Five New Zealand art students are the proud winners of the New Zealand finals of the inaugural Nokia Arts Awards 1999.
The students will receive their awards at a ceremony today at the Auckland Art Gallery. Each of the students' works are
displayed in the gallery for the ceremony, taking pride of place amongst the many great New Zealand artists who line the
gallery's walls.
The winners are:
Emma Smith of Grey Lynn, Auckland for her work "Marathon Man"
* Nick Wall of Kingsland, Auckland for his work "Living Systems, Systems Living"
Brydee Rood of Glenfield, Auckland for her work "Sellout"
Andrew Wall of Parnell, Auckland for his work "Construct"
* Rona Osborne of Grey Lynn, Auckland for her work "Walking backwards in Circles"
Each of the five New Zealand finalists have won $5,000 towards furthering their artistic studies in New Zealand and a
brightly coloured Nokia 5100 series mobile phone. The five finalists' entries will join other Asia Pacific countries in
a grand, region-wide competition planned for February 2000.
Based on this year's theme of "Visions of Your Future", the Arts Awards was launched in May this year and focussed on
two dimensional contemporary art or mixed media. All students aged 18-25 years of age were eligible to participate.
The Nokia Arts Awards marks the celebration of innovation, artistic vision and the creative human spirit.
"The five winners have communicated this year's theme of "Visions of Your Future" in a challenging and reflective
manner. Each student has executed their vision with great skill and artistic ability. The use of different medium and
materials have presented a wide range of styles and interpretations which reflect the varied ideas and cultures that
make up New Zealand. Our young New Zealanders enjoy a freedom of expression and a hopeful future that will be theirs to
make. New Zealand will be represented very well in the regional final competition," said Pierre Middleton, Country
Manager, Nokia Mobile Phones New Zealand.
The judging panel for the New Zealand competition are made up of: Dame Cheryll Sotheran, Chief Executive of Te Papa,
Chris Saines, Director of the Auckland Art Gallery, Lisa Reihana, multi-media artist and tutor at Manukau Institute of
Technology, Dick Frizzell, New Zealand artist, and Julian Andrews, Deputy Editor of Urbis magazine.
The Regional Grand Competition
The top five entries from each participating Asia Pacific country will be consolidated for judging by a preeminent,
international panel of judges in February 2000.
The overall first prize winner will be awarded a prestigious International Educational Grant valued at US$15,000. This
specially-tailored programme includes a five-week intensive study at the Parsons School of Design, New York followed by
an 8-week programme in the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland. This exclusive study programme encompass
intensive studio work, field trips, visits by guest artistes/designers, walking tours of museums, music theatre and
career seminars.
The regional top five winners will also receive the newly launched Nokia 8210. Details of the top five prizes follow :
1st prize : US$8,000 + International Educational Grant + Nokia 8210 mobile phone +trophy
2nd prize : US$5,000 + Nokia 8210 mobile phone + trophy
3rd prize : US$3,000 + Nokia 8210 mobile phone + trophy
4th/5thprize: US$2,000 + Nokia 8210 mobile phone + trophy
A leader in the cellular industry in many markets in Asia
Pacific, Nokia provides innovative, industry-leading and market- relevant technology and products to around 30 diverse
markets in the region.
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the
leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related services. It
also supplies multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion (USD 15.7
billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and
Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 53,000 people.
Note to the Editor :
The Parsons Summer Intensive Studies is a special series of full- time courses for high school, college/graduate
students and professionals in Parsons New York campus. Through intensive studio work, field trips, guest
artists/designers, and critiques, the students are given a powerful intellectual and creative introduction to art and
design professional training. Students will be housed in a nearby student residence hall managed by Parsons professional
housing staff. Residence hall life complements the studio experience at Parsons. The Residence Life Staff regularly
organises extra-curricular activities such as walking tours, music, theater, career seminars and museum trips as well as
regular in- residence events. Students can sign up for a limited meal plan at the school cafeteria or provide their own
meals inside or outside the residence hall.
The University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH) is a unique combination of design and art, workshops and theory: an
ambitious international community of highly talented students, teachers, researchers and professionals. UIAH educates
and conducts research in the field of design, audiovisual communication, new media, art education and fine arts. The
8-week curriculum at UIAH will be customised accordingly to the interest, previous studies and artistic experience of
the winner. Through the latest equipment, workshops, studios and laboratories, the student will be exposed to artistic
work.
ENDS....
Nokia Arts Awards - Asia Pacific
New Zealand winners
Artist's name: Emma Smith
Title of work: Marathon Man
Art School: UNITEC Institute of Technology
Medium: Enamel on perspex with screenprinting ink and acrylic
Description of work:
The work is concerned with the relationship between the visual inundation of slick satiating imagery and the distancing
of meaning through distraction and: the slow, the mute, the strangely ineloquent, the things between, the visual relics
and their future place.
Artist's name: Nick Wall
Title of work: Living Systems, Systems Living
Art School: Whitecliffe College of Art and Design
Medium: Gesso, Tempura, and Oil
Description of work:
The painting comments on the way I approach every thought and action (rotating boxes), and entertains my theory on the
fusion of the computer process with the spiritual. In short, our evolution to a species of pure thought that will free
us from the physicality's of the human organism and ensure that nature can also exist on this planet (which needs the
time to regenerate).
Artist's name: Brydee Rood
Title of work: Sellout
Art School: University of Auckland, Elam School of Fine Arts
Medium: (The car) Oil on board. (The TV) Acrylic on board
Description of work:
A critical title on a future vision. In contradiction the work appears optimistic, vibrantly coloured and glossy to
suggest and mimic the generic qualities of a 'SELL OUT' society.
The car and the television are high consumption icons in a present popular culture indicative of modern technology.
Conceptually their presence signals a tension between semiotics and symbolism. Thematically this work necessitates the
future balance between technology and consumption.
The art piece communicates a questionable vernacular aesthetic. Challenging the cultural identity of New Zealand as a
nation, with particular reference to the "familiar (sub) urban " sprawl of Auckland city and its future niche in the
material world.
Artist's name: Andrew Wall
Title of work: Construct
Art School: University of Auckland, Elam School of Fine Arts
Medium: Spray paint, oil paint and charcoal on sealed olive Cotton
Description of work:
The construction of this painting relates to the construction of life. I asked myself where I will be in 10 years - and
I some idea but the path is uncertain. I represented the 10 years as objects like memories, and then realised the spaces
between, and the journeys made in life are just as important..
When life is so complex, simplicity is appreciated. Angles and colours imply narrative and as the painting moves on the
shapes become simpler, each less acute angles. This represents myself and the order created in the construction.
Artist's name: Rona Osborne
Title of work: Walking Backwards in Circles
Art School: University of Auckland, Elam School of Fine Arts
Medium: Acrylic on board
Description of work:
I stand with my feet firmly in the earth of my childhood. The future is open before me, a foreign landscape, uncharted,
lit only by the deep red fires of my ancestors. Somewhere in front of me I hear them calling, guiding my way forward. As
I move I sketch my path, a map of time, for the benefit of my children and their children and their children's
children..
In Maori belief time is cyclic - we move backwards into the future: knowing where you come from and who you are is the
key to moving forward. It has been said the future is an uncertain place, and as such it is our nature to fear it,
however I believe that with our education about our histories, cultures, languages and heritage, our future is a warm,
welcoming place filled with light.
This painting is for my children both born (my daughter Huia is three) and unborn. I have taken threads of history,
memory, whakapapa (genealogy), and woven them into a quilt, an heirloom of knowledge to be passed on through the
generations. It serves as both a comfort and a warning: the future is what we make of it.
ends