The 5th Auckland Triennial

10 May – 10 August 2013

For the 5th Auckland Triennial, New Zealand artist Tahi Moore presented five videos as well as series of objects placed in a variety of unexpected locations in the foyer. A foyer is a generally a transitional space or passageway that typically poses an architectural challenge for artists. It took central importance to Moore’s work though, as the artist drew our attention between the changing historical functions of the Gus Fisher Gallery and the transitivity of its antechamber.

Moore’s work was accompanied by that of artist Anri Sala, who exhibited Tlatelolco Clash and 3-2-1/Long Sorrow ( both 2011). Anri Sala uses video as an instrument to interrogate history and politics. These are art works that seem to respond to everyone’s feelings, deploying music as a universal language to communicate across borders and time. Sala’s attentiveness to the acoustics of the environment in which his works are exhibited chimes with revenants of the building’s patchwork past, bringing it into the here and now with his state-of-the art technologies.  Just as music’s metamorphoses have been shaped by the instruments of its inscription so we are reminded that history gets written by the winners. Performances by musician Andre Vida accompanied these works.

Additionally, the Paris-based collective Claire Fontaine exhibited their neon work Foreigners Everywhere (2013) on the exterior facade of the gallery, drawing connections to the original neon ‘1YA’ sign which was affixed to the radio mast during the building’s years as radio and broadcasting studios.

Part of Auckland Triennial. Images have been reproduced with permission from the artists.