Exhibition

I multiply

each day

 

4 December 2021 – 2 April 2022

 

Larry Achiampong

United Kingdom/Ghana

Christopher Ulutupu

Samoa/Niue/Germany

Michelle Williams Gamaker

United Kingdom

 

I Multiply Each Day is a mantra taken from the opening lines of Larry Achiampong’s film Beyond the Substrata (2020), a prophetic call to arms that dissects the socio-political threads of race, class, gender and gentrification.

As asked in the film, “What’s the value of a myth if you’re crushed by it? What’s the point of the fight if we’re the only ones to feel the pain?”

I Multiply Each Day brings together three artists who each examine histories of migration from a contemporary standpoint. Through moving image, the artists tell stories pertinent to de-colonising narratives that, while personal, invite the spectator to consider their role in these accounts. Each artist employs a kind of ‘fictional activism’, a strategy first defined by Michelle Williams Gamaker and used in her practice to interrogate inequality in representation.

The exhibition features a major new commission by Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington based artist Christopher Ulutupu and is the Aotearoa premiere of Williams Gamaker’s film trilogy Dissolution (2017-2019) and Achiampong’s Beyond the Substrata (2020).

Two of the exhibiting artists have been recognised by the Jarman Award which supports the most innovative UK-based artists working in moving image. Williams Gamaker won the award in 2020 and Achiampong has been twice nominated.

 

Download

List of works 

A dark room showing a film projected on the back wall. In the film, a figure clothed in black dances through a deserted co-op store.
A figure fully clad in black stands in a dimly lit, abandoned co-op amongst empty shelves.
A dark room showing a film projected on the back wall. In the film, a figure clothed in black dances through a deserted co-op store.
A dark room showing a film projected on the back wall. In the film, a figure clothed in black dances through a deserted co-op store.
A film projected inside a large film booth. In the film a woman stares towards the camera, holding a colour chart against her face. A pair of hands from offscreen hold up a movie clapper.
A person in a floral patterned dress sleeps on a striped cushion, next to another person in a patterned dress.
A film projected in a large film booth. In the film, two silhouetted figures sit on opposite ends of a two-screen projection, gazing up at an image of a snow covered mountain at sunset.
A large enclosed film booth painted yellow and black. The film projected inside depicts a nonbinary person and a woman seated at a dressing room table, surrounded by elaborate costumes, props and a glowing chandelier. The film is in black and white.
A room with an elaborate stained glass domed ceiling. In the centre of the room is a large yellow and black film booth. On the far left, the bright red partition of another space is visible.
A gallery wall painted bright yellow, with a large long grey print displayed on it. The print has an old black and white image of a striped animal in the background, with text overlaid on top of it. Down the left side of the paint run vertical stripes of red and green.
A two-channel film projected in a dark room. A man stands on the left hand side watching the films. The left film depicts a smoky atmosphere, and the right film shows a man dressed in orange staring at his phone in a dusky outdoor setting.
Four figures in water; three float on their backs
A two-channel film projected in a dark room. On the left, a woman in red stares at the camera with her arms outstretched. In the right-hand film, a woman sits on a rock in a riverbed.
A two-channel film projected in a dark room. In the left film a woman in a black dress sings in a forest. In the right-hand film, three people float on their backs in the ocean.
A bright red, tall narrow booth space. On the right-hand wall is a small screen playing a film which depicts heritage buildings in Auckland's CBD. To its left is a pair of headphones. Further left, a larger film can faintly be seen.
A film screen embedded into a bright red wall. The film shows a line drawing of a multi-storeyed villa, against a background of foliage.
A film screen embedded into a bright red wall. The film shows a floor map for the villa, against a background of pattern deep brown tapa cloth.

Essay

I multiply each day

 

Dilohana Lekamge

 

Read now
Kete aronui: Read & Watch
Past exhibitions
visit
Events
Kete Aronui: Read & Watch
Past exhibitions
Visit
Events

Gus Fisher Gallery
74 Shortland Street
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Central 1010

Tuesday – Friday:
10am – 5pm
Saturdays:
10am – 4pm