NEW SPACE FOR EXHIBITORS
The Depot is undertaking a much-needed makeover to its exhibition space between the main gallery and recording studio as part of plans to create new exhibiting opportunities over the coming months. We are creating a distinctive members’ art zone, with walls of contrasting colours to make the works pop, and specially themed exhibitions with their own openings. By reworking this space we are looking to increase the opportunities for artists and purchasers alike. Our vision? To create a gallery that, as well as supporting our members, will grow and nurture emerging and unknown talent.
What would you like to see being offered for sale in this space? Give us some feedback!
I am very aware from members’ comments that the shop was a highlight for many visitors. However, in its previous form it proved unviable, both economically and from an organisational perspective. On a much smaller scale I relish the opportunity to nurture artists with space to exhibit and provide visitors with more variety. It would be great to re-establish the Depot as a destination to peruse and buy unique gifts of quality.
We will be inviting a host of artists to exhibit in this gallery. If you are interested in hearing about opportunities to display your work, or if you have any ideas for a new name for the gallery, we’d love to hear from you.
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Currently adorning the walls in the gallery we have paintings, mixed media works, photographic prints, ceramics, books and the much loved brightly coloured woven bags. Items for sale range from as little as $20 to $450. Works can be bought, wrapped and taken home immediately! As with all our exhibitions, by supporting this initiative you are supporting artists and your local community organisation and therefore your community. It’s a win-win scenario.
– Helen Winskill, Gallery Manager Above: Richard Joughin in the hallway space
FLAG IT!
TRAVELS TO RAWENE 22 NOVEMBER to 11 DECEMBER
No.1 Parnell St, Rawene A new socially conscious artspace has opened in the former Ferry House in Rawene. This beautiful historic building has been lovingly restored to accommodate cultural and creative activities, events and exhibitions that support communities around issues affecting them. This space is a new opportunity for Depot Artspace members. If you are interested in exhibiting contact lynnlawton@gmail.com or text 021685737 for any enquiries. If you are visiting Rawene you can find the building located at No. 1 Parnell St. 21
FEATURED ARTIST
SHELBY FARMER 22
Shelby Farmer is currently exhibiting her Chakra Series at the Depot Artspace in our hallway gallery. The Chakra Series is a series of watercolour paintings depicting various crystal formations and how they have been interpreted to heal and enhance certain qualities of the human body and mind. The use of hand-stitching within the work emphasises this connection to the human presence and labour to reinforce the idea of the spiritual values of each crystal. Each painting is titled with the crystal name and properties as well as the connecting chakra, to give the painting further purpose as a sense of empowerment and significance. Each beautiful work is a one-off stitched watercolour, $150 (framed). Visit the gallery to view the series and more information about upcoming and recent projects, exhibitions and artworks can be found at www.shelbyfarmer.weebly.com 23
APPROACHING MY OWN ART PRACTICE AND MY TEACHING OF ART, IN SIMPATICO At the end of last year I had another small solo exhibition at the Depot Artspace in the Outerspace Gallery. Just 10 works in all, that were hugely experimental 3-dimensional paintings on gorgeous Polish beech plywood. The construction of which did not happen overnight with many ideas being discussed, some built and tossed-out before any painting began. This was the first time that my teaching had directly inspired my own practice rather than the other way around. This still feels very good and I trust this partnership between my two passionate worlds continues to gather momentum. Earlier in 2013, I had ‘unpacked’ the linear elements that are so typically Mondrian, with eight year olds. They grasped the ideas so quickly and produced quite magnificently good work, if we can attach that ‘label.’ I always include an Art History component and historical element to the learning so the students become able to put the learning in context. By repetition, they can start to put these artists and the Art Movements in which they operated, in a timeline and gain a clearer historical perspective. In typical Linda Gair fashion I managed to polarise opinion, which is another story for another time, but for the very first time I felt as though I’d nailed my soul to the gallery walls! Why was that!? This excerpt – from the first global guide to Private and Publicly accessible Collections of Contemporary Art – supported me through a rather selfdoubting period post that exhibition. “If no one ever looked at art, would anybody even create it? And how much does art actually need buyers? ………. Is an art world conceivable without collectors, without such dependent relationships? ……… But one thing is certain: owning works of art changes most collectors as deeply as creating them does the artist.” We do know that Art (and The ARTS) humanises communities, that it is essentially ‘good’ for society and essential for the development of our minds and souls. The Arts are also a major contributor to the economy, either directly through the Arts industry, or indirectly through daily creative decisions made in business. It is the creative domain that encourages ‘disobedient thought’ that in turn continues to revolutionize opinion, approach, invention, process and eventually product … and not-withstanding the broadening of the mind in terms of cultural references, and for the ‘health’ of the rapidly increasing momentum of globalisation. – Linda Gair
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ARTICLE #4 THE CREATIVE JOURNEY AS A LEAP OF FAITH
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COMING OF AGE:
FROM INCORPORATED SOCIETY TO TRUST At the Depot AGM in September, the membership voted to ‘wind up the Depot Inc and transfer its operation and assets to the Depot Arts and Music Space Trust’. The Depot Inc was incorporated as a society in October 1996. Over the past 18 years it has grown into a multidisciplinary creative community encompassing all art forms and supporting artists at many different levels across all generations. It now has a staff of 8 full time and 4 part time workers. For over 12 years it has been a provider of employment services in the creative industries sector to Work and Income through ArtsLab. The programme has supported over 2000 creative people. The Depot has been funded twice by the ASB Community Trust to initially trial creative internships and currently to further research and develop creative industry internship models. Last year the Ministry of Social Development invited the Depot as a provider of ArtsLab to participate in a Capability Assessment to determine how well it would meet MSD’s level of approval as a future provider/contractor. This was a valued opportunity for us to undertake an in-depth review of our structure and operation. The assessment identified that while the current Incorporated Society model of governance served the organisation well in its early years, it would now be better served by a ‘trust’ model to support the scope of its current operation, future growth and to meet the level of expertise in governance required by Council and MSD. The new board of five members (Bill Bates, Cathy Gunn, Sue Lorimer, Lynn Lawton and Lorraine Owens), along with an advisory board, yet to be appointed, will provide guidance and support in the continued development and innovative projects of the Depot Artspace. If you as a member would like to be on the advisory board, please contact Lynn Lawton lynn.lawton@depotartspace.co.nz for further information.
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ARTSLAB:
COMING OF AGE It is hard to determine if ArtsLab (formally PACE) has come of age or in fact with age, has lost some of its vital faculties. In the year 2002 the Labour government launched PACE (Pathways to Arts and Cultural Employment) and the Depot was invited to develop this programme in Auckland. PACE was an employment initiative in the creative industries for recent graduates to transit into employment or self-employment rather than to get a ‘real job’. The focus was on creative and practice development leading to employment. We had time, up to one year, to achieve this and the country was alive and buzzing with the arts, music and creative activities. PACE was a government flagship employment initiative for the creative sector with providers up and down the country. In 2014, PACE is no longer a government policy initiative and there are only three providers in the whole of NZ. Time frames to work with artists have been halved and the focus is primarily on employment outcomes. The forces at play in these changes are many; economic, government policy, leadership, social and cultural. The requirement by a North Shore college for parental letters of permission for students electing to take arts rather than sciences, is also indicative of the less creative environment we are living in. In the midst of these shifts, ArtsLab is achieving employment outcomes at a higher level than previously. We have a very qualified, experienced and hardworking team developing and refining ways to assist artists into employment. We focus on providing mentors and a variety of tools to accelerate their creative artistic development within the short time frames we have with them. Yet somehow to me in this current era, something has been lost; the creative artistic heart and passion of our country and the focus on development of creative employment through what was a very innovative government initiative. Maybe this is unrealistic in the economic constraints of this era or maybe symptomatic of something deeper? – Lynn Lawton
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DEPOT EVENTS & OPENINGS Paul Hartigan: Helium
Grant Sutherland / Oliver Chun Xu
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All are welcome at Depot Artspace exhibition openings and exhibitions. Please check www.depotartspace.co.nz for the latest news and events. Flag It!
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DEPOT EVENTS & OPENINGS
Artweek Auckland – Andrew de Boer | Richard Joughin | Katarina Matovic
Felicity Moore & Miriam Ludbrook: Possum Tracks
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JOIN
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The Vernacularist
WĀHINE
Empowerment, oppression, sisterhood, employment, stereotypes, divide, suffragettes, lipsticks, sexuality, power, – what does it mean to be wāhine/female today? If you are interested in contributing to the WĀHINE issue of The Vernacularist please email erin.forsyth@depotartspace.co.nz 32