Hutton and Cotton: The McGregor Museum Revisited

20 January – 3 March 2012

Hutton and Cotton was an installation by artist Christine Hellyar that investigates taxonomies and threatened species with references to The University of Auckland’s own museum history. Hellyar makes use of the chaos and order of the partly demolished McGregor Museum in the School of Biological Sciences.

Hellyar’s work considers the divisions of animal, vegetable and mineral, and combines the history of museums and the history of art. The names in the title refer to Hutton, the 19th century author of the first reference book on New Zealand native animals, and Cotton, the 20th century geomorphologist who had a great influence on painter Colin McCahon.