One Day Sculpture
How can our experiences of public space be amplified to encourage more acute consideration of where and how we live? One Day Sculpture (ODS), an ambitious year-long series of temporary commissions around New Zealand navigates this terrain. Twenty-one projects across five regions involve twenty-nine artists including New Zealanders Kate Newby, Douglas Bagnall, Billy Apple and Michael Parekowhai, and international artists James Luna, Roman Ondák, Thomas Hirschhorn, Santiago Sierra and Rirkrit Tiravanija. At the time of writing approximately half the projects have been realised. Brain-child of British-based curator Claire Doherty, ODS developed from her 2006 curatorial residency at Wellington’s Massey University. Time and duration, context specificity and the public realm are overarching concerns. As only project director David Cross and photographer Stephen Rowe are likely to see all the works, significant weight is placed on documentation, from commissioned critical responses to public discussions, conversation and speculation. This is a massive project, an administrative and logistical minefield, with a raft of partners and supporters.
The first project, Maddie Leach’s Perigee #11 occupied two locations: a boat shed on Wellington’s South Coast and the weather page of The Dominion Post newspaper. In choosing her day, Leach sought counsel from a meteorologist who named 28 August as most probable for very bad weather. Battered by storms, many of these South Coast boat sheds are still functional, but the fleets of small fishing boats they once housed are no longer present. The building Leach chose was open from midnight as she emptied and set about selectively restoring its interior. Her new cedar panelling and window had a dual aesthetic and utilitarian intention, but avoided being a nostalgic act of gentrification. A short wave radio sporadically