Objectspace, Auckland, N.Z. February-May 2019.
I Too Am in Paradise II is a moving image work that records the organic process of a living sculpture as it grows and decays, and captures the forces of seasonal change.
While the kōwhai ngutu kākā mā (white kākā beak) grow and build strength over time, the unfired clay urns break down, changing shape and material structure, slowly returning to the earth. Captured over a period of ten months, with the technical assistance of Charley Draper, the images were edited to create a 50 minute meditative work, with sound created by George Johnston.
Kōwhai ngutu kākā plants are found only in New Zealand and are threatened with extinction in the wild. When filming was finished the ngutu kākā mā were gifted, to the Waikereru Ecosanctuary which has been set up for ecological restoration by Prof Dame Anne Salmond and Jeremy Salmond on Te Tai Rāwhiti/East Coast of New Zealand.
Objectspace tear off publication
Melanie Oliver, ‘I Too Am In Paradise II’, Objectspace Publication, 2019 http://www.objectspace.org.nz/journal/i-too-am-in-paradise-ii-1/
Rangihīroa Panoho, ‘E kōrero ana ngā rākau : the trees are talking’, Objectspace Publication, 2019 http://www.objectspace.org.nz/journal/e-korero-ana-nga-rakau/