Local Time joined an excellent group of artists in the 5th Auckland Triennial, If you were to live here… curated by Hou Hanru. In our usual fashion we worked collaboratively with the host organisations to invite participation in works that materially connect all of us to the ‘here’ of the Triennial’s title.
Waiariki 9 May – 11 August 2013 (+1200)
For If you were to live here... Local Time asked the Triennial’s host venues to make a simple gesture of hospitality to artists and audiences. We have previously explored histories of the the waterways in what is now Auckland’s CBD within our project Local Time: Horotiu (2012). In the wake of our discussions with both the traditional guardians and the contemporary occupiers of the site, we made a daily collection of natural spring water to serve at the events we hosted while working in ST PAUL St Gallery, AUT. For the Triennial, we invited the staff of Artspace, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, George Fraser Gallery, Gus Fisher Gallery and ST PAUL St to take up this gesture. We provided specially ozonated water containers and directions to Waiariki, an old source of drinking water within the pre-European flows on and under the land that the Triennial’s venues occupy. Galleries used this infrastructure to serve the spring water to guests during public events.
500m Law – Wai-te-matā (28-Jul-2013, 1200-1600 +1200)
A four hour action on the Wai-te-matā Harbour, Tāmaki Makaurau, with the yacht VS Vega and four inflatable boats, equipped with ten custom fluorescent yellow flags plus seven additional flags associated with the Vega’s history as a protest vessel. The Local Time inflatable Mahi Kai was prepared for the action in the forecourt of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. All five vessels flew fluorescent flags bearing the number 500 on their port side, the number referencing distances in the ‘Anadarko Amendment’ enacted to restrict peaceful protest at sea in Aotearoa. Each vessel flew an additional fluorescent flag on their starboard side. The phrase “this is not a protest” was spoken by Tauranga fisherman Elvis Teddy, who was arrested after joining a four boat protest that impeded a survey ship operated by Brazilian oil company Petrobras as it tried to enter the Raukumara Basin. The date 1972 referenced the year in which the Vega first sailed to Mururoa to witness French atmospheric nuclear testing and contribute to its eventual cessation. For this action, the Vega led the flotilla across the shipping channel that runs between her berth at the Maritime Museum and the Devonport Ferry Terminal. The flotilla then looped back towards the Auckland Harbour Bridge, displaying both aspects of the flags to the Devonport shore. Finally, the flotilla sailed to the Rangitoto Channel, a site of historical demonstrations against nuclear vessels entering New Zealand waters.
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