The Polyphonic Sea

“The artworks themselves speak multiple languages.”


Deep within the valley on Gammēya-Dharrawal Country, Bundanon welcomes twelve artists from Aotearoa New Zealand, exploring the wealth of languages, from speech and writing, gesture and music, to the ongoing flow of communications from the natural environment.

The Polyphonic Sea speaks to multiple voices, while simultaneously maintaining their independence. Curator Sophie O’Brien shares, “I made a research trip [to Aotearoa NZ]; in the six years since I lived there, one thing was particularly notable: Te Reo Māori is a part of everyday life for more people. From train station stops to business conversations, Te Reo can be heard in numerous ways.”

This shared linguistic immersion led O’Brien to consider the gallery’s links to the custodians from Dharawal and Dhurga language groups, the languages of artmaking, and the language found in the surrounding 1,000-hectare wildlife refuge.

1. Samuel Holloway et al., Upright Piano Bundanon, 2023, painted and modified piano, annotated score. 2. Sione Faletau, Fou ki moana / By way of the ocean, 2023, kupesi of audio recording of Shoalhaven River, 05:00 minutes. 3. Nova Paul, Ngā Pūrākau Nō Ngā Rākau – Stories from the Trees, 2023, 16mm transfer to HD video, 31:00 minutes. Producer: Tara Riddell. 4. Ruth Buchanan, For the openness to remain on all sides at all times a form of loneliness may emerge, 2018, cut up copy of Bad Visual Systems publication in vitrine. 5. Sione Faletau, Fonua / Embedded in the land, 2023, digital kupesi of audio recording of Vasilini Faletau’s heartbeat at 6 weeks old (detail), mirrors, projection mapping, 05:00 minutes. 6. Sriwhana Spong, Instrument H (Monster Chicken), 2021, bronze. 7. Shannon Te Ao, la rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro) Everyday (I fly high, I fly low), 2021, three-channel video with sound, 06:20 minutes. Photographs: Zan Wimberley. Courtesy the artists and Bundanon, New South Wales

“The artworks themselves speak multiple languages. A sculpture might temporarily become a musical instrument, a field recording could take physical shape, and a drawing might become a performance score,” says O’Brien. “The exhibition includes works from many disciplines: sculpture, video and film, installation, photography, music composition and sound, performance – several works were made onsite, and most were the result of a site visit to Bundanon.”

O’Brien worked with exhibition designer and architect Andreas Muller to develop a choreography to the show, with sound and light drawing the visitor into spaces. “This was amplified on the opening weekend where live music, sound, and spoken word performers programmed by Antonia Barnett-McIntosh performed throughout,” says the curator. Similarly, Samuel Holloway et al.’s Upright Piano Bundanon, 2023, sees and hears a locally-sourced instrument play a score comprised of pages from the Upright Piano archive, 2013–23. In Shannon Te Ao’s video, la rā, ia rā (rere runga, rere raro)/ Everyday (I fly high, I fly low), 2021, a pao (song) is written and performed by Kurt Komene with the lyrics taking the form of Tīwakawaka or bird.

Exploring the landscape of Bundanon through two video and sound artworks, Sione Faletau’s Fou ki moana / By way of the ocean, 2023, and Fonua / Embedded in the land, 2023, reveals the physicality of the environment; the latter, through the heartbeat of her daughter Vasilini Faletau at six weeks old – representing the Tongan saying, “Fonua pe tangata,” meaning “land is people.” Equally, Sarah Hudson reconnects with her ancestral lands and practices for The hill inside, 2023, using Bundanon earth pigments on canvas and video.

Traversing Aotea and Whangārei, Nova Paul’s film Ngā Pūrākau Nō Ngā Rākau – Stories from the Trees, 2023, features scenes of kawakawa harvesting, fishing, and language learning, weaving experimental storytelling with traditional stories and mātauranga Māori or knowledge.

Andrew Beck, Impasse, 2023, unique silver gelatin prints on paper and glass. Photograph: Zan Wimberley. Courtesy the artist and Bundanon, New South Wales

For Chlorophyll (night vision), 2023, a three-channel HD video, and You look just like a human potted plant (GMT+12), 2023, an installation of grow lamps and timer, Sonya Lacey explores connections between the physiological needs of plants and those of humans. And Sriwhana Spong’s twig-like bronze sculpture Instrument H (Monster Chicken), 2021, plays with softness and delicacy against the durability of the material.

Additionally, Andrew Beck’s Impasse, 2023, features unique silver gelatin prints on paper and glass, a new for Bundanon focusing on the impasse of visual representation, while a selection of mixed media from Ruth Buchanan draws out the contested and dynamic relationship between the body and the archive. Likewise, with an archive of annotated/deducted interventions, The Estate of L Budd’s multimedia installation disrupts notions of perceived information.

In exploring Australia and Aotearoa’s art, landscape, and culture, The Polyphonic Sea creates a contrapuntal interconnectivity between neighbouring countries – reaching into personal and abstract places, running deep into the environment and Indigenous knowledge.

L–R: The Estate of L. Budd, DBb50855.3005 – DBb50860.3009 Verso, DBb50855.3005 – DBb50860.3009 Verso & DBb50855.3005 – DBb50860.3009 Recto, signed (signature obscured) and dated 1997, oil stick, house paint, modied roller blind. Photograph: Zan Wimberley. Courtesy the artist and Bundanon, New South Wales


 

Emma-Kate Wilson is an art and design writer and editor based on Gumbaynggirr Country (Bellingen, New South Wales).

 

Bundanon Art Museum
8 July to 8 October 2023
New South Wales

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