The Wgtn Experiment - Wendy Bornholdt

Now open: The Wgtn Experiement - Wendy Bornholdt @ Michael Hirschfeld Gallery, City Gallery Welligton

23 February - 7 April 2002
360 Programme at the Michael Hirschfeld Gallery

Artist Wendy Bornholdt first saw the Michael Hirschfeld Gallery last year and knew it was a space with potential. Having exhibited widely in London and New Zealand, she has recently returned to produce a work especially for the space, entitled The Wgtn Experiment.

"Site always provides a strong underpinning to my work," says Bornholdt, "and this site throws up a lot for me. Spaces such as the Hirschfeld Gallery space can be more interesting than the standard white cube," she says."

Bornholdt says a key interest currently is the "unfixedness and fluidity of circumstance". Audio has always featured in her work and in this exhibition it is inescapable. She has filled the lower level of the gallery with transistor radios broadcasting white noise from buckets filled with sand. They point to a small viewing window at the upper level of the gallery through which can be seen an infinite 'new' space. The transistors might suggest an army or a chorus, she says, poised in readiness for some unseen event, waiting to be tuned to the right frequency. Visitors have found the effect and the noise they emit both "beautiful" and "terrifying".

The artist was born in the Hutt Valley but has been based in London since 1998, making the move for her art practice: "It is no easier to make work in London. The art world there is pretty traditional, but there are definitely greater possibilities than in New Zealand." She has been making work in New Zealand since 1990 and recently exhibited at the Museum of Installation, London (1998?2001) and the Programa Centro De Arte, Mexico (2001)). Opening soon, is another installation by Bornholdt at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, called The Dunedin Incident c.2002 (9 March - 19 May 2002).

The Wgtn Experiment - Wendy Bornholdt is presented within the 360 programme - a full perspective on Wellington Art - which is generously sponsored by Designworks. Generously supported by Montana Wines Ltd, Ruth Pretty Catering and Magnum Mac. City Gallery Wellington is managed by the Wellington Museums Trust with major funding from the Wellington City Council.

For more information, images, and interviews contact: Anne Irving, Publicist

T: 04 801 3959 / F: 04 801 3096 / E: anne.irving@wcc.govt.nz

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