Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Urgent Moments
Art and Social Change: The Letting Space projects 2010–2020
Edited by Mark Amery, Amber Clausner and Sophie Jerram
Massey University Press
RRP $ 65.00
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
The recent elections showed that political parties appear to have little interest in developing arts policies which engage with communities. While there were major efforts made in the late 1980’s with the creation of Community Arts Councils which had funding from Creative New Zealand there have been few initiatives which not only help artists but strengthen local communities
Examples of communities engaged in transformative activities, often led by artists can articulate ideas and desires so that art becomes a catalyst for change and community cohesion.
The new book “Urgent Moments” provides examples of individuals and groups creating art environments or situations which address aesthetic, social and political issues making use of non-gallery spaces.
in the mid-1990s, the public art curators Letting Space began occupying vacant spaces in post-stock-market-crash Auckland. The social conditions of the time in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis led many to question the prevailing dealer gallery system and the way in which art was produced, marketed and commented on.
The book is written and edited by Mark Amery, Amber Clausner and Sophie Jerram with contributions from leading New Zealand writers and thinkers, including Pip Adam and Chris Kraus, Urgent Moments demonstrates the vital role artists can play in the pressing discussions of our times.
Letting Space worked in Wellington and Dunedin with property managers, individuals and community groups to broker the temporary use of vacant space for projects.
The idea was to use public art as a way to regenerate and rejuvenate communities and urban spaces.
In Wellington some designer-artists turned an old bank building into a ”mood bank” for three weeks. Instead of depositing money individuals deposited one’s idea of their personal mood of the day. A deposit slip was filled out and this mood slip was stamped and authenticated.
Another project, Free Store featured a grocery shop where everything was free with much of the produce donated by local businesses. of the area.
The group also created TEZAs (Transitional Economic Zone of Aotearoa) which brought a community-based approach to public art. The first TEZA was in New Brighton, Christchurch, after the suburb’s shopping centre was destroyed by earthquakes.
They set up an encampment on the shopping area and welcomed artists and locals to come and be creative. Installations cropped up, a school documented itself with photography, and locals biked around the suburb singing as part of a ‘Bicycle Choir’.
In Porirua as part of a local arts festival people could create their own coffins or design urns for their own remains as well as baking bread to create a Porirua Loaf.
One of the more ephemeral works was Projected Fields, a temporary contemporary public art project that involved contributions from the public, local communities, sporting groups and businesses, mixing the worlds of physical and digital community interaction, as well as expanding on the notion of public art.
The playing fields of Macalister Park in Wellington were painted with coloured charts which reflected the community use of the area as well as identifying the geographical and historical aspects of the area.
The book feature dozens of projects undertaken by the group over a decade as well as photographic documentation along with essays by noted artists and writers on the impact of these projects.
One of the editors of the book, Sophie Jerram says, “ What’s important with this book is that we’re documenting amazing ideas created years before they became mainstream. For example, Free Store is an accepted institution now; discussions about employment and productivity and the UBI have become serious; single-use plastics are practically outlawed.
“Urgent Moments” shows the unique power of art to unite, transform and revitalise communities and how individuals collectively can become artists.
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