Loud #72 'The Quick and the Dead'

ISSUE 72 - JULY - OCTOBER 2018 - DEPOT ARTSPACE

The Quick and the Dead

Philosophy of LOUD Established in 1996 Depot Artspace has been involved in independent publishing since its early days. LOUD is the Depot’s quarterly publication showcasing exhibitions, events, artists, music and a host of other creative initiatives.

LOUD is a condensed representation of our values - a clear and informative voice.

LOUD is the voice of Depot Artspace.

LOUD is about respect, support, advocacy and promotion of the arts.

LOUD is about liberation of the arts from current narrow definitions.

LOUD is a forum for discussion and opinion.

LOUD is loud because it needs to be – art is an incredibly undervalued aspect of our culture, significant to our history and our society.

Cover Art: Drawn by Colin Edgerley, Courtesy of New Zealand Geographic (features in Te Hau Kapua: Devonport’s Buried Past)

DESIGN BY EMMA LIAO, LINKEDIN: EMMA LIAO PUBLISHED BY DEPOT ARTSPACE, WWW.DEPOTARTSPACE.CO.NZ COLOUR EDITION OF LOUD #72 SPONSORED BY PARADOX BOOKS WWW.PARADOXBOOKS.CO.NZ/ FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER & INSTAGRAM [@DEPOTARTSPACE] ALL CONTENT © 2018 DEPOT ARTSPACE AND THE RESPECTIVE ARTISTS.

CONTENTS 4. ON A MISSION SINCE 1996 5-8. LOUD ISSUE 72 - THE QUICK AND THE DEAD Article by Linda Blincko 9-16. UPCOMING EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS 17. DEPOT ARTSPACE MEMBERS EXHIBITION CALL OUT 18-20. DEPOT SOUND NEWS 21-23. TALES FROM THE ARTSLAB CAMPFIRE Article by Jamie McEwan, Liesha Ward Knox & Angela Murray 24. THE ART ROOM WELCOMES NEW ARTISTS 25-26. BEATS VS VOCALS IS IT A COMPETITION? Article by Morgan Allen 27-28. SOUND DEVELOPMENT THE QUICK AND THE DEAD 29-30. TRANSITIONS Article by Lynn Lawton

31. WHARE TOI KERR STREET ARTSPACE 32-33. CELEBRATING OUR CULTURAL ICONS Article by Anusha Bhana 34-35. ARTS IN ACTION 36-37. VOLUNTEER VIEWS WITH ERICA SMITH 38-40. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT DEPOT EVENTS APRIL - JUNE 2018 41. VOLUNTEERS, THE HEART OF OUR COMMUNITY NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK 2018 (17-23 JUNE) 42. TE HAU KAPUA: DEVONPORT’S BURIED PAST THE VERNACULARIST SPECIAL EDITION 43. MEMBERSHIP FORM

On a mission since 1996: We employ the transformative capacity of the arts to engage, inspire and challenge the community.

We are guided by the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi: partnership, participation and protection.

Our values, the turangawaewae on which we stand: We are Grassroots, Inclusive, Innovative, Responsive, Reflective and Courageous.

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LOUD ISSUE 72 THE QUICK AND THE DEAD Article by Linda Blincko

Image credit: Auckland City Council - Central Area Plan 1974

Those who are regular Depot media readers may have detected explicit themes running through our publications. They relate to significant social and political changes and their implications for the creative sector, in particular grassroots arts communities such as ours.

Here, in a world which is at once intensely competitive and vastly bureaucratic we’re referencing the imperative for action:

• to challenge the lethargy and obstructiveness inherent in current bureaucracy • to remain proactive and not succumb to, or be intimidated by ‘the system’ that increasingly permeates our lives • to find the means/resources to develop new initiatives of value to our community, rather than perpetuate anachronistic systems and services 5

Without remaining aware of the economic, social, political environment in which we work we are likely to be suffocated by the systems that increasingly control us.

account of sunlight retention, among other functional and far-reaching developments.

The Quick and the Dead references the need to remain vigilant, adaptable and innovative in a changing creative environment. We realised a while ago that continuing along the same path in the face of change ‘because it’s what we’ve always done’ signals a short life lived ignominiously to its inevitable end. The casualties of this type of inertia are scattered far and wide and the effects can be dramatic.

Where did all that research, planning and development go? A big fat Nowhere! So, forty four years later the city is gridlocked and the Auckland regions also suffer from the failure to take account of intelligent, wellinformed long-term planning. What held it back? Fear of change, lack of vision, high expenditure, and political expediency in the face of perceived rate payer opprobrium? Likely all of the things, which strong and united leadership should have countered.

The Lesson.

A Lesson Learned

Here’s an example likely to resonate with most Aucklanders:

Here at the Depot we are well aware of the implications of neglecting trends and changes, both in the creative sector and in the wider environment as it impacts upon this sector. We have documented changes and challenges in previous LOUDs and we have addressed them by reviewing and revising services and discerning and developing new opportunities that best meet the needs of our creative communities.

In 1974 the Mayor of Auckland, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson published the Central Auckland Area Plan to prepare for the city’s burgeoning growth. The Plan was the result of 9 years’ study by a dedicated Works Team. “The need for a comprehensive plan has become urgent as the rate of city building and rebuilding has increased and major public works have been initiated which have major effects on the Central Area and its future.” Page 3, Central Area Plan, 1974. The plan included rapid rail, integrated roading networks, open spaces, pedestrianisation of the CBD, construction that took

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While Depot Sound has experienced change in demands and consequently accommodates more diverse needs as well as focusing on delivery of a range of services, it’s in the visual arts we notice most change. The rise of the

Image credit: Auckland City Council - Central Area Plan 1974

secondary art market (1) and other art-buying outlets such as art fairs and charity auctions, virtual galleries and increasing internet sales, changes in why people buy art (2), and a subsequent decline in gallery visitors and sales has caused us to re-focus on what audiences value in a grassroots gallery such as ours.

So, over the years as we have been observing these trends, we have been researching, evaluating and asking, ‘what is meaningful about a local arts centre’, and more personally, ‘what is meaningful about the Depot.’

The context of meaning is relevant as, in our observations and conversations over many years what attracts audiences to exhibitions is the engagement with clear themes and the content that represents or complements them. In this instance content refers to the works exhibited along with other aspects of an exhibition such as

workshops, ‘meet the artist’ events and opportunities to participate or to gain a deeper understanding of an issue or of ourselves.

Some of the most popular exhibitions have featured one or all of these components: The ANZAC exhibitions, Lest We Forget the 500 Cook Island Soldiers, Fairburn Rocks, Where Shall We Call Home, Turangawaewae-Sense of Place and the series of Vernacular exhibitions featuring well-known local icons.

These trends also coincide with an increase in opportunities that have potential to develop a more sustainable creative infrastructure: 1. The continuation of our successful ArtsLab programme, whose greater presence at the Depot with planned reconfiguration of spaces, creates critical mass and a dynamic interactive creative hub.

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2. A digital platform that expands the whole scope of thinking about creativity in employment. It will act as a creative frontier that puts creative thinking to the fore in every mode of employment.

3. Representation of the arts and creative projects through more diverse media such as film and publications, creating ongoing exposure and income-earning potential, as well as a wider audience.

4. Collaborative ventures that provide greater sustainability and diversity in projects. These are likely to include community and social-issues focused projects.

Each of these new and expanded initiatives rests on the firm foundations of the Depot’s ethos, embodied in its circular mantra, ‘creating an environment that encourages creating….’ and on the notion of grassroots community which the Depot proudly represents: a) Something shared and to which members are able to relate such as geography; experience; a belief or value system; history; identity.

b) A level of affinitive interaction, as opposed to functional transactions or business relationships. c) Common expectations, of behaviour, action, responsibility, knowledge, commitment, values. d) Interdependence; people recognise that mutual support and exchange achieves greater sustainability for the group. The recognition of mutuality or interdependence provides the pivotal characteristic of community, something the Dalai Lama refers to as Big We, Small I. Thus the changes we make, which are a well-researched and carefully planned response to the evolving creative environment, will continue to sustain and enrich the Depot, our local community, community of arts practitioners and the creative sector of Aotearoa.

Like Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, the Depot recognises the value of conscious and predictive change and acts upon the needs with new initiatives; the costs of inertia are likely to be significant.

(1) Once an artwork has been acquired on the primary market and is being resold, it’s now part of the secondary market or second-hand market. There are many online articles on the subject. https://www.oneartnation.com/the-primary-vs-secondary-art-market/ (2) A 2016 finance report found that 72% of collectors “bought art with an investment view.” And there is no doubt money is impacting, not just the market, but art itself. The influence of money now affects the artists. Because the artists are producing what the market wants.” https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-market-changing-art 8

UPCOMING EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS

Image credit: Remnants, by Celia Walker

FOREST HAS THE BLUES Celia Walker, Toni Hartill, Elle Anderson, Kheang Ov, Nicola Ov, Ina Arraoui, Esther Hansen and selected students from Pukekohe High School.

Opening Sat 14 Jul 2:00 – 3:30pm Sat 14 Jul – Wed 25 Jul 2018 Forest has the Blues is an ecological project that focuses on the fragility and significance of our native forest remnants. The threats these remnants face are many, from the constant incursions of development and landuse change pushing their boundaries ever inwards, the proliferation of invasive weeds along their margins

that can smother regrowth and limit regeneration, and the devastating effects of plant pathogens. The project incorporates a large-scale print installation of native species and invasive weeds, as well as 200 native plants that will be given away to the local community during the course of the exhibition.

An exhibition around the theme of pocket forests will accompany the installation.

This exhibition is part of the Matariki Festival 2018 Programme.

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FOREST HAS THE BLUES - FREE EVENTS

Image credit: Pohutukawa (Woodcut) by Nicola Ov

Image credit: Mothplt (Linocarving) by Toni Hartill

AUCKLAND’S URBAN FOREST TALK WITH DR. MIKE WILCOX Free Sun 15 Jul 3:00 – 4:00pm

PRINTMAKING DEMONSTRATION Free Sun 22 Jul 1:00 - 2.30pm

Dr. Mike Wilcox is a retired forestry scientist and consultant, but still active in investigating trees in Auckland. He is a research associate at the Auckland Museum, and takes guided tree walks at Cornwall Park. The talk will cover the essential features of Auckland’s urban forest, including examples from North Shore.

Participating artists from the exhibition will demonstrate the tools and materials used to create the plates for the work in the show.

This will have a focus on lino-cutting techniques, but also woodcut and monoprint. The demonstration would be suitable for both beginners and experienced printmakers as there will be a range of techniques on show.

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Image credit: Takarunga by Richard Joughin

WHENUA: LAND Joanne Barrett, Robyn Gibson, Karen Browne, Richard Joughin, Sean McDonnell, Celia Walker, Jermaine Reihana, Don Binney, Howie Cook.

Opening Sat 14 Jul 2:00 - 3:30pm Sat 14 Jul – Wed 25 Jul 2018 This exhibition takes place during Matariki and celebrates the advent of the Māori New Year and the place of whenua in generating new life. It celebrates the distinctive perceptions of and relationships to whenua of artists both past and present whose work has been previously exhibited at the Depot. Our hope for this exhibition is that it raises awareness of

our place on this land, Papatuanuku, and creates greater appreciation for the privilege of our presence here.

Matariki is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and also of the season of its first rising which signals the beginning of the New Year.

When the stars are at their brightest it is thought that this is the most auspicious time for planting. Hence, we acknowledge both the confluence of stars and the fertility of whenua.

Whatungarongaro te tangata. Toitū te whenua People perish but the land endures.

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Image credit: Optimism (Detail). Oil, foam and LED light.

Image credit: Whispers in the Wind, Krishna Duddumpudi

LEMONADE Larisse Hall Opening Fri 27 Jul 5:30 - 7:30pm Sat 28 Jul – Wed 15 Aug 2018

DIGITAL AURORA Joe “Digl” Dixon, Oliver Bucher, Krishna Duddumpudi, James McVay, Hans Kim Opening Fri 27 Jul 5:30 - 7:30pm Sat 28 Jul – Wed 15 Aug 2018

‘When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.’

Captivated by the power and energy of optimism, Hall’s work combines the ethereal quality of light with the materiality of paint and form to create an almost tangible experience. This interplay, between the evident and the subliminal, the spoken and the intuitive, is articulated through light and colour and permeates her work.

Lemonade entices the audience to step inside ‘optimism’, to experience it as an actual energy that acts positively upon the disposition of the viewer.

‘The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose.’ - Kahlil Gibran Meet the Artist Sun 29 Jul 11:00am – 3:00pm, Free

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Digital Aurora arises from the hearts and minds of young, ambitious artists, engineers, and designers working in the rapidly changing technology and innovation sectors and dreaming about the future.

Digital Aurora is a composition of structural, graphical and digital artworks that aim to disconnect the viewer from reality, interpolate data, and invite an examination of human experience and perceived value refracted through a lens of critical enquiry.

“We hope that this exhibition will be able to display a different side of technology that is both beautiful and stimulating, to inspire and encourage the next generation of thinkers, innovators, and artists to take action.”

Image credit: Intervention (Detail)

IN TIME Clare Caldwell Opening Sat 18 Aug 2:00 - 3:30pm Sat 18 Aug – Mon 3 Sep 2018

seemingly random, but now forming a cohesive whole. It has an urgency about it. It seems it is a story that wants to be told.

For Clare (Claudie) Caldwell art is the initial impulse, a filter through which to decipher subliminal, precognitive and cognitive responses to her inner and outer worlds, a way of making sense of and sharing ‘conversations’ about things that are important. In Time is an allegorical narrative of paintings on Angelic intervention: its arrival, its absence and its re-intervention.

Clare believes one of the roles of the artist is to ask the hard questions, to challenge established beliefs, like a societal watchdog. In a world currently dominated by the cult of the decadent, the ugly and the secular, art has largely abandoned its role of transcending these dystopias and connecting us to an ‘otherness’ – a connection to what is Divine, that connects to the Divine within us.

The exhibition is a response to the imagery that has mentally and spiritually bombarded the artist, often

It is a loss that severs what she believes to be the pursuit of our sacred purpose on this planet.

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THE ECLECTIC COLLECTIVE Takapuna Grammar School IB Exhibition Opening Sat 8 Sept 2:00 - 3.30pm Sat 8 Sep – Wed 26 Sep 2018 2018 Takapuna Grammar School International Baccalaureate and senior NCEA Art students showcase mixed media works from personal, global and political perspectives. The Visual Arts International Baccalaureate (IB) programme is the dual curriculum that Takapuna Grammar school uses in conjunction with the NCEA Art programme.

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In the Diploma programme (Years 12 and 13) Visual Art students are required as part of the IB assessment to curate their own exhibition at the end of the second year, which they are then assessed on under the category of curatorial practice. Depot Artspace Gallery Curator and practising artist, Robyn Gibson, will give curatorial guidance.

Takapuna Grammar School is excited to be collaborating with Depot Artspace this year and build on a strong history of projects between the school and our local community galleries.

Image credit: Learning to Learn by Component

BIBLIOHUB Main Gallery Opening Fri 28 Sep 5:30 – 7:30pm Fri 28 Sep – Wed 3 Oct 2018 During the 2018 Auckland Heritage Festival Depot Artspace becomes BiblioHub, bringing together local booksellers, book makers, book writers of all genres, and book lovers.

BiblioHub will open with the launch of local literary icon Geoff Allen’s The Book of Pakeha Fairytales, a collection

of eighteen short stories that create a journey around New Zealand, either in story or in reality. “The idea of marrying our mythology to the New Zealand landscape first came to me in 2000, when I worked on Lord of the Rings. Some of these fairy stories are made up, based on, well… I know what I saw.”

BiblioHub events will include a book swap; meet the writers, and a mini zine festival.

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community and wider society to create a visual narrative of shared experience.

POTPOURRI PulseArt: Fran Marno, Beth Hudson, Sue Marshall, Cath Head.

Opening Sat 6 Oct 2:00 - 3.30pm Sat 6 Oct – Wed 24 Oct 2018 In the past potpourri meant a putrid pot. Today it is “a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is usually kept in a jar and used for scent, or a miscellaneous collection, or medley.”

Beautiful things grow in compost.

“Potpourri” for us is complex; a mixture of colours, fragrances, ‘herstories’, and issues. It is a theme that echoes the alternative ways we each view, create and combine our positions and art within our own

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Fran explores the pockets of abundance of her garden, interpreting her ideas through the materiality of the paint, brushstrokes and the use of colour. Sue embraces classical and mythical women’s images changing symbols and forms to connect with her Māori and European heritage.

Past and future are important, as is preserving the moment. She also celebrates “Takatapui”, or those who don’t fit into the heterosexual model.

Beth’s works are visual narratives.

She likes to juxtapose the old with the new, people with objects, and nature to marry different eras and ambiguities into surreal human ‘landscapes’. Cath collects nostalgic and unexpected images to create collages that make humorous social comments about differing realities.

She also cuts letters into stone to add to this commentary.

We engage with the past and equally re-establish our place in the present.

“To name is to make present. If you do not name, you do not have a cultural history and if you don’t have a cultural history you do not exist” (Harmony Hammond).

Labels exist, we exist. Our art is an important vehicle for claiming who we are - for labeling ourselves lesbian.

It speaks out for us.

DEPOT ARTSPACE MEMBERS EXHIBITION CALL OUT Conditions: • Maximum of 4 artworks per artist with an entry fee of $10.00 per artwork.

• The commission on sales is 35% incl GST

Image credit: Robyn Gibson, John and Polly

BIG LITTLE SHOW: MEMBERS EXHIBITION 2018 Main Gallery Opening Sat 3 Nov 2:00 - 3:30pm Sat 3 Nov - Wed 21 Nov Depot Artspace extends an invitation to all members to present works for Big Little Show: Members Exhibition 2018, a curated exhibition of small works. We welcome well presented, good quality, and easily handled works, 250x250mm or under, of all mediums (2D or 3D) under the $250.00 price.

• Artworks are to be delivered by: Wednesday 31 October during opening hours. Please ensure all works are labelled with swing tags including: artist name and phone number, title, medium and retail price.

• Unsold work must be collected between 3pm Wednesday 22 November and 3pm Saturday 24 November 2018.

• Exhibiting artists have the opportunity to volunteer at the Gallery on a Sunday for 2 hours, and in return, they do not need to pay the exhibition entry fee for their works.

For more information, contact Natali Rojas, Gallery Coordinator – natali.rojas@depotartspace.co.nz or (09) 963 2331

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NEWS

The studio has been very busy over the last few months with plenty of music recording as well as various other projects. We’ve had The Rubics, Descendants of Dinosaurs, Round Buddha, Freight and Canopia back in the studio to work on new recordings.

It’s also been great to welcome some new artists into the studio with recording sessions for rapper Reem and indie rock band Bay Street.

Beats Vs Vocals has been going well with participants enjoying their 18

recording sessions and getting to meet other like-minded musicians. As part of the Beats Vs. Vocals project we have also put on some extremely thought provoking and well attended talks with producer Josh Fountain and musician Emma Logan, better known as October. Read more about Beats Vs. Vocals on page 25.

We are currently working on an audio post mix for an interesting documentary about Alien Weaponry, a young thrash metal band that incorporate Te Reo Māori into their music. You can check out their new

Image credit: Descendants of Dinosaurs (Top) / Nic Montgomery from The Rubics (Left) / Bay Street (Right) Morgan Allen & Josh Fountain (Beats Vs. Vocals) (Right)

music video on YouTube.

As part of the Ignite Programme Dave has been mentoring Ben Jones and Francesca Parussini in all aspects of recording with sessions with The Rubics, Joe’s Van and others. At the

end of the programme, Ben and Fran will have recorded and mixed a song for Joe’s Van. Finally, over the last few months Depot Sound has been project managing the design and build of a website for The 19

Image credit: Ben Jones & Francesca Parussini (Ignite Programme) and Joe’s Van (Top) / Gangsters At Your Door (Bottom)

Devonport Library Associates which is now live at

enquiries, you can call us on (09) 963 2328, email: dave@depotsound.co.nz or visit www.depotsound.co.nz

As always we’re keen to hear from anyone with upcoming recording or audio related projects. For any

Stay connected with us on Facebook & Instagram [@depotsound]

www.devonportlibraryassociates.org.nz

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TALES FROM THE ARTSLAB CAMPFIRE Article by Jamie McEwan, Liesha Ward Knox & Angela Murray New Zealand’s creative industries, employment market and Government have all changed dramatically over the ArtsLab programme’s 17 years and we have always developed in parallel to accommodate and adapt to the setting we work within. While the goal to support creative professionals to progress both their employment prospects and their personal projects has remained stable, along with its place within the Depot Artspace’s overall mission, the way in which we achieve these goals has always shifted to keep up with the changes going on around us. For example, as LinkedIn has become a more prominent platform for self-promotion and networking within the creative industries, we

have responded by ensuring that our participants all create professional profiles and begin engaging with their particular industry.

Being flexible and agile is key for us to continue to flourish and provide effective support that is both relevant and purposeful. By being quick to respond to (or ideally foresee) change, ArtsLab continues to survive and thrive in an ever-changing environment.

Similarly, the creative people we work with also need to stay current with the changes in their industries.

Knowing current market trends, who key influencers are, which software and other skills are relevant, how best to 21

engage with and network within their industry and what the current standards of expertise are, are all examples of the many ways in which our clients need to stay relevant and prepared for work in today’s environment.

Following are thoughts from our Creative Employment Consultants, Angela Murray and Liesha Ward Knox, on how their experiences enable them to support our ArtsLab clients to remain quick and not dead.

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Angela Murray I have an incredibly diverse background in visual arts, creative life coaching and 35 years in the corporate world. An odd mixture on the surface of it, but an incredible toolkit for a Creative Careers Consultant.

Over the years I have discovered that the creative mind-set combined with accountability to a coach, a curiosity to understand oneself and a desire to change are all extremely powerful qualities. So working with clients who already identify as creative through the ArtsLab programme, who have enrolled because they want to make a change in their lives, means they are already on the journey to successfully finding a rewarding career. With a strong background in the corporate world, I have also found that understanding the world of business, especially ‘corporate culture and corporate speak’ has allowed me to support ArtsLab clients who wish to

navigate the world of work outside the traditional creative fields.

becoming my very own parable about the importance of seizing the day.

I love to show our clients how their transferable creative skills are ever more critical in the modern business world. If you type ‘creative’ as a keyword into the main NZ online job search tools you will find over 1000 jobs ads that include it. After all, creative professionals and right-brain entrepreneurs are already shaping and changing the world we live in.

I have observed that success is more to do with action than anything else. If you hold onto your ideas and talents too tightly out of fear or embarrassment, all you end up with is a mounting sense of frustration. You only have as much talent as you share and the people who fly are the people who do not pause too long to let opportunities pass them by.

Liesha Ward Knox I remember a moment when I was young; I was watching a game show and the major prize, a telephone with a TV screen, was being presented with flourish to an elated contestant. 7 year old me couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing, I screamed at the television screen “I invented that!!” For the rest of that evening I walked around in a dark cloud thinking, “If only I had told someone… I could be a millionaire right now.” While the probability of a 7 year old in the 80s making the first TV phone was… generously, zero, that sense of regret lingers with me

I see this in ArtsLab during our group job seeking sessions where some of the most exciting and inspirational times I have with clients is when they step outside their comfort zone to take a chance on an opportunity and on themselves. Sometimes this is as simple as someone who has confessed they hate talking on the phone, picking up their mobile and calling a potential employer or pushing send on an application for a job that feels out of their reach.

This kind of spontaneous action affects the energy in the room and it generates a palpable electricity that feeds the rest of the session. Motivation can easily dissipate and become buried in the routine of daily life, so these moments are like gold for us. Our role is to encourage clients to take those chances, to support them as they put their best selves forward and to try to make as much gold, literally and metaphorically, as they can.

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THE ART ROOM WELCOMES NEW ARTISTS

From top left: Ocean Inlays (Bone Waimanu: pounamu, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and silver; Ebony Matariki disc: gold mother of pearl moon, paua shell, copper silver brass and gold), Robin Scott (Bethells Beach Storm Clouds, acrylic), Mervyn Aitchison (Olive oil pourer, porcelain) and Linda Jarrett (artisan handpicked cold press olive oil), Robyn Gibson (Bowl of Flowers, acrylic on board).

The Art Room is a dedicated space that promotes handmade original works made in New Zealand, from paintings, to pottery, jewellery, textiles and works in native wood.

The Art Room extends a warm welcome to our new members Ivanka Jevtovic and Anya Juan Li in Auckland, Yannis Petzold and Monika de la Cruz from Ocean Inlays in Raglan, Birgit Moffatt in the Kapiti Coast, Carol Anderson in Whangarei, and Kay Evinson in the Whitianga.

The Art Room is also home to an exciting selection of books from our 24

Depot Press publications that explore, showcase and celebrate aspects of Aotearoa New Zealand’s evolving cultural landscape.

If you’re interested in exhibiting in The Art Room visit our website

www.depotartspace.co.nz/exhibit-here/

or stop by for a chat with our Gallery Coordinator.

We are thrilled to support New Zealand’s creative community and provide our visitors with exclusively New Zealand made art and object. #BuyNZMade

BEATS VS. VOCALS – IS IT A COMPETITION? Article by Morgan Allen

Image credit: Morgan Allen & Josh Fountain, photo by Dave Rhodes

Who’s quick and who’s dead? The music industry knows this all too well. As I write this I’m listening to Kanye West’s new album ‘Ye’. One of the most polarising and controversial figures in the music world right now.

West knows well the ups and down of the industry. This seems even more fitting as the opening track on his latest release is titled ‘I thought about killing you’. Exploring themes of self-love (or a lack thereof ), success at the expense of others and how the ‘most beautiful thoughts are always beside the darkest.’

Whilst Kanye’s career has by no means been quick, some would say it has been dying a slow death over the past 5 years. Meanwhile the hustle for up

and coming musicians is real. There’s more competition than ever before, more music than ever before and more people shouting to be heard above the crowd.

A friend of mine recently returned from visiting the United States. One thing they mentioned which really stuck with me was their encounter with a number of musicians and hiphop artists on the streets of L.A. On a stroll down one of the city’s main streets they were accosted by a number of people thrusting their latest mixtape or CD into their face. Demanding their music be heard, desperate to build an audience one unassuming stranger at a time.

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musicians. To grow our combined knowledge and create a space where we feel safe to try something new, safe to fail.

This experience seems hard to fathom within our music community here in New Zealand. However, the same trappings and desire to be ‘successful’ are still pertinent to our environment.

There’s certainly a time and place for goal setting and expectations but too often I see musicians burdened under the weight of their own dreams. The value of musical experimentation and exploration cannot be underestimated.

And in our current post-internet society, creating music in an environment free from external pressures is more important than ever. These feelings and ideas were the foundation from which a recent Depot Sound initiative Beats Vs. Vocals was formed.

Beats Vs. Vocals is a programme which seeks to connect emerging producers, that is people making electronic based music on a computer, with vocalists looking for material to write to. The intention is not to create the next top 40 hit (although if that is an unintended consequence I’m all for it) but foster connections between

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So far we’ve hosted a number of sessions with new artists, giving them time in the studio to record and mix their track. Some of these sessions have gone swimmingly, whilst others have struggled to produce something that really connected with artists.

Regardless of the outcome, all of these experiences have been enjoyable and served as a profound experience in the musical journey of those involved.

Alongside the recording sessions we’ve also hosted two workshops with industry professionals, talking about their experience in the music industry and sharing their knowledge with those involved in the programme.

Firstly with producer and artist Josh Fountain of Auckland group Leisure and secondly with Emma Logan, better known as October, a rising star amongst Aotearoa’s pop landscape.

Much to my delight, these events have been well attended and are furthering the intention of Beats Vs Vocals as a programme for self-discovery learning.

With more recording sessions coming up I hope we at Depot Sound can continue to provide an environment for musicians where being ‘quick’ or being ‘dead’ is not just a side thought to the process, it is totally irrelevant.

SOUND DEVELOPMENT THE QUICK AND THE DEAD Always working to accommodate change in the creative sector the Depot Artspace remains adaptive, innovative and agile. The development of soundproof studios in the 90s met a demand amongst young local bands

THE STUDIOS: OCTOBER 1996. With no money but great community support we built the first studios (recording and rehearsal) from hay bales for $200. The Bus, as the recording studio was then called,

to rehearse and record, and in 2015 additional interest from a community with more diverse recording needs led to the construction of a second stateof-the-art recording studio.

was home to many up and coming bands such as the White Birds and Lemons, Electric Confectionnaires, Finn Andrew and the Checks seen above with Rikki Morris of the Bus. 27

STUDIO 2: A growth in popularity and the diversity of work undertaken by the studios meant the need to build an additional larger recording space. This time we were able to do so with support

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from Lotteries Community Facilities, and in 2016 our new studio, managed

by Dave Rhodes, was constructed.

Morgan Allen continues to work in the iconic former Bus.

TRANSITIONS Article by Lynn Lawton

Come gather ‘round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road is Rapidly agin’.

Please get out of the new one If you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a-changin’.

The Times They Are A Changin’ – Bob Dylan (1964)

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At a recent meeting at the Devonport Community House where local people met with representatives of the Te Puna Maunga Authority, the one issue that wasn’t raised by anyone was the difficulty and challenge of change. Whether you are the recipient of change or the one bringing about change, it is a testing time for all concerned. Change challenges the beliefs we hold, the way we do things, what we consider are our rights. The continuum of responses to change stretches from embracing to rejecting and where ever we might find ourselves emotions will be running high.

I was a teenager in the 60s when Bob Dylan wrote the song The Times They are a-Changin’, his anthem to significant social transformation following post-war conservatism. But while my life was bathed in the many changes of that era, I confess to not connecting with his music or the social issues that informed it. Beach Boys were my style and I wanted to listen to that kind of music 24 hrs a day. In 1966 I did my bit to liberate stateregulated radio in NZ joining others by protesting and supporting Radio Hauraki’s Tiri 1 flight to freedom from the Viaduct Basin. 1111 days later radio did change in NZ and Radio Hauraki was given a licence to broadcast. I guess at the time I was unaware of the blood sweat and tears of so many to bring that change into being. Nor did I think about what

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some might lose through this change in radio in NZ. I take my hat off to my parents who made little protest as I excitedly dialled up 1480 on my portable radio, which became my companion wherever one might find me inside or outside the house.

When the winds of change are blowing, there is a danger people are left behind and ‘sink like a stone’, or be told to ‘get out of the way’. Bringing about change that is successful in including people from both ends of the continuum takes great skill. It requires respect for the emotional responses to what is taking place. In change we need to debate, put forward points of view, explain and listen. And especially we need to bare our hearts and share what we are feeling, our struggles, and apprehensions and know we are heard in a safe environment.

Image credit: 24 October 1966 New Zealand Herald staff photographer

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”

- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein

WHARE TOI KERR STREET ARTSPACE

Located on the slopes of Maunga Takarunga/Mt Victoria, Whare Toi (formerly Kerr St Artspace) is available for casual and long-term bookings with flexible rates using either the main hall or the studio space.

Depot Artspace has been kaitiaki/ caretaker of Whare Toi – formerly the Devonport Community House since 2003.

We have continued its esteemed history of community service as a venue for classes, workshops, seminars and performances.

Contact Lynn Lawton on lynn.lawton@depotartspace.co.nz for further details.

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CELEBRATING OUR CULTURAL ICONS Article by Anusha Bhana

Image credit: William Keddell (Top Left) / Riemke Ensing (Top Right) / Eve De Robinson (Bottom Left) / Claudia Pond Eyley (Bottom Right)

What makes a person a cultural icon?

Why are some people more revered than others?

Is it because they push the boundaries of what is acceptable?

Do they challenge us to be better and do better in the world?

Do they make us think about life in a different way?

Do they come up with innovative solutions to overwhelming problems?

Do they accurately articulate our

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thoughts and feelings using various modes of expression?

Or is it because they have used the arts as a catalyst for change, made socially conscious contributions to society or enriched the arts and cultural fabric of Aotearoa?

I think its all of the above.

Cultural Icons is a significant filmed interview series currently featuring 75 people who have helped shape the cultural landscape of Aotearoa. Here are excerpts from some of our favourite episodes, all of which are available to view at www.culturalicons.co.nz

“Comfort is one of the greatest enemies of the planet. Comfort more than anything will destroy everything, it will destroy civilisation. Because comfort means people stop being alive.”

Tony Watkins – Architect, Author, Educator, Activist “Why have I annoyed people here?

Partly because I don’t have many brakes...If I see something I feel inclined to criticise, I tend not to think very carefully about who is going to be offended.”

C.K Stead (ONZM) – Novelist, Literary Critic, Poet, Essayist & Emeritus professor of English of the University of Auckland.

“I am amazed at the changes that had happened in NZ, they’d been imperceptible for people living here... but (coming) back there are things that shock you because they seem to have happened overnight.”

William Keddell – Artist & Filmmaker “We’re all coast dwellers in this country and hearing the rhythm of the waves and the sea must be part of our aural consciousness.”

Image credit: C.K. Stead (Top) / Tony Watkins (Middle) / Alison East (Bottom)

you’re in your own world of incredible depth and pleasure and it has a lot to do with colour, form, shape and ideas.”

Claudia Pond Eyley – Visual Artist, Painter, Printmaker, Film Director How can we breed choreographers who don’t look like New Yorkers, who don’t look like German expressionists; [dancers] who can acknowledge their part in the arts of the Pacific?”

Alison East – Arts Educator, Choreographer, Critic, Dancer

Eve De Castro Robinson – Musician & Composer

“Poems reveal whole worlds to you about things you’ve never seen or been in contact with... That’s the value of poetry. It isn’t just for the moment and then it disperses, it’s there forever.”

It’s a type of meditation when I paint...

Riemke Ensing – Poet, Writer

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ARTS IN ACTION

Image credit: Iryna Zamuruieva

We live in a fractured and fragmented society where disparities between prosperity and well-being are increasingly evident, where our planet and its natural resources are under threat and where a globalised environment alienates us from a sense of place, belonging and identity.

As a socially conscious creative community the Depot provides Arts in Action (www.depotartspace.co.nz/ arts-in-action/) as an independent forum to analyse and address issues of concern to humanity and our planet, and in doing so, to celebrate our power to act and to speak out.

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Our latest addition to Arts in Action is a piece by Iryna Zamuruieva received from our call out for submissions. Iryna is an artist, arts activist, researcher and project manager, who has developed an urban walking experience project for the CBD neighbourhood. She has designed a series of walks that will encourage the participants to reexperience city in a playful way. “The idea is based on the game I designed and played with people in Kiel, Germany - Urban Nature Orientation Challenge - where the participants had to navigate the city using ‘natural’ navigation (shadows, water, plants etc.)

and afterwards had a discussion on human-nature dichotomy and urban planning. What I’m currently after is focusing on sensory ways to experience the city - smell, listen, touch, look at - and designing the routes for people to focus on each sensual way of paying attention in the city. After each walk I will host a participatory sensory mapping session and create an ‘alternative map of Auckland’ with the outcomes of all the walks.”

Read more in Walking, One Sense at a time on Arts in Action.

Arts In Action is also a voice for social change, and in He toa tauā mo te reo Māori Jermaine Reihana (our Māori Liaison) discusses the significance of Te Reo Maori as “the gateway to understanding our unique identity as New Zealanders in Aotearoa”, and the challenges we all face in ensuring its future.

Image credit: Iryna Zamuruieva

potential for an enduring future. Read more about this burning issue on Arts in Action.

“Despite huge progress over recent decades, the survival of te reo Māori is still not assured. In 2013 only 3.7 per cent of New Zealanders spoke te reo Māori and the percentage of Māori who can hold a conversation in te reo Māori is falling.”

And now we’d like to hear from you! Arts In Action is offering the opportunity for you to raise your concerns and creative solutions to them.

We are keen to receive submissions for Arts In Action from utopians, iconoclasts, activists, in fact anyone impassioned about making a difference to our world. For inspiration check out the articles we have published so far this year and our previous LOUD Magazine.

He toa tauā mo te reo Māori explores initiatives taken over the past half century to revive a language affected by such phenomena as urban migration and cultural alienation and their

Send your submissions and/or queries to Linda Blincko (linda.blincko@ depotartspace.co.nz) in Word.doc format with accompanying hi-res images (incl. image credits).

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VOLUNTEER VIEWS WITH ERICA SMITH

Image credit: Artwork - “Tui” by Charlotte Hawley, Photo by Anusha Bhana

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“

It takes courage to decide to display to your peers, maybe even the world, your

poem, song, painting, sculpture, choreography, because that entails revealing an intimate and vulnerable aspect of yourself.

”

When asked to contribute a piece related to the saying “the quick and the dead”, my first idea was to look up its origin. Surprisingly, the phrase originates from the New Testament of the Bible from the year 1526, and it simply refers to ‘all souls alive and dead’.

Today, we don’t use the phrase quite so literally, and it has evolved in our colloquial conversation as a saying related to opportunity taken or lost, which could be relevant to both life and art. The grasping or losing of an opportunity is complicated by many considerations - taking a risk, being first, conquering fear, even survival.

Creatives involved in all aspects of the art-world, including music, visual and dance, are all brave risk-takers.

It takes courage to decide to display to your peers, maybe even the world, your poem, song, painting, sculpture, choreography, because that entails revealing an intimate and vulnerable aspect of yourself.

It is completely human to be afraid of failure or getting knocked down, but your song may be the next charttopper, that artwork may lead to a strong, possibly lucrative practice, and your choreography may reach the international stage.

In the art world “the quick and the dead” may be translated as “risk versus opportunity equals creativity”. Even the graffiti-artist could relate to this. If he/she is not quick with the spray-can, he/she may be arrested!

When starting the ‘creation’ process, mistakes are bound to be made, which is essential to a work evolving. Without a willingness to make mistakes and experiment, the artist would always remain at the beginning of an idea.

To be one of the ‘quick’, rather than the ‘dead’, it helps to get in the habit of being swift and deliberate, rather than hesitant, as hesitation may hold you back. Our lives are finite and this in itself is the perfect reason to make the most of all the opportunities which find us.

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BEEN THERE, DONE THAT DEPOT EVENTS APRIL - JUNE 2018

Fri 6 April

Dr. Andie Pryce – THE UNDISCOVERABLE NEBULAE: TRAVELS THROUGH SPACETIME

Mon 23 April

Tony McNeight – THE GIANT POPPY PEACE PROJECT Helen Pollock – A MOVING TRIBUTE 38

Sat 12 May

Fauze Hassen – YELLOW STREET LIGHT MADNESS Fiona Gray – FLIGHT OF LIGHT

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[2018 Auckland Festival of Photography] Fri 1 June

Linda Jarrett – WALK: AN ANTITHESIS OF THE DECISIVE MOMENT Participatory Exhibition – OUT OF CONTROL 40

VOLUNTEERS - THE HEART OF OUR COMMUNITY NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK 2018 (17 - 23 JUNE)

Volunteers are the heart of New Zealand’s communities, providing their time, skills, aroha, and support in projects that couldn’t be achieved otherwise. The volunteer work people deliver is essential to keeping Aotearoa’s communities strong and healthy. In New Zealand, over 1.2 million people provided a total of 157 million hours per year to volunteer work.

Depot Artspace celebrates the commitment of our volunteers Sue Lorimer, Erica Smith, Jill McNaughton, Christine Thomson, Susan Waddell, Chris Herron, Linda Jarrett, Susanne Brodie, Susan Parsons, Robert Peper, Di Francis, Mary Thomson, David Bailey and Jean Caldwell. We thank you all for the long-term support, and the inspiration!

Mā tini, mā mano, ka rapa te whai By many, the work will be completed

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TE HAU KAPUA: DEVONPORT’S BURIED PAST THE VERNACULARIST SPECIAL EDITION

New Zealanders are often surprised by the fact that we have a history. Peter Wells describes us as an ‘ahistorical society’.

We exist in a sort of bubble of the present.

It’s always intrigued me that we don’t encourage interest in our history. What’s unique about New Zealand is that it’s the last major piece of land on the planet to be settled by humans. We’re at the end of a huge millennial experiment of colonising the planet and you can still clearly see what happened from the arrival of the first Maori and then with large scale European settlement.

- Dave Veart, NZ Herald 2015 Formerly titled Whenua Me Te Iwi, we have changed the name of our upcoming publication to more accurately reflect the nature of the past we are describing. It is in most instances a buried past; most of the landmarks, events and objects have eroded, been buried by lava flows, excavated or built over.

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Most of us relate Devonport history to its colonial past, which is prominent in this community. Villas, picket fences and carefully cultivated gardens abound, along with street names and landmarks that represent the English monarchy and a nostalgic view of our truncated past.

Te Hau Kapua: Devonport’s Buried Past, our latest Vernacularist publication, attempts to dispel this prevailing perception, acknowledging a significant proportion of history relating largely to Maori settlement, and the extent to which it has been buried.

Te Hau Kapua is a collection of stories about Devonport, which reveal to us a rich and vastly different landscape, population and natural environment.

We are anticipating a September book launch. For more details contact linda.blincko@depotartspace.co.nz or jermaine.reihana@depotartspace.co.nz For more information and a catalogue of all Depot Press publications visit www.depotpress.co.nz

Welcome to the Depot Artspace creative community! This annual membership ensures access to LOUD magazine, e-newsletters, invitations to exhibition openings and special events. As a member, you also have opportunities to exhibit in the Depot galleries.

To join Depot Artspace please fill out the Membership form below and drop it in to our front desk, 28 Clarence St, Devonport Auckland 0624, during opening hours.

You can also pay online via direct deposit (Account #12 3015 0013510 00); please place your name and the word Membership in the reference section and email the form below to gallery@depotartspace.co.nz

Membership Form Membership means that you support Depot Artspace and its objectives.

Circle the option that applies below: Individual $30 Organisation $40 Student & UB $10

Family $40

International $35

Name ....................................................... New Member/Renewal (Circle one) Landline .................................................. Mobile ................................................

Email ........................................................................................................................

Street No ....................... Street .............................................................................

Suburb ..................................................... City/Post code ...................................

Signature ................................................. Date ....................................................

Office paid ...............................................

Thank you!

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