The same as it never was
Hastings City Art Gallery
11 August - 11 November 2018
for group exhibition, EAST 2018 curated by Bruce E. Phillips
A dual channel video work that connects to a childhood memory as an unassuming departure point to consider greater human and environmental relations. In the first video Gillam re-enacts a family holiday snapshot taken alongside the Tukituki River that depicted her mother, who was a local school teacher, demonstrating the principle of centrifugal force through the humble action of swinging a plastic bucket holding water. In accompanying footage, Gillam also presents a focused study of the river that provokes us to look beyond the visually obvious and to consider what might be happening below the water’s surface. Earlier this year the Hawkes Bay District Health Board recorded unsafe levels of cyanobacteria in theTukituki River and some fear that this pollutant might seep into the underlying aquifer which is used for drinking water. In light of these references, Gillam’s performative action and river study provides a contemplative reflection on how the cyclical flow of the earth’s hydrogeological system and alluvial environment sustains life.
Related projects:
Family photos - camping at Tamumu by the Tukituki river (photographer - Les Gillam)