Salvaged and reclaimed materials bring art to Avonside

Christchurch Art Gallery - Salvaged and reclaimed materials bring art to Avonside

MEDIA RELEASE                                                                           Friday 31 May 2013

Sian Torrington How you have held things (detail, in progress) 2013. Salvaged materials. Image: Sian Torrington

Salvaged and reclaimed materials bring art to Avonside

A previously empty Avonside section will soon host a new installation by Wellington-based visual artist Sian Torrington, in Christchurch Art Gallery’s latest Outer Spaces project.

How you have held things, which will be presented at 49 Patten Street in Avonside until 12 July 2013, brings together a rich array of salvaged and reclaimed materials to create a remarkable site-specific installation for Christchurch.

"My work usually employs existing structures to 'hang off', but for this project I have had to build my own, as have the many people who have built temporary structures and dwellings here in Christchurch since the earthquakes.

“This speaks to a resilience and a resolute spirit that I have huge admiration for in the local response to disaster. I wanted to honour this by building something that observed the approaches people have used to hold together buildings as well as their communities," Torrington says.

The installation has four major elements to it: metal structures clad with weatherboards; a ‘floating floor’ made from tongue and groove; a bush walkway and a shed with a wall-papered interior. Torrington did a great deal of research before deciding to make a work in Christchurch, visiting the city numerous times and speaking to local people to learn about their experiences.

She has been working on elements of the work for the past five months in her Wellington studio and travelled to Christchurch last week to complete the installation. The majority of the materials used have been supplied by Christchurch company Musgroves Limited, who specialise in recycled building supplies, as well as being donated by the public following an appeal Torrington made through the Gallery’s website. Fabric was donated by Global Fabrics.

“They have been really supportive of the project. The use of fabric in the installation has a lot of resonance with tents and temporary structures that people had to build immediately after the earthquakes. But I have tried to make this work beautiful and hopeful.”

Gallery deputy director Blair Jackson says he is pleased the gallery has been able to extend its Outer Spaces programme into Avonside, an area that has been especially hard-hit by the earthquakes.

“We are very grateful to the owners of 49 Patten Street, who have been extremely generous in their support of the project by allowing us to use their property.”

Gallery curator Felicity Milburn says the key ingredients in Torrington’s project are noticing, remembering, and an eye for the potential in chaos.

Honouring the steadfast ingenuity with which our citys residents have responded to the earthquakes, Torrington is offering up a different kind of structure – a damaged, beautiful palace built from texture, colour and light.”

Sian Torrington will give a free talk about her project on Saturday 1 June at 11am at 49 Patten Street. All are welcome.

For more information visit www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz

ENDS

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