Debbie Stenzel: Starshake: 5928

Debbie Stenzel, Starshake: 5928 (detail), 2011, mixed media installation

THE JAMES WALLACE ARTS TRUST

PRESS RELEASE: Wednesday 28 March 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Debbie Stenzel's amazing and sensitive installation Starshake: 5928 references abandonment of vehicles within the Christchurch CBD as a result of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake on 22 February 2011 in which 185 people lost their lives.

Starshake: 5928 is on display in the Little Gallery at the Pah Homestead, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre from 17 March to 27 May 2012.

Responding to a deep feeling of helplessness and obligation to New Zealanders as a result of the Christchurch earthquakes, Debbie Stenzel has created a series of artworks which include hand stitched documents, sculpture, installation and a short film with the intention of retaining focus and awareness of the ongoing struggles facing the community of Christchurch.

Stenzel’s installation Starshake: 5928 addresses the voices of those struggling with the reality of the Christchurch earthquake which fractured the community, causing 185 deaths and widespread damage. In the immediate aftermath the city’s central business district was cordoned off creating the 'red zone', within which a total of 5928 vehicles were trapped and abandoned in outdoor parking areas, buildings, underground parks, and mid-journey on the street. The Christchurch Cathedral was irretrievably damaged during the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks, and condemned to demolition.

In Starshake: 5928 each of the 5928 vehicles has been recreated as a small pod-like form, handmade from plastic eggs and quilting pins, filled with plaster and individually painted in vehicle colours over a period of 8 months during 2011. The 5928 pods are housed amid

ENDS

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